MacBook Pro Sluggish

Sysem · Sep 3, 2015

AfricanTech said:
Just check that you're not going to be charged for them to test this for you.

Yeah, else I'll just take the plunge at get the SSD.

CPTBoy · Sep 3, 2015

Not sure about the model, but I fixed my father in law's MBP the other day. HDD was acting up and sometimes working, sometimes not.

Removed the panel at the back and removed the HDD cable , cleaned the pins and reseated it. Fixed the issues. Might be worth a shot.

Sysem · Sep 3, 2015

CPTBoy said:
Not sure about the model, but I fixed my father in law's MBP the other day. HDD was acting up and sometimes working, sometimes not.

Removed the panel at the back and removed the HDD cable , cleaned the pins and reseated it. Fixed the issues. Might be worth a shot.

Did this last night too - thought it improved (booted up quicker), but then reverted back to its slow state.

AfricanTech · Sep 3, 2015

Sysem said:
Did this last night too - thought it improved (booted up quicker), but then reverted back to its slow state.

You do have TimeMachine backup right?

Sysem · Sep 3, 2015

AfricanTech said:
You do have TimeMachine backup right?

I don't - but everything is backed up. My Mac has a fresh install (thought that would fix the issue before I looked at the HDD)

AstroTurf · Sep 3, 2015

lsheed_cn said:
If the hard drive says errors, its the hard drive. Not really a hard issue to diagnose.
Cheapest reasonable sized ssd is 900 odd - http://www.takealot.com/ocz-trion-100-series-120gb-ssd/PLID38668921

Replace it yourself, its easy enough to do.
Make sure you've done a backup so you don't lose data. Now may be a little late for that though.

Also - having 10G of ram is fine, the poster claiming 4g/8g etc is talking out of his ass.

While doing this check the battery for swelling.
I inherited a macbook pro, dead battery due to being off for over a year, slow as all hell till I removed the battery...

SauRoNZA · Sep 3, 2015

You can use a large flash drive as well, obviously can't clone the whole drive to it but you could install a fresh copy of OSX if you still have the downloaded installer.

SauRoNZA · Sep 3, 2015

lsheed_cn said:
Also - having 10G of ram is fine, the poster claiming 4g/8g etc is talking out of his ass.

Technically it will be ever so slightly slower as you can't use all of it in dual channel mode (or possibly even none of it due to the mismatch).

Whether that makes an actual real world difference and doesn't just amount to a paper value is a whole different conversation.

Sysem · Sep 3, 2015

SauRoNZA said:
You can use a large flash drive as well, obviously can't clone the whole drive to it but you could install a fresh copy of OSX if you still have the downloaded installer.

I have the installer on the flash (a 16GB one). Can I install onto from the USB onto the USB?

$m@Rt@$$ · Sep 3, 2015

Replace it with a normal drive for now, and then some time replace the Super Drive with a SSD.

Sysem · Sep 3, 2015

$m@Rt@$$ said:
Replace it with a normal drive for now, and then some time replace the Super Drive with a SSD.

I'm happy to fork the 1.5k out for an SSD - but only if it is the issue. Basically, I want a big red sign over the MacBook saying: "Replace your HDD - its broken!"

SauRoNZA · Sep 3, 2015

Sysem said:
I have the installer on the flash (a 16GB one). Can I install onto from the USB onto the USB?

Should be able to just copy it on your machine and then run it from there to install to USB.

Sadly I no longer have a Mac so I go on most of this stuff with six month old memories. Sniff sniff.

SauRoNZA · Sep 3, 2015

Sysem said:
I'm happy to fork the 1.5k out for an SSD - but only if it is the issue. Basically, I want a big red sign over the MacBook saying: "Replace your HDD - its broken!"

I think the sign is big enough, but I understand you want confirmation which you'll need to test first.

Where are you based?

AfricanTech · Sep 3, 2015

Sysem said:
I'm happy to fork the 1.5k out for an SSD - but only if it is the issue. Basically, I want a big red sign over the MacBook saying: "Replace your HDD - its broken!"

Never a waste - get the SSD, if there is nothing wrong with the old drive use it as a backup drive.

That SSD ain't never going to be wasted

Sysem · Sep 3, 2015

SauRoNZA said:
Should be able to just copy it on your machine and then run it from there to install to USB.

Sadly I no longer have a Mac so I go on most of this stuff with six month old memories. Sniff sniff.

I've partitioned the USB so I'm going to see if that works

SauRoNZA said:
I think the sign is big enough, but I understand you want confirmation which you'll need to test first.

Where are you based?

In Cape Town. I'm going to iStore after work and will check if they can do a test using a HDD. If not, I'll take the plunge and order an SSD tonight.

Sysem · Sep 3, 2015

AfricanTech said:
Never a waste - get the SSD, if there is nothing wrong with the old drive use it as a backup drive.

That SSD ain't never going to be wasted

Oh true - its budget that I'm worried about

itareanlnotani · Sep 3, 2015

SauRoNZA said:
Technically it will be ever so slightly slower as you can't use all of it in dual channel mode (or possibly even none of it due to the mismatch).

Whether that makes an actual real world difference and doesn't just amount to a paper value is a whole different conversation.

In reality you won't though, OS X is memory constrained unless you have 16G or more, as you have more ram for swap on 10G than 8G, the improvement is far better than any spurious speed differences from dual channel / single channel throughput.

Speed difference is in the 3- 5%* range, but having more ram is usually in the 10-20%* and up range depending how little or how much you have.

*% increases pulled out of my ass, but I'm guesstimating somewhere around that.

So yes, we're both technically correct, but my answer is the correct one

bwana · Sep 3, 2015

Sysem said:
I'm happy to fork the 1.5k out for an SSD - but only if it is the issue. Basically, I want a big red sign over the MacBook saying: "Replace your HDD - its broken!"

Then wait until it packs up

SauRoNZA · Sep 3, 2015

lsheed_cn said:
In reality you won't though, OS X is memory constrained unless you have 16G or more, as you have more ram for swap on 10G than 8G, the improvement is far better than any spurious speed differences from dual channel / single channel throughput.

Speed difference is in the 3- 5%* range, but having more ram is usually in the 10-20%* and up range depending how little or how much you have.

*% increases pulled out of my ass, but I'm guesstimating somewhere around that.

So yes, we're both technically correct, but my answer is the correct one

Completely agree.

I was almost sure I had state the additional memory will probably outweigh the dual channel benefit, but apparently that was all in my head.

itareanlnotani · Sep 3, 2015

Found some actual stats to backup my dual vs single channel results. Pretty much agree's wholeheartedly

http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1349-ram-how-dual-channel-works-vs-single-channel/Page-3

MacBook Pro Sluggish

Expert Member

Expert Member

Expert Member

Honorary Master

Expert Member

Lucky Shot

Honorary Master

Honorary Master

Expert Member

Expert Member

Expert Member

Honorary Master

Honorary Master

Honorary Master

Expert Member

Expert Member

Executive Member

MyBroadband

Honorary Master

Executive Member