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2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

macperformanceguide.com

21–30 of 97 posts

Re: 2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

#21

I keep hearing things like this about the Retina MBPro. Dangit I WANT one, but my spidey sense keeps insisting that this is first round, early adopter technology and that I'll be MUCH happier if I hang onto my early 2008 17" MBPro for another few months or maybe a year until the next laptop line bump from Apple.

I had the first generation MacBook Air, and if I was using it outside, it would shut down the instant sun peeked from behind the clouds.

They later solved this in a firmware update, but still, first-generation Apple products are usually best to be avoided.

There are exceptions, of course. For example, I've heard of no major defects in the 1st gen iPad.

Re: 2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

#22
post #5

OP might have a faulty unit. I never experience this with my Macbook Air, which has similar design of the power key as the new Macbook Pro.

If the laptop is powered on and the screen gets closed, the laptop should sleep, unless an external monitor and keyboard is connected to it.

I've had a few applications (Evernote being one of them from time to time) that prevents my rMBP from sleeping. Maybe there's something related?

Re: 2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

#23
Interesting. In the past, an external mouse (BT or USB) was required in order for a MacBook to operate in "clamshell mode". If no such device were connected, you couldn't get the laptop to turn on. Period. This makes me wonder if there isn't a firmware bug?

EDIT: An additional requirement (forgot): an external display must be attached. I'm doing some testing with my 2011 MacBook Air that is still running Lion.

CORRECTION: My MacBook Air is running Lion, not Snow Leopard. Brain fart!

Re: 2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

#24
post #11

How on earth is a key being pressed on a closed laptop? Bumpy road or not.

The keys and screen are extremely close to one another when the laptop is closed. With any compression of the device, it's possible the screen could press the power button. On my 2011 MBP I use a thin fabric pad made by RadTech to prevent any screen damage from this incidental contact, and also to prevent oil from keys from contacting the screen while my device is closed.

Re: 2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

#25
post #6

One data point doesn't mean it's a design flaw. Most people aren't going to take their MBP offroading, so why should they make compromises just to serve this small, but now vocal minority?

I think for just about any activity you can name besides checking email, most people aren't going to do it. Yet I'm sure that almost everyone with an MBP does something besides email with it. You can't design for the average use case when an average user doesn't exist.

Maybe I'm overstating the variability in MBP users, but I hope you get my point.

Re: 2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

#26

I keep hearing things like this about the Retina MBPro. Dangit I WANT one, but my spidey sense keeps insisting that this is first round, early adopter technology and that I'll be MUCH happier if I hang onto my early 2008 17" MBPro for another few months or maybe a year until the next laptop line bump from Apple.

I just replaced my 2008 MBPro with the Retina MBPro, and all I can say is that if you use it for actual work, you need to upgrade ASAP. The difference in performance is HUGE..

Re: 2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

#28
post #21

I keep hearing things like this about the Retina MBPro. Dangit I WANT one, but my spidey sense keeps insisting that this is first round, early adopter technology and that I'll be MUCH happier if I hang onto my early 2008 17" MBPro for another few months or maybe a year until the next laptop line bump from Apple.

I had the first generation MacBook Air, and if I was using it outside, it would shut down the instant sun peeked from behind the clouds. They later solved this in a firmware update, but still, first-generation Apple products are usually best to be avoided. There are exceptions, of course. For example, I've heard of no major defects in the 1st gen iPad.

More of a deliberate cost tradeoff than a defect, but the first iPad only included 256MB of RAM, which is woefully inadequate for the number of pixels it has to drive. As a result, it will not get new OS updates starting with iOS 6, and a lot of other software is unhappy on it. It's not bad, but the second version was considerably better.

Re: 2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

#30
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offroading isn't the only source of bumps - turbulence while flying, public transportation, strapped to a motorcycle on backroads... I think the point is that when the computer is powered off and the lid is closed, there is absolutely no reason it should ever power on by itself.

...unless there’s an external screen and keyboard connected.

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