2012 MacBook Pro Powers on By Itself on Rough Roads

[bradleyland]

Interesting. In the past, an external mouse (BT or USB) was required in order for a MacBook to operate in "clamshell mode". If no such device were connected, you couldn't get the laptop to turn on. Period. This makes me wonder if there isn't a firmware bug?

EDIT: An additional requirement (forgot): an external display must be attached. I'm doing some testing with my 2011 MacBook Air that is still running Lion.

CORRECTION: My MacBook Air is running Lion, not Snow Leopard. Brain fart!

[ajross]

Seems like a more likely explanation is a hysteresis issue with the hardware lid sensor. It "opens" under vibration and allows the transient key events to be seen by whatever controller (my guess is that all this is preboot, so the CPU firmware isn't invoked) is listening for the wakeup events.

Basically, if the key sensors can be jiggled closed, the lid sensor can be jiggled open. And because these happen for the same reason at the same time, that's not a two-point failure mode; it's something you'd expect to happen.

[bradleyland]

I did some very detailed testing. I cannot wake my MacBook Air with the keyboard, regardless of condition.

https://gist.github.com/3699744

[Spooky23]

This happened to me with my older MacBook Pro. On that model, the magnet next to the latch would loosen, causing the laptop to power up in my bag on the train or bus. I wouldn't notice this until I picked up the bag and noticed that it was very hot.

[tuananh]

OMG! How did you manage to install Snow Leopard on Macbook Air 2012!? I'm very curious to know the method.

[ginko]

Well, then just take out the batt.. Oh wait!

[EGreg]

Waiting.... LOL

[forthewyn]

I keep hearing things like this about the Retina MBPro. Dangit I WANT one, but my spidey sense keeps insisting that this is first round, early adopter technology and that I'll be MUCH happier if I hang onto my early 2008 17" MBPro for another few months or maybe a year until the next laptop line bump from Apple.

[w1ntermute]

I have no idea why anyone would buy a "Retina" MacBook any time in the near future. There are a huge number of popular apps that still don't support it. Lack of Office & VirtualBox support by itself would be a non-starter for me.

[nanijoe]

I just replaced my 2008 MBPro with the Retina MBPro, and all I can say is that if you use it for actual work, you need to upgrade ASAP. The difference in performance is HUGE..

[bergie]

I had the first generation MacBook Air, and if I was using it outside, it would shut down the instant sun peeked from behind the clouds.

They later solved this in a firmware update, but still, first-generation Apple products are usually best to be avoided.

There are exceptions, of course. For example, I've heard of no major defects in the 1st gen iPad.

[driverdan]

I've had my Retina MBP for a month an a half. Only issues I had were graphical glitches in Lion which were fixed when I upgraded to Mountain Lion.

Sure, some apps don't scale their resolution for the screen yet. Photoshop is the biggest problem for me but isn't a deal breaker since I don't spend that much time in PS.

As for the OP's problem, I've never experienced it. Keep in mind he didn't say it was a retina model. I ride a motorcycle with my laptop on my back every day. It gets bounced around and jostled a lot. I've been on 4 flights with it. I've never had it turn on when closed.

[bryanlarsen]

As the owner of a first-generation MacBook Pro, I heartily concur. Those things had very high failure rates. My extended family owned 3, and all 3 failed within 3-4 years.

[taude]

I was excited about the prospect of a 13" MB Pro Retina. But I'm going to say that not having upgradable memory or SSD is a huge deal killer for me (right now I have a 512 GB SSD that I'm going to throw into my new MB Pro). I can deal with carrying the extra pound around. The Retina screen isn't a big deal to me as I use an external monitor most of the time, and I wasn't really that impressed when I saw it at the Apple Store.

[arrrg]

Don’t buy. Not as long as they horrific image retention problem isn’t solved and acknowledged by Apple. (It isn’t.)

[simias]

Why does the laptop power on when the lid is closed? That seems like the design flaw to me. And it could probably be fixed with a software update as well.

Still, not very frontpage worthy IMO.

[zoop]

In this case it's a defect, but in general, people operate their Macbook Pros with the lid closed attached to an external monitor.

[m_for_monkey]

If the laptop gets too hot in a bag, it can cause fire, so it's a potentially life-threatening bug.

[DanHulton]

Hm, this might explain why my 2011 Air is occasionally on and hot when I pull it out of my laptop bag, too.

I only started noticing it after the Mountain Lion upgrade, so I figured it was more likely something to do with their crazy new sleep mode, but hey, perhaps it's a combination of factors?

[rm999]

I don't think the Air can fully turn on in clamshell mode, unlike the pro. This is (I believe) because the air uses its body as a heat sink.

[hmottestad]

A simple check en EFI should be sufficient.

IF (internal_keyboard_button_pressed && screen_closed) IGNORE

[alkimie]

I've got a early 2009 17" MBP just extensively serviced by Apple (new logic board, display, etc.), and I've noticed that when closed and I pick it up and put it down on a table, the apple logo glows for a moment and goes out. I'm convinced that this has something to do with the built in Sudden Motion Sensor that wakes up the computer. It seems to have started with Lion on my particular MBP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_Motion_Sensor

I suspect that the author of that blog may be seeing the same thing and it has nothing to do with keyboard problems.

