MBP Logic board failure

My 2008 MBP 2.2Ghz suffered the boot up but black screen failure just before Christmas. I took it to an authorised repairer armed with the info from this thread and the documentation from the Apple website about the repair program, and it was fixed at no charge within about six working days. I'm obviously pleased with the free repair and the speed with which it was done. Commiserations to those who haven't been so fortunate.

I have another newer thread running on this same issue though I'm aiming to hear from people who have the failed logic boards and can't boot since Apple seems to be taking a "not our problem" attitude to folks like us. It's a strange coincidence that everyone I talk to with one of these machines has experienced a logic board failure at about 3 years give or take a bit. Some folks get help and some don't.

Here's the quote of my last post in my other thread...

+"I have to say that the more I interact with AppleCare the more frustrating it gets. To address my iMac issue I had to call four times. To finally convince them I did not have a software issue I had to run the apple hardware test, the techtool hardware test then reformat my hard drive and re-install the OS. Only then they did they give up and direct me to a service provider.+

+To discuss the MBP issue I went above the first Applecare rep to a senior rep who was in no way helpful. His position was that the Nvidia issue and the logic board issue are two separate issues and if the techs are not able to diagnose the Nvidia issue then tough luck for me.+

+Having spent around $10,000 on Apple hardware over the past 5 years I've just about had it. I'll drag both my latest broken macs to the provider to get the iMac repaired and a diagnosis on the macbook pro and take it from there I guess."+

My Macbook Pro's logic board failed before Christmas. Pretty poor show on a premium laptop that was just over 2 years old.

I just want to update this thread with my experience so far with the logic board failure on my Macbook Pro (mid 2007), as well as subsequent usage after the repair.

First of all, I am one of the lucky ones who got a replacement logic board from the Apple Store for free. I greatly appreciate the effort of the Apple Store staff to resolve my problem, particularly as the turnaround time was very quick. As far as me is concerned, Apple's support on the matter has been top notch.

My Macbook is now working again. Since the replacement of the logic board, I decided to upgrade to a larger capacity and faster hard disc (500GB, 7200rpm) and to install Snow Leopard from scratch (NB: Previously and during the failure, I was on Leopard).

All this process is now complete and the new system is up and running. The things worth noting are as follows:

(1) Underside of the laptop significantly cooler
For quite a while before its logic board failed, the underside of my laptop was ridiculously hot. I am talking some serious sensible heat there - felt hot to touch! I guess it was coming up for the failure. Now with the new logic board, it is significantly cooler. That is obviously a big relief.

(2) Temps
The temperatures I tend to keep an eye on are the GPU and CPU ones. During idle time, they tend to hover around 50 and 38 deg C. When things get busy, they climb up to about 70 and 50. And if I use iMovie (particularly the import function), then they top 82 to 66 deg C. Now that is not good.

You might be wondering why they get so high (they shouldn't). This is because I've noticed that the fans are ALWAYS spinning at the lowest speed (2000rpm) EVEN IF the temps get to those high values. The weird thing is that the fans very very rarely do ramp up their rpms but it seems that they have no real reason to do so, as the temperatures are plain normal! Really don't get this... When the thing is frying, they are at 2000rpm and occasionally they go to 4000rpm when the thing is idling. I STRONGLY suspect that the algorithm that is used for temperature control in my laptop is simply not right. I do plan to have a chat at the Apple Store about that (and demonstrate it as well).

Now, this has been going on during the latest build (Snow) but ALSO during the previous one. I do recall that when I bought my laptop (late 2007), the fans were responding to temperature changes. Ramping up their speed when the temps were going up and vice versa. At some point and after a system (firmware?) update, things changed. The fans became much more quiet, to the extent that I noticed it. Back then, I was not worried about component failure though, so I was not watching any potential effect of that on the temps. Who knows? Maybe Apple was responding to users complaining about high fan noise...

It is also clear to me that the only effective way to reduce the CPU/GPU temperature is the fans' speed. I've tried the underside fan cooler (Moshi Zefyr) and its effect is really very mild. Even though you can remove the enclosure's heat pretty quickly with such a method (conduction), the same doesn't happen as you go further in. The heat generated on the CPU/GPU is not removed that effectively or that quickly. Ramp up the fans and it goes out pretty well and fast.

