It’s not as specific a problem as you might like but it’s getting some attention.
Per MacRumors, a lengthy discussion thread on Apple’s discussion forum reveals an issue that some new 2011 MacBook Pro owners have been having with their new machines. A MacRumors discussion thread also mirrors some of the complaints.
Forum user lithast describes his situation:
“Received a new 15″ 2.2/6750M MBP last week and have been having some issues with the machine locking up under load.
For example if I boot up a VM using Fusion the temperature will spike up above 90 degrees and the machine will lock up most of the time. The machine appears locked (cannot move the mouse at all and keyboard is unresponsive). I can SSH into the machine still and it still is running however. This is one example but it will freeze under a number of circumstances where the CPU/GPU load is very high (rendering, DJ Software, compiling so far in my travels).”
There’s been speculation that the issue is related to the graphics driver or power management, and it seems the issue is reliably reproducible. A wiki has been organized to document the issue. Apple is reportedly aware of the issue, but no reliable solution has been provided.
If you’ve seen this on your end, please let us know.
5 replies on “2011 MacBook Pro notebooks may be locking up/temperature spiking under heavy CPU/GPU loads”
Having these issues all the time. Apple doesn’t seem to be aware of any of these issues however. Such is their “cone of secrecy”.
watching netflix on chrome with just a single tab spikes the temp to 196F.. as soon as I pause the video, the temperature falls down drastically.. will call up apple care tomorrow
I had the same problem too, but I got it serviced from the service station and now its working fine.
I haven’t had mine freeze under load – but then I keep it on a cooling pad when I use it under load (learned my lesson with the 2008 version).
What I do get, and it is also reproducible, is the battery discharging while the machine is plugged in when it is used under heavy load. The CPU temp spikes and the battery begins to discharge, usually requiring about 20 mins to fully recharge.
If I run the Galaxies OpenCL demo and let it run for a little while, the machine will lock up hard enough to force a restart. Can’t force quit, get in remotely, anything.