Apple users take to support forums to slate Macbook Pro issues

Lee Bell
@llebeel
28 October 2013

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DISGRUNTLED Macbook Pro users have taken to the Support Communities forum to whinge about a raft of issues found on their shiny Intel Haswell powered Macbook Pro Retina notebooks that just went on sale last week.

The problems seem to involve three reported faults: an unresponsive system freeze, keyboard issues including unresponsive shortcut keys, and an unusable trackpad.

The user that started the thread, named kyawlin, said on Monday, "I have just got my new Macbook Pro Retina 13 Haswell (October Model). This is my second day of usage and i have encountered sudden system freeze for two times already."

Another user, haochuanfromhkg, agreed, adding, "I have met the same problem too! I have been using my Macbook for two days. And I have encountered sudden freeze for four times!"

These two complaints were followed in quick succession by a host of other Macbook users experiencing the same problems.

Judging by the users' comments, the problem seems temporary and lasts between 10-15 minutes before becoming stable again. "Sometimes, if you wait for 10-15 min, the keyboard and the trackpad will start working again," haochuanfromhkg said.

Another commenter said that during the freeze, the power button still works, so every time the problem happens, a long press on the power button to make the machine restart will sort things out. However, this is obviously not an acceptable workaround and it seems that there are no solutions provided by Apple yet.

Those experiencing problems should send feedback to Apple at www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html so it can develop fixes as soon as possible.

Apple launched the new Macbook Pro 13in and 15in notebooks on Tuesday boasting Intel Haswell chips, which Apple claims makes them up to 90 percent faster than before.

However, the system freezing and keyboard fault reports aren't the first negative press Apple's newest notebooks have received since their unveiling.

The handy technicians at iFixit cracked open Apple's latest MacBook Pro 13in and 15in notebooks with Retina displays just days after launch and awarded them a one out of 10 repairability rating.

Despite proprietary pentalobe screws, which iFixit said prevent you from gaining access to anything inside, it managed to crack open the laptop and access its internals to discover the battery has the same "excessive adhesive" as seen in previous models, which is just as nearly impossible to safely remove as before.

The updated 13in Macbook Pro, which retails for £1,099, is also thinner at 19mm and lighter than before at 1.62kg, and should offer faster WiFi thanks to its 802.11ac support.

The refreshed 15in Macbook Pro model, which weighs 2.02kg and measures 18mm deep, sees graphics improvements thanks to its new Crystal Iris Pro chip. There's also 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and, like its smaller sibling, WiFi 801.11ac support. It retails for £1,699 and is available now, if you want to risk putting up with an unresponsive system. µ