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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

#171

Post by threeseed »

danShumway wrote: post #121
oceanswave wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That PC vs Mac dichotomy really doesn’t carry into pre-built PCs and definitely not into pre-built laptops and other portables. Both have a responsibility for quality control.

I agree in principle, but there is still a difference here. Dell sells way more PCs (in much more varied configurations) than Apple does. They're generally more repairable, and they're generally cheaper. They're also willing to let you max out specs and build weird configurations; configurations that arguably don't always make much sense. That range means they also sell a few objectively cruddy laptops, so you need t…

There is no correlation between how repairable a laptop is and its failure rate.

You've just made this up and now are criticising Apple/Microsoft for it.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#172

Post by code_duck »

I had a serious slowdown issue on my 2010 MacBook Pro that took me a few years to figure out. It started after I spilled tea on it. The system appeared to function normally, but was very slow. When I ran top as root, it showed that kernel process was always using one core (>100% out of 200). I tried reinstalling the OS, changing options and upgrading, to no avail.

Apparently, the OS does this to prevent thermal damage. It perceives that the CPU is overheating, so it sends one core into an idle loop to prevent it from doing real work.

Finally, I took it to an Apple repair shop whose diagnostics determined the CPU thermal sensor was not working. That didn’t immediately help. After much web searching, I found that a fix for this it was to completely disable the power management profile by deleting it. Now the machine works perfectly normally in terms of everything - heat, fans and performance. The machine seems to work identically to its original behavior, so I am puzzled at what function the power management profile performs.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#173

Post by GeekyBear »

toasterlovin wrote: post #66
sgillen wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article made it seem like this only affected a small number of units? Their quality control probably doesn’t look at every single unit. Although it’s interesting that they didn’t find it at all, since reading HN and reddit gave me the impression it was very widespread.

I would not trust any coverage of supposed issues with Apple hardware. There is a huge incentive for negative coverage. Remember Antenna-gate with the iPhone 4? They continued selling the iPhone 4, completely unmodified, for years after that whole debacle. That's how widespread the supposed issue was.

A more relevant example would be the Dell XPS 15 where owners and a few reviewers have reported extreme thermal throttling with i7 models.

>As mentioned in our detailed review, the XPS 15 9560 with the Core i7-7700HQ processor is prone to two types of throttling:

    Thermal throttling of the CPU or GPU (generally the CPU) when temperatures get too high

    Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) throttling caused by it getting too hot and being unable to deliver enough power
https://www.ultrabookreview.com/14875-fix-throttling-xps-15/

You have to wonder why a well known laptop that can't run a mainstream i7 without severe throttling is a story that couldn't gain any traction.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#174

Post by sjwright »

stcredzero wrote: post #120
dpkonofa wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few things that I take issue with here: 1) Louis Rossman has a vested interest in drumming up attention for his videos and has, on multiple occasions, used false statements and misleading practices to do so. Just like in the initial release video of the Touch Bar MBPs where he used an unshielded USB-A to USB-C cable and then complained that WiFi wasn't working. When used with a shielded cable, the issue went away a…

Sure, he's got his axe to grind. I mean, you can't watch Louis and not think he's got an axe to grind -- like maybe even literally in a makeshift workbench in his kitchen with a whetstone. But even if you watch his videos with the most cynical stance, it's still very eyebrow raising. Apple has had it's share of design 'doh! That's pretty much undeniable in gory detail -- far beyond the big headlines everyone knows ab…

The problem is his arguments are devoid of context or proportion. He is looking with a microscope—both metaphorically and literally—at tiny details on a circuit board which don't seem to be a problem for >99% of Apple's customers. Are these points of failure really any more common on Apple devices than their competitors?

(There is a remarkable difference in mindset for the majority of MacBook and PC laptop owners. PC laptop owners will often just ditch their machine if it stops working. It's weird to say but I see it all the time.)

Now I don't doubt that most of what Louis says is correct. But I also appreciate much of it from Apple's perspective. If everyone in the independent repair industry was at least as competent as Louis is today, Louis would have a point. But they're not, so he doesn't. Besides, Apple's intransigence creates the market which Louis takes advantage of; he shouldn't complain.

Oh and I keep getting irritated every time Louis bangs on about those damn "refurbished" iPhone screen assemblies. He should know full well that the replacement glass used on these refurbished assemblies is cheap fragile non-Gorilla junk. I know multiple people who have had their iPhones independently repaired only to have the screen break again in a matter of days or weeks, under the most innocuous of circumstances. We are being scammed, and Louis defends the scammers.

Otherwise it's a great channel.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#175

Post by breatheoften »

breatheoften wrote: post #145
opencl wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple always claims their issues affect a small number of units. I have seen zero people that tested the i9 MBP and did not see major throttling. The issue is clearly the result of a fundamental defect in how they were managing power and thermals.

The official explanation seems to be that the key management defect which lead to thermal management problems did not occur in the development machines used during the engineering process. This seems possible as presumably every machine used internally goes through a different provisioning process than those released into customer hands ... Thus the claimed cause of the problem seems to indicate that the flaw did not…

> It would be _very_ concerning if the benchmarks they ran for engineering/marketing production were insufficient to catch this issue.

Clarification -- I meant to say -- 'It would be _very_ concerning if the benchmarks they ran for engineering/marketing production were insufficient to catch this issue on a system configuration in which the issue manifests.'

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#176

Post by cptskippy »

ordinaryradical wrote: post #57
skrause wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably the MSR_TURBO_POWER_LIMIT value as described in https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/91256u/optimal_...

If you read that thread, what's curious is that it seems this power threshold has always been set perilously because older MacBooks seem to have the same setting for their VRMs as well.

I would expect this sort of slip from Dell or Lenovo with like 1200 skus but Apple really only has a handful.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#177

Post by white-flame »

joshstrange wrote: post #60

This appears to be working as expected. Here is a graph [0] of the Intel Power Gadget while I ran Cinebench. They are not the same length because it took longer before the update and I cut out the parts before and after. Pretty striking difference IMHO and it never went below base clock after the update. I was worried about my i9 but I'm not anymore. Also if anyone is wondering it went from 780cb -> 860cb but I would…

But how do the temperatures differ before & after the update?

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#178

Post by ams6110 »

DennisAleynikov wrote: post #168
joshstrange wrote: post #60

This appears to be working as expected. Here is a graph [0] of the Intel Power Gadget while I ran Cinebench. They are not the same length because it took longer before the update and I cut out the parts before and after. Pretty striking difference IMHO and it never went below base clock after the update. I was worried about my i9 but I'm not anymore. Also if anyone is wondering it went from 780cb -> 860cb but I would…

Glad to hear the fix works out for you. It's rare that apple will fix something like this so fast, but it's entirely possible this just slipped past QA since apple doesn't test throttling that thoroughly it seems.

Which is strange if they're not, because their sleek and slim designs would seem to allow a very minimal margin for error on heat dissipation. you would think that would be the subject of quite a bit of testing on the hardware side of things.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#179

Post by joshstrange »

white-flame wrote: post #177
joshstrange wrote: post #60

This appears to be working as expected. Here is a graph [0] of the Intel Power Gadget while I ran Cinebench. They are not the same length because it took longer before the update and I cut out the parts before and after. Pretty striking difference IMHO and it never went below base clock after the update. I was worried about my i9 but I'm not anymore. Also if anyone is wondering it went from 780cb -> 860cb but I would…

But how do the temperatures differ before & after the update?

That I can’t really answer, I didn’t do a ton of benchmarking other than the CPU which I had seen that jagged pattern before so to see it so smooth and not fall under base clock was all I was looking for.
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