MBP Logic board failure

I presume you have seen the listing available through http://store.apple.com.au/buy/service/

I can't vouch for Adelaide operators, but my own NVidia logicboard was replaced by Next Byte, Ivanhoe, efficiently and expeditiously, after testing. I see there are a couple of "Next-Byte" stores in Adelaide. Might be worth trying. At least in Melbourne their service staff have always proved very open and effective for me.

If you want to be sure about whether your model has the relevant GPU , it will bear the model number A1226 or A1260 in the small print on the base of the computer at the back if it is a 15" model, or A1261 if it is a 17" model.

Cheers

Rod

thanks Rod 🙂

yep, my next port of call: next byte rundle mall.

will update how i go 🙂

(Update...)

Although the symptoms of my last of the two NVIDIA-failure were not typical (no start-up chime, no caps-lock-lightup) it turned out to be an issue with the NVIDIA-Chip as well.
As Apple-Care and my service-provider Gravis refused to replace the board for a second time I sent my MacBook Pro to a small company: http://www.macomputerservice.de (never mind their webpage-programming) who offer a logic-board repair on a fairly low-cost base (€ 240/$340). The repair was successfull.
By that time I was borrowed another MacBook Pro (same model) from a company I was working with. After just 6 days I was confronted with the black screen again (now with the typical symptoms: Start-up-chime, caps-lock- and keyboard light-up, black screen). So within four months I encountered three times the NVIDIA-issue with two different computers.

The second, borrowed MacBook Pro has Leopard 10.5 installed but was bootet in target-mode from my own disk (from the MacBook that was in repair at that time) with Snow-Leopard 10.6 installed. That in mind plus the fact that the first failure occured shortly after I had installed Snow-Leopard in September leads me to a vage thesis, that Snow-Leopard with its intensive use of the graphics-unit could somehow accelerate the occurrence of the issue.

Does that make sense?

Kai Kniepkamp wrote:
Does that make sense?

(Update ... 2)

Answer by an Apple-authorised tech-guy:
"No. The issue is based on a bad junction of the chip to the logic-board, not the chip itself.
In some cases people 'solved' the problem by putting the board into the oven @ ~ 80°C."

There are a group in the UK who do much the same repair, Kai (I'm afraid I've forgotten their name) , and say much the same about its cause as your Apple tech. They have the gear to reflow the connection more effectively I gather.

I guess any strenuous graphics activity might push a 'suspect" connection over the edge. Perhaps all of those pulsing, starry effects when you install SL are just enough to do deliver the final coup de grâce in some cases?

Cheers

Rod

So how did you get on Benon?

Nextbyte at Glenunga have just quoted me $2090 for what sounds like the exact same problem with an A1226.

Kevin

Did you or they actually mention the extended repair program mentioned at http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377, Kevin?

I've found in the past with other warranty repairs elsewhere that it sometimes helps to "point out" such things! 😉

Cheers

Rod

Hi Kevin,

Well Next Byte Rundle Mall have diagnosed another fault in the machine: the left I/O board has failed. Add that to the logic board and I have a machine that doesn't fall under the Nvidia repair program and consequently a $4000 brick.

I've called Apple again to express my frustrations and concerns. The case has now been escalated and is being investigated by a guy called Shannon. He has already indicated there will be a cost involved to have the machine repaired.

In the meantime, as I have deadlines (including the two weddings) already biting at my ankles, I've ordered a configured a iMac (yes, with AppleCare!) to help me get through my workload. Shannon believes the rough guide to repair my Macbook Pro will be approx $1000. Add that to the $4000 it cost to purchase and the $3000 I've just spent on the iMac and Apple have me down for 8g large. And I don't have a machine to work on!!!

During my discussions with Shannon several times he mentioned my expectations from Apple as a customer. I clearly stated that my expectations were that the product purchased will operate as advertised. In particular, when purchasing a "pro" product from their range I expect that product to operate effectively for a minimum of 5 years (given spec changes, industry updates etc etc).

I feel let down from Apple that a product of this dollar amount has failed within 2 years of purchase.

Another fault that I have not bothered to report is that the Superdrive stopped reading audio CD's about 12 months ago. Not a big issue as I don't use it for that purpose often, but here's the kicker: it returns errors EVERY time I burn a dual layer data DVD (something I do consistently: clients photos at full size tiffs more often exceed the storage available on a single layer DVD). To get around this I would take my clients photos on a external HDD to the library to dump and burn. Hardly professional, but the time and effort to have the super drive fixed out of warranty was not something I could afford.

Currently I am waiting on an official reply from Shannon, will update this post when that comes through.

Rod, they did mention the repair program, and the desk guy said that there was a reasonable chance of this being the problem. Their repair cost is just a push to buy a new machine, which the guy mentioned first up when they called back.

Kevin

Benon,

That repair cost for yours of $1000 doesn''t seem to fit with the $2090 I was quoted. My repair is for the logic board replacement only.

