New MacBooks said to have issues with maxed out RAM, faulty NVIDIA GPU
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 9th 2008 2:54PM
posted December 9th 2008 2:54PM
While most of the complaints about the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros have focused on things like the screen or the absence of a certain much-loved port, it appears that another problem has been bugging some folks that went ahead and maxed out the RAM on their shiny new laptop. Apparently, loading 4GB of RAM (either from Apple or a third party) has caused at least a few MacBooks and MacBook Pros to freeze up randomly which, for the time being at least, can only be remedied by dialing things back to 2GB or 3GB of RAM (something tested by jkOnTheRun). While Apple isn't saying anything publicly about this just yet, one member of the Apple support forum claims to have heard from an Apple engineer who says that Apple is, in fact, aware of the problem and that a software update is on the way to fix it, possibly within a few days.
In related MacBook news, The Inquirer is now reporting that the new MacBook Pro's NVIDIA 9600M GPU suffers from the same so-called "bad bump" problem that has plagued previous generation MacBook Pros (and provided plenty of fodder for The Inq) which can, in some cases, lead to blank screens and other video errors. It's not clear, however, if the problem affects all MacBook Pros or just a bad batch, although there does appear to be a somewhat sizable number of complaints cropping up.
Read - jkOnTheRun, "MacBook fussy memory situation- maybe 4 GBs is too much"
Read - the Inquirer, "Inquirer confirms Apple Macbook Pros have Nvidia bad bump material"
[Via Electronista]
In related MacBook news, The Inquirer is now reporting that the new MacBook Pro's NVIDIA 9600M GPU suffers from the same so-called "bad bump" problem that has plagued previous generation MacBook Pros (and provided plenty of fodder for The Inq) which can, in some cases, lead to blank screens and other video errors. It's not clear, however, if the problem affects all MacBook Pros or just a bad batch, although there does appear to be a somewhat sizable number of complaints cropping up.
Read - jkOnTheRun, "MacBook fussy memory situation- maybe 4 GBs is too much"
Read - the Inquirer, "Inquirer confirms Apple Macbook Pros have Nvidia bad bump material"
[Via Electronista]
Please refrain from 'bag of hurt', and 'it just works'...
Please?
Damn, I was gonna go with the second option.
Ah well.
Faulty GPUs from NVIDIA (Again) and problems with RAM (I've never encountered in another laptop ever)
Apple's quality is going from bad to worse
Another reason I stopped buying Apple in 2005.
It just works when it's a bag of hurt.
RoboDan - You just said the faulty GPUs were from nVidia, and in the next sentence you complain about Apple's quality.
Well which is it? nVidia or Apple? It can't be both. If it's a faulty GPU, how is that Apple's fault?
And the RAM problem is valid but it looks like it can (and will) be fixed in software, so I don't really see the big deal there.
Apple buys the faulty GPUs and sells them as faulty, therefore it is their fault for it.
You would not complain to a dairy farm if your cheeseburger has mold on it, you take it to McDonalds.
Who chooses the GPU?
So you guys think Apple knew the GPUs were faulty when they bought them?
Really? And you think nVidia is not responsible for testing their own products, that it should fall to Apple to determine whether a GPU is faulty before agreeing to use them?
Seriously?
Duh. Of course. It is nVidia's fault for making faulty components and it is Apple's fault for selecting the faulty components for their faulty products.
@ Zak:
It's called Quality Control. Look it up sometime! It's supposed to be done by the supplier and the receiver.
It just hurts.
"that it should fall to Apple to determine whether a GPU is faulty before agreeing to use them".
Bluntly, yes it is. It's called internal QA and is part of any proper corporate governance programme.
I see. So you all believe QC only applies to Apple. Obviously the chips were bad when they left nVidia's plant, how is that not nVidia's fault? Is nVidia excused from their QC responsibilities simply because Apple is involved?
I love how something that happens before Apple is even involved with it is still somehow Apple's fault. That's some grade A logic right there. Everybody appears to know that it's nVidia's fault except you guys.
@ZAK
Can it, dumbass.
Isn't "you pay more for quality" how you Apple Zealots justify spending more for an Apple product? The money goes to make the system better, right?
They're the system integrator; it's their job to make sure everything works right.
