MacBook Pro (Mid 2010) crashes continuously

gfxCardStatus will definitely help but I am afraid it will not solve your problem unless you are happy to work with the Intel GPU.

You should definitely get a Genius Bar appointment and ask them to run a video test (issue TS4088).

I assume your Macbook is not under warranty unless you have Apple Care but the "replacement program" will be free if your computer is positive at the test they have for that specific problem.

You just did the right thing.

To reply to your question, only a fraction of Macs manufactured between April 2010 and February 2011 were affected by this problem, basically, some of them received a faulty logic board and the first Lion update revealed the problem.

As I write, I just collected my Macbook from Apple Store after they finally replaced my logic board. I have been working all day long on my external monitor without a glitch.

As I am generally satisfied with the Apple Store service (it took 24 hours for the repair), I had to waste my time in two different Apple Store. I am still ****** off at that guy in the other Apple Store with his iAttitude telling me the problem was something I may have installed.

So the moral of the story, insist and insit on the TS4088 if you seem to have all the symptoms!

If it helps http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4088?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US has just recently updated on 31st of July 2012.

It also stated that "Apple will service affected 15-inch MacBook Pro computers free of charge until three years from date of purchase. Apple will provide further extensions to this program as needed. This worldwide Apple program does not extend the standard warranty coverage of the affected MacBook Pro."

Before this update it was two years from date of purchase..

I have made an appointment at the Genius Bar for this coming Tuesday. I will let you guys know if they have resolved the problem and let me replace my Logic Board for free.

The date of purchase for my Macbook Pro 15" (mid 2010) was on March 31st 2010. So if this is the case everything should go as I planned.

I can happilly report that the Apple Store replaced my logic board under waranty and that the computer is running fine with 10.8 now (graphics seem to be better in general, so i suspect the original MBP Video Update disabled part of the path to the graphics card).

Additionally, while I would recommend having a full backup of your stuff before taking it in, my files were intact when I received it back.

I had the same problem upgrading to mountion lion from snow leopard on the Mid 2010 Macbook Pro 15. Seems very common. Thanks to all the threads I found the temp work around and the fix.

Temp work around:

Google and Install gfxCardStatus. Simple to install. Leave on Dynamic Switching. From there it will Monitor and Alert you to what apps switch you to the Nvidia Graphic Card. Simply don't use those apps: For example, You'll see an alert when Google Chrome forces the NVidia Graphics Card to be used. Firefox and Safari do not. So don't use Google Chrome for now. Same with Skype as you'll see. The kernal panics stopped when by avoiding use of the NVidia Graphics Card

The fix:

Go to the Genius Bar and Cross your Fingers for a good tech. Mine ran some tests. The initial tests passed but then he ran a video test and that failed. That fail is what you want. If you get that fail this issue will be fixed free of charge, as it's a factory defect. So even without an extended warranty (my one year expired in Sep 2011) they are putting in a new logic board for free for this issue/model (Today is Jun 8, 2013). The cost will be around $450.00 if it doesn't work out in your favor.

I asked the tech how long I could have procrastinated on coming in: He said if I waited 4 years past my original purchase date I'd probably be out of luck.

Actually I should have read the post above mine as he said the same thing 🙂

I had the same problem since I upgraded to moutain lion 10.8.3. I own mid 2010 MBP 15 inch.

Brought mine to Apple store and they ran a few test and video test failed. I was told it was a known issue to Apple and it falls under quality program and I get to change my logic board free of charge. I bought mine in April 2010.

Kin, Australia.

Hey Guys

Here's a short review.

Went to the AASP in my town and showed the printed TS4088 to them. They told me I should leave my MacBook there for the test, which takes about half a day.

After two hours they phoned and told me the test failed and they would order a new logic board. The logic board was replaced two days later and I could grab my MacBook.

This was three days ago. I'm really satisfied with the service so far. No kernel panics, even with stress tests. Of course the replace was for free. It was really fast and my mac runs even better than before.

So to everyone with the kernel panics, grab your MacBook and go to an Apple Store or an AASP. You won't regret it. Even if you replaced your optical drive with an HDD, it's no problem. They won't even say a word about it and replace your Board without objection.

Greets Creation

You can see this problem on my video : http://youtu.be/fvKaRJZlVco. With this problem Apple change my motherboard for free. I hope this video will help you.
The problem happens when your macbook pro 15 core i7 mid-2010 passes the intel graphics card to nvidia 330M graphics card with iPhoto for example.

Apple text :
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4088

Sorry for my bad english.

