apple news/media reports

11/14/2007, 10:30am, EST

Wednesday, November 14th

Leopard killing MacBook Pro keyboards?

A number of MacBook Pro owners who have upgraded to Mac OS X Leopard are encountering "dead" keyboards, discussions in Apple's support forums indicate. Primarily in the MacBook Pro forum, users are complaining that Leopard seems to be disabling their keyboards and/or trackpads, though only periodically. "Sometimes after the wake up from sleep," complains one user, "after the username/password screen, the keyboard will stop working for a few seconds, then after pressing a few keys, it will get back to work and so on, until I restart the MBP." Others have claimed dead times of a few minutes to several hours.

Although some users have been reporting similar problems without Leopard, installing the operating system appears to be more likely to trigger the problem. "Zero issues whatsoever until installing 10.5," says a user called kenji. "Now, keyboard disappears frequently and intermittently. I would have finished typing this post sooner, but my keyboard was unresponsive every time I opened a new window."

Keyboards may also be more prone to failure after coming out of Sleep mode, and it is suggested that the keyboard themselves may be falling dormant. At least one user is claiming that holding a key for several seconds may revive control; for most other users however, the only solution so far has been rebooting. Apple has not yet commented on the topic.

While Leopard has been welcomed by numerous reviewers, some drawbacks have gradually been revealed, most recently glitches in Time Machine that have in some cases produced either stalled backups or invisible backup sets.


Filed under: Apple

, , 26comments, del.icio.us, slashdot, digg, buzz


26 comments
Reader Reactions (Please use <i></i> for italic text)

subscribe to comments
for this article




Expand All   Global Settings
Me Too
0
11/14, 10:43am, EST
The same thing is happening to my Mini w/1.66 Core Duo.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Aug 2003
User is offline
me three.
0
11/14, 10:57am, EST
My MBP will have no keyboard after waking up 1 out of 5 times or so. Putting the machine back to sleep usually fixes the issue. This began after upgrading to Leopard.
Dedicated MacNNer
Joined Nov 2002
User is offline
Count me as well
0
11/14, 11:12am, EST
My MBP is experiencing the same keyboard issues after installing Leopard. Hopefully a fix will come in 10.5.1.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Apr 2004
User is offline
yeeehs my minions
0
11/14, 11:18am, EST
To all my little guinea pigs, test this cat for me and let the bug fixes come! LEts see if M$ makes mac-pc commercials showing all these problems like apples does to M$ about vista.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Nov 2007
User is offline
No Prob here
0
11/14, 12:39pm, EST
I installed and have been working extensively with Leopard on my MBP without any keyboard problems. I travel to different locations so my MBP is often sleeping while in my car. On average, it goes to sleep about 5 times a day and wakes up just fine. There is only a lag while the hard drive spins up.
I wish
0
11/14, 12:43pm, EST
I wish I had these problems, unfortunately I can't afford a MacBook Pro just yet and will have to make due with my iMac G5.

I have had issues with OS X 10.5 mostly my iPOD doesn't mount I have to reset it every time I connect to my Mac but then it works, and iPhoto 08 crashes frequently and is extremely slow in 10.5, other than that my iLife is good :-)
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Feb 2006
User is offline
Happens on my MacBook
0
11/14, 1:08pm, EST
Yup...I experienced this problem on my MacBook on Monday. I pulled the notebook from my case, hit the space bar to wake it up and the track pad worked well but no keyboard.

I restarted the computer, logged in and all was well. This was not a problem before Leopard. It may be a quirk with my computer as sometimes things happen for no reason regardless of the OS. It does seem that is may be a problem in Leopard, though. I hope this is a not a new issue with 10.5 and my MacBook or it will come off and I will re-install 10.4.10.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Oct 2007
User is offline
Which models?
0
11/14, 1:19pm, EST
Which models of MacBook Pro are affected?
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Jul 2006
User is offline
Tiger does it too
0
11/14, 1:33pm, EST
My mac mini has been having this issue for a couple of months now. The apple keyboard will just stop working until the usb cable is unplugged then plugged back in. This seems to fix the problem until the next day or so. It seems to happen for me more when I am using parallels.

thedude
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Jan 2006
User is offline
Seen it a few times...
0
11/14, 1:36pm, EST
I've had this happen to me only a few times and this just recently. The keyboard just stopped working.
Forum Regular
Joined Aug 2002
User is offline
additional comments:..1..2..3..Next
Your Comments

In order to post comments: If you are a registered member, please login with your MacNN Forums username and password otherwise please uncheck the checkbox below.


Registered Member?
macnn forums login:

macnn forums password:

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

RSS Feeds

Have the latest content delivered to your desktop via RSS. Use the links below to get access to a specific blog, news, or reviews feed.



  MacNN -all

  MacNN Reviews

  MacNN Podcasts

  iPodNN

  Electronista

  Left Lane News
Want To Sell Your Laptop? Any Condition - receive Top Cash. Get an instant quote. Free shipping www.CashForLaptops.com

VMware Fusion for $59.99 - limited time offer: Run Windows on a Mac without rebooting with VMware Fusion

Check Out the VIERA from Panasonic!: Enter a New Visual Era with Panasonic VIERA HDTVs. An Enhanced Experience.

Get an IT Degree Online: Get solid credentials. Take your hobby to the next level. Adult Programs. Affordable.

Join The MyView IT Research Panel: Members will receive opportunities to take part in surveys from today's leading businesses.

VMware Fusion for $59.99 - limited time offer: Run Windows on a Mac without rebooting with VMware Fusion

Buy from The Apple Store, iTunes.com, Amazon.com, TechDepot, OfficeDepot, Computers4Sure, or donate.