MacBook Pro Portable Genius, 5th Edition

Chapter 14: How Do I Solve MacBook Pro Problems?

Although MacBook Pros are among the most reliable and easiest-to-use computers available, they are still complex systems that involve advanced technology, intricate software, and connections to networks, the Internet, and other devices. In other words, there are lots of moving parts. You can expect that every once in a while, something will go wrong. However, with a bit of preparation and some basic troubleshooting, you should be able to recover from most common problems easily.

Looking for Trouble

You should build a MacBook Pro toolkit to troubleshoot and solve problems. This way, you won’t waste lots of time and energy trying to locate or create the tools you need to solve problems. Instead, you can simply put them into action. Here are a few of the most important tools you should have in your toolkit in case of an emergency:

Current backups. Backups are a critical part of your toolkit because restoring your data is the most important task that you need to be able to do. Having a good way to restore your data limits the impact of drastic problems (like your MacBook Pro not working) and makes less significant problems (like the accidental deletion of a file) trivial to solve. Use OS X’s own Time Machine application to back up ...