Q: display anomalies

Same problem, I suspected that it was a heating problem early on as games and other graphic intensive programs were causing screen glitches whenever smc fan reported above 50C: triangle/pixel pullouts and horizontal banding. I use SMC fan and a large fan on my desk pointed at my Mac to keep it cool enough for normal use. Any sort of useful application beyond firefox (sometimes firefox gets horizontal banding even), will cause the mac to crash or additional pixel pullouts.

I've read through the entire thread and there doesn't seem to be any real fix. My solution is to never buy Apple again if this is how they decide to treat customers, especially the ones that shelled out premium. $2500 for a glitchy crashing tin can after 2 years, even if the logic board is replaced, wouldn't it still be crash when the machine heats up again? Replacing faulty hardware with new faulty hardware doesn't seem logical.

I'm a film student looking to start a studio in the future. I use programs like 3dsMax, Maya, Zbrush, Aftereffects, Premiere, and of course a few games. The Macbook Pro was the first Apple computer I've purchased. I can safely say its the last Apple computer I ever buy, unless they do a recall or offer a real solution. I could have spent $1500 to put together a PC with similar specs, and used the $1000 to upgrade it over the next 4 years, making it a far better investment. Sorry Apple, you guys dropped the ball on this one. I hope a real solution is offered soon, I'm looking for a new computer this month. Just got an offer for an older PC for $100 with better specs than this laptop, so I'll be running that in the meantime.

hahaha my posts got deleted, real cute.

I too am having the display problems with the x1600 ATI card. This was my first Apple products and I am very disappointed with Apple's quality.

I have a solution,

I am going to sell this crappy MacBook Pro for whatever little money it is worth then, use the money to buy a RELIABLE Thinkpad for Lenovo.

I will never buy Apple products again,
I will bring this problem and the poor support I received from apple to a the attention of the NATIONAL RADIO SHOW, COMPUTER AMERICA as I know one of the co-hosts.

I suggest we all do the same. We should be vocal about the poor treatment, and use our dollars to voice how angry we are.

NEVER buy Apple products again.

I have to be completely honest here - and I'm certain I'm not alone in this - but the idea of never buying Apple again is simply a non starter. I need a computer and **** will freeze over before I use windows again. So it's Apple or nothing.
Do we know how many people are reporting this problem? Do we know how many X1600 MBP's were sold? We're all annoyed because our machine's are broken but is it Apple's fault or are we just unlucky?
Just playing the devil's advocate.

Were unlucky, but its Apples fault.

Or Apples unlucky and its our fault...........that feels more accurate.

Hmmm, i seem to be "loosing" posts left, left, left right, left right... and center... please see me post on page 24 of this topic for more info' (non technical that is)...

I would like to post my resolution to this issue. After taking the laptop to the Apple store and getting rejected for the free Nvidia repair, I called Apple support directly, and they allowed me to send in my Macbook Pro for repair.

It arrived back to me in three days(!) all fixed, no charge.

Hey Apple, THANK YOU! (Please help the others having this issue)

Congratulations Yong, as far as I can tell you're alone on that count.

At the risk of having yet another message be deleted... I want to ask just one person legitimately confirm that they had their defective ATI GPU repaired at no cost to them, without having to buy AppleCare.

With all of my and other "negative" messages being deleted, though intended to contribute in a positive manner, I really am starting to think messages like his saying he had no problems are all posted by Apple employees...

Please, would someone prove this wrong and help us be inspired by knowing how we can get our defective ATI GPUs repaired?

I repeat my post of March 28, 2009 where I confirmed that Apple replaced my Logic Board at no cost. In addition I need to tell you that my Logic Board has been replaced three times because the same issues returned. I learned that the replacement Logic Boards are refurbished. Currently my MBP is OK since May 26. I hope that my MBP will now be fine for a long time however the GPU is still an ATI Radeon X1600.

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As a follow up on my earlier posts I can tell that Apple has replaced the Logic Board of my MBP at no cost. My MBP is 2.5 years old and I did not purchase Apple Care.

