Questions tagged [hardware]
Matters involving physical computer components, circuitry and parts, as opposed to matters of software or computer programming
262
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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2019 MBP 16" 2.3Ghz i9 severe thermal throttling (Catalina 10.15.5)
Brief Summary
2019 MBP 16" 2.3Ghz i9 shows severe thermal throttling
CPU Frequency hovers around 1.9-2.0 Ghz
Power draw doesn't exceed 30W
Max Temperature only 76ish degrees Celcius
Exporting a ...
6
votes
0
answers
3k
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MacBook 2020 constantly disconnects USB 2.0 devices
The Problem
Since I got my new Macbook Air 2020 (with i5 Upgrade), I encounter a strange and annoying problem every day: The MacBook suddenly looses connection to my USB devices. Namely my external ...
6
votes
1
answer
5k
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unload kext when it is in use or retained (cannot unload)
I want to disable the trackpad on my laptop without a mouse connected. I need this strange functionality because I use synergy (https://symless.com/synergy/) and game with my desktop.
This is what I ...
5
votes
0
answers
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Reading out the SMC
A common troubleshooting advice is to "reset the SMC!"
But it is actually a bit unclear why and how this fixes things up.
Apple also only lists a few symptoms in:
How to reset the System ...
4
votes
0
answers
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Error: Space manager is invalid
My macbook (Mid-2012, Non-retina) crashed today and it beeped. I managed to solve it by this video. Actually it did not solve. So i upgrade to Majove from Sierra. This way, my macbook start to boot. ...
3
votes
0
answers
1k
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iPhone SE 2020 (iOS 16.1) NFC reader not working
My phone is about 2.5 years old, and in that time the NFC reader has worked without problems. But recently my phone stopped being able to read NFC chips - such as wireless payment.
I've tried to ...
3
votes
2
answers
361
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MacBook Pro 2018 overheating
The problem
When I use my laptop, it always heats up a lot in the center above the touch bar on top.
I can feel it quite heated below as well under the top center.
The CPU is fine (no processes going ...
3
votes
0
answers
943
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Is there a way to easily test the speed and power capacity of a USB-C cable?
Specifically in a macOS / iOS household (i.e. not looking for solutions that calls for Windows software).
I have a number from varying sources and definitely they are not equal. For example:
The C-...
3
votes
1
answer
3k
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Crackling/Popping Right Speaker on Mid 2015 15" Macbook Pro
I've only began experiencing this issue this morning, I first noticed it at around 4 AM. Its 1 PM now.
What I've done so far:
Reset PRAM & SMC
Switched Left & Right Speakers. The right ...
3
votes
0
answers
20
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On-Board Display Issue with Weirdly Inconsistent Symptoms (Late 2016MBP)
Late 2016 MBP, MacOS10.13.4, Radeon Pro 460 4096 MB
Over a week ago, my inbuilt display stopped working. Specifically, only the top quarter inch worked. After a few reboots and connecting/...
3
votes
0
answers
1k
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MacBook Pro frequently reboots
I'm going to describe the symptoms I'm seeing, diagnostic steps I've taken, then give the hardware configuration below. I would love to have any suggestions on how to fix this, or where to take my ...
3
votes
0
answers
55
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New MBPs run out of RAM while older MBPs don't
I'm running application tests, spread by ssh across five machines, each running several iPhone simulators.
On the three mid-2015 Sierra machines, I can run seven or so Simulators quite happily.
On ...
3
votes
0
answers
571
views
How can I diagnose if a failing trackpad has a hardware or software cause?
My trackpad is misbehaving, it randomly interprets clicks as swipes and the cursor jumps around or lags on the screen.
How can I find out if this is a hardware or software issue?
I'm on a MacBook Pro ...
3
votes
1
answer
4k
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What is covering my iPhone camera?
Just today I noticed something new covering my iPhone camera lens. It looks like a shutter or aperture blade over the optics, but knowing that the iPhone has neither, I'm really confused. The camera ...
2
votes
0
answers
107
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Mac does not shutdown properly after update to macOS 13.5
Since I updated 16” 2019 MacBookPro (i9) to macOS 13.5, it does not shut down properly.
After a shutdown, the computer simply stays on, for example with the background image.
If the shutdown is ...
2
votes
0
answers
469
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M1 MacBook Air playing both channels of audio out of the left side
My late 2020 M1 MacBook Air has picked up a new quirk: audio from both the left and right channel is only coming out of the left side speaker. What's odd about it is that if I play a "stereo test&...
2
votes
0
answers
325
views
iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017 won't boot after RAM upgrade to 64GB
Currently my iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017 has 4 x 8GB DDR4 (2400MHZ) OEM RAM installed.
