MacBook Pro takes 15 minutes to boot up

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Hey! I'm new here so I'm sorry if this was posted in the wrong forum.

February 2013 I bought a new MacBook Pro and sold my 5 year old MacBook. Now I wish I hadn't because my new MacBook Pro is SO SLOW. I can keep it under control when I don't have a lot of applications running/tabs open/etc, but booting up takes such a long time... From pressing the power button to the login screen takes between 12 and 15 minutes (my old MacBook took a maximum of 30 seconds...). This isn't normal, right???

I'm a complete computer noob so I have no idea how to approach this, can you give me advice?

Thanks!

Babet
 

pigoo3

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I'm a complete computer noob so I have no idea how to approach this, can you give me advice?

Yes. My advice would be (since this was a Feb. 2013 purchase)...have Apple take a look at it because it's still covered with Applecare.

- Nick
 
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Yes. My advice would be (since this was a Feb. 2013 purchase)...have Apple take a look at it because it's still covered with Applecare.

- Nick
Thanks! Do I need to go to an Apple store for that or can I go to a local retailer? (since the only Apple store in my country is over 3 hours away)
 

bobtomay

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Depends on whether that local retailer handles warranty issues or not.
If they are an authorized Apple reseller, would think they do.
You could also call Apple.

What you are describing is fairly typical of a dieing hard drive.

Would recommend making a backup - now - if you haven't already done so.

The other option would be to forgo using the warranty and replacing the drive yourself.
(I would do this and it "shouldn't" affect your warranty on anything other than the drive - but, if you are concerned about the warranty, take it to Apple.)

You could boot to the recovery partition (holding command and R while you boot) - this does take several minutes - open up Disk Utility and do a Verify/Repair of the drive. NOTE: This could repair the drive and make it operational for a time (personally, I never trust a drive once it has any issue) - it may tell you the drive is not repairable, in which case you'll know for sure the problem is the drive - in somewhat rare occasions, you may not be able to reboot into OS X at all after this.
 

pigoo3

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Thanks! Do I need to go to an Apple store for that or can I go to a local retailer? (since the only Apple store in my country is over 3 hours away)

Sorry...didn't know where you were located. It always helps to include your location in your Mac-Forums profile.:)

Along the lines of what bobtomay mentioned...the problems you describe sound like a hard drive going bad (yes hard to believe on such a new computer...but it happens).

Replacing the hard drive is pretty easy. Go to ifixit.com to get instructions.

But I would still recommend letting Apple check things out...that's what that Applecare is for.:) If you are not located near an Apple Store...then you have two options:

1. Call Apple and see if any computer repair shops nearer to you are authorized to do any troubleshooting & repairs.
2. Call Apple...and see if you can ship your computer to them for troubleshooting & repair (this should be available).

HTH,

- Nick
 
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in somewhat rare occasions, you may not be able to reboot into OS X at all after this.

I'm going to make a backup right now! Last one has been a while.

And that solution sounded good until I read the last sentence, I don't really dare to do that haha.
 
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Nick, it did help, thanks!

I called Apple and they couldn't really help me on the phone (I didn't get Applecare because my last MacBook was so perfect haha) but told me what shop I can go to so I'll do that asap. They also said they thought it was a software problem... but if that's the case, I feel like I would be able to fix it myself. What kind of software problems can cause this?
 

bobtomay

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We'll keep our fingers crossed it is software.


Will suggest, if they do a clean install and it appears to be working, sit there and open up some apps and use it for maybe a half hour. I've had a couple of drives in acting like this that would work for maybe a half hour and then start freezing again - and had some that might work for a day before the issue started up again.

Also, if they do a clean install and it works again - ask the question - Did they run the Verify/Repair and did the drive check out ok or what did it fix.
 

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I called Apple and they couldn't really help me on the phone (I didn't get Applecare because my last MacBook was so perfect haha) but told me what shop I can go to so I'll do that asap.

All new Apple computers come with 12 months of Applecare. If this computer was purchased Feb., 2013...then you have Applecare that's good till at least January, 2014.

- Nick
 

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