Strange MacBook Behavior - Unable to Click After Being Idle
Aug 9, 2017, 1:31 pm
#1
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Strange MacBook Behavior - Unable to Click After Being Idle
Curious if anyone has experienced this very strange, and transient behavior with their 2016-7 MacBook Pro TB.
Essentially after being idle or sleeping, lid closed or opened, you can move the cursor, but cannot actually click anything. This affects both the keyboard, touchpad and BT mouse - the behavior is the same.
The end result is a forced reboot holding down the power button because the laptop is unusable at that point even though it's not frozen.
The behavior is transient, but seems to happen more often when something is plugged into one of the ports, either power, or an iPhone, etc. It was rare a month ago, but has been steadily increasing in frequency to the point where it is happening every time the laptop goes idle now with something plugged in.
The issue has also survived through a OS update, and multiple resets of SMC and NVRAM. Apple support feels it's hardware, but I am wondering if it's software - however they are sending me to the Apple Store to check it with the Genius Bar.
Essentially after being idle or sleeping, lid closed or opened, you can move the cursor, but cannot actually click anything. This affects both the keyboard, touchpad and BT mouse - the behavior is the same.
The end result is a forced reboot holding down the power button because the laptop is unusable at that point even though it's not frozen.
The behavior is transient, but seems to happen more often when something is plugged into one of the ports, either power, or an iPhone, etc. It was rare a month ago, but has been steadily increasing in frequency to the point where it is happening every time the laptop goes idle now with something plugged in.
The issue has also survived through a OS update, and multiple resets of SMC and NVRAM. Apple support feels it's hardware, but I am wondering if it's software - however they are sending me to the Apple Store to check it with the Genius Bar.
Aug 15, 2017, 3:17 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Hertfordshire, UK
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This happens to my 2015 Macbook Pro. It also happens when in use occasionally, it just freezes and even plugging in a USB mouse does nothing - no power to the USB port as there is no light under the mouse. Only started happening after update to OSX 10.12.6 and there doesn't appear to be any resolution to this as none of the "solutions" on the Apple boards work for me. There's definately a problem somewhere with o/s as even when typing this response it sometimes misses characters that I type so it looks like some sort of creeping problem that starts with the keyboard and the eventually freezes all th I/O.
Aug 15, 2017, 4:26 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Hertfordshire, UK
Programs: SQ,CX,LX
Posts: 343
I'm not running anything special, just a vanilla Macbook Pro no VMWare or anythig like that and no additional peripherals. I read on the boards that some users have had problems with attached 3rd party "mice" software and deleteing that fixes the problem but no good for me as I only use the built-in keyboard and Trackpad.
Aug 15, 2017, 1:32 pm
#6
Join Date: Feb 2012
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Yes! I had this issue about a month ago. I couldn't click on the trackpad or anything; I legitimately thought something had spilled or got stuck in there. At that point I had barely used the computer for the past few months.
I rebooted the computer and it started working again. Still not sure what actually happened.
I rebooted the computer and it started working again. Still not sure what actually happened.
Aug 19, 2017, 9:08 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Hertfordshire, UK
Programs: SQ,CX,LX
Posts: 343
Well, there's been a serious development with my 2014 13" MacBook Pro.
While I was making coffee yesterday afternoon I heard a strange noise and it was my laptop which was lying idle on the countertop, the fan started going crazy even though the laptop wasn't being used so I rapidly shut it down which took a lot longer push of the "start" button than normal. After shutdown I started it OK and thought no more about it but when I came to back it up later on I lifted the lid and the screen was completely unreadable and going mad. I shut it down and started it again but there was no difference so either the screen is kaput or the GPU on the motherboard has gone. This is the second screen, the last one was replaced last year due to the original one delaminating. I checked my documentation and luckily my 3 year Apple care expires at the end of this month so it's covered. I took it into the Apple Store this morning, they checked and said it was indeed covered until the end of this month, whew!! They did say that either way it's a very expensive repair and if it hadn't been covered they reckon it wouldn't be worth repairing!!! They'll let me know on Tuesday what the problem is and how long it will be (it was 10 days last time the screen was replaced). I wanted to extend the Apple Care but it's not possible beyond 3 years so if it goes wrong again I'm staring down the barrel of £2k for a new equivalent model which is a bummer if these things are only built to last 3/4 years.
While I was making coffee yesterday afternoon I heard a strange noise and it was my laptop which was lying idle on the countertop, the fan started going crazy even though the laptop wasn't being used so I rapidly shut it down which took a lot longer push of the "start" button than normal. After shutdown I started it OK and thought no more about it but when I came to back it up later on I lifted the lid and the screen was completely unreadable and going mad. I shut it down and started it again but there was no difference so either the screen is kaput or the GPU on the motherboard has gone. This is the second screen, the last one was replaced last year due to the original one delaminating. I checked my documentation and luckily my 3 year Apple care expires at the end of this month so it's covered. I took it into the Apple Store this morning, they checked and said it was indeed covered until the end of this month, whew!! They did say that either way it's a very expensive repair and if it hadn't been covered they reckon it wouldn't be worth repairing!!! They'll let me know on Tuesday what the problem is and how long it will be (it was 10 days last time the screen was replaced). I wanted to extend the Apple Care but it's not possible beyond 3 years so if it goes wrong again I'm staring down the barrel of £2k for a new equivalent model which is a bummer if these things are only built to last 3/4 years.