Q: MacBook Pro Logic Board Failure

Just here to add my sad story.  Purchased a MacBook Pro in April 2011.  Did not purchase the Apple care extended 3 year warranty.  Shame on me!  I felt that of any brand name in the world, I did not need an extended warranty on an "Apple Product!"  Again, shame on me! 

Two days ago, I was happily doing school work (masters student), and I decided to take a break.  I closed the lid of my MacBook and went and did something else for a half an hour.  I came back opened the lid....to blackness!  Nothing I did could wake up the computer.  Note that this is now 1 1/2 years since my purchase! 

I called Apple, and to their credit, they did try to help me over the phone with support, no charges even mentioned.  After trying all manner of different key combinations, he sadly informed me that I needed to take my MacBook to an Apple store.  The next day I took it and to their credit every single person in the store was incredibly understanding and helpful.  After trying the key combinations again, they took the MacBook to do some tests in the back.  The result....bad logic board!   Note that my MacBook sits on a desk all of the time, has not been abused in any way, and I just don't understand how the main logic board failing within 1 1/2 years does not qualify to be repaired/replaced free of charge.  Shame on Apple! 

Of course, I understand that electronic things do break on occassion, however after finding this blog, I really feel that there is a bad batch of logic boards out there.  Alas!  The repair bill is supposed to be $310, which is less than the $349 that I would have paid for Apple care, however I can only hope that the replaced logic board will last for at least another 1 1/2 years! 

Disappointed in the quality of this product and the lack of responsibility taken by Apple.  Not disappointed with the customer service I have received so far.

Yup add another NVidia issue.... started a month ago only when photo editing, but reboot, ok for a bit, now a month later it is unusable. Can't talk to Apple because I don't have applecare, as 349 per year, hardly seems worth it. Just to talk to them is supposed to cost me $60 . What is that???? Not everyone is a billionaire who can afford $60 a phone call!

Anyway, no Apple store here in Victoria. One in Vancouver, but then it is $140 for the ferry. There is an Authorized service dealer, and it was taken in, and confirmed that it is the Nvidia issue. I was then told about the 4 year replacement "warranty" , and eagerly found my receipt. Ordered September 22, 2008. The Service dealer said he can't do anything as it is past the 4 year time frame. It is now October 12. Apparently I am SOL.

I will NEVER have anything to do with Apple again. IF they don't have faith in their equipment to last 4 years, then I don't either. My $400 computer i built in 2007 is doing just fine, never had a issue. 

My Ipod touch, 3rd gen, died after 2 years, 300 to fix, so it went in the bin.

How do Apple stay in business?

I am in Victoria too, and just went through this whole thing with a Mac Book Pro 2008.  I had Apple Care but it has run out and then after reading in the forum and talking with others Mac Book Pro owners here found that Apple had extended the warranted to 4 years for the NVDIA graphic card failure which caused the logic board to fail as well.  I was 10 days outside the warranty period.  I argued that I had never been contacted about the known NVDIA failure which was identified in July 2008 and I purchased it in September 2008.

I took it to my premium Apple store and they confirmed the diagnosis, with Apple approved testing software.  They gave me a code number that identified the problem and then I got on the phone with Apple and with much patience, no swearing or aggressive behavior to the phone handlers, I was transferred from here to there, and then I got a case number, and that was a boon.  They told me to take to it Richmond, and of course they didn't realize the ferry ride etc.  It wasn't until I remained firm and polite that I asked to be put through to Customer Relations Representative (In Texas no less)  and more patience ensued, but after a few days of back and forth with the rep, they paid for the whole thing, were downright apologetic for the disruption of service.  I took it to Soho on Douglas who had diagnosed the problem, they were provied with a code to comple the repair, and voila....good end to story.  I did add memory and brough the old beast up to 4GB of memory.

So maybe. luck, patience and and expecting to be on the phone for a few days now and again will resolve some of these situations.  Good luck

I just talked to Westworld Computers,  They said they could try to get Apple to allow the repair at thier cost, but the last 3 people that have come in with the issue, were all denied as it was past the 4 year limit. One was even 2 days over the purchase date, and they were denied. Apparently Apple emailed every customer, and advertised internationally about the issue, and therefore believe they have done their part. Therefore, they would be happy to change the logicboard for $1200.00 plus labour, 2 hours at $160.00 per hour. Are you effin kidding me?

Apple sells, but does not stand by, or really care about what happens when you walk out the door. 

Ok, what email? Mine has never changed. What advertising? Only in Tech magazines, apparently.

Again, why are Apple still in business?

Was it worth the $60 fee to talk to them??

I didn't even pay the 60$!!!

so many typos is my story!  ugh, I hate that!

well, try and get to Customer Relations Department.  I had been through at least 3 other people before I got to this woman and explained the situation calmly.  They know about this thread, and they know about the defect and I was 10 days past the 4 year mark.....so there may be some leeway if you get the right person.  I was never notified either and my email address has not changed at all, and I purchased after the defect was identified.  Good luck.

I wasn't sure where to post this response, because my symptoms and repairs spanned so many categories.  I also LOVE my Mac products, yes, when they work.  My Nov. 2010 15" MBP (10.6.8 OS, 4GB, 2.8 GHz) purchased new in October 2011, has been plagued with issues within weeks of its purchase.