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Well that price was for the left I/O board.

That was from Next Byte Rundle Mall, however the Logic Board will obviously also need to be replaced... so I am not at all any better off!

I've just spoken to Apple and NextByte, and have been told that my situation is "unfortunate" and "unusual". Apple said they would cover the labour, leaving just $1940 for an exchange logic board.

Now I have the choice of sourcing a replacement board and changing it myself, which I can probably do, can't be any harder than repairing camera lenses; or shipping the machine to Hong Kong where the cost is $300AUD to repair it, free if they cannot.

I'm in the same boat with a wedding next weekend and nothing to process shots on. I'm unhappy, to say the least.

Kevin

Mmm,

What is the evidence on the left hand input/output board? You can buy one of these for about $90 US and 90% of the work needed to replace it has to be done when replacing the logic board anyway, so the labor costs shouldn't be that different.

In my own case I had one of those "worse than fatal" deadlines the day my own NVidia problem emerged , and bought an MBP 13 so I could simply get things going again and stuff out the door by 5PM that day. The repair was going to take a week and the cost of the MBP was much less than the cost of not meeting the deadline! It would have been a "no brainer" if it wasn't for the fact that the client didn't play by Hoyle's Rules either and doesn't seem to apply the same principles when it come to payment that I applied to getting things to them on time! But that is another story, and completely unrelated to Apple.

$3000 buys a lot of iMac, though, Benon, even in Australia, and is a machine far, far more powerful than you would have needed to match the capabilities of your old MBP. Hey, my base model 13" MBP is just as fast as my old SantaRosa, and cost a lot of Kangaspoolies less than that! Even a current model MB is just as capable, if not more so. To get to $3000 (even the AU variety) with an iMac you have to have a top of the range, up optioned 2.8 quad core with 8 Gig of RAM or a 2 TB HD. Essentially the machine you have bought costs about three time the price of the equivalent replacement to your one that has problems and the "replacement" is far far more capable. Lets keep this stuff in the realms of reality, eh?

If your MBP costs you $1000 to repair, then you are down 1g, not 8g. Sure, I agree that this is bad enough, and if it is all because of a problem with the left hand input board, then even this is way too much, and I'd be asking for more evidence, but let's not guild the lily, eh!

CHeers

Rod

Rod, the evidence is direct from the mouth of Matt at Rundle Mall Next Byte, and the quote he has given was ball park figure of 1g to replace. I have no idea of the cost of these things, I was equally as baffled as to why the logic board would cost approx 2g to replace. From my PC days you can pick up a mother board for about 100 bucks.

$3000 buys a lot of iMac, true: specifically it has bought me:

2.66GHZ QUAD-CORE INTEL COREI5
4GB 1066MHZ DDR3 SDRAM - 2X2GB
2TB SERIAL ATA DRIVE
ATI RADEON HD 4850 512MB
8X DOUBLE-LAYER SUPERDRIVE
APPLE MAGIC MOUSE
KYBD(NUM) & USER'S GUIDE-X
COUNTRY KIT,IMAC 27-INCH-AUS

Not included there is Apple Care (you bet I bought it this time!) plus the remote (which for some reason only Apple understand, it is not shipped as standard with iMacs anymore?)

I haven't bought the iMac to "match" the capabilities of the Macbook Pro, I've bought it as a desktop machine and hence went with higher specs to crunch the data I am processing more efficiently at the lack of portability. Since you mentioned it, my specific daily requirements are as follows: I am a photographer for a music magazine. I also shoot freelance including weddings. Typically I am processing RAW files in Lightroom (12mb each approx) (anywhere between 200 - 300 shots) exporting those as uncompressed tiffs (between 40-60mb each) and then opening ALL of those in photoshop for final processing, watermarking, downsizing etc etc.

For the record the Macbook Pro did these tasks fine for the last two years (although it would take quite a while to open all the tiffs in photoshop so i'd usually go grab dinner at that point). Scope my work at my site: http://www.bjwok.com perhaps someone would like to commission me for a shoot to make up for this loss? 'll travel anywhere in OZ if booked early enough 🙂

The Macbook Pro is going to cost 1g to just fix the left I/O board, then on top of that I still need the logic board/graphics card repaired. (2g) Again, this information is from two separate authorised Apple repair centers (Next Byte, Rundle Mall & Mac Alert, South Road), so yes, including the cost to buy the Macbook Pro originally and the cost of repairing it, plus the cost of the iMac, Apple have me down for 8g. I don't think that's guilding the lily at all, it's just the amount of money this will set me back!

I'm sending mine to a guy in Sydney who has quoted $450 fixed to repair any logic board fault, plus any second fault if the second is not labour intensive.

Apple really need to look into better after-sales service on these units. It isn't right that a "Pro" laptop fails so badly after 18 months or so that replacement is their only viable option.

Kevin