I am with a Mid 2010 Macbook Pro

2.66 i7

4gb ram

Nvidia Geforce gt 330m&Intel HD Graphics

its been above 4 years my mb was working fine untill i decided to do a clean install of Mountain Lion and started facing this Crash Issues,

within this week i tryed to reinstall snow leopard and lion and tryed to overcome this crash issue but noting worked(couldnt reinstall snow bcaz it wouldnt boot for me)

Havent taken it to a showroom or repair centre since i already figured that this issue is due to the nvidia graphic card that came with this mb(but planing to once i save enuf money for a new repair)

for now i am on 10.7.2(lion) and my fix to this issue is gfxCardStatus 2.2.1

how to ;-

1 - install it

2 - switch energy saver in system prefs to battery saver and select Intergrated Mode in gfcardstatus from the menu bar

Note ;-

once you restart mb and try selecting Intergrated mode your screen with have white lines and garbled screen issue

so bfore restart i quit gfx and uninstall it(move it to trash)

after restart the gfx menu dosent come up on bar so i reinstall it from a extrnal usb or drive or redownload it from internet and install it back nrepeat set 2 from how to notes.

Hope this works for some one out there.

I'm running MBP Mid-2010, and I've had this problem for several weeks now. There would be very random black screen reboots of the machine. I've tried this solution today, and it seems to be helping (no crashes yet).

1. Install gfxCardStatus 2.1 (https://software.com/mac/apps/gfxcardstatus/2.1). Set it Integrated Only. Then go to Preferences > Advanced and check "Restore last used mode at startup". Also, check "Use power source-based switching" and select Integrated for both battery and plugged in. This will force your mac to use the video on the motherboard, reducing the chance of gpu crashes. Make sure to use version 2.1 or earlier.

2. Install nVidia CUDA for Mac (http://www.nvidia.com/content/DriverDownload-March2009/confirmation.php?url=/Mac /Quadro_Certified/7.5.21/cudadriver-7.5.21-macos.dmg&lang=us&type=Other)

3. Upgrade to El Capitan and make sure everything is latest.

Also see -

GPU Panic - OSX 10.9 Mavericks - Macbook PRO 6,2

Good luck.

I have to say, Apple UK couldn't have been more helpful to me. I asked to be put on to a senior adviser after explaining the problem and letting them know it was a mid-2010 15" MacBook Pro. The advisor went through the usual full erase and clean install but to no avail. MBP just crashed constantly as it had done for some time now. I spoke to them about the recall which happened 4 years ago here and told them that as a dedicated MAC user I would have expected a recall email notification as a message posted on the Apple website is of little use to those of us who rarely go there. I spoke politely to the senior adviser but did let him know that I fully expected Apple to replace the faulty logic board and graphic card under warranty, being as their knowledge of the problem meant they'd sold me a product which was not fit for purpose. The advisor went away for a couple of minutes to speak to his manager but on his return he said that it had been agreed to service my MBP under warranty and that the faulty components would all be replaced as part of that service. I took the MBP in that day (5 days ago) and picked it up today, all fixed and ready for a few more years service. I wasn't asked to contribute even a penny for shipping. I was told the cost would have been in the region of £700 if I'd had to pay for it myself, which would hardly have been worthwhile for a machine of this age, even if it's SSD and heavily upgraded.

So cudos to Apple UK for great service. They've now consolidated a customer for life, although I will check the Apple site a little more often in the future!

According to this page:

https://www.apple.com/uk/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

the recall seems to have now been extended until 27th Feb 2016. If that's correct then no-one with this issue should have problems receiving a free fix. That said, my MBP is mid-2010 but purchased in early 2011. When I put my serial number in there it said my MBP was not affected, which it was. If you're in the same boat, be insistent and they should sort it for you.

It seems that you may suffer from a well known problem from Apple: TS4088.

Your options:

- Get a Genius appointment ASAP and tell them about TS4088 - Insist! Because they will say it could be a problem caused by a non Apple "something".

- They will ask you, have you installed this already: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1469

- They have a special test to diagnose that issue which last about 30 min.

- Be ready to hear that the test did not reveal the problem - in fact, it seems that sometimes the test is negative even if the problem is there.

- Be prepared to hear them saying you have to buy a new logic board which costs £500 +

- If you are not willing to pay, they say your only choice is to wait for a software update from Apple to solve the problem.

Personally, I started to have this problem just like you after upgrading to Lion. I now have a fresh install of Mountain Lion on a brand new SSD and I just had the black screen of death 5 min ago.

Good luck