MacBook Pro Firmware Topic
For the first Macintosh computer in my life was aMacBook Pro 15 inch (Late 2008) modelAlthough the device is loved very much - it did cause a couple of issues in the beginning. And I must say I am a bit disappointed of the build quality of modern Mac computers. My issues were: graphics hang-ups and Nvidia Geforce 9600M GT black screen errors and issues during firmware and software updates.Also I noticed the following hardware build issues:
- The hinges are really week - just personally I do not believe the hinges will sustain 3 years of usage.
- There were scratches (tiny but scratches) on my unibody case (next to the ports and battery button)
- The lower plate covering the bottom of the laptop is held in place by 4 screws on top. One of the 4 screws was not all the way in giving the device a physical bump on that point and also looking ugly.
- For a 2500+$ Laptop I would seriously expect better
For the Firmware issue I observed there seems to be a solution which MacBook Pro owners should memorize (in order to avoid panic). There are several resources describing the correct steps and pre-cautions for updating the MacBook Pro's Firmware:
- As of Date: 17.Jun.2009: Proposed Downloads for the current Firmware:
- Knowledge Base Entry describing concrete steps:
Summary:When the firmware fails this is not necessary a sign for permanent failure. Click Restart normally or cold-restart your Mac. Do not press-and-hold the power button of the Mac. Eventually the Mac will beep 9 times (3 short, 3 long, 3 short - the tones will be played once and do not repeat. During the tones the power LED may blink but blinking does repeat eventually). Do not touch the Mac. The Mac will attempt to recover to an older version of the EFI Firmware. During this process the LED may continue to blink. The Process may take up to 30-60seconds. After the process you may retry the firmware update taking Apples precautions into account.