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Is this the end of my MBP? 😩

P

Peter Franks

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 9, 2011
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I have tried numerous times to switch on, and if I ever get past the log in, in less than a minute the first ‘problem’ pic appears, followed by the second, and then sits on apple logo till I power off. Or more often than not, it turns itself off. Nothing seems to help. I tried to start in safe, but that fails also, and I dare say would switch itself off again if it ever did.

Question being, I realise this is a 2011 MBP running High Sierra and it owes me nothing, but I’ve relied on it most days and it would be good to get something out of it. I don’t find the iPad I’m on now as easy to do stuff on at all. I’d like to think the SSD is still OK, but I’m beginning to wonder, as my last back up is a fair while ago. Any advice, other than throw it away, would be most appreciated.

I assume the problem isn’t because of the drive as it switches off and is deeper than that? Or I’d swap out drive.

Thanks for any help.
IMG_7356.jpegIMG_7358.jpegIMG_7359.jpeg
 
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"... this is a 2011 MBP"

IMPORTANT QUESTION:
What size is the display?

If it's 15" -- could be a failed GPU. At this point, not worth fixing.

If it's 13" -- something else. A kernel panic (first image) is usually an indication of something amiss with hardware. Did you ever add RAM to this one? Does it have the original HDD, or did you install a replacement drive?

After 14 years, might be time for something new (or a little newer).
Do they have Apple-refurbished Macs "over there" ...?
 
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Fishrrman said:
"... this is a 2011 MBP"

IMPORTANT QUESTION:
What size is the display?

If it's 15" -- could be a failed GPU. At this point, not worth fixing.

If it's 13" -- something else. A kernel panic (first image) is usually an indication of something amiss with hardware. Did you ever add RAM to this one? Does it have the original HDD, or did you install a replacement drive?

After 14 years, might be time for something new (or a little newer).
Do they have Apple-refurbished Macs "over there" ...?
Click to expand...
It’s a 13inch, and yes I swapped RAM several years ago, 2 x 4GB cards as well as a new Samsung SSD 500GB drive. I’ve never had a problem with either. But possibly RAM card can cause this screen?

Problem being, it doesn’t stay on long enough to do anything at all to it
I have tried getting on a dozen times. One or two occasions I get to desktop but it’s less than a minute before it shuts down if I do get desktop.

Would love to get a new MBP. As per, finances…… iPhone and iPad doing the heavy lifting sadly.

MBAir2010 said:
swap the drive, I had this problem several times during the happy 2000s-2010  days.
Click to expand...

It’s not the original drive, but would a SSD cause this problem?

Thanks both of you.
 
Try to boot from an external disk. It could be that the internal SATA is not working anymore. It happens often on those models.
 
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galad said:
Try to boot from an external disk. It could be that the internal SATA is not working anymore. It happens often on those models.
Click to expand...
Tried it mate. Had one which was my back up from year ago. It just turned itself off again.
 
One other thing you could try would be to remove the RAM modules, and "swap their positions", replacing them. Perhaps a dirty contact or something like that?

This may help, maybe not.
It's just a long shot, but something worth trying.

If that doesn't help, might be time to take the internal SSD out of it (may be useful somewhere else) and retire the rest...
 
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Fishrrman said:
One other thing you could try would be to remove the RAM modules, and "swap their positions", replacing them. Perhaps a dirty contact or something like that?

This may help, maybe not.
It's just a long shot, but something worth trying.

If that doesn't help, might be time to take the internal SSD out of it (may be useful somewhere else) and retire the rest...
Click to expand...
Thanks man. Will try. You’re correct of course. It’s way past its sell by and may have to retire it. I just know I’ll miss the USB ports, and the DVD drive I use to get CDs in the old iTunes, believe it or not. Hate all those adapters for the old USB you have to use on the new ones. Just praying SSD isn’t corrupted and I can drag and drop from it.
 
Bigwaff said:
Run Apple Diagnostics. Hopefully will still work with older hardware.

Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

Apple Diagnostics, formerly known as Apple Hardware Test, can check your Mac for hardware issues.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
Click to expand...
Wont stay on. If it ever shows the desktop, during the dozens of trying to start it up, it goes back to white log in screen in less than a minute, even if you do nothing, but without the log in box, and nothing can be done other than use power switch to turn it off.
 
DoubleU said:
It looks like it is coming up with the Prohibitory symbol so you could try re-installing Mac OS from Recovery if you haven't tried already - https://support.apple.com/en-us/101666
Click to expand...
Thanks, I can’t get it to stay on long enough to do that, yet.
Htsi said:
Can also try with just one RAM stick instead of two if one is defective
Click to expand...
Thank you. Will give that another go.

