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Thursday, September 21, 2006

When RSS = Random Shutdown Syndrome

Posted by on September 21 at 10:43 AM

This morning my brand new MacBook shut down, randomly, for no apparent reason. This seemed a bad omen and I mentioned it to a tech-savvy friend who, in short order, discovered a whole universe of people with the same problem.

He also discovered a cryptic acknowledgment of the problem from Apple.

And then, of course, there’s the YouTube video of Random Shutdown Syndrome, which is about as entertaining as watching video of Brad Steinbacher eating a sandwich, but heartening, I guess, in that “someone else has my problem” sort of way.

Wondering if your cute new MacBook has Random Shutdown Syndrome? Here’s a simple test that might tell you.


CommentsRSS icon

well, just take it to an apple store and have them fix it.

I have a new MacBook too. Does the exact same thing. When it shuts down it saves the docs you're working on but it happens so often that I have multiple coppies.
The other charming feature is the plastic case is falling apart. I now can see into my month-old computer. I want my old powerbook back.
If this is the way mac is going to build their machines I might as well save the money and buy a windows piece of shit.

warranty, warranty, warranty.

the few times i've gotten a mac that has been shoddy, i've walked to the apple store, and they either fix it or replace it.

of course, having bought a mac a few months ago, you know you have a one-year warranty and 90 days of free tech support...

Yes, Tim. I knew I would lure you to the dark side eventually.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Heh!

It's a known problem, with a known cause, and a known (simple) fix. As the other commentors have said, take it in and get it taken care of. (It does not affect all MacBooks, or even most. Mine is fine.)

Apple is subject to excessive scrutiny on these kinds of problems because they make their own hardware and people have impossibly high standards for them.

"Windows" isn't a computer, it's an operating system. Dell, Toshiba, IBM, Compaq, they all make machines with problems. These things are complicated. It's not a toaster. They'll fix it.

Mine had the shutdown problem about a month ago. It requires replacing the heat sink and your computer spends about a week away from you at a glorius service depot.

On the upside, they'll replace the bezel (top part of the case where the keyboard sits) and your macbook will look all snazzy new again.

"Apple is subject to excessive scrutiny on these kinds of problems because they make their own hardware and people have impossibly high standards for them."

Uh, no, Apple is subject to high scrutiny because they run ads that promote the idea that their computers are relatively problem-free. Windows machines have a lot of day-to-day hiccups but Macs seem to suffer from more catastrophic problems, as least from the sample of my friends who have Macs.

"Uh, no, Apple is subject to high scrutiny because they run ads that promote the idea that their computers are relatively problem-free. ...

From your post it sounds like you've never owned or used a Mac for an extended period - so you really aren't in a position to comment on the MacOS.

As Not Unique rightly states, Windows is an OS not a computer and Windows is the source of most PC problems. Perhaps Vista will fix this. We shall see one of these years.

My Dell and other Dells have done it as well. The CPU overheats. The sudden shutdown is a built-in safety valve.

Clearly, your computer is heating more rapidly than it should. I got a Targus chill mat rather than package my laptop and live without it for 3-6 weeks, hoping Dell would fix the problem.

Lucky for you apple acknowledged the problem... they aren't so good about that. An update to the os caused my wireless card to malfunction, an online check revealed it's a common occurence. I upgrade to the very latest operating system, nothing. My new sony works great.

Join the rest of us over at www.macbookrandomshutdown.com

I have the same problem (and had one of the recall batteries). It's absolutely killing me.

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