MBP Logic board failure

Thanx Kiddo.

In fact I have already printed it out and took it to the Service Center when I went to pick the MBP back up, but to them the test they made sticking a pen drive in the USB port is holy. That's the reason why I'm nervous. It should've come out positive and all be well. I printed out an article that states those test are not necessarily accurate...

Heck. It's obvious that a 2.200€ machine is not supposed to just get stuck in sleep mode after some bogus update... Whatever it is, Nvidia, Logic Board, just gibberish. If I drop my Mac off a ten storey building I'll deal with the loss, but closing the lid is not a reason to have to replace an immaculate piece of technology. If it was for the Service Center I would have lost my computer. It weren't they who suggested it might still be the Nvidia card despite the test result.

Good luck. Don't lose faith in Apple if one employee isn't cooperative. I'd definitely take it up to a supervisor level if the genius won't allow it...your problem is a classic case...the chip is soldered to the logic board, so the whole thing needed to be replaced (what I was told at apple store). Happened just like that for me...closed the lid and nothing. However, I had been having some weird video issues for a while...the desktop wasn't rendering correctly sometimes. the screen saver would show in some areas. The genius at my store knew what the issue was right away, must have seen it often.

I apologize for the length of this post, but have to rant, like countless others in this thread. I hope Apple actually reads these.

After 3.75 years of faithful service, the logic board of my 2007 17" 2.6GHZ Macbook Pro finally died, thanx to Nvidia.

In my case, I knew the failure was imminent, I had random scrambling of video, flickering screen, and checkerboard patterns at startup, which completely buggered the startup sequence and froze the machine. So, I set up an "appointment" with the Genius Bar at the nearest Apple store, which is 30 min. away.

And folks, I am not impressed with the service. The word "bar" in Genius Bar is exactly as the name implies - a noisy, overcrowded environment with really bad lighting. I had to shout above others who where whining about Apple's mail app not working (did it ever, really?), just to get my point across. And in some instances, getting these young people (who looked like they where out of high school) to understand the problem was like ordering an exotic drink at a off-road drinking establishment - nothing but a blank stare.

Anyway, here's how it went:

On Monday, I brought the laptop in, armed with pictures of the screen and the displayed hardware test results (video controller error). Turns out these weren't really necessary, the Macbook died completely two nights before - no startup chime, nothing. This first encounter with the Genius Bar went flawlessly, the service rep was aware of the Nvidia issue and the extended repair program, and ordered a "new" logic board. I was told the repair would take 3-5 days. I thought to myself, "Well, that's good - that means they would get a NEW card from California, being the optional 2.6 GHZ processor." Well, perhaps…not.

Wednesday, it was ready for pickup. A different guy brought it out, and lo and behold, it wouldn't start up. Just 3 flashes of the power light, that's all. I told the guy I wanted this problem fixed now, and (yer gonna love this) he said, "Sure, would you like to set up an appointment?" After regaining control of my temper, I demand it be looked at now. They took it in the back and came out 5 min. later. It appears they didn't re-seat the installed RAM properly, so sorry. This indicates to me that they didn't even check to see if the machine worked. Well, it seemed to be fine, and then…

At home, when checking things out, I noticed weird luminance glitches in certain gray levels. I had areas of video "static" in the medium gray borders, and vertical lines and flickering in the lighter areas. Of course, being a luminance issue, this appeared in all colors. Any attempt to use the built-in Apple color calibrator resulted in bizarre color shifts and flickering. Not only that, the RAM cover was incorrectly installed, the Mac wouldn't sit level. No biggie, but Jeez…

Thursday, I called the Apple store, and after some very intense reasoning with a stubborn rep, managed to get an appointment within the hour. Another long drive. I was there on time, but had to wait a half hour further, enough time to get "checked-in" 4-5 times by various apple employees who had nothing better to do, despite the surrounding chaos. Again, I explained the problem and it's history to yet another rep, and showed him the glitches in a gray ramp I built in Photoshop (best idea I came up with, because he couldn't see it otherwise) After looking the part up on their database, he said, "Well, your in luck. we have have the board in stock, and your Macbook can fixed this afternoon." I was skeptical, so he showed me. Turns out he had almost ordered a 2.4 GHZ, instead of a 2.6. "Oh! well, the repair will take 3-5 days." Hmmm…

