Resolved Macbook Pro 2015 with OSX El Capitan 10.11.4 system wide freeze (Read the details)

[jguzman88]

Nope--I had no issues until I upgraded to 10.11.4. I have been hammering it all day in Illustrator, playing music in iTunes, videos on youtube. No issues yet! I doubt that this many people had logic board issues at the same time they upgraded to 10.11.4, but, in my case, I think it was actually a hardware issue that correlated with upgrading. At least I hope so.

Essentially, it's likely worth it to bring your computer to the genius bar to rule out any hardware issues.

453 comments and 19 pages of people with hardware issues... i dont think so
This is a 100% software issue, i had to downgrade to yosemite my mba 2013 and no issues.

Apple with el capitan has developed "metal" the new core graphics, and those deep changes take a time to be stable.

 

[macmac0119]

How often did you have freezes before update to latest beta?

Wanted to say I'm having mouse lags again but no system crashes yet.

 

[edmundostudios]

453 comments and 19 pages of people with hardware issues... i dont think so
This is a 100% software issue, i had to downgrade to yosemite my mba 2013 and no issues.

Apple with el capitan has developed "metal" the new core graphics, and those deep changes take a time to be stable.

That could potentially be the problem. API's usually have a lot of low level access on browsers designed specifically for them. DX12,11,9 on windows all have low level access integrated into IE even when the program isn't in use and I'm guessing Chrome etc don't use these features which the drivers are not being conflicted.

 

[mb3152]

453 comments and 19 pages of people with hardware issues... i dont think so
This is a 100% software issue, i had to downgrade to yosemite my mba 2013 and no issues.

Apple with el capitan has developed "metal" the new core graphics, and those deep changes take a time to be stable.

My iMac had the same symptoms everyone has described, and it was a hardware problem. Is it software related for most people? Yes. However, if you are having persistent issues, it might be worth checking the hardware.

 

[jguzman88]

My iMac had the same symptoms everyone has described, and it was a hardware problem. Is it software related for most people? Yes. However, if you are having persistent issues, it might be worth checking the hardware.

maybe you´re right, but in my case i dont have apple warranty anymore.
i insist with the software issue because my mba never had this freezes running all mavericks or yosemite updates (.1, to .5) in fact with el capitan 10.11.3 everything was perfect so i dont think that this last "minor" update can break the hardware so easily.

 

[mb3152]

maybe you´re right, but in my case i dont have apple warranty anymore.
i insist with the software issue because my mba never had this freezes running all mavericks or yosemite updates (.1, to .5) in fact with el capitan 10.11.3 everything was perfect so i dont think that this last "minor" update can break the hardware easily.

Ah, that's a bummer. I was getting freezes similar to what people report every 20-30 minutes. I think that is significantly more than most people on here. Moreover, my other iMac at my lab was having these freezes about once per day, only after updating to 10.11.4; so there certainly is a software issue that I have experienced and was not hardware related. Despite that, I think the hardware issue I had with my home iMac can cause similar symptoms, and thus it might be worth checking out IF you have AppleCare. But if you don't I agree that it's most economical to assume it's software and wait for Apple to put out a fix, especially if they are not occurring very often.

 

[Ja3s0n22]

This happens to me too. early 2015 13 inch macbook pro. Happens multiple times a week. Will try using Chrome. I'm thinking of contacting apple and working my way through their customer service hierarchy until I get a replacement. It's crazy that this happens to so many people. My 1 year of Apple care is about to be up, and then i'd be screwed. Might as well get a new one now while I may be able to. For the price, this shouldn't be an issue. For all the hassle they may as well replace the thing. I'll update on how far I get with this. I feel like everyone should call up, escalate their calls to supervisors, and demand replacement MacBooks if you are under warranty. Record the calls if you have to. That's the way to get this kind of stuff done.

 

[Clix Pix]

This happened to me last night for the first time. I was using the early 2015 13.3" rMBP and suddenly everything froze. I did a forced shutdown and when the machine started again everything was fine. I've had the machine since late March 2015. Now that I am aware that this is a problem which is occurring for others, too, and potentially not a one-off thing, I will be likely to take my machine to the Genius Bar if it occurs again.

 

[xelanaiznac]

hi guys.
same situation here.
i have a macbook pro 13 early 2015. with 10.11.4 a lot of freezes, all of them using safari. never had them before using yosemite or elcapitan up to 10.11.3
my solution, for now, is a clean installation with 10.11.3
i hope for a fix in 10.11.5

 

[teddybalan]

Exactly the same here with early 2015 MBP 13.

It's insanely annoying that the problem is still not fixed, nor there is a roll back option to 10.11.3.

As much as I like this machine, and it is my first non-Windows laptop, I must admit that major bugs on Windows are fixed way faster, and updates rarely break old working stuff. And there is always a re-install. Definitely regret the purchase.

 

[rgeneral]

Exactly the same here with early 2015 MBP 13.

It's insanely annoying that the problem is still not fixed, nor there is a roll back option to 10.11.3.

