Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

sixcolors.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 250 posts

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#31

Post by jwalton »

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"?

> When did MacBooks became famous for "bad solder joints"?

There has been more[1] than one[2] case where GPUs in MBPs stopped working because of bad solder joints. And ifixit has a guide about how to fix your mac by putting it in the oven[3] to reflow the solder joints.

1: https://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/product_info.php?product...

2: https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

3: https://ifixit.org/blog/6882/why-i-drilled-holes-in-my-macbo...

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#33

Post by gaius »

tomp wrote: post #18
ggg9990 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 have tremendous brand loyalty, but will need to be more careful in the future. Does that really matter though? I was just discussing this with someone over the weekend... his thesis was that people buy Apple because of branding, which might be true as far as the majority of customers are concerned... But for people like me (powerusers), MacBooks are simply the best possible choice. Everything else is either ad…

Everything else is either adware (Windows 10)

I am running Windows 10 Pro on a Surface. I haven’t seen a single ad, anywhere. If that’s your only reason let me set your mind at rest. Surface is a better Mac than a Mac at this point. That’s why I upgraded my old MBP to one rather than a new MBP.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#34

Post by bredren »

dogma1138 wrote: post #16
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…

My bet is that sensors don’t output absolute values and you need to use an offset to get the correct “reading” for your thermal profile and cooling. Basically based on the location and type of sensor(s) and your cooling solution you will apply an offset to get the actual temperature to be used for managing the power profile and cooling of the component. This is pretty common and the reason why many apps don’t readout…

>Ofc it can be something completely different and Apple is hiding the actual cause but I don’t deal with tinfoil fashion accessories.

Which is a shame because the theme this year is I, Robot.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#35

Post by wmf »

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?

Note that bad solder joints only existed for 1-2 years and were solved long ago. AFAIK they were caused by NVidia (and MS) using untested lead-free solder balls without underfill.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#36

Post by skrause »

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…

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

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#37

Post by sgillen »

kevindqc wrote: post #4
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…

Huge performance difference - how did they not notice before?

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.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#38

Post by slantyyz »

jwalton wrote: post #31
coldtea wrote: post #17

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 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"?

> When did MacBooks became famous for "bad solder joints"? There has been more[1] than one[2] case where GPUs in MBPs stopped working because of bad solder joints. And ifixit has a guide about how to fix your mac by putting it in the oven[3] to reflow the solder joints. 1: https://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/product_info.php?product... 2: https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/ 3: https://ifixit.org/blo…

I had one of those problematic 2011 MBPs, and reballing/reflowing/baking was only a band-aid. For many users, the issue was known to recur after implementing the fix.

Even for the eventual repair order, Apple stuck in the same logic board with the same parts. I think the main difference was that those logic boards throttled the CPU to run cooler.

That early 2011 Macbook Pro was the first laptop I ever had (by any manufacturer) that died. I was lucky I still had the MBP around by the time Apple issued the repair order. I was able to swap out my dead logic board and eventually unload the laptop.

Re: Apple releases software fix for MacBook Pro slowdown

#39

Post by earenndil »

tomp wrote: post #18
ggg9990 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 have tremendous brand loyalty, but will need to be more careful in the future. Does that really matter though? I was just discussing this with someone over the weekend... his thesis was that people buy Apple because of branding, which might be true as far as the majority of customers are concerned... But for people like me (powerusers), MacBooks are simply the best possible choice. Everything else is either ad…

I've had no driver problems running linux on my laptop, just sayin.
Post reply on HN