If the storage gets dangerously high on a Samsung 500GB SSD, can that cause a start up problem. Other than the age of the machine, it’s the only other red flag I can think of at present

EDIT:

Swapped over the RAM cards, and it brought it back to life, initially….. then shut down again. Tried the single card in varying slots, but that also only worked temporarily till black screen. Now, it won’t switch on at all, and it’s 90% battery charged.

My tech expertise extends to changing the SSD, the battery 3 times, and taking out RAM cards. Anything over and above that, like soldering etc., that’s not me. Time to try and get a loan and a new MBP.
 
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Peter Franks said:
it would be good to get something out of it.
Click to expand...
Getting 14 years out of a laptop, especially one that has known hardware defects definitely qualifies as getting something out of it.

1759743323293.png


At this point how much money and time are you willing to invest in something that is most likely not coming back?
 
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Try booting off a USB installer drive. If the installer shows up, then that rules out issues with the mainboard. Try a full wipe+reinstall.
 
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maflynn said:
Getting 14 years out of a laptop, especially one that has known hardware defects definitely qualifies as getting something out of it.

View attachment 2564262

At this point how much money and time are you willing to invest in something that is most likely not coming back?
Click to expand...
Fair comments. I have no experience of the newer MBPs, but I'll wager they won't last as long, or allow the change of RAM and SSD as easily, no CD to load music, not enough USB ports etc... or am I wrong?
adib said:
Try booting off a USB installer drive. If the installer shows up, then that rules out issues with the mainboard. Try a full wipe+reinstall.
Click to expand...
It powers down too much, the main problem is the shut down. The best I got out of it, was putting back the original RAM cards, I had 2 x 4GB OWC which I installed 7 years ago, and the very old 'Hynix Korea' 2 x 2GB cards I put back in gave it some life. Do they even still exist as a company?
 
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Peter Franks said:
Tried it mate. Had one which was my back up from year ago. It just turned itself off again.
Click to expand...
If it won't boot from the internal and it won't boot from an external, then it's hardware. I'd agree that it's time to call it.

Peter Franks said:
I have no experience of the newer MBPs, but I'll wager they won't last as long, or allow the change of RAM and SSD as easily, no CD to load music, not enough USB ports etc... or am I wrong?
Click to expand...
You were very lucky to get as long as you did out of your 2011 model -- one of the most notoriously unreliable models.

I've had several Mac laptops over the years, and my 16" M1 Pro MBP is by far my favourite, even allowing for inevitable progress. It's extremely well-built; the screen is beautiful; the battery life incredible (even after 4 years!); and the performance awesome.

Yes, there's no CD player -- but let's face it: downloads and streaming are how most people buy music these days. You can plug-in a drive on the occasions when you need to rip a CD, of course. (Apple has just stopped selling the SuperDrive -- see if you can get one secondhand, quick!)

The MB Airs come with 2 USB C ports (plus MagSafe charging port); the MBP Pros comes with 3 USB-C, plus SD-card reader, HDMI and MagSafe port. If you really need a range of peripherals or ports, you can use a hub to provide additional multiple USB-A, Ethernet, and anything else.

It's true that you can't increase or swap the RAM -- but soldered RAM does tend to be more reliable. So, yes, you'll need to buy it with the RAM and disk storage that you need for the life of the machine. For most "normal" uses, 16Gb is plenty. You might need more if you're doing specialist tasks, like audio production, massive data analysis, or if you need to actively use a bunch of pro apps all at the same time. But, if you were doing high-performance tasks, you wouldn't still be on a 2011 MBP.... 😆 24Gb or 32Gb will "future-proof" it (as much as anything can); but you don't need to go mad with more than that.

I guarantee you, compared to a 2011 MBP, a brand new Mac laptop will seem like alien technology. (In a good way.) They're not cheap, but divided by the years of service you'll get, it's a good investment.

Also -- it's a good time to buy. We're 4 years into a tried and tested design. It's not like they've just introduced some new keyboard technology, or a software-dependent touch interface, or some new component from a third party....
 
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benwiggy said:
If it won't boot from the internal and it won't boot from an external, then it's hardware. I'd agree that it's time to call it.


You were very lucky to get as long as you did out of your 2011 model -- one of the most notoriously unreliable models.

