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Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

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Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#21

Post by chrisper »

ceejayoz wrote: post #14
chrisper wrote: post #5

Yeah, and if this will make the Macbook run so hot it will bend, Apple needs to be sued first until they will start repairing this under "extended warranty." Looks like I forgot I am on HN - the Apple fanboy Club. Just look back how often Apple had to get sued first to get them to admit to an issue and to repair their own fuckup.

> Yeah, and if this will make the Macbook run so hot it will bend... That's a big "if". They're not removing the thermal controls, just making them work correctly.

Well, VW etc didn't remove emissions control either. They just changed them such that they work better in "benchmarks" at other costs.

Now these laptops work better in benchmark, but at what costs? Longetivity of the laptop or battery? Keyboard melting away?

Obviously it's not going to bend. That was a snarky comment. But you get my point.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#23

Post by mikhailt »

sschueller wrote: post #15
ketralnis wrote: post #2

> Following extensive performance testing under numerous workloads, we’ve identified that there is a missing digital key in the firmware that impacts the thermal management system and could drive clock speeds down under heavy thermal loads on the new MacBook Pro. A bug fix is included in today’s macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Supplemental Update and is recommended. We apologize to any customer who has experienced less tha…

I don't see how you can get more cooling with a firmware change when the fans are already going at full speed. Does that mean the whole unit will now run hotter before it starts to throttle? How is this going to impact some of those bad solder joints MacBooks are famous for?

The issue wasn't cooling; it was how the CPU incorrectly throttle itself that caused it to overheat again too fast.

There's another thermal control unit involved and what people found was that the firmware for it was causing the CPU to drop down to 800mhz instantly when it detected the specific terminal event and when it reset that, it went back up into high-overheating load (such as the benchmark sustaining the high load) instead of staying at the right balance. In other words, it went into a loop of super low power load and then super-high load instead of the middle where the terminal balance is right for the load it is doing. Because of this low/high loop, the performance was not consistent and degraded as the overheating cause it to drop to 800mhz all the time.

Where Apple likely messed up is that the firmware was not placing the CPU at the middle to avoid going into a loop, this allows the CPU to sustain a better CPU performance consistently and for an extended period of time.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#24

Post by stcredzero »

coldtea wrote: post #17
sschueller wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how you can get more cooling with a firmware change when the fans are already going at full speed. Does that mean the whole unit will now run hotter before it starts to throttle? How is this going to impact some of those bad solder joints MacBooks are famous for?

> I don't see how you can get more cooling with a firmware change when the fans are already going at full speed It's not about what you do when the temperature if at its peaks and the fans are going at full speed, it's about how you avoid getting there. > How is this going to impact some of those bad solder joints MacBooks are famous for? When did MacBooks became famous for "bad solder joints"?

Watch a bunch of Louis Rossman YouTube videos. He knows all about the seedy underbelly of Macbook hardware design mistakes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AcEt073Uds

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#25

Post by ceejayoz »

chrisper wrote: post #21
ceejayoz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah, and if this will make the Macbook run so hot it will bend... That's a big "if". They're not removing the thermal controls, just making them work correctly.

Well, VW etc didn't remove emissions control either. They just changed them such that they work better in "benchmarks" at other costs. Now these laptops work better in benchmark, but at what costs? Longetivity of the laptop or battery? Keyboard melting away? Obviously it's not going to bend. That was a snarky comment. But you get my point.

> But you get my point.

I don't, really. They had a bug that caused the chips to throttle down way more than necessary. It's like VW having a car that won't go more than 20mph on a hot day because of some bad software - there's no reason that fixing the software will mean VW cars suddenly can't handle going normal 65mph speeds.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#26

Post by gknoy »

chrisper wrote: post #21
ceejayoz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah, and if this will make the Macbook run so hot it will bend... That's a big "if". They're not removing the thermal controls, just making them work correctly.

Well, VW etc didn't remove emissions control either. They just changed them such that they work better in "benchmarks" at other costs. Now these laptops work better in benchmark, but at what costs? Longetivity of the laptop or battery? Keyboard melting away? Obviously it's not going to bend. That was a snarky comment. But you get my point.

It sound like the thermals might be fine, but the interpretation of the metrics were faulty, in such a way that it made the controllers panic and think they needed to throttle the CPU and run the fans hard.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#27

Post by mikhailt »

ggg9990 wrote: post #10
ketralnis wrote: post #2

> Following extensive performance testing under numerous workloads, we’ve identified that there is a missing digital key in the firmware that impacts the thermal management system and could drive clock speeds down under heavy thermal loads on the new MacBook Pro. A bug fix is included in today’s macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Supplemental Update and is recommended. We apologize to any customer who has experienced less tha…

Yikes, pretty bad showing by Apple here. They don't have the leeway that they did when they had Steve Jobs... they have tremendous brand loyalty, but will need to be more careful in the future.

They had the same issues before Steve Jobs, 99% of people seriously do not care or even knew about this.

What's more important is fixing and moving on to the next problem.

Technologies are so complex nowadays that it is becoming virtually impossible to produce anything without issues.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#28

Post by walrus01 »

coldtea wrote: post #17
sschueller wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how you can get more cooling with a firmware change when the fans are already going at full speed. Does that mean the whole unit will now run hotter before it starts to throttle? How is this going to impact some of those bad solder joints MacBooks are famous for?

> I don't see how you can get more cooling with a firmware change when the fans are already going at full speed It's not about what you do when the temperature if at its peaks and the fans are going at full speed, it's about how you avoid getting there. > How is this going to impact some of those bad solder joints MacBooks are famous for? When did MacBooks became famous for "bad solder joints"?

there were a whole series of macbook pros from around 2010-2012 which had the nvidia discrete GPUs, BGA chips, come unsoldered from the motherboard on their own under normal usage.

(edit: nvidia, not amd/ati radeon)

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#29

Post by hajile »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #19
bwang29 wrote: post #11

Thanks Apple, now back to keyboard and Touch Bar.

They did (quietly) roll out improvements[1] to the keyboard, though time will tell if they actually help enough... 1: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/7/19/17590100/a...

They need to improve the key travel. If I wanted to type on a flat board, I'd get a Yoga Book.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/android-tablets/yoga-bo...

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#30

Post by mariopt »

ketralnis wrote: post #2

> Following extensive performance testing under numerous workloads, we’ve identified that there is a missing digital key in the firmware that impacts the thermal management system and could drive clock speeds down under heavy thermal loads on the new MacBook Pro. A bug fix is included in today’s macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Supplemental Update and is recommended. We apologize to any customer who has experienced less tha…

I would bet my money on the Apple T2 SoC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple-designed_processors#Appl...
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