[brudgers]

If accurate this is the sort of thing that field testing should reveal. However, because the Apple community has made a fetish over the most minor hardware releases and an industry has sprung up around stealth photos, Apple has given themselves little opportunity to uncover this sort of basic design flaw. In some way, it appears to be the same sort of issue that was discovered with the iPhone 4 antenna after its release.

These sorts of functional failure may indicate a weakness in Apple's design process and one which Apple may have trouble addressing without changing the relationship between marketing strategy and product development.

[xuki]

OP might have a faulty unit. I never experience this with my Macbook Air, which has similar design of the power key as the new Macbook Pro.

[mcmillion]

If the laptop is powered on and the screen gets closed, the laptop should sleep, unless an external monitor and keyboard is connected to it.

I've had a few applications (Evernote being one of them from time to time) that prevents my rMBP from sleeping. Maybe there's something related?

[evoxed]

This is exactly what started happening to my '07 MacBook Pro after years of solid use. The parts started getting a little looser, the whole body is slightly bowed (it still closes though), etc. Jostling it a little in its bag is sometimes enough to put it into a wakened fright, and whether or not the fans kick in he's gonna be a pretty hot piece of metal by the time it's out of the bag. Since it started happening I just make sure to shut down before carrying.

[nodata]

How on earth is a key being pressed on a closed laptop? Bumpy road or not.

[uptown]

The keys and screen are extremely close to one another when the laptop is closed. With any compression of the device, it's possible the screen could press the power button. On my 2011 MBP I use a thin fabric pad made by RadTech to prevent any screen damage from this incidental contact, and also to prevent oil from keys from contacting the screen while my device is closed.

[simias]

The inertia of the keycaps is probably sufficient if the force required to press the key is very low.

[jawngee]

Sometimes, when I open my MBP retina, I can see the outline of the keys on the screen and have to wipe the screen off. So my guess is that they are actually touching when closed.

[danso]

My quick glance of the headline was that the MBP used the kinetic motion to recharge its battery...I'd accept a glued in battery for that feature.

[thegooley]

I haven't seen this particular issue, but I have had a whole bunch of strange, likely firmware-related issues on my Retina.

For instance, sometimes the screen just won't shut off when trying to put it to sleep - Closing the lid and the screen/logo stay lit up indefinitely. Chrome and the integrated graphics card really don't play well together - it's caused an OS reboot 10's of times in the past month. Mostly, waking the computer from sleep takes a fraction of a second but sometimes it takes ~20 seconds to show the screen.

I would guess that all of these are related to the integrated Intel graphics chip firmware/drivers being not quite baked.

BUT - in spite of all of that, this is without question the best laptop I've ever owned. It's also the first laptop where I haven't wanted or needed to use my iMac anymore. It really is finally a true "desktop replacement" that is totally portable. And I could never go back.

[cstejerean]

"Mostly, waking the computer from sleep takes a fraction of a second but sometimes it takes ~20 seconds to show the screen."

I've seen this as well, and it feels related to whether the computer is suspended to RAM (sleep) or suspended to disk (hibernate).

[crag]

I also have a problem with slow shutdowns. Sometimes it takes 30 seconds to shut the machine down. Much less time to boot.

[blahpro]

This is undoubtedly a design flaw, although one solution (albeit extremely inelegant) could be to remove the power button key from the keyboard. If the Retina Display models are anything like their predecessors, they keys should be fairly easy to remove.

[ozzzy]

I think it shouldn't wake up when the lid is closed. Am I missing a point?

[toasterweasel]

Seriously? Sounds like you have a faulty unit. No amount of jostling will turn on a closed Macbook Pro retina.

[ezran]

Could this possibly be a result of the "Power Nap" feature rather than some jiggling keys?

[guywithabike]

By default, Power Nap only turns on limited features when plugged in to a power source.

[lysol]

One data point doesn't mean it's a design flaw. Most people aren't going to take their MBP offroading, so why should they make compromises just to serve this small, but now vocal minority?

[mikebridgman]

Offroading isn't the only source of bumps - turbulence while flying, public transportation, strapped to a motorcycle on backroads...

I think the point is that when the computer is powered off and the lid is closed, there is absolutely no reason it should ever power on by itself.

[gmaslov]

I think for just about any activity you can name besides checking email, most people aren't going to do it. Yet I'm sure that almost everyone with an MBP does something besides email with it. You can't design for the average use case when an average user doesn't exist.

Maybe I'm overstating the variability in MBP users, but I hope you get my point.

[Too]

Why would they have to make compromises? Both possible solutions for this problem doesn't require any compromises at all...

[dude23]

Another first world problem on HN. What's going on with HN?! :-(

[nmridul]

And its on the front page .. :-

[dasil003]

You take your MBP with you when you go mountain biking? Have you ever taken a look around at the amount of broken glass at trailheads? Leave it at home bro.