Q: 2011 mac mini video issue

I found the exact same thing after I came home from vacation. nothing I've done so far has helped. I'm disappointed in Apple on this one. I hoped this would last for years more.

Same problem. Mac Mini Mid 2011. 2.5 Gz i5. Radeon HD 6630M.

Was considering buying a new mac but given that this is a design flaw that has been ignored by Apple.. I am going the PC route.

Thats it! Thats picture is exactly what my Mid 2011 Mac Mini is doing! But try to describe that mess on the phone to someone. It will start doing that after a variable length of time then suddenly entire screen will offset to left between 20 and 30% and cooling fans all take off like mad max rpm. *sighs* Got the silly thing on a laptop cooling pad with 3 fans blowing full blast flipped on its back like a turtle with cover off just to keep it cool enough to work. Reset usually brings it back but often have to accomplish that reset with hard dump from power switch. Sad thing is I initially bought mini just prior to the mid 2011 one coming out and it had major issues that after 3 months the Apple store gave up on it and replaced it.. with a mid 2011 one since other was no longer available. I paid the extra to have the AMD graphics card and it worked fine till about 3 months ago and then this started happening. Replaced cables and changed monitors and even hooked it to TV. Used HDMI and thunderbolt outputs with various adapters and has same issue with them all. Only other problem I have had is that memory2 temp sensor is frozen at 122f never goes up or down  yet it "tests good" on diagnostics.

So guess I know what issue is now. And guess I get to join the crowd waiting for an Apple solution that aint gonna bankrupt me.

Hello,

Sorry to hear the bad news.

Much is the same problem as you. I also have the problem here : Mac-Mini 2011 - AMD Radeon GPU Failure

Apple will not do anything unfortunately.

I Have the Mac Mini i7 with the Radeon graphics. At this point, I have days of the pink screen failures interspersed with normal operation. I've tried most everything I can find to do with no definitive answers. Diagnostic mode comes up clean. Recovery mode doesn't boot. PRAM eset doesn't help. Safe mode fails, etc, and then it boots. Once it works it works for days to a week or so, and fails again.

I have always expected Macs to last longer than 4 years. Maybe that isn't the case any more.

Other than the one person have others had luck getting Apple to address this issue?

BIll

I Have a 2.5ghz 2011 Mac mini with a similar issue, constant reboots, no safe mode, no internet recovery just a white screen! Gutted because I've fitted an additional 512 SSD and 16gb RAM. Goes without saying this thing was a beast! :-(

I Haven't opened up a case yet but I'm definitely going to look into it.. my Mac mini has just been with KRCS here in the U.K. Which is an official reseller.. they called me to tell me it's the graphics chip and because it's a part of the logic board it's £357 for a new logic board! Told him to send it back to me. I'm not paying that For a machine that's 5 years old

ive just bought a 2.8ghz 2014 8gb ram mini  for £799 but then I found this thread. I'm so ****** about it now that I wanna chill a bit before contacting apple.

im intrigued as to whether anyone else has had any luck at all with this? I was today told by KRCS guy in store that I could maybe open a case under the consumer act but as it's been modified by myself I wouldn't get anywhere!!

IM gonna contact Apple soon just wanna go the right way about it!

Stuart

Just sent my 2011 Mac mini in to be assessed under the 'European Consumer Law' to see if the will replace/repair it for free/lower cost. There is a possibility however that they could say 'youve added an SSD yourself' so it's void. Hopefully not and hopefully this will be successful and you lot can do the same.

I Will keep you informed of my progress!

Stuart

Hi Guys,

I am having the same issue as you guys with my mac mini 2011 model ( i5 processor, AMD Radeon HD Graphics, 500 SSD ).

Issue :

Mac boots up with apple logo with progress bar at the bottom, then suddenly grey screen appears and stays there forever.  Both Mac OS X Recovery ( cmd + R ) and Internet Recovery ( cmd + option + R ) end up with a grey screen at the end.

Country : INDIA

Diagnostics shows everything is running fine.

Apple hardware checkup utility shows everything is okay.

(Press D key during power up)

Now I am trying to figure out what wrong here.

I suspect something is wrong with the software, especially the graphics driver.

Let me know if any of you find any solution.

Thanks

I have got the same problem. Explained this to Apple support but they didn't figure out that there is such a problem. They never came back to me after I have send log files and screenshots. Are these guys not using computers to store such known issues???? APPLE if you are following this thread: I am expecting you to fix this issue now !

Hi,

Yup, my reply was the same Logic-board issue.

My mac mini is or was only 3 and half years old.

Seriously, nobody expects Motherboard or as apple calls it "Logic-board" to go bad just after a couple of years.

Apple should genuinely replace these parts free of cost otherwise, I am going to think twice before buying apple products.

Hi everybody,

It is always the same problem. It's not hard but logiel.
It is a defect of the AMD video card. Mac died.
We must change the video card.

You can request support from Apple. Good luck.

UPDATE

i chased up my ''European Union consumer law claim'' today and have found out that Apple has authorised the repair,  free of charge!! im buzzing coz now I can send back the other mini I bought and save myself £800!

IF anyone here bought their Mac mini in the EU and is covered by this law I advise you to do the same, call Apple and tell them you would like to make a claim under EU Law.

I Am willing to leave my case number here for you to reference to ****. This should hopefully allow you to follow the same route!! Feel free to ask me for anything if u need it!!

Stuart

Hi,

thats great news ! Thanks. I will try exactly this.

@Apple: isn't it time now to post an official explanation here ???

If there is a guideline for everyone it will save you significant time as not everyone starts to ask the same questions...

br

Hey yeah this is the process I went through myself..

Called Apple about another issue with new Mac mini and brought up the other Mac and asked for advice. He opened another service ticket and advised me to request assessment under EU consumer law claims. As there is no Apple Store near me I used an AASP (authorised Apple service provider). I think this may have worked in my favour as it's more independent if u ask me.. I'd advise to use an AASP instead of going straight to Apple. They can tell you where the closest one is when you call.

I dropped the Mac mini off to the AASP and filled in the relevant legal paperwork. (This required original receipt and photo ID)

The ball is now in their court for up to 2 weeks. Engineer looks at the Mac, fills in the paperwork and if he thinks it's possible then will submit a claim to Apple for the relevant part (logic board) and wait for Apple to either Approve or Deny the claim, get the part sent out to the AASP then hopefully a happy customer!!

One thing I did think I could have done after I had dropped the Mac off was added a small note saying about the issues, how it's quite common looking at this thread and how it can be fixed by cooking the logic board as suggested here. Just adding anything to support the claim..

As I'm quite impatient I was calling the AASP daily for updates as I'd still be in the dark about how it was progressing if I hadn't.. anyway, if there is any other information you require from me feel free to ask and I will reply at my earliest opportunity..

GOOD LUCK :-)

Stuart