I've had several Mac laptops over the years, and my 16" M1 Pro MBP is by far my favourite, even allowing for inevitable progress. It's extremely well-built; the screen is beautiful; the battery life incredible (even after 4 years!); and the performance awesome.

Yes, there's no CD player -- but let's face it: downloads and streaming are how most people buy music these days. You can plug-in a drive on the occasions when you need to rip a CD, of course. (Apple has just stopped selling the SuperDrive -- see if you can get one secondhand, quick!)

The MB Airs come with 2 USB C ports (plus MagSafe charging port); the MBP Pros comes with 3 USB-C, plus SD-card reader, HDMI and MagSafe port. If you really need a range of peripherals or ports, you can use a hub to provide additional multiple USB-A, Ethernet, and anything else.

It's true that you can't increase or swap the RAM -- but soldered RAM does tend to be more reliable. So, yes, you'll need to buy it with the RAM and disk storage that you need for the life of the machine. For most "normal" uses, 16Gb is plenty. You might need more if you're doing specialist tasks, like audio production, massive data analysis, or if you need to actively use a bunch of pro apps all at the same time. But, if you were doing high-performance tasks, you wouldn't still be on a 2011 MBP.... 😆 24Gb or 32Gb will "future-proof" it (as much as anything can); but you don't need to go mad with more than that.

I guarantee you, compared to a 2011 MBP, a brand new Mac laptop will seem like alien technology. (In a good way.) They're not cheap, but divided by the years of service you'll get, it's a good investment.

Also -- it's a good time to buy. We're 4 years into a tried and tested design. It's not like they've just introduced some new keyboard technology, or a software-dependent touch interface, or some new component from a third party....
Click to expand...
Thank you. Much appreciated detailed analysis. I have got great life out of the 2011. I think people from the UK will understand what I mean when I compare it to Trigger's broom, the road sweeper from a sitcom where the character receives an award for saving the council money by using the same broom for twenty years, despite it receiving seventeen new heads and fourteen new handles. Akin to my changing the hard drives, RAM cards and several batteries.
The only thing I can complain about is the card reader never worked properly, the fans came on for pretty much anything and everything, even on start up, sometimes drowning out YouTube videos I was watching. But if anything made me a confirmed loyal to Apple, it was the 2011 MBP and the iPhone 4, just prior.

How much do I need to sell off for one of these MBP beauts.....between the £2000 and the £1600? How much will I notice the difference on saving £400 between these two? My main usage is emails, web, Photoshop, some iMovie edits and some editing in Garageband, if indeed either of them still exist in alien tech world anymore. I'm guessing it may be a safer bet than the Air?

M4Pro
12-Core CPU
16-Core GPU
24GB Unified Memory
512GB SSD Storage

M4
10-Core CPU
10-Core GPU
16GB Unified Memory
512GB SSD Storage
 
For basic task and some iMovie and Garageband you wont see much of a difference. For Photoshop, it depends on what are you actually doing.
On the other hand, noticing that you like to keep your device for a loooong time, the M4Pro should be the better option down the road (much more headroom).
 
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You could get the MB Air with 10/10 core CPU, 24 RAM and 512 storage for £1,400. You could use the spare £200 for 1TB of storage.

The only difference is a slightly smaller screen, and fewer ports.

Alternatively, for £2000, I'd go with the base M4, but 24Gb RAM and 1 Tb storage.

Will you actually need/use/notice the extra 2 / 6 cores of the Pro? Probably only in terms of a couple of seconds difference in tasks that are taking around a minute anyway. The top-end Pro, with 14 / 20 cores is a different matter.


Peter Franks said:
My main usage is emails, web, Photoshop, some iMovie edits and some editing in Garageband, if indeed either of them still exist in alien tech world anymore.
Click to expand...
Emails and web are rounding errors on CPU. iMovie and Garageband still exist, and there are Youtube videos of people being amazed by what even the original M1 chips could do with video and audio.

As for "Photoshop": people are doing live colour filter layers on 8K video with Mx Pros and Maxes. For photo images, batch processing, colour correction and a bunch of adjustment layers aren't really difficult tasks anymore. (I'm old enough to remember when people would benchmark a Radial Blur in several minutes...)
 
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Silvestru Hosszu said:
For basic task and some iMovie and Garageband you wont see much of a difference. For Photoshop, it depends on what are you actually doing.
On the other hand, noticing that you like to keep your device for a loooong time, the M4Pro should be the better option down the road (much more headroom).
Click to expand...
Thanks, I don't think I'll end up being as attached to the newer ones as I am to the 2011, but will see what I can muster up after selling some bits
benwiggy said:
You could get the MB Air with 10/10 core CPU, 24 RAM and 512 storage for £1,400. You could use the spare £200 for 1TB of storage.