I wanted to max out the RAM to the full 64GB allowed for my model, so I purchased 4 x 16GB DDR4 RAM (2400MHz) ...
2
votes
0
answers
836
views
USB Switch not working with Macbook Pro 2018
I am a complete newbie Mac user and I am trying to set up a PC/Mac workstation sharing keyboard, mouse, and headset.
I bought this USB hub
and tried to connect it to my Mac with this USB Type C to USB ...
2
votes
0
answers
131
views
Buzzing sound from every sound output (internal speakers, headphones) on Macbook. Hardware or software?
I recently bought an old Macbook Pro (A1398).
The internal speakers make a buzzing sound; anything plugged into the headphone jack also does.
Is there any way to determine if it is a software problem ...
2
votes
0
answers
145
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Macbook air 2015 trackpad short
I recently spilled some water on my macbook and it stopped working. I opened it up and cleaned all corrosion I found. Thankfully, it booted up but I noticed that the trackpad and keyboard were not ...
2
votes
0
answers
145
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How to use h.264/h.265 hardware decoding in ffmpeg
I know that macOS have h.264/h.265 hardware decoding and encoding support, but I can only find videotoolbox encoder in FFmpeg. Using the same -c:v h264_videotoolbox for decoding does not work. Does ...
2
votes
0
answers
380
views
What's the difference between OWC's HDD/SSD thermal sensor(s) vs shorting the pins/using an ODD thermal sensor/replacing with a bipolar transistor?
When swapping the HDD/SSD in a 2009-2010 iMac, the HDD fan will go haywire if the HDD is not an Apple OEM drive, or some trick is done with the thermal sensor such as shorting its pins, replacing it ...
2
votes
0
answers
983
views
MacBook Pro - High CPU Under Low Workload
I've got the MacBook Pro 16" 2019 (2.3 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 4 GB). Since upgrading to macOS Big Sur, I've been experiencing an issue whereby the system will become ...
2
votes
0
answers
515
views
MacBook Pro 16” and HDMI splitter not working
I recently purchased several HDMI splitters to use with my MacBook Pro (16"). I was hoping to connect one of them like this:
------ Monitor
/
MacBook Pro 16&...
2
votes
0
answers
385
views
Speaker transplant between iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus
I have an iPhone 6s Plus and looking forward to giving it to my little sister. She complains the speaker is too quiet and that's true. You can barely hear any audio from both the earpiece and the ...
2
votes
0
answers
3k
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Right Arrow Key spontaneously stops working after startup
Right Arrow Key spontaneously stops working after startup
Context:
Sometime today, I noticed that my right arrow key was not responding. I first was unable to skip forward 5 seconds on a YouTube ...
2
votes
0
answers
353
views
MacBook Pro 15 uses 60+ GB of swap memory
So, today something quite weird happened. I was watching a video on my MacBook Pro, and I noticed the fans started to ramp up quite a bit. I didn't think too much of it at first, since it often ...
2
votes
0
answers
647
views
MBP 16": Relative ambient heat of i7 v. i9
So for me a very important aspect of devices is their ambient heat. I have an annoying kind of eczema that causes rashes on my hands/skin if I have sustained contact with something warm, and it can be ...
2
votes
0
answers
367
views
Feel electric shocks after using MacBook Pro
I know many people would feel electric shocks when touching a charging MacBook. However, my situation is the opposite: after using MacBook, for example, if I touch the mental door handle, I will be ...
2
votes
0
answers
185
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Macbook 2015 with normal battery won't charge even after SMC
My MacBook won't charge. Here are the things I have done so far:
I tested the MagSafe charger to another laptop to make sure it is not faulty ( MagSafe is working )
I did the SMC reset ( shift + alt +...
2
votes
0
answers
58
views
Booting into macOS installer; possibly stuck
I'm trying to boot into a macOS Sierra installer that I made today. For the last about 20% of the progress bar, it was booting extremely slowly. Now, the progress bar has been stuck for the last ~20 ...
2
votes
0
answers
372
views
Internet Recovery instead of Hardware Diagnostics?
I'm trying to run hardware diagnostics on my mid-2012 MacBook Pro. Whenever I restart when holding D it restarts into Internet Recovery mode instead of Hardware Diagnostics mode. Is there any way to ...
2
votes
0
answers
609
views
Mac keeps randomly restarting after logic board replacement
I got my logic board replaced due to water damage a few days ago and ever since i've got it back, a few times a day my laptop has a kernel panic and restarts. This appears to happen when i leave it on ...
2
votes
0
answers
105
views
Broken Wi-Fi and Ethernet - Reinstalling OS X El Capitan
Recently on my mid 2009 MacBook Pro, the Wi-Fi suddenly stopped working. I tried resetting NVRAM and SMC but to no avail. I thought it may be a hardware fault, but before buying a costly Airport card, ...
