abelliveau

Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory) running OS 10.8.2.  It has two graphics components: an AMD Radeon HD 6750M and a built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000. Since I've had the computer, the screen would get a blue tint when the computer switched between them.

 

However, as of two days ago, the problem has become substantially more severe.  The computer was working fine, when all of a suddent the screen when completely blue.  I had to force restart the computer.  Since then, the screen has gone awry on numerous occassions - each time necessitating a hard reset.

 

I installed gfxCardStatus, and have discovered that the computer runs fine using the integrated card, but as soon as I switch to the discrete card - the screen goes .

 

I am just wondering what my options are (any input on any of these would be appreciated!):

 

1) Replace the logic board.  Would this necessarily fix the issue?

 

2) Is there any way to "fix" the graphics card? 

 

3) Keep using gfxCardStatus and only use the integrated graphics card.  This is definitely the easiest/cheapest option, but to have such a computer and not be able to use the graphics card seems like a real shame.

 

4) Is there any other alternative?

 


MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB memory

Posted on Feb 1, 2013 4:45 PM

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Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

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  • by BadgerFanMark,

    BadgerFanMark BadgerFanMark Feb 23, 2014 4:20 PM in response to yangyangxu
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 23, 2014 4:20 PM in response to yangyangxu

    Another victim here.  Working on my laptop last week, the screen went black, and has not booted since.  Like others, it either hung at the gray screen, or a blue screen with a rescue boot.  Moving the AMD extensions didn't have any effect, either.  After emailing Tim Cook I tried to work with the Executive Support contact to no avail.  My Early 2011 15" MacBook Pro is currently at my local Apple Store waiting for the part and an onsite repair to the tune of $530.  We pay top dollar for these laptops and expect the quality to match.  I also had a 2007 which had the Nvidia extended repair program.  Purchasing two premium laptops which experienced GPU issues is a bit frustrating.

  • by bakachu,

    bakachu bakachu Feb 23, 2014 4:57 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 23, 2014 4:57 PM in response to abelliveau

    With nothing else to lose, I have fixed my graphics issue by reflowing the GPU solder.

     

    This involved a $22 heat gun, new thermal compound, disassembling the MBP, removing the heat sink, and then heating the GPU with the gun set to 1000f for 4 minutes (plenty of vids on youtube demonstrate this process for other hardware and vendors).

     

    Afterwards, I reapplied new thermal compound, and put it all back together, and the machine is no longer unstable.

     

    I'm disappointed with Apple for failing to acknowledge this widespread manufacturing defect.

  • by Hao ZHOU FR,

    Hao ZHOU FR Hao ZHOU FR Feb 23, 2014 5:54 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 23, 2014 5:54 PM in response to abelliveau

    the same problem happend in my macbook pro mc723(Early 2011)at the last week when i was watching youtube. I sended it to apple store for repairing on friday 2.21 2014. They told me that it's just a problem of software of disk. so i had to pay 90euros. But today, when i was watching a video from dailymotion, this problem came out again! Tomorrow i will go to apple store for requiring to check the graphics card.

  • by PortableGenius,

    PortableGenius PortableGenius Feb 24, 2014 4:03 AM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 24, 2014 4:03 AM in response to abelliveau

    Timeline of my MBP status

     

    Using http://www.chipmunk.nl/cgi-fast/applemodel.cgi, the MBP was created on 9th week of 2011, around March.

     

    Mar 2011 - MBP manufactured

    06 May 2011 - MBP bought with the default 1-year warranty. No AppleCare.

    06 Feb 2014 - (After 1008 Days from Date of Purchase), MBP started showing the distorted image similar to this http://i61.tinypic.com/2uti6g8.jpg

    07 Feb 2014 - It magically worked when I tried booting it

    11 Feb 2014 - It started showing the distorted image again. Restarted it and, this time, wont get past the Apple logo/gray screen

    12 Feb 2014 - Emailed

    17 Feb 2014 - Emailed

    18 Feb 2014 - Apple Support called for the first time

    22 Feb 2014 - Apple Support called back to try to boot the MBP from the original install DVD (Snow Leopard)

    24 Feb 2014 - Apple Support called back again to tell me that they will fix the MBP at no cost at their authorized service providers, excluding accidental damages

     

    Will let you know how it goes.. I'm from the Philippines by the way. No Apple Stores.

     

    Message was edited by: PortableGenius

     

    <Edited by Host>

  • by Aguleo,

    Aguleo Aguleo Feb 23, 2014 11:30 PM in response to bakachu
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 23, 2014 11:30 PM in response to bakachu

    I am interested in doing this. Do you have any tips? Like did you apply heat to the whole circuit board or just the gpu chips?

  • by GavL,

    GavL GavL Feb 24, 2014 12:39 AM in response to abelliveau
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    Feb 24, 2014 12:39 AM in response to abelliveau

    After my third conversation with Apple today (15 minutes this time) they are still refusing to repair this fault.   Under Australian consumer law it says I'm covered for repair within reasonable lifetime of a product (within 3 years is reasonable!), Apple are still not willing to budge on sorting this out for me.

     

    I've now left a complaint with our consumer body here (ACCC) and have informed Apple of my steps - lets see what happens next.

