Although the problem is quite common, after googling for several hours I didn't find an appropriate solution for my particular case.
I got a 2011 MacBook pro with the latest OS (El Capitan) and it has the following problems.
- After several minutes of inactivity it hibernates and eventually I can't turn it back on. It only shows a black display and doesn't respond to any action. Thanks to the power button I can only turn it off.
- Turning on the mac requires me 20 minutes of trial and error. I have to try almost 15 times to boot it. It gets stuck on a progress bar screen which doesn't go further than 50%. Sometimes the progress bar is gone and a white blank screen appears. I have tried to boot with safe mode and the same thing happens.
I am worried that this can be a hardware problem. If that's not the case how can I "cure" this strange behaviour.
Best Answer
It is likely the issue explained on this page on apple.com. If so, it is a problem with your GPU.
Symptom wise the "trial and error" in trying to start up your computer corresponds to my own experience, which I have also seen online. I personally also didn't see any actual graphics glitches before experiencing my first trouble startup up my computer. Only when my computer was already in a pretty bad state, did I see them.
I am quite sure I have this issue on my other computer, because using a third party program gfxCardStatus I was able to avoid crashes when I switched to "Integrated Only", which is the internal GPU. That avoids using the GPU that has the problem. Note that you may have to act quickly to get reimbursed for a repair. The final date is Februari 27 for this issue.
More info
http://mbp2011.org/