2
votes
0
answers
1k
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Early 2011 Macbook Pro faulty GPU or Logic Board?
I have a 15" Macbook Pro from early 2011 and am trying to figure out whether the logic board is broken.
Background and Original Symptoms
In 2016, my Macbook first showed signs of a broken GPU. Since ...
2
votes
0
answers
3k
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Mid-2017 13" Touch Bar Macbook Pro Won't Turn On or Charge
I am trying to diagnose a 13" mid-2017 touch bar MacBook Pro (Model A1706 EMC 3163) that will not charge or turn on.
This issue showed up a few days ago when the Apple-provided charger appeared to ...
2
votes
0
answers
76
views
in iOS 11.3 update screen an extra 2 is appearing with black color on iPhone 8?
When I was updating my iPhone 8 to iOS 11.3 I went to the Software Update screen and there I noticed an extra "2" appearing in black letter after the link
image :-
after HT1222 an extra 2 in black ...
2
votes
0
answers
342
views
MacbookPro 2016 butterfly keys: Where are claws and hooks on "up" and "down" cursor keys
I've successfully removed a regular key following the advice from
MacBook Pro 2016: Keyboard key stuck – how to remove key?
I'm considering doing the same with up/down keys but not 100% sure if the ...
2
votes
0
answers
465
views
Data Recovery Tool to recover lost Chrome User Data Dirs
I have a folder, either </users/an/downloads/user data> or </users/an/downloads/user datas>, that I've accidentally cmd-opt-deleted.
The folder is used to store individual user data ...
2
votes
0
answers
2k
views
What is the best way to deal with coil whine on a Mac laptop?
I have owned my MacBook Pro for a little over a year, and it has been serving me really well. Ever since I first opened it, the device was experiencing the Retina "staining" issue, so Apple recently ...
2
votes
0
answers
899
views
12" Macbook battery health at 88% even with only 53 Load Cycles. Is this normal?
I have a 2016 12" Macbook that's only a little over a year old (and therefore out of warranty) and I'm noticing in Coconutbattery that the battery is 88.5% of it's design capacity even with only 53 ...
2
votes
0
answers
2k
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SD card reader issues mid 2010 MacBook Pro
I’ve been having a few issues with the sd card reader on my mid 2010 MacBook Pro. A few weeks ago every sd card I inserted I could only read from, but not write to. I know the switch on the sd cards ...
2
votes
0
answers
1k
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27" iMac late 2009 - Monitor and graphics card broken
I have a late 2009 27" iMac which has served my well for many years. Unfortunately, it seems the graphics card is broken. Trying to boot normally, I just get the grey screen of death after the initial ...
2
votes
0
answers
240
views
Overheating in Macbook Pro 2016
Suddenly two days ago the fan of my MacBook Pro 13" 2016 no touchbar gets louder a few minutes start up, also the part of the laptop near the bottom of the screen gets hot. It happens whether it ...
2
votes
0
answers
675
views
Permanently killing the dGPU on a MacBook Pro, including on startup
I would like to permanently kill the discrete GPU on my 2011 MacBook Pro 15 so that it will always use the integrated GPU, including on startup.
(WHY? -- my 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro (2.3 i7 quad ...
2
votes
0
answers
2k
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Apple external (magic) keyboard: SHIFT + [ not working
Im having some weird problem. I have connected my magic keyboard via USB.
When I type "[" its working as you see. Also when I type SHIFT + ] I get "}".
PROBLEM: But when I try to type SHIFT + [ I ...
2
votes
0
answers
524
views
iMac 27'' late 2009 with GPU problems gets fixed by reinstalling Mac OS, what can be really happening?
A familiar has given me an iMac 27'' late 2009 because it supposedly got it's GPU broken. When it was given to me, after booting Mac OS X, it got almost frozen only being able to move the mouse in ...
2
votes
0
answers
159
views
Can you determine when the "Service Battery" warning came on for a MacBook?
I have a Macbook Pro 7,1 that may or may not have been damaged from water the other day. I noticed that the battery indicator now has the 'Service Battery' showing. I'm wondering if it's possible to ...
2
votes
0
answers
3k
views
Apple Thunderbolt Display randomly goes black throughout the day
My Mac is connected to two Apple Thunderbolt Displays. The first monitor works without flaw. The second however will randomly turn off its screen 3 to 4 times a day. A quick but annoying fix is to un-...
2
votes
0
answers
144
views
HD fine, SATA cable fine, but MBP internal won’t mount/boot
I’m looking for some advice regarding a specific problem with a MacBook Pro mid-2009 running the latest version of El Capitan.
The basics follow, but I have shared details of the troubleshooting ...