Writing a complaint letter to the director of Benelux (I live in the Netherlands) resulted in a telephone call the day after from Apple Customer Service with the request to visit an Authorized Service Provider.
During a ca 4 hour session the specific test programs did not report any problems and another remark was that Apple has not announced an Extended Warranty Program for this MBP, so it would become difficult to get it fixed. Then I demonstrated the problems and system hangs!

Then the Thermal Paste has been replaced and that did not lead to solving the problems. Also replacing the 2 GB memory was no solution.

Finally the conclusion was that from a technical point everything was done and that only replacing the Logic Board would solve the problems.

The technical details were sent to Apple and within two working days I got the message that Apple would replace the Logic Board under warranty, so at no cost.

This is done two weeks ago and my MBP is working correctly again.

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Message was edited by: Peter Riemens

Thanks for posting your different experience... many of us have called and written and visited Apple employees in person only to get no service options other than to pay for a repair or have a useless MacBook Pro....

Your having to have it repaired multiple times is evidence that something is defective with the ATI cards and how it works long term with the MacBook Pro's main logic board and internal environment. You may have been lucky to have it repaired early on, but once it is repaired, there is a 90 day warranty extended, so the following repairs within that time are done under warranty.

So the score so far is...
Defective ATI GPU repaired at no cost - 1
Those refused any option at no cost - a high number as seen on this list and all over the internet

Hopefully, Apple can officially offer us an option for a free repair at the least, if not an upgrade option...

Hi just a quick question for clarification re getting your MBP fixed, more than once...

What was the time frame? Was the first 'fix' within the 1 year warranty, and the subsiquent 'fixes' within 9 months of each other?

Cheers, John

Oh, almost forgot...

Since running "Fan Control" on my MBP (some months now) my left fan is really getting noisy... I hope that the fan doesn't give out because then i'm really stuffed! But i need to keep the fans ramped up to keep the GPU cool so it doesn't throw out screen garble when i'm working... Anyone else having excess fan noise with Fan Control? and i mean really excessive, and almost torture when it goes on for extended periods of time!?!

Most embarrassing when i'm giving a presentation to a client and i have to keep apologizing for the noise, and the weird screen 'effects'... and, the odd freeze or crash... I've had folks laugh and say, "why don't you get a Dell with Windows 7"!!! @:-(

But i'm not sure what more to do with my 'poor' MBP... can't afford a new one right now, Mac or Dell!?!

Oh, and don't forget to see my post at the bottom of page 24 in this topic.

John,

Below you will find my first post on these issues. After Apple agreed to replace the Logic Board it has been replaced three times within ca. 2 months, so clearly within the 90 days warranty period. Key question is why it was needed to replace 3 times.

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I have since ca. two months these horizontal lines and freezing of the whole system. My MacBook Pro is not reliable anymore and it is very frustrating to work with a professional system, bought in July 2006 for € 2.789,- via the Apple Store. Freezing of the whole system is of course the worst problem!!

I'm an Apple user for years and always have been a satisfied user however the problems I,m facing now with my MBP are not acceptable, and therefore Apple needs to solve it. It cannot be the case that an expensive system of 2.5 years old is not working correctly.

Hardware Software Overview:

Model Name MacBook Pro 17"
Processor Name Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed 2.16 GHz
Memory 2GB
Initial Start ROM Version MBP12.0061.B03
SMC Version 1.5f10
Video/Display ATI Radeon X1600
Mac OS X Version 10.5.6 (All updates are applied)
Serial Number W862915MTJ1

I will sent a copy to http`;//www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html and will phone Apple with the question how these problems will be solved

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Hi Peter,

Many thanks, but... i'm still not exactly clear on when you first contacted Apple with the issue... Was your first contact with Apple within the first year of purchase, or after 2 and a-half years?

And yes, the real question is - why is this discussion even required...

Please keep your MBP progress posted on the forum.

Thanks, John

Visted www.johnvlang.com for more non-technical info' on the ATI issue(s).