MacBook Pro 2010 - GPU problem?

Your MBP has two graphics cards, the Intel for 'lightweight' graphics and the NVIDIA for the 'heavy duty' graphics. In SYSTEM PREFERENCES>ENERGY SAVER you will see a box next to 'Automatic graphics switching'. If you deselect it, it should force the NVIDIA card to work.

In SYSTEM PROFILER>HARDWARE>GRAPHICS/DISPLAYS>VIDEO CARD< both should be both listed. If not there is a problem.

Run a hardware test. Use your installation disk and press the 'D' key as you start up.

Ciao.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4152

If you cannot run the hardware test, then you should make an appointment at the Apple store Genius bar. There must be other than graphics card issues.

Ciao.

My Macbook Pro just failed this morning, I'm 3 months outside the 4 yr service window and Apple told me to go pound sand. No way they will fix any units even if you are 1 day out of the 4 year window. What annoys me most about this is that Nvidia coughed up $150,000,000 - $200,000,000 million because of this problem, so Apple got paid to fix all of us - and it looks to me like Apple is making off like bandits as the cost of repairing failed units is WAY less than this amount.

Thanks Apple.

Same thing happened with me. I have a piece of junk Mid 2010 MBP with the graphics problem and if I bring it into the store and they claim that they cannot make the card fail during their diagnostics, they do not fix it.

I brought mine in three times due to noisy CPU fans as well. They just blew air into them and within a few days they were noisy again. Only did they replace one when they could not blow air into it to quiet it down.

I paid in the neighborhood of $5000.00 for my mid 2010 MBP with AppleCare brand new.

That was a heavy burn for me.

I like to reinstall the OS and give them a plain machine to work on, but it seems that the issue does not crop up right away.

I filed a complaint. Heard nothing.

Try showing them this: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010): Intermittent black screen or loss of video

I'm afraid is not going to impress them much. I had an unpleasant conversation with Margaret Lordan, Executive Relations EMEIA (00353 21 428 3026) who bluntly stated that Apple follows its own strict guidelines, and refuses to submit to laws on consumer rights. In other words, Apple makes no mistakes and does not accept authority outside Apple. This was confirmed after a complaint to Tim Cook's office. So, if you can find a Genius who is kind enough to break the rules to your advantage, you're extremely lucky. Otherwise, expect to be told to send another email, write another letter, make another phonecall, and be ignored.

Apple now has a special Video Switching Test to identify this problem.

Same issue here. Mid-2010, Model 6,2. System crashes and reboots, or screen just goes black. Panic Report says GPU issue. Apple says motherboard failure (from Video Switching Test) and offered to sell me a refurbished motherboard for $310. It seems that Yosemite requires more resources than the GPU can deliver, and the crash is triggered when the system tries autoswitching between the motherboard processor and the graphics processor. One fix is to go into EnergySaver and disable automatic graphics switching (which consumes more battery power, unfortunately). I plan to also wipe the hard disk, reinstall Mavericks, and not upgrade to Yosemite. If that works, I'll just stick with Mavericks until the time comes to buy a new laptop. (Alternatively, the OS after Yosemite is supposed to be more efficient, so it may make this problem go away; i.e., it may be possible to upgrade immediately to Yosemite, then upgrade to the next OS.)

I think we should all push for Apple to extend their board replacement program to include mid-2010 systems — the graphics problem seems to have been caused by Yosemite bloat.

Ugh, I've got the same model, had the GPU and logic board replaced a couple years back, and it's happening again now. I haven't upgraded to Yosemite since I think it'd be sluggish on this machine. I'm still on 10.9.5. Weird slow redrawing, argyle pattern all over the screen, blocks or bars of color, and then losing my machine for a week when there's work to do...not an experience I'm looking forward to again.