This is going to be a lengthy post, so bear with me.
2 months ago, I suddenly noticed my MacBook Pro (medio 2009, 15", 4GB RAM, GeForce 9400M) heating up a lot harder than usual. I'm familiar with the heating issues these laptops have, but this wasn't normal. Looking at iStat Pro, I saw my fans almost taking off like an airplane at 5700 rpm, while watching only a livestream on my browser. I know Shockwave Flash takes up quite a chunk of your CPU, but I had never encountered this problem beforehand. The biggest problem wasn't just the heat or the fans, but the fact that my computer also started reacting rather slowly. Sometimes I'd even get beachballed, or the whole browser stopped responding for half a minute...
So I tried to see if gaming was still an option. Of course not. I had been playing League of Legends for several months without any issues. Whilst playing, I'd kick up my fans manually to about 4000 rpm, and they'd stay there throughout the whole game. Now, when I start up the game, it plays smoothly for the first 2 minutes. After the temperatures rise to a critical level, the fans start spinning up to 5700 rpm, and the whole game plays like a powerpoint presentation.On a sidenote: it sort of 'lags' every 1-2 seconds, and sometimes, after a long period, the game acts somewhat normal again (20 mins). This game uses wine to run, which isn't the most optimal way. So I tried playing Team Fortress 2, too. Probably even worse results! (but again noticeable 1-2 second interval lags)
Before anyone starts screaming: "Don't use your Mac for gaming!" etc., I wish to point out that these two games had been running perfectly for the past few months/years. Something's definitely wrong.
After looking for some solutions myself, I decided to go to an authorized Apple Service in my city. A few days later, they told me my logic board was broken, and I had to pay almost 700 euros ($ 900-1000) to replace it. So I did. I got it back, and surprise surprise: it wasn't fixed. Brought it back in. Got it back a week later: "Your new logic board we got from Apple was already broken, but we hadn't noticed. We put a new one in it. It's fixed." Again, same problem.We're almost 2 months later and 700 euros poorer, still no result.
I've brought it in about 6-7 times now, here's a list of what they've done (tried):
- In total 3 new logic boards
- New MagSafe (because they discovered it was giving too much power too my laptop)
- Fresh re-install (which I did actually, not them)- Replaced RAM- Checked fans etc. (they do this by default)
- A bunch of tests which "proved" that it was "repaired" (it's not.)
Here's the good part: they told me now that it's "fixed", and they basically won't look into it anymore. If I'm not pleased with it, I must contact Apple myself. The tests they performed showed no signs of heating issues. (One of the tests was playing 4 1080p movies at the same time. When I watch a 1080p movie on Youtube, my laptop is taking off like a plane) They've run a stress test all night long, showing no temperatures above 98°C. I got it up to 105°C in a few minutes according to iStat Pro.They advised me to install Mountain Lion, which would make the issues with "high-performance sites" (like Youtube??) go away. I haven't seen much improvement, to be honest. And for gaming, they advised me to install Windows on my Macbook. (Seriously? TF2 has been running perfectly all this time, and suddenly I should get Windows?)
I've been browsing around the support communites, and found that a lot of people are having issues since they upgraded to OS X Lion. Could this be the case? Should I try downgrading to Snow Leopard?
I've also found a few topics on refreshing the cooling pasta on the heatsink. Would they have noticed any problems with this after replacing the Logic Board several times? Or should I check it myself? I'm not too keen on opening up my laptop myself...
This whole experience has been quite frustrating, especially now that I'm gonna need my laptop for University again. Isn't there anything I can do? I've paid almost 700 euros and missed my laptop for 2 months, without ANY results. And now they're refusing to take it back. I've got more information regarding the issues if needed, ask away.
I'm getting desperate.
Nick.
2 months ago, I suddenly noticed my MacBook Pro (medio 2009, 15", 4GB RAM, GeForce 9400M) heating up a lot harder than usual. I'm familiar with the heating issues these laptops have, but this wasn't normal. Looking at iStat Pro, I saw my fans almost taking off like an airplane at 5700 rpm, while watching only a livestream on my browser. I know Shockwave Flash takes up quite a chunk of your CPU, but I had never encountered this problem beforehand. The biggest problem wasn't just the heat or the fans, but the fact that my computer also started reacting rather slowly. Sometimes I'd even get beachballed, or the whole browser stopped responding for half a minute...
So I tried to see if gaming was still an option. Of course not. I had been playing League of Legends for several months without any issues. Whilst playing, I'd kick up my fans manually to about 4000 rpm, and they'd stay there throughout the whole game. Now, when I start up the game, it plays smoothly for the first 2 minutes. After the temperatures rise to a critical level, the fans start spinning up to 5700 rpm, and the whole game plays like a powerpoint presentation.On a sidenote: it sort of 'lags' every 1-2 seconds, and sometimes, after a long period, the game acts somewhat normal again (20 mins). This game uses wine to run, which isn't the most optimal way. So I tried playing Team Fortress 2, too. Probably even worse results! (but again noticeable 1-2 second interval lags)
Before anyone starts screaming: "Don't use your Mac for gaming!" etc., I wish to point out that these two games had been running perfectly for the past few months/years. Something's definitely wrong.
After looking for some solutions myself, I decided to go to an authorized Apple Service in my city. A few days later, they told me my logic board was broken, and I had to pay almost 700 euros ($ 900-1000) to replace it. So I did. I got it back, and surprise surprise: it wasn't fixed. Brought it back in. Got it back a week later: "Your new logic board we got from Apple was already broken, but we hadn't noticed. We put a new one in it. It's fixed." Again, same problem.We're almost 2 months later and 700 euros poorer, still no result.
I've brought it in about 6-7 times now, here's a list of what they've done (tried):
- In total 3 new logic boards
- New MagSafe (because they discovered it was giving too much power too my laptop)
- Fresh re-install (which I did actually, not them)- Replaced RAM- Checked fans etc. (they do this by default)
- A bunch of tests which "proved" that it was "repaired" (it's not.)
Here's the good part: they told me now that it's "fixed", and they basically won't look into it anymore. If I'm not pleased with it, I must contact Apple myself. The tests they performed showed no signs of heating issues. (One of the tests was playing 4 1080p movies at the same time. When I watch a 1080p movie on Youtube, my laptop is taking off like a plane) They've run a stress test all night long, showing no temperatures above 98°C. I got it up to 105°C in a few minutes according to iStat Pro.They advised me to install Mountain Lion, which would make the issues with "high-performance sites" (like Youtube??) go away. I haven't seen much improvement, to be honest. And for gaming, they advised me to install Windows on my Macbook. (Seriously? TF2 has been running perfectly all this time, and suddenly I should get Windows?)
I've been browsing around the support communites, and found that a lot of people are having issues since they upgraded to OS X Lion. Could this be the case? Should I try downgrading to Snow Leopard?
I've also found a few topics on refreshing the cooling pasta on the heatsink. Would they have noticed any problems with this after replacing the Logic Board several times? Or should I check it myself? I'm not too keen on opening up my laptop myself...
This whole experience has been quite frustrating, especially now that I'm gonna need my laptop for University again. Isn't there anything I can do? I've paid almost 700 euros and missed my laptop for 2 months, without ANY results. And now they're refusing to take it back. I've got more information regarding the issues if needed, ask away.
I'm getting desperate.
Nick.