  • by edgarcantuba,

    edgarcantuba edgarcantuba Feb 24, 2014 1:04 AM in response to abelliveau
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    Feb 24, 2014 1:04 AM in response to abelliveau

    i am a freelance film/video director and editor from the philippines. i got myself a macbook pro towards the end of 2011. the price of an MBP here is quite steep but it seems to be a good investment specially when you deal with film and video editing. i am used to using mac platform since my ad agency days so it was a no brainer when it was time for me to invest in a laptop that will help in my career in the advertising industry. but i experienced the same dillema with those who bought MBPs during 2011. it was exactly two years when my MBP's GPU got busted. i used to believe that macs are rugged and dependable. and with the news i am getting from this forum that apple doesn't offer recall on this particular MBP release is quite frustrating. i wasn't able to get projects because i didn't have the tool. i am one of those MBP users who hopes that someone from Apple is reading all the comments and hopefully will do something about this. Apple USED TO BE a good brand but with what is happening, i cannot blame most loyal apple users will change brand soon. IT IS REALLY DISAPPOINTING!

  • by Alvaro Lopez Ortega,

    Alvaro Lopez Ortega Alvaro Lopez Ortega Feb 24, 2014 1:42 AM in response to abelliveau
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    Feb 24, 2014 1:42 AM in response to abelliveau

    tumblr_n1hucmUSPu1ts9j6yo1_1280.jpg

    My MBP just works... unless it crashes badly because it is lousely assembled. The rest of the time it's a delight, I can assure you that.

  • by meappy,

    meappy meappy Feb 24, 2014 6:01 AM in response to abelliveau
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    Feb 24, 2014 6:01 AM in response to abelliveau

    Hi

     

    Are there updates on this situation yet?

     

    I am experiencing ALL of the symptons described in this thread, mainly these

     

    1. System hangs with graphics distortion 

    2. Hard power off and on, but unable to get past grey screen

     

     

    My Apple Care is estimated to expire on 24 March 2014. It is just bizarre that so many users of the early 2011 MBPs are suffereing the same symptons as well, but no response from Apple as yet.

     

     

    Just before a crash, the following message is occasionally logged in system.log

     

    $ zgrep -C12 "GPU hang" system*gz | tail -n12 | sed 's/G.*\-Macbook\-Pro/Macbook\-Pro/g'

    Feb 23 19:06:09 Macbook-Pro kernel[0]: Trying restart GPU ...

    Feb 23 19:06:09 Macbook-Pro KiesViaWiFiAgent[295]: CPU Usage = 0.0

    Feb 23 19:19:25 localhost bootlog[0]: BOOT_TIME 1393145365 0

    Feb 23 19:19:42 localhost syslogd[22]: Configuration Notice:

              ASL Module "com.apple.appstore" claims selected messages.

              Those messages may not appear in standard system log files or in the ASL database.

    Feb 23 19:19:42 localhost syslogd[22]: Configuration Notice:

              ASL Module "com.apple.authd" sharing output destination "/var/log/system.log" with ASL Module "com.apple.asl".

              Output parameters from ASL Module "com.apple.asl" override any specified in ASL Module "com.apple.authd".

    Feb 23 19:19:42 localhost syslogd[22]: Configuration Notice:

              ASL Module "com.apple.authd" claims selected messages.

              Those messages may not appear in standard system log files or in the ASL database.

     

     

     

    My system info for reference

     

    Screen Shot 2014-02-25 at 12.28.59 am.png

  • by akamyself,

    akamyself akamyself Feb 24, 2014 6:17 AM in response to meappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 24, 2014 6:17 AM in response to meappy

    as I said before, Apple is not saying/doing anything because they don't have any solution to fix this problem.

     

    if they were able to fix it by replacing the logic board or other component as a final and definitive solution, they could then make a recall and give some refunds.

    since they can only replace logic boards over and over again, they won't.

     

    only solution with Apple, getting it changed, hoping it fails three times under the three months guarantee and then ask for a new computer, as they will unlikely change a logic board for a 4th or 5th time.

     

     

    iBattle

     

    <Edited by Host>

  • by coujin,

    coujin coujin Feb 24, 2014 7:01 AM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 24, 2014 7:01 AM in response to abelliveau

    Okay so i have an early 11 macbook Pro 13", about every hour or less it will freeze up on me and then the spinning wheel will appear.

     

    The only way i have found to fix this problem is to do a hard reset each time.

     

    Do you guys think i could have the same problem as everyone else does here?

  • by miloslavs,

    miloslavs miloslavs Feb 24, 2014 7:13 AM in response to jeremix
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 24, 2014 7:13 AM in response to jeremix

    4th logic board same SMC downgrade and voila! the Thunderbolt not working anymore. Plus "regular" iTunes, paid apps, TimeMachine stuff after each logic board replacement...

  • by miloslavs,

    miloslavs miloslavs Feb 24, 2014 7:14 AM in response to jeremix
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 24, 2014 7:14 AM in response to jeremix

    4th logic board same SMC downgrade and voila! the Thunderbolt not working anymore. Plus "regular" iTunes, paid apps, TimeMachine stuff after each logic board replacement...

  • by QTnewbie2,

    QTnewbie2 QTnewbie2 Feb 24, 2014 7:20 AM in response to miloslavs
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 24, 2014 7:20 AM in response to miloslavs

    So, is the underlying defect that these computers are dispersing heat poorly?  I had my logic board replaced but I'm also glad that I installed SMC Fancontrol.  Now I know how hot my 17" gets.  Yesterday, I did not have many apps open, nor were they graphics intensive, but the temperature climbed up to 85º C!  (Not F, C!)

     

    As soon as I noticed it, I cranked up the fan speed to bring it down.  But those kind of temperatures must surely cause damage.

  • by luisfromoviedo,

    luisfromoviedo luisfromoviedo Feb 24, 2014 8:36 AM in response to Aguleo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 24, 2014 8:36 AM in response to Aguleo

    Take care. It´s no easy.

    Read about reflow (not recommended) and reballing (recommended). ( See Youtube).

    In my opinión, reballing is much more better, but must be done by technicians.

     

    I´m thinking about it, waiting for apple...

    195 Eur cost for reballing in Spain.

     

    Good Luck

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