As much as I like this machine, and it is my first non-Windows laptop, I must admit that major bugs on Windows are fixed way faster, and updates rarely break old working stuff. And there is always a re-install. Definitely regret the purchase.

I am a dual user. they are both the same. i have so many problems with win10. talked to MS and they said we are in a journey together. in time, we will work together to fix everything.. I just said. ok. i will go back to my Mac in the interim.

 

[George TR]

i have MBPr 2014 (10.11.04), he also freezing in the safari((

 

[McQueeen]

Right! I'm facing the same problem with new brand early 2015 13" rMBP. Bought it more than 2 weeks already. I purchased it on Saturday and immediately update to OS X El Capitan 10.11.4. Then, exactly a week after, it froze when I was watching YouTube on Safari. Then last saturday, it froze again. and yesterday, it froze when I was editing with iMovie.
Always needed to force shut down.
I hope that was the last time and will be fixed soon!

 

[tywebb13]

nor there is a roll back option to 10.11.3.

Yes there is. Two in fact. Restore from backup or clean install.

Several people in this thread have already gone back to 10.11.3 using both methods.

 

[seth556]

I came on here a while ago looking for this issue and didn't find anything. Good to see I'm not the only one with this issue, it seems to be happening more frequently.

I also notice when i come home from work my rMBP is off and not sleeping. I had my computer in my bag a few times where I'll hear the fans going full blast, take it out and it's super warm, and nothing comes up on the screen so I have to hold down the power button and turn it off.

Sure hope there's a fix soon!

 

[Clix Pix]

I don't usually allow my rMBP to sleep; when I am finished using it I shut it down completely so I know that sleeping or awakening from sleep is not an issue with my machine.

 

[HurricaneRozz]

Oh look, my computer just froze again lol.......

thanks apple !! you da best.

 

[Pardo83]

An update:

Since my last post here on April 16th I've been able to browse youtube without a single freeze just avoiding Safari and using Chrome instead. But today I had another deep freeze (mouse arrow stuck, had to press power button to turn macbook off) on Chrome as well.

I decided to use Time Machine to revert to 10.11 and everything is working fine since today (I played hours of YouTube videos on Safari just to test).

Unbelievable that we still don't have a fix for this.


EDIT:
Every person I met this month with a mac with El Capitan 10.11.4 is complaining about these freezes. Of course not everyone bothers to register to a forum and post a rant. But the situation is scary

 

[Dr. James]

EDIT:
Every person I met this month with a mac with El Capitan 10.11.4 is complaining about these freezes. Of course not everyone bothers to register to a forum and post a rant. But the situation is scary

There are posts everywhere. I still don't know how Apple has said NOTHING about this, and not even MacRumours has posted anything on the front page.

I bet that non-existent car is more important, hey?

 

[Ja3s0n22]

This is absolutely ridiculous

 

[Clix Pix]

I also have a 15" rMBP which I purchased in December 2015 and (knock on wood) I have not had ANY freezing problems with this machine at all. So far there have been no further occurrences with the 13" rMBP.

 

[appleofmy"i"]

Just had mine lock up again. Just scrolling Twitter this time. Took a video including what iStat said up in the task bar.

I'm just exhausted with this issue.

Edit: 13 inch Macbook Pro purchased new in October 2015

 

[teddybalan]

Yes there is. Two in fact. Restore from backup or clean install.

Several people in this thread have already gone back to 10.11.3 using both methods.

I do not have a backup of 10.11.3. I back up all my work files and documents in the cloud. I did not assume that an OS update can break basic internet browsing.

And where can I get an image of 10.11.3? People seem to have them lying around, but with all my searching I do not seem to find anything...

 

[Antonnn]

OP here.

I'm going to bite the bullet and announce that 10.11.5 beta 4 has fixed the freeze for me.
I am adding back all my extensions, flash, etc. exactly the way I had it before 10.11.4 to test this further.

After one full week of testing with 12-15 hours a day and lots of youtube videos and exclusively Safari use I haven't had a freeze.

Please read my first post for exact details of this issue.

Seems like a lot of people suggest stuff so I'll chime in:

1. Chrome/Firefox/Opera does not fix the issue, if it does, you weren't affected by this specific issue.
2. If you have an older machine (non-2015) you are most likely not affected by this issue(the insanely lag caused by the hard drive cable failure in the macbook pro 2012 comes to mind).
3. Disabling flash doesn't help.
4. The issue is only affecting 10.11.4, if you had it earlier, it's not the issue discussed in this thread.


The solution right now is to wait for 10.11.5 which should be released in about a month-ish.
If you have a time machine backup use that to downgrade to 10.11.3.
If you want to bite the bullet like me and upgrade to the beta, register to the public beta program. (it's free)

If you don't, but you have decent skills searching google and can spot a good blog from a scam, search for an offline full 10.11.3 installer, if you search through this thread you can find more detailed steps on how to do this, including the expired certificate fix.

 

[JesperA]

2. If you have an older machine (non-2015) you are most likely not affected by this issue, you are experiencing another similar issue. (like the insanely lag caused by the hard drive cable failure in the macbook pro 2012 comes to mind).

That is not true.