Q: Macbook Pro (15" early 2011) horizontal lines on screen and not booting...?

Cosmic dolphin,

I know its been nearly a year since your post, but I did find that pressing the power button and keeping it pressed till it completely boots up worked! I was down for about a week and was freaking out. I hope it continues to work..... Thanks for starting the thread!

Same problem with my early 2011 MC723LL/A I am currently in India, where there are no Apple stores - Apple operates via Apple authorized re-sellers and Apple authorized service providers.

Anyway, I took it an AASP who confirmed the problem and explained that the logic board would be replaced free of cost. However I would be charged INR 2000 (about 32 USD) as "Service charges" So much for a "free replacement" I spoke to Apple support and apparently the AASP is authorized to levy such a fee.

After having read through this thread, I now know that this replacement wont resolve the problem permanently; and given that i need to pay every time i get a "free replacement" I think i will have to tiptoe around my Mac's graphic card and avoid doing everything Mandolin Guy has suggested

Anyone through the Apple repair process can tell me if the logic board replacement is permanently effective?

I am having the same issue; Macbook Pro 17" early 2011. It happened about three or four times. All freezes, I hold start button, then restart, and the red stripes appear, and then a grey screen. I spent hours trying to boot, and eventually it works. Now it's working normally, but i've noticed the scrubby zoom in photoshop was not enabled, so i had to go to GPU settings and enable openGL drawing.

I hope my problem will be eligible for the repair program.

Did the logic board replacement worked properly these two months? Did you lose any of the data in the process? I'm brazilian too, having the same issue.

I encountered the same problem with my MacBookPro 15" (early 2011) and unfortunately it was parked for a year and a half because of this problem.

I went to maintenance and they told me that the problem is in the built-in graphics card and it can not fix it, but to change the Logic Board fully.

http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

Thanks for this thread! I own a 15 inch MacBook pro early 2011 and suddenly 4 days ago all the images in the screen crashed and it didn't respond, so I restarted it by pressing the power button but it wouldn't start, it was frozen displaying the Apple logo and red horizontal lines no matter what I did, even the screen would turn blue if I would restar it pressing R + cmd. I read this thread so I took it to my nearest authorized reseller (we don't have Apple stores in Mexico), they did some tests and said my laptop was eligible for the quiality program or something and they would replace the logic board for free. I just got it back yesterday and it works like it used to, I hope this solution lasts. I'm kind of pleased because the service was great and it took them less than 2 days to repair it.

Thanks for this thread ..... I had the same issue ...  My Macbook Pro was eligible for repair within the extended warranty program. The repair was done in one day ! Great support !  I live in Prague, Czech Republic .. repair was done by Apple Premium Reseller  & Service ... as we do not have original Apple stores in CZ.

I just had mine replaced today thanks to the replacement program...typing from my MBP with the new board. Does anyone have any update on how theirs that got replaced through this program are coming along? No new issues since?

I just had a 15" Macbook Pro (early 2011) model that had the issue, and I took it to an authorized reseller in our region, and they can replace the board for free. 

I came home and then research a bit, it looks like these models should be covered too.

https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

i had my MBP's logic board replaced in june but i'm having problems again...

wake from sleep issues and really bad scrolling horizontal white lines and crashing in safe mode.

taking it back in this week. hopefully it will be fixed someday...

Just had this happened to me. Guess mine was a long liver compared to most. Had it right from the beginning, served me well and was still a powerhouse.

WI'll try to go the official fought. See where it gets me. Wish me luck!

I just had this happen this week to me. Stripes down the screen and not booting up. I took it out to the Genius Bar at Apple and they told me that Apple was fixing units for free. They checked my serial number and they said it would fix it at no cost. E. I have a 17 inch MacBook Pro 2011. Way to go Apple!  Thank you for being a stand up company.

I had the same problem just about a month ago. I looked it up and I found this and other boards talking about this problem, and that Apple was changing the mother board.

I took my computer (a Macbook Pro 17'' Late 2011) to apple, and I was very happy to see that they received it and changed the mother board at no cost for me. They said that Apple had resolved to changed at no cost for the user the mother boards of the computers that were defective for this reason. A problem in the video card, as I understood.

I was told to bring a pic of the screen frozen, which I had taken. They sent the picture and the test they run at the computer as a request to changed the board and it was changed.

So far, things have been running smoothly. I've had it for 2 weeks now. It has frozen, but due to programs running. So, so far, it's been good.

For everyone who comes looking for information on this issue, please note that Apple is ending their support program on this issue (mother board replacement) on 27th February 2016. Hope everyone gets their mac fixed in time.

I am posting about this - it's your logic board and graphics card.  Apple will replace for free!