Katie MarsalSome users of Apple's Intel-based portables are reporting that their keyboards are periodically seizing up during use, especially after upgrading to Mac OS X Leopard.
More drastic steps such as resetting the PRAM on the system fail to return the keyboard to life, system owners say. The flaw also appears to plague Intel-based portables regardless of their age, as reports demonstrate the lockups occurring with original MacBooks from mid-2006, MacBook Pros, as well as the new MacBooks introduced early this month .
Third-party software is also being dismissed as the culprit by owners of the Mac notebooks, as systems with different combinations of third-party software and even untouched installations reportedly suffer from the problem.
In nearly all cases, the root cause appears to be Mac OS X Leopard, whether preloaded with a new system or installed afterwards on an existing computer. The freezes may not begin immediately, but sometimes pick up in frequency over time and are not affected by the 10.5.1 software patch or similar updates.
"This problem has only occurred with Leopard," one user at Apple's forum says. "Everything has been fine for the last 6 months on Tiger."
No readily identifiable fixes or specific errors have been found, although some report success by forcing Finder to quit and relaunch. One user also notes that his internal keyboard disappears from the USB device list of Apple's System Profiler utility when unresponsive.
Apple is not known to have characterized the random freezing as a widespread issue and is so far attributing the flaw to hardware, offering to replace keyboards for at least some users who contact technical support. And to date, those customers aware of the apparent connection have been unable to persuade the Mac maker's representatives that a common link exists.
"I took my MacBook into the Apple Store today," notes one MacBook owner. "I told [Apple's Geniuses] about this thread and they basically dismissed the idea that it could have something to do with Leopard. [...] I think it's strange that they don't even want to listen to any ideas."
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
90 Comments
A big thank you to AI for highlighting this issue.
I have experienced the trouble on a Core 2 MacBook Pro but not nearly as bad as some of the situations explained.
But I do suffer with the keyboard almost being asleep, I can start typing and it only seems to start recognising what I'm typing two or three characters in, anyone else got this?
This is not a Leopard-only issue. This has happened to me 5 or 6 times on Tiger, on my 1st gen black MacBook. It doesn't happen whilst using it, only when waking from sleep. Normally I put it to sleep and then re-awaken it but sometimes it requires a full restart.
"I think it's strange that they don't even want to listen to any ideas."
Apple Geniuses hear a ZILLION crazy things, and forums are filled with zillions more. There aren't enough hours in the day for them to go poking through every forum thread people mention, looking for the gems of truth--which still will be no more than theory, not final proof. So I'm sure they HAVE to go with what Apple has found to be proven and passes along to them.
Still, I'm sure they log the data of the incident, including the OS, which helps Apple track these things down.
I sympathize with those having the problems. I have had no such problems yet on my MacBook Pro 2.2 running Leopard. I am keeping my fingers crossed. These sorts of problems have to be hard to pin down. From what I have read on the forums, this is happening with laptops with various configurations, various models and with both Tiger and Leopard. It is quite possible that different factors may be involved in different cases. I am certainly no expert but finding a common thread throughout all the complaints seems to be quite difficult. While some seem to rule out third party software conflicts, I suspect that such conflicts are responsible in at least some of the cases. I would be interested to know if this is a widespread problem or how many others, like myself, are not having the problem yet.
"I think it's strange that they don't even want to listen to any ideas."
Apple Geniuses hear a ZILLION crazy things, and forums are filled with zillions more. There aren't enough hours in the day for them to go poking through every forum thread people mention, looking for the gems of truth--which still will be no more than theory, not final proof. So I'm sure they HAVE to go with what Apple has found to be proven and passes along to them.
Still, I'm sure they log the data of the incident, including the OS, which helps Apple track these things down.
Although I like Apple, I swear the majority of the geniuses are ignorant. It seems as though they drank the kool-aid and would die for Jobs himself. They typically play the role of a guilty plaintiff, deny, deny, deny. Apple has great products, but their employees desperately need customer service training. (They ARE getting better though, it used to be a whole lot worse)