Q: MacBook Pro Blank Screen (Built - in & External) - continued

I too have a 17" MacBook Pro purchased in August of 2007. Last week the display failed. The symptom is colored lines through out the display. Apple says that the laptop was damaged and will repair it by replacing the motherboard for $1,240.00. I'm seriously considering not repairing it and just getting a cheaper Dell laptop.

what did they mean by damaged? was it damage that you caused? i would understand if that was the case - if the GPU failed, there's no way they should be charging you for the repair.

Update: Have taken laptop into apple and they are replacing the logic board with a revision 2 one as stated by others. part number 661-4958. PCBA MLB 2.4GHZ REV2. Hopefully this lasts a lot longer than the previous one.

I had the "issue" happen Monday. I want to give a thanks to Davies for posting a link to the Technical Bulletin from apple. I printed it out, brought it with me and handed it to a "Genius" Tuesday along with my macbook pro.

Full repair, no charge, and it was out of the 1 year warranty.

Make sure you do you homework before entering an apple store!!

Just got off the iPhone with Customer Relations. My refund was processed on Monday and should show up in my credit card account today or tomorrow. Persistence pays off.

I had this problem in April '08, got the logic board replaced, and now (Nov '08) the same issue has recurred. it was foreshadowed a few days ago when I got the black screen (and non-responsivity, e.g. volume control feedback sounds) a couple of times upon waking from sleep, but booting normally after hard reset. Then last night it would no longer show video at all. Sometimes boots (chime, volume control feedback), sometimes not. Target-disk mode works (phew).

Showed Genius Bar this: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 and he said they'd run a test to confirm the NVIDIA problem before shipping it out for another logic board replacement. Minutes later got a call saying it had "failed" the test, there were "other issues besides the graphics chip failure going on," and thus I was ineligible for the extended coverage and would have to pay the $310 plus tax for the logic board replacement.

Called them back, said it was obviously the same NVIDIA problem that hundreds of other customers are having, and the knowledge base article states, "If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed... a repair will be done free of charge." The person (an underling) was unimpressed. When I mentioned (as he had no excuse for not knowing) that I'd had the exact same repair done for the exact same symptoms earlier this year, he backed down and said there would be no charge.

Lesson: don't let them push you around on this.

And: be sure to add yourself to this google spreadsheet like I just did:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pV-CKzYqbB6dLQRx8wpC2aw

And: gee, I wonder how long it will be before my third logic board fails (my first two lasted 9 and 7 months, respectively). I hope that, having isolated the defect to the NVIDIA chip, they have managed to acquire some non-defective ones to install in replacement logic boards?

Lastly: my first experience with this issue taught me to save your original Apple-branded RAM so you can go to Apple with no 3rd-party hardware installed. My first repair invoice said my 3rd party RAM was the cause of my problem, and they just happened to replace my logic board with no charge for no reason, i guess (eye-roll...).

I just got my Intel Macbook Pro returned today. I'd fussed with the blank screen problem for a few months, always thinking I'd found the solution. It proved to be the logic board. In my case repair took a month because the unit got lost in the system for a couple of weeks. Ironic that my posting falls on the heels of my son's, on the other side of the continent.

Final update: Just picked up laptop after it had the logic board replaced and everything seems fine now. Thankfully it only took a day to fix and there was no charge.

They tried to tell me it was my 3rd party ram that was to blame (4gb crucial) when I took it in the first time, even after I explained this forum thread and the official apple support page on nvidia. Seems like the apple "geniuses" themselves are not aware of what is going on. Be persistant!

I bought my 17" MBP early Sept of 07. 2 days ago I tried to boot and got a black screen. I could hear the HD and sounds. Took it to an Apple Genius and was told my display was dead. Of course, this happens 13 months after I paid almost 4K for a loaded MBP. I have to shell out another $310 to repair it.

I have a beat up Dell laptop I paid $400 for NEW 2 years ago and run Linux on it. It runs and runs and runs. Now I am putting another $310 into my MBP? I'm now looking at a MBP that has cost me $4200 and the display lasts a YEAR??!!

I'm hoping that when Apple support calls me at noon today that they can do something. I'm a pro photographer and this is unacceptable. Yes, it's 13 months old but, does Apple think that is a "good life span"? I've been thinking about getting another new MacBook but, seriously, I have to rethink that now. I baby my Apple products, I evangelize them. I have spent thousands on products and iTunes. I feel as though my best friend just left me. Corny, I know but, a FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR laptop have a display life of a YEAR? I so ticked about this but, more so, I am disappointed. I expect more from my favorite company I have supported throughout the years. I expect them to honor my loyalty by doing the right thing. If Steve thinks that a year's worth of life is OK for a 4K MBP then maybe I've been played for a sucker. I hope not. I am hoping they do the right thing today, otherwise, I have to make some serious decisions.

Apple's attitude should be "You know, you're right, 13 months life for a display isn't what Apple is about. We want you with us for years to come."

bebopredux,

you absolutely do NOT have to pay the $310 for the repair. apple has a support article stating that any repairs relating to the nvidia 8600m GT GPU if the computer's one year warranty has expired is FREE OF CHARGE. furthermore, the warranty is extended one extra year (meaning your MBP would be covered until september 2009).

clearly whoever you spoke to is unaware of the situation. print this out, go back to your local apple store and show them this article:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

as far as you're concerned, failure to provide you with a free repair if it is a result of the nvidia chip and not the inverter board or any other hardware issue is officially against apple policy.

i've started up my MBP twice this past 1.5 weeks to black screens, but it somehow managed to come back on... the first time i just restarted, the second time, i simply pressed the screen brightness button. i couldn't tell you if this is a sign of impending failure, but it doesn't matter since i have the full 3 years of applecare anyway.

So I took my computer to the apple store, they ran their diagnostic test, confirmed it has this issue and is eligible for repair, and then

a) tried to not take it for repair because the case has dings. i threw a fit and yelled at them about selling me a $3000 brick of useless steel and not being willing to fix it the way apple says to fix it (THEY TRIED TO SEND ME TO TEKSERVE, said the apple store can't fix a computer that's got dings).
b) finally they took it, they said this was only possible because it is out of warranty.
c) a week later, i get a call about "liquid damage". This is preposterous; i have spilled liquid NEAR the macbook, but never in/on. End result: now they are refusing to fix it again. Now, I have an advantage, because my mother buys hundreds of computers from them a year and can leapfrog the bureaucracy, so it will probably eventually get fixed, but this is totally ridiculous. They are trying to say some unspecified "liquid damage" on the firewire port and hard drive (which, btw, still works 100% perfectly) is what is the problem, despite all their tests and all the obvious evidence indicating it is the faulty Santa Rosa GPU that has failed. They want to charge me $1385 for the repair, to which i say... well something that is not allowed here.

<Edited by Moderator>

Message was edited by: mingux

I brought it in on saturday, called me back the next day to pick it up. Very happy.

I've got news for you guys. The problem isn't related to the invidia 8600m video chip in the early 2008 MBPs; I've seen the problem in the PowerBook G4/1.67 Ghz, and now I'm seeing it in my brand-new MBP unibody. Many of these posts have the Apple Cinema Display in common. I think we may be dealing with a big bug in the OS.

My screen's been not working for about 2 months now, suddenly today its back on, dare not turn mac off now though or restart.

I was told it was the logic board, why would it suddenly come on again though?!....and amazingly, STILL no word from Apple...nice to see that give a %£@$!

OK I take that back....just seen this...

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377