When I say plagued, I mean plagued.  This has included in the past ten months keyboard lighting failures, specific key failures, video and skype audio and visual issues, cd drive and flashdrive issues, on-screen light flickering and dimming, blue screening, multiple software bugs, full crashing with no response, and failure to charge. 

I am still under the free one-year Applecare warranty, so all repairs have been covered (thankfully), but the laptop has undergone major repair/rebuilding three times; I am currently on my third harddrive, third logic board, third keyboard, second topcase, second ram replacement, and second cd drive, and have had multiple system reconfigurations, alignments, and software repairs.  As of present, I received the laptop back from Apple for it's last repair yesterday (in their favor, turnaround time has been ULTRA fast; I live in a rural area and received my laptop back each time withing 3 days of sending it out);..however, within ten minutes of using it today, the keyboard lighting has already started going out again. 

I have been repeatedly asking various repair department and customer service senior advisors for a new computer to hear repeatedly back that if it gives me trouble again after the repair, to call them and send it back again, and then they can (roughly:) "begin to consider other options at that time." How many times does one have to do this, and how many times does one have to pray that their information has transferred properly to an external backup source to be reloaded when they wipe out your harddrive for servicing? 

Well, in my case, happily, it ends with three.  I have finally been heard.  Well not me, per se.  I let my husband take over and play much more aggressive hardball than I was willing or probably able to do.  As described to me, after demanding our money back NOW, my husband rationally explained that given Apple's multi-billion dollar status and still perceived-solid reputation, that he expected results...and that he was so frustrated at this point that he felt like shoving the laptop up somebody's...well you might guess where!...Viola...I will be getting a new brand computer with a new one year warrantly next week.

Why does it take using such hardball tactics with a company...one we switched to because of their superlative history (history as in PAST, it seems...) of impeccable products and service to finally get them to step up and honor their products? 

Apple is a business and as such exists principally to make a profit and incidentally render a service. The incidental part has declined since the founder died. Right now Apple has so many irons in the fire I can't see how anyone could keep track of everything.

Be sure to purchase AppleCare for the new computer as you have found Apple Products can be far from perfect. AppleCare can relieve a lot of frustration, pain, hate, and discontent after the 1 year warranty is up.

If you don't do it presently consider learning about bootable clone backups. Apple care doesn't prevent loss of data due to hardware or software failure. Some links if interested.

http://lifehacker.com/5839185/the-best-disk-cloning-app-for-mac-os-x

http://www.cultofmac.com/48861/how-and-why-to-clone-your-mac-hard-drive-macrx/

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

http://www.bombich.com/

I agree with you, <edited by host>.

I purchased a macbook pro in august 2008. The GPU failed in 2012 in September 6. I didn't know about this article yet. I brought the computer to apple retail store several times to be examined, they answered that this faulty is due to logic board failure. It can be fixed if I am willing to pay $ 500 ++ for a  new logic board.A month later I discovered that the faulty was actually due to GPU failure.

I showed kernel panic log files in the diagnostic report. In  Oct 14 2012 I went to different apple store genius bar. They said that that claim for free logic board replacement due to nvia faulty was already out of coverage.

I argued that I went to other genius bar on September 9, 2012 for the same problem that I haven't had known about GPU failure yet.That incident happened just 2 or 3 weeks after the original coverage which is on August 24, 2012. They simply won't replace it for free. This is unfair. If the company acknowledge it can fail within 4 years why wouldn't they cover just 2 or 3 weeks after 4 years? The extend of this failure rate cannot simply be determined by time range. It has memoryless property, the rate at which it would fail will be the same regardless of the length of time until it catch one failure and Apple shoud have known this basic probability.

I was one of the lucky ones who's 2008 MBP failed 2 weeks before the 4 year limit was up and had it repaired at no cost. The saddest part is that all the replacement logic boards have the same GPU and are also going to fail in time. All these 2008 MBPs should have been recalled and replaced by a reliable substitute.

Thanks for the links!  Will check them out.

Well, my sad story continues. Spent 2.5 hours on the phone this AM, and apparently, I was told, that 4 years is just awesome for a Macbook Pro to work!!!!!!! Wow. That made me feel so much better. When my graphics chip failed as part of the Nvidia thing, I was told there is an end date, and that is it. No exceptions whatsoever. Never going to happen. After all, I've had 4 years of use, I should be grateful. Even their own Iphone 3gs lasted a whole 3.5 years, which is just awesome because most won't last that long!  

I still use my Amiga 3000 that i bought in 1989, and it works just fine. That 23 years!!! Now that cost me $5000

when i bought it, but I think it was worth it.

Why do people pay a premium to Apple, when their own employees don't expect the equipment to last even a portion of a normal life? If 4 years is considered exceptional for the lifespan of electronics for Apple, then I think the company will find a long fall to what happened to Nortel.

In the meantime, US customers are told $351 to $550 for reaplacement of the logic board, yet in Canada it is $1200. Can you say RIPOFF???

Ebay here I come, good bye Apple.

I've got a logic board for sale that apple sent me as a replacment board for my Nvidia croaked board...why is no one interested at fixing their macbook for a fraction of the cost?  maybe they are concerned about being ripped off?