The only difference is a slightly smaller screen, and fewer ports.

Alternatively, for £2000, I'd go with the base M4, but 24Gb RAM and 1 Tb storage.

Will you actually need/use/notice the extra 2 / 6 cores of the Pro? Probably only in terms of a couple of seconds difference in tasks that are taking around a minute anyway. The top-end Pro, with 14 / 20 cores is a different matter.



Emails and web are rounding errors on CPU. iMovie and Garageband still exist, and there are Youtube videos of people being amazed by what even the original M1 chips could do with video and audio.

As for "Photoshop": people are doing live colour filter layers on 8K video with Mx Pros and Maxes. For photo images, batch processing, colour correction and a bunch of adjustment layers aren't really difficult tasks anymore. (I'm old enough to remember when people would benchmark a Radial Blur in several minutes...)
Click to expand...
I think as you said earlier, anything over and above a 14 year old Mac will be like lightning. So the base M4 over the M4 Pro you think is a better sell. I wouldn't notice much difference probably, as I only have my museum piece to compare it to. The only reason I discounted the Air was not for anything other than the speakers on the MBP are supposedly that much better, so I keep hearing?
 
Well, the Pro does have higher spec over the Air -- otherwise there wouldn't be any point. The Air is fanless, so if you are pushing the CPU hard, it will throttle the CPU; whereas the Pro will turn the fans on. (Though I've never pushed my M1 Pro MBP hard enough to hear the fans..!)
Yes, the speakers are better on the Pro, there are more ports; though the Air is lighter, if that's a consideration. You might want to check if the screens are the same quality. The Air is 13", rather than 14", don't forget.

As ever, when your budget constrains your choices, you'll have to make some compromises. By sacrificing the MBP in favour of the Air, you can spend more on higher spec RAM and storage. It's a thought.

I'd definitely go to an Apple Store and have a look at the Air and MBP, and see what you think. If you smile sweetly, they may even test the speakers for you.
 
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Peter Franks said:
Wont stay on. If it ever shows the desktop, during the dozens of trying to start it up, it goes back to white log in screen in less than a minute, even if you do nothing, but without the log in box, and nothing can be done other than use power switch to turn it off.
Click to expand...
Diagnosis mode runs off of memory, if its booting to desktop when attempting to enter Diagnosis mode you are doing it wrong. If it shuts off in diagnosis mode then either your RAM or CPU/GPU is bad. It completely bypasses storage.

Turn on your Mac, then immediately press and hold the D key on your keyboard as your Mac starts up. If using the D key doesn't work, press and hold Option (⌥)-D at startup instead.

Don't let go until you see a progress bar.
 
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Peter Franks said:
Thanks, I don't think I'll end up being as attached to the newer ones as I am to the 2011, but will see what I can muster up after selling some bits

I think as you said earlier, anything over and above a 14 year old Mac will be like lightning. So the base M4 over the M4 Pro you think is a better sell. I wouldn't notice much difference probably, as I only have my museum piece to compare it to. The only reason I discounted the Air was not for anything other than the speakers on the MBP are supposedly that much better, so I keep hearing?
Click to expand...
Speakers are good on the Air but better on the Pro especially the bigger one. Physics is at play here the more space and the better grill the better the sound. Notably the screen is much better on the new pros vs the air. Get the nano texture display if you do any work outside or near bright windows. The difference is night and day.
 
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benwiggy advised:
"Alternatively, for £2000, I'd go with the base M4, but 24Gb RAM and 1 Tb storage."

Good advice for the future.

Peter Franks:
As I'll guess you've discovered by now, you CAN'T expand installed RAM or SSD size in the new m-series MacBooks.

But... the "pro" models (both m4 and m4pro) offer a nice complement of ports
3 thunderbolt/USBc
SD card slot
HDMI port
Headphone port

KEEP IN MIND that if you buy "a base model" with the minimum RAM and SSD size today, it's likely going to become very "constrained" as the requirements of the OS and software grow in the years to come.

So... grit your teeth and get something with "a little more" TODAY, to give it growing room for the years to come.

If it was me, I'd spring for 32 or 36gb of RAM. But 24 will do, certainly better than 16 or 18.

Does Apple have an online refurbished store in the UK?
If they do, you can save money by buying from them.
I've bought my last two Minis that way -- very satisfied.
 
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