Re: 2011 MacBook Pro GPU failures

NHBulldog wrote:

I'm not clear, is the GPU that is causing the issue on the Logic board, or is it somewhere separately in the internals of the machine?

The GPU is part of the Logic Board.

I was considering buying a 2012 MBP logic board, and installing that, but if the problematic chip is elsewhere, it doesn't sound like doing that would resolve anything. Am I correct on this?

A 2012 Logic Board will not physically fit into a 2011 case (though nearly identical, there are ever so slight differences in physical dimensions & locations), nor will the 2011 Display Assembly work with a 2012 Logic Board.

Even if you got another 2011 Logic Board, you need to be very careful since there is an Early and a Late 2011 model.....and I think once more that the Display Assemblies won't work on the other model's Logic Board....assuming that the physical layout of the boards are even identical.

If you are going to replace the Logic Board, then make sure it matches your exact model. Early 2011 for Early 2011. Or Late 2011 for Late 2011 (Don't mix & match Early to Late or vice versa). It doesn't matter if you use a board with a different CPU model just as long as the board is for that very specific model year. Personally I don't think it is worth the risk of receiving another bad board, or accidentally damaging the components when replacing them especially for such an old laptop.

Does anyone have more current news on the whole GPU issue? I've seen a variety of "fixes" online, many from around 2014. It's an older machine now, yes; but if I can get it working without too much cost/effort, I'm interested in doing so. I appreciate any updates/information anyone can share.

There are only two "software" work arounds to the issue. There is an app to force the Intel GPU to be used instead (I forget the app's name, but there are two versions of it since someone forked the open source code when the original developer stopped supporting the original app, but that developer later started updating the app again), and there is a more involved option that requires using the command line to configure some NVRAM settings IIRC.

I don't have those links at the moment, but I did post them many times on this forum some years ago probably around 2016 - 2018. I know others such as @Grant also posted links to those workarounds. However, with some GPU failures those fixes may not work.

this is the simple app that tries to maintain Integrated graphics only. it is not dangerous or destructive.

Install Cody Kreiger's Open-Source gfxcardstatus, (https://gfx.io) and set it to "i" (integrated graphics only). It will allow your MBP to run on integrated graphics only, bypassing the discrete GPU which has the issues. This may allow your MBP to run normally, although it will have reduced graphics performance when performing demanding graphics tasks. The alternative is replacing the logic board, which is not cost effective on a machine that old, unless gfx does not resolve the issue and you really want to keep this MBP.

There is an earlier fork off the main build by steveschow available that seems to fix that problem for current versions of MacOS such as ElCapitan and Sierra. He also provides a finished .app for direct download -- you do not have to compile anything.

https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases

Also note that if your Mac does not run long enough to allow gfxcardstatus to be added, this is not really practical.

In addition, Steve Schow writes that he has abandoned further development -- because there are better solutions available [for both the 2010 model and 2011 models].

There are numerous theories, mostly unproven, about causes.

Often, user experience with board-replacement follows what happened when Apple replaced your board -- The board works for a while, then the discrete GPU fails anyway after a while. Working boards are scarce and expensive because of so many problems.

Some swear by de-soldering the chip and soldering in a new one. The chip itself has a LOT of connections, soldered to the board using surface-mount soldering techniques and just the de-solder tools cost a lot.

I have two 2011 models, and I just software-patched mine and got a lot more life out of them. But if you don't follow the rules, (i.e., if it sleeps) it never wakes up, so a power-down and restart is required.

Do you want the pointers to patching information? (I am only being cagey because we are discouraged from freely and frequently posting everything about it, because novice users might hurt themselves of their computers.)

Can you get by withOUT an external display?

Can you get by withOUT having your Mac sleep, I.e, leave it up and running or shut it down at end of day?

if the answer to BOTH is yes, then there are some [No cost] hacks that can make patches to disable the Discrete Graphics chip with the "GPU Issue" and leave it off. The computer works acceptably well on Integrated graphics only.

Post back for details.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

I have saved the links for those apps, and the links for hand patching etc.

Because I have been scolded previously for posting those too freely, I try to only post those in response to a direct request, which I have not seen on this discussion. I believe the thinking is that novice users might hurt themselves or their computers if we made such mods too easy to obtain.

Surprisingly I never encountered that problem. There is a third option which you didn't mention here that is more likely to draw the ire of the moderators since I think it also mentioned hardware modifications as well (not always necessary, and Steve's link you posted may as well or is once removed). I think the basic fix is to be able to configure the NVRAM to tell the system to use the Intel GPU since I recall a Linux boot disk being used to get these Macs working since Linux would not trigger the GPU issue & could configure the NVRAM.

I think Cody Kreiger's version is now once more being somewhat maintained IIRC, but it was a few years ago when I last checked it out so may be mistaken. Too tired too look at the moment.

Thanks for the links. I'm sure I still have them somewhere. Haven't needed to reference them for some years now.

I have saved the links for those apps, and the links for hand patching etc.

Because I have been scolded previously for posting those too freely, I try to only post those in response to a direct request, which I have not seen on this discussion. I believe the thinking is that novice users might hurt themselves or their computers if we made such mods too easy to obtain.

The version that uses Linux as an intermediary does so to give easy access to normally unmounted disk partitions. Users later figured out ways to patch it without Linux used at all.