Saturday, took the long drive again to pick it up, and thoroughly checked it out in-store in front of two reps (my request) They seemed somewhat unhappy that I was taking away their time spent checking people in with their shiny new IPads. Oh well. One suggested somewhat bluntly that I should consider getting a new laptop, because the life expectancy is "usually 3 years, anyway."

So far, everything is good, but I noticed if I push settings in the Calibrator panel, I can still see the static in certain grays, although slightly. I can control it for now, wondering if it's a software issue with older Macs. Might consider a new one, but can't afford right now.

So, that's my story, thank you for reading. And APPLE, why are these machines running so HOT? You would figure they'd run cool with the aluminum case. Perhaps they need big honkin' heat sink FINS on the sides…😉

Sounds like you had a less than perfect experience....which is common these days wherever you go, unfortunately.

Anyway, at least they put in the new part for you and you didn't have to pay...better than a lot of others in this thread who didn't know about the intrinsic flaw or class action suit (they are out a lot of money, unless they check this thread in the near future and go back to Apple!).

I personally have had nothing but great experiences at my Apple store...but they do have their "protocol" to follow, which can be aggravating. There are so many customers there, I can see how it can be unwieldy without a process to fall back on.

I <3 Apple and Macs!😀

I had the same Macbook Pro, the late 2007 model 3,1 - purchased in Spring of 2008. I had several problems, starting with the NVIDIA chip causing my screen to go out, and ending with the death of the logic board. I hadn't purchased the Apple Care because I bought it at another retail store and didn't know I could get Apple Care after the fact. So after all this, I decided to part my Macbook Pro and sell the parts. If I had known that being a little more firm at the Genius Bar would have gotten me a new logic board for free, I would have done it.

My Macbook Pro died after under 3 years. I know there are some who like to trade up more often than that, but as a student I find this horrible! If Apple knew about the NVIDIA chip and logic board problem, they should have owned up to both, and not just the NVIDIA chip problem. I just ordered a new Macbook Pro, and this time with the Apple Care. I am disappointed about my last issue but having backed up everything in Time Machine, I feel I am invested in Apple. I still think that Apple has the best products, technology, and customer service, but this is an opportunity where they missed out on taking excellent care of their customers.

It wasn't the logic board, but the nvidia chip is soldered to the board, so the whole thing needed to be replaced.

Not all Apple employees know about every issue, so you have to do your due diligence. If you went to the link I posted above, you could see that Apple posted on their site, an article stating that they would reimburse anyone who had the problem up to 4 years after purchase date.

It wasn't Apple's fault.

Thank you y2kiddo. I recognize that it wasn't Apple's fault in re of the NVIDIA chip, but in my situation they replaced the chip but not the logic board. Shortly after the NVIDIA chip was replaced, I continued to have problems. The Genius told me it was the i/o board so I had that replaced. Then the logic board failed, the Genius told me that I could pay 900 to have it replaced or I could sell it for parts. At this point I'd already paid a good chunk of money to replace the i/o board and couldn't afford the 900+ to replace the logic board. Had I known the logic board was going to fail too, I wouldn't have had the i/o board replaced and would have saved my money for another Macbook Pro. I wish I'd read the article sooner. I think maybe it's too late for me to be refunded because I already sold it for parts. What do you think?

It doesn't matter if you no longer own the computer...it would be worth a shot to go to the apple store and speak with someone...maybe escalate to a manager...and you might get some money back. But they would have to believe that the logic board failure was related to the nvidia chip. From what I read, they had to replace the whole unit, and they may have done just that and told you they replaced the chip. Do you have your paperwork that shows which parts they ordered?