Apple just proved once again, they're just like all the other hardware companies out there; not perfect.
Zak wants to change the perception of Apple having top quality components to the reality that they have components like anyone else. I'm not arguing.
@ Decoy:
haha! Awesome! You just turned the tables on Zak... Now looking at all his old comments about Apple using "special" components have suddenly gone up in flames!
@ Zak:
Grade A logic... right... so you mean to say, if you are the middleman selling toys, and your supplier sells you toys manufactured using lead-based color, you aren't liable?
You should really be arguing for Mattel in that case!
Apparently no one is doing QC these days
except testing cheese for mold is a heck of a lot easier than testing a GPU for defect that only occurs sometimes. Faulty chip design is one of the hardest things to find. In fact you'd probably be surprised to find out that a lot of the defective CPUs manufactured are actually working products are are still sold in china and Taiwan ( for a lot less that the good ones ). If you recall AMD actually created the X3 from a defective X4 batch. For Apple or anyone else to test every gpu chip that they buy would cost way too much and hence noone does it. Nvidia really dropped the ball this time.
As far as apple goes, it's their own fault for integrating everything on to the motherboard. Now they'll have to replace everything including the CPU. I bet that'll really rain on their parade.
@Zak:
...and when Nvidia, ATI (now AMD), and other companies failed to release drivers for Vista when it first came out, you guys all jumped on the "Microsoft is crap" bandwagon.
Now that Apple failed to screen for faults, they established the precedent that it's not 3rd party faults but, it's the fault of whoever's logo is on the product. Apple even made commercials advertising this!
Screw Apple. Let 'em burn in hell.
I want to see what iEye says about this story.
Are you sure about that?
no, he is just kidding.
No complaints its just a feature.
iEye or Zak or Clak or most of the guys with the 'i' in their name... the comments would be in the same vein! ;-)
@tpadekar
iGor doesn't think so.
iGuess i'M not one of those most iGuys. :)
@ iGor
I never said that there couldn't be any exceptions to the rule, did I?
Welcome to Engadget! ;-)
But, but, it looks good so who cares!
Those who buy to use it, and not to stare at it, sir.
My 4 Gb MacBook Pro shows neither symptom. Interesting to see how a technical glitch that may or may not have been recognized brings out the Apple haters. I do have one complaint which is battery life. In sleep mode, the laptop loses about 30% of its juice over a day (using the 9800 GT card). Otherwise, its been great.
@ Pavlindrom : that's a minority (an invisible minority i'd say)
Mac User is much much more rare than Mac fanboy or Mac consumer
Thi is going to result in a mini engadge war. Saying that it doesn't surprise at all.
The high price of Macs with sub standard parts. Nothing new
Apple requires more advanced engineering and innovative designing than other PC manufacturers (this is what my dad, who works for Intel, says). Apple really pushes hard on them to get new designs that are compatible with their machines. That said, Windows based PCs FTW. I like how we can add RAM no problems. Vista has its problems, but that's only because it's designed to work with a variety of hardware setups.
@Dan
Works at Intel - sounds like the marketing department at Intel, am i right?
Mac = standard parts, standard errors..
No one needs more than 640k of RAM anyway...
I know, really... jeez...
What, 4 Gigobyte of rams? Im still on 8MB on my 486DX overdrive.
I think the real one was 64k but nice one there :)
Yea, it's 64k... though hell, the new processors actually run on less than that even.. thought the core chip only used about 50kb/core
This is what happens when you don't install multiple antivirus programs on your Mac computer.
Steve Jobs goes out of his way to come out with songs for the ads, maybe he should go out of his way to make sure his Macs have better quality control
Apple ads are OK until the music kicks in. The nano advert is okay but the music makes me want to put steve jobs voodoo doll through the screen.
Advertising advertising advertising, fix Vista.
Advertising advertising advertising advertising advertising advertising advertising advertising advertising, fix Macbook advertising advertising, make fun of Microsoft for advertising, advertising.
Decoy wins the internets today.
Might as well put it all in advertising :D
whoa, Im getting deja vu
Please getting sources from The Inquirer. Those guys can't even get grammar right, let alone mass slander and just nonsense.
Yeah but your a an apple troll. Mass slander this aint.
You must work for them since punctuation and sentence structure isn't high on your list.
Yeah of course I am.