I was wrong about my 2020 Macbook

I had my 2020 MacBook Pro for over a week before I started to notice some things that were annoying me.  In the ended I decided that despite it being a decent Laptop, it was not what I wanted to spend my money on.  In addition to the couple things that were not quite what I wanted, the Apple Event to announce their first Apple Silicon Macs was on the last day of the return period for the 2020 MacBook Pro.  I decided to send it back and have decided that I really am impressed by what Apple claims their new Apple Silicon systems are capable of even for entry level systems.  I have decided to get the Mac Mini M1 as that was the cheapest way to try the new platform and if it works out ok then I can keep that for a couple years until they have the mid tier MacBook Pro available on Apple Silicon and then take a look at that. 

Finally Found my New Mac

 I have wanted to move to a newer Mac for some time now and have been trying different Mac Computers by ordering from Apple and then returning within the 14 Day Window if they did not meet my expectations.  I tried a Mac mini and thought that was going to be the answer but I decided that I really would miss the ability to be mobile even though I don't use it that often.  I tried a couple different MacBook Pro computers before I landed on the one I have now and I think I finally have the one that I will keep.  I have always had Quad Core 15" MacBook Pro Computers in the past and to be honest I probably didn't need a quad core all the time but I liked having it when I needed some power.  Apple doesn't make a 15" any more so I tried a couple of 16" MacBook Pro's and they were great computers but I decided that they were more expensive than what I really wanted to spend and I really wanted something a little smaller to take with me when I leave my desk.  I ended up with a 13" Quad Core I5 and so far it is running great.  I got it with extra RAM because it does not have a discrete GPU and I also want some head room for the rare times that I want to run a VM.  I have it connected via a single TB3 cable to my Caldigit Dock and that allows me to connect my Keyboard, Mouse, two monitors, backup drive and it also charges the computer.  I had heard a number of people that had said they had run too hot but that has not been my experience.  It idles around 120 and the fans don't even run most of the time.  I am anxious to see what the Apple ARM Laptops will look like in the future but not for a couple years when the bugs get worked out.  I have zero complaints about this new 13" MacBook Pro right now.

Computer Change of Plans

I had decided to get rid of my 2015 Macbook Pro and get a 2018 Mac Mini instead.  My plans changed due to some issues with the Mac Mini.  The biggest issue I had was that I could not connect the new Mac Mini out of the box to my existing monitors.  Apple changed something in the boot process and the resolution that the adapter used during the boot process for the HDMI interface would not connect to my existing monitors.  I was able to get around that by connecting the Mini to a TV in my office but I really did not want to have to run a cable across the room every time I needed to reboot the Mac Mini.  What a pain.  I have now read about others with similar issues that have had some success using a USB-C to DVI Adapter and connecting there instead but I decided that I didn't want to deal with it and sent the Mac Mini back.  I am just going to upgrade the storage on my MacBook Pro and keep using it for a while.

Mac Pro Experiment Done

Last fall I purchased a used Mac Pro because I had always wanted one and found a decent deal on one locally. I made a number of updates to it and enjoyed using it but I decided this summer that the experiment had run its course. The Mac Pro had plenty of power for running some multi threaded apps but most of my daily work did not really benefit from it. I also really missed having a computer that I could take with me when I wanted to work some where other than my desk. I ended up selling it this summer and replaced it with a 2015 MacBook Pro. I am not really ready to make the jump to the new Macs with all USB C ports so this Mac is the best I can get.

Sonnet Echo 15 Impressions

I have been looking at Thunderbolt Docks for my MacBook Pro for some time and finally took the plunge. I decided to purchase the Sonnet Echo 15. It was the most expensive of the docks that I looked at but I decided to get it because of the extensive functionality it offered. It would give me USB 3 on my older MacBook Pro and still has FireWire and esata. It also included an optical drive and room for a hard drive.

When I first unpacked the dock I liked the look of it. It did not look cheap like some others I looked at. I plugged in my peripherals and monitor and things worked right away. I didn't start having issues until I loaded the driver and rebooted. When I rebooted I found that I first had to login to my MacBook and let it finish booting up before I could use the keyboard and mouse. I have a usb keyboard and mouse and when I have them plugged into the Mac instead of the dock I can boot up and login on the external keyboard and display.

The second issue that I found was that when I plugged my speakers into the dock I only got sound out of one of them. I then unplugged the input cable and plugged it back into my MacBook and sound returned to normal.

The fan on the dock is not loud but is noticeable. If that was the only problem with the dock I would keep it but it's not. For a dock that costs almost $500 I expect to have no issues. I will be returning the dock and will be back to my original setup.

 

More Macbook

So after a week of stress testing my Macbook and not being able to replicate the failure that I had but noticing that it is still running hot I took my Macbook back to the Applestore and explained the situation to them.  Since it was still under Applecare for a couple weeks they agreed to send it in to their depot to be repaired.  I had it back in 3 days and so far it is running much cooler.  At the depot they replace the logic board as well as both fans.  I am hoping that this will last for sometime since my Applecare runs out in 11 days and I would really like to keep using this Macbook for at least a couple more years. For the most part it has run well for me and I don't want to spend money on a new one for at least another year minimum.

2011 Macbook Pro Failure

This afternoon around lunch time I was checking Facebook on my Macbook Pro when I encountered something entirely new.  As I was scrolling down the screen my screen froze and I could hear the fans on my Macbook Pro kicking into high gear.  After a minute or two my Macbook Pro rebooted but it would not boot back up for me to use it.  It would boot to a gray screen and then sit there with the Fans screaming.  I then disconnected my Macbook Pro from my KVM and tried to boot it connected to nothing but power and it still would not boot beyond that gray screen.  I tried everything I could think of and could not get the system to boot.

Through some patience and trial and error I was able to get my Macbook to boot for a short while but it failed again as soon as I plugged in my external monitor.

After this I decided to do some research and found that I was not alone.  There were many reports of 2011 Macbook Pros failing with issues related to the Discrete Graphics Adapter in them.  I went ahead and made an appointment at the Apple Store for the next time I could make it and did some reading to see how bad it really was.

Here is one of the more active sources of the information that I have found in relation to this issue.

Discussion in Apple Support Forums.  There are over 11K responses in this thread.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4766577?start=0&tstart=0

Going to try more tonight to see what I can do.