Even though I really like my Macbook, I had to "curb my enthusiasm" on a few things concerning it:

(1) It IS sensitive to heat and is not really built to do CPU/GPU intensive work
Checking the internet, e-mails, writing up a document is 100% safe heat-wise. But step up to streaming video and video editing and things are getting very heavy. Fans need to rev up to high speed (6000 rpm) in order to drop the temps down to the safe zone. Such intensive tasks are now better served on my trusty PC desktop, that can take the abuse much better.

(2) Use smcFanControl to help with the control of temps
In the absence of (what I would consider) sensible temperature control in my Macbook Pro, I have found some relative peace of mind with this little utility. Whenever I notice that the temperature it shows goes up (>50 deg C), I use it to increase the fan speed. Sure, it absolutely ***** to have to do this, but "once bitten, twice shy". I do not fancy another logic board failure before I upgrade. Of course, once you've been there and you've toasted your board, you suddenly become aware of the issue and start checking those temps regularly. That is the problem I have with my Macbook experience: it is no longer trouble free. And on that aspect (i.e. hardware reliability), it ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE. I can only hope that Apple is heeding this, because this is an area where significant improvement can be made.

Finally, I'd like to say one thing concerning repairing your toasted logic board as opposed to replacing it with a brand new one (and I mean genuine). That is: DON'T DO IT, fullstop.

I tried the "reflowing the GPU on to the logic board" thing, paid money for it, and nothing came out of it. One month later, the logic board failure re-occurred (and it was at that point that I discovered this thread and Apple's NVIDIA recall 😟 ).

Message was edited by: Nikos Lazaridis

Nikos Lazaridis wrote:
You might be wondering why they get so high (they shouldn't). This is because I've noticed that the fans are ALWAYS spinning at the lowest speed (2000rpm) EVEN IF the temps get to those high values. The weird thing is that the fans very very rarely do ramp up their rpms but it seems that they have no real reason to do so, as the temperatures are plain normal! Really don't get this... When the thing is frying, they are at 2000rpm and occasionally they go to 4000rpm when the thing is idling. I STRONGLY suspect that the algorithm that is used for temperature control in my laptop is simply not right. I do plan to have a chat at the Apple Store about that (and demonstrate it as well).

I find this comment interesting - when I brought my laptop into the store in Nov/December 2010, the genius said, "huh, fans are OK, they usually aren't when this sort of problem occurs". That is, the fans (in apple hardware test) checked out OK, but the temp sensor was dead.

My fans do ramp up when my processor spikes (eg, process uses >90%), so they 'respond' to activity, but I've never monitored them.

I bought my MBP (with Apple Care) in Oct 2007. Since upgrading to Snow Leopard, I noticed that the bottom of the laptop was always extremely hot - even caused discoloration of the chillpad I used to deal with the heat. My Apple Care plan expired in Oct 2010 and of course, I started having video problems in Nov 2010. The video symptoms are exactly what everyone else is stating.

I received the nVidia post card in the mail - ironically around the same time I began experiencing problems. When I took my MBP to the Apple store, the "genius" tested it with something that looked like an external hard drive. He performed the test 2x and said "Nope, it's not your graphics card. Maybe it's a software problem." At that, he dismissed the problem as something that they couldn't fix.

In response to the "genius'" comment, I checked all of the usual utility-type apps to determine whether any software was conflicting, etc. I upgraded the RAM and the hard drive to ensure that these were not causing problems. None of this solved the problem. The episodes of scrambled graphics are happening more frequently and disabling my laptop for longer periods.

I spoke with another certified Apple service company today & they stated that a replacement logic board would cost ~$800 installed. I have spent over $10,000 in the last 3 years on Apple equipment for my physical therapy practice and home. Now I have to decide whether to drop nearly $1000 to fix a 3 yr old MBP or buy a new one (or a PC). I am disgusted with Apple's response to these logic board issues. I have used laptops from Dell, HP, & Lenovo for years without any such problems.

I can't believe that a company that prides itself in it's design and perfection could just blow off this many complaints about the logic boards. I was planning to add a Mac Server and some other items to my clinic this year, but now I'm not so sure they will be Macs.

Thanks for listening - sorry for the rant, but I am p.... right now about this situation. I would appreciate if anyone has ideas about how to get Apple to help.