I have some of the paperwork, the rest I'd have to ask them to reprint because I think they keep records of all repairs and parts ordered. Thanks for your assistance! With luck I might get a bit of money back. I'm not totally soured on Apple. I had an old iBook, an iMac, and various iPods that have lasted years. I was very surprised that my Macbook Pro failed after such a short time.

well, good luck...make sure to check all my links before you go in. never know, most of the people i've talked to have been uber helpful there.

Let me just start by saying that in a perfect world, this MBP would be hands down the best machine that I've ever owned.

I purchased my 15" MBP in Aug. 2011 and 4 days ago on the 26th of Sept. 2011 my logicboard failed. This is my first Apple computer and as a first time customer I will not rant on but say just this, any confidence I had with this product went completely out the window. How can a computer which costs upwards of nearly $3000.00 fail within a 1.5 months? How, Apple, are you in good conscience knowing about this issue continuing to sell a defective product? I honestly can say that, now knowing about this situation w/ your logicboards, I will never positively speak of Apple computers again. Even if this thing is working at 150%, I still will tell people that it is nothing more than an unreliable piece of crap. Your products are only as good as the components you put into them, and for the price that you charge for ALL of your products, there shouldn't be issues like this arising. How can you continue to allow more of these defective computers ship? I just don't understand.

This is my first and most definitely my last Apple Computer. I will spread the link to this thread like a **** virus to any of my colleagues, friends, and family consindering purchasing an Apple computer.

Hold on a minute...if you stop and look at this thread, this is all about an issue with the nvidia chip (that was soldered onto the logic board) in 2008.

This issue was later resolved. A logic board failure in a new machine is completely unrelated. There is always a possibility of a part failing in a machine and Apple will replace it free, of course. Get it fixed and see how things go before you shoot yourself in the foot and swear off Apple products.

Yeah, I had to get my logic board replaced on my late 2008 15" MacBook Pro. It still didn't fix the kernel problems I had when trying to use the Express/34 slot, but it did clear up some other issues. Also, I can't stress enough to purchase the extended AppleCare warranty (3 years) when purchasing a lap top. They are way more prone to problems from getting beat up than your desktops ever will be. 😉

I had some similar bad service in the past week regarding the "quality program" on the MBP logic board.

Last week my MBP 'died' and after a quick web search realized the symptoms were such that I qualified for a free replacement logic board. Got a genius bar appointment at a new store in Glasgow Scotland within an hour. Got there produced the MBP, told the 'genius' i knew about the replacement logic board program and he agreed this was the issue and he would book it in for repair. So far, so good. While punching in the details of the machine he said he needed to speak to his manager. When he came back he explained I didn't qualify as my MBP was outwith the 3 year period which the 'quality program covered, I pleaded my case but couldn't argue that the machine wasn't over 3 years old because it was but that it was still the logic board that died and wasn't happy I was going to be set back to the tune of £400! Spoke to his manager who offered a 50% discount on the repair. I accepted but told them I still wasn't pleased. the machine went in for repair.

As soon as i returned home i checked this thread which linked to the apple support page, low and behold the support page tells me it will replace any logic board within a 4 year period! So what were the 'genius' and his manager up to?

I returned today to collect my repaired MBP armed with my info from the support page. "no problem Sir, we will have another look at the case". 15 mins later I was told I was right and the repair would be free.

Obviously the result was what I wanted from the start but I cant help but wonder how many people wouldn't have argued the case and would have been stung for a full price repair!

Must do better, Braehead Glasgow!!

You have to admit, not every employee could possibly know everything about Apple, not even a manager. Sounds like your manager responded in a way that seemed to make sense to him without knowing the actual facts...and tried to satisfy his customer, rather than spending time to research the answer. Which is what a lot of people do when they don't know for certain.

This thread has been going a long time and I was the first one to find the link to Apple's site that talked about the free replacement within 4 years. I spent the time to research my problem...because it really was MY problem, not Apple's. Who had the most to lose/win? ME. So I spent the most time looking for the answer.

I was lucky that my Apple store actually knew about the problem so they had no issues with fixing mine for free.