Q: problems with amd gpu on early 2011 macbook pro

Similar issues for me:

Macbrook pro 17" late 2011

Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7

Graphics  Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB

Originally I started seeing a strange broken image at start up. After a few levels of unsuccessful support i was sent to an approved apple care firm. Apparently, Apple had never seen this issue before. They replaced the logic board at no cost and the issue was resolved. One month later same broken image has re-appeared at start up, laptop has started getting really hot even with light use and the keyboard backlighting has ceased to work. Just re-opened the orginal ticket but glad i purchased the extended apple care. What's my chances of getting them to replace it with a new macbook pro? I splashed out £2700 GBP on this laptop with care etc.

I am glad to report that Apple is going to replace the logic board of my early 2011 17" MBP at no charge (excepted for the labor). My Mac was out of warranty since more than 2 months (in Europe, a law specifies that a manufacturer must guarantee the conformity of a product and all its parts for 2 years - that's not a real warranty, but sort of), but after dropping my machine at a local APR and having received an estimate for the repair, I called Apple Support and after talking to a sales representative, he told me that a new logic board will be handed to the technicians, at no cost. When he checked my data, he noticed that I am a very good client, I believe that it helped quite alot.

This does not mean everyone trying to get a free replacement will have one… But I learned that in such cases (through a friend working for an APR), Apple really wants to have the client on the phone, before accepting any "favor" concerning a repair. You do have to drop your computer in an APR for diagnosis first (with an estimate of repairs cost), though, so they can rely on a professional advice and see if it matches your own request.

Also, this was what I experienced with Apple Belgium. I don't know if it's the same in each country.

Nevertheless, don't hesitate to try, it may end very well.

I have found the best solution to use your defective macbook pro as usual without voiding the warranty. But this trick may decrease lifespan of your fan.. But the repair cost for the fan is much more cheaper than the Logic Board right?. please dont comment about fan lifespan.

After u are sucessfully boot your mac, quickly select intergrated in gfxCardStatus.. this is for one time only & u can remove this fu***** apps with lot of bugs after below steps.

1) install smcFanControl Quickly.

2) open preferences in smcFanControl & set to Higher RPM 6200RPM

3) tick on a checkbok autostart smcFanControl after login & save

4) set this Higher RPM as your default fan speed all the way. you will hear this annoying fan sound all the way.

done..

now your mac can be restart,shutdown & boot as usual without the fu**** zebra line, blue screen & etc.

Discrete Craphic Card can be used now.

After login you can hear the annoying fan spin again..

Disclaimer: tested on my early 2011 17" macbook pro & you will hear the sound for the rest of your life...

Now i try to turn down the minimum speed to 4000RPM & my mac still Ok & doesnt freeze.

Hi,

Look at the news today.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/17/apple-announces-gpu-replacement-program-for-2 011s-spring-imacs/#continued

Maybe there is hope for us!

We have to be representative.

There is hope...

My MBP 15" (early 2011) is experiencing the same crashes/glitches.

I took it to the Apple store (Montreal) on August 13th 2013, they said they will replace the logic board.

Went back to pick it up on August 17th 2013 and paid $622.65

On August 18th, the glitches/crashes started happening again. Took it back to the Apple store on August 20th and the geniuses decided to change logic board again!

I'm picking up the laptop today.

To be continued...

Fellow Montrealer here!

Keep us posted, i'm having the same issue!

My Problems got worse... now sometimes at the start-up the display goes either black or with the stripes (blue, pink, white).

For how long Apple will ignore this problem and treat us as idiots??

Logic board replaced for the second time, I picked up the laptop. The only way for me to reproduce the problem with the second logic board is by running a game for a few seconds (Civilization 5).

Now, the game has been running for a couple of hours with the 3rd logic board and no crashes at all.

I'll keep you posted.

In the mean time if you want me to perform another kind of test just let me know.

I don't call that a solution, at least for a long term use. gfxCardStatus works very well on my MBP, maybe are you using an outdated version?

I have problems with amd gpu (6490m) too. But my mbp can't boot os, that stuck at darkblue with grey line screen.

I and my friend had the same problem at the same time. Both of us are having MacBook Pro early 2011 15 inch.

Please trust what im trying to say.

After u were succesfully bootup your mac.. Immediately install SMCfancontrol & set minimum fan speed at 4000RPM all the way.. Please dont forget to set the smcfancontrol to open automaticaly when login next time... Dont restart 1st.. Let your mac running with the setting for about 1 hour.... Then only u can restart... The purpose is to let SMC familiar with these fan setting...  Its work.. Please trust me.

My MBP crashed yesterday with the 3rd logic board. It happened during a presentation I was doing for my client... it's unacceptable!!!

The machine doesn't boot anymore and it crashes with a blue screen as soon as I try to run the disk utility or start the safe mode. I lost a whole day of work since I cannot access the content of my SSD.

I'm off to the apple store in a couple of hours...