I Just dropped off the girlfriends MBP @ the apple store. It had the same problem many here have experienced i.e., was recently running "hot" then poof blank screen. It would still boot up, just no video. They ran the test and stated the repair was covered under warranty.

Just in case anyone wants to know, a new logic board is $800 from the apple store and $310 for labor. I was also told that the updated logic board/GPU currently being installed is warrantied for 90 days and should not fail like the original. They stated the original design used some type of silicone that would develop cracks. I always though it had something to do with solder joints...who knows.

On a side note, has anyone tried to repair the logic board? I actually "fixed" a over heated Nvidia Geforce Go 7900GS GPU in my Dell Inspiron 9400 (same exact symptoms) by baking it! Sounds odd i know, but it still works to date. A quick youtube search found this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ6CukD7JjM

I just got this failure myself, the MBP didn't wake up, black screen, no keyboard etc. It's an early 2008 model, bought mid 2008. Searching google I was surprised to see the amount of problems with this model and posts on these boards and and many other non Apple.

Reading through some of these threads I now take it there's not really any use bringing my MP in to a shop, as it doesn't boot up and can't be diagnosed and will most likely get the "logic board needs to be replaced - you have to pay" message.

So what to do then? Accept that a $2500 computer fails after 2,5 years? The cost of replacing the logic board is certainly not worth it given the risk of failure again and the price of a brand new MBP all together.

I'll give the owen cooking a try before I decide if I should get a new machine, probably a PC this time.

I have had the same issue as a number of people here: turn on computer, no chime, get some sort of HDD whirr for a second, then nothing but a solid LED light on the button to open the computer.

< Edited by Host >

I can understand fully peoples frustration with this and understand them wanting to go that route as a result.

This would not be an issue if Apple would just fix our computers.

< Edited by Host >

I see two more messages have been deleted and mine edited.

Is this really how these forums are going to go again?

Status update. I took my MBP to a certified Apple repair shop near my office. They ran the nVidia test again. Their test took ~10 mins, then immediately showed a failed test. I dropped off the laptop yesterday & they had it ready this afternoon with the new logic board. Apple covered the repair 100%.

I would recommend that anyone who did the test at an Apple store, find a certified repair shop nearby using the Apple site. It seems that maybe the Apple Genius didn't do the test correctly since he performed 2 tests in ~ 5 mins & they showed no failure.

Hope this helps someone.

Also note that your machine needs to be bootable for them to run the test. If your's, like mine, does not boot then you're SOL.

hey folks.. unfortunately i am totally frustrated being concerned with the same problem like you.. i used my macbook pro (mid july 07) watching some episodes of a tv show for some hours and everything was fine.. i finally put it into sleep mode and when i wanted to wake it up, it did not respond. restarted it - no chime, no keyboard light etc. heard about the nvidia problem and was hoping for a small chance to get my macbook repaired for free.. but nada.. they cant extract the error code.. i was told the repair would cost me arond 900euro..

i am actually pretty sure this no-boot, no chime problem is also related to that stupid nvidia chip, since a lot of other folks were intensively using their graphic card before the macbook died and therefore the fail of the nvidia chip is the cause of the logic board brick.

it is really sad that apple wont agree on that since there are obviously several other people suffering from the SAME problem among VERY SIMILAR conditions.

i am student and i spent 1700 euro (which is a f ** LOT to me and it took me rly long time to gather that cash!) on a notebook that fails within 3!! years of use. i am totally disappointed and wont recommend apple hardware anymore because their hardware architecture is obviously weak and their support totally ignorant.

oh and by the way - these video graphic soldering problems already occured back then when the ibook g4s were produced and back then apple already refused to replace the broken logic boards though it was clearly proven that all ibooks are doomed to die some day because of that particular problem. and apple has learned NOTHING. more than 10 years later they still repeat their mistakes. ouw. really frustrating..

thanks apple. for nothing. 1700euro spent for a piece of junk (which it is now). my mum's acer notebook is like about 6 years old and still running at its best. (and did not cost half of the macbook pro)..

Message was edited by: dcore

I am back with working MBP after logic board failure. I had the "no boot-no chime" version. Apple store charged $310 + tax for repair, which took only a couple of days. Obviously, I'm out of warranty.

I've read that there is another thread for the "no boot-no chime" version of logic board/Nvidia failure. Anyone care to post a link to that?