2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Apparently, my discrete graphics card has completely died a week ago, which is just 4 months after the replacement program has been closed. I was lucky enough to keep it alive for a bit more than 1900 days 😀
It has never been replaced before!

But, regarding the issue, I have experienced a couple of blue-screens and unexpected reboots last year, when they still had the replacement program. Knowing the fact that mbp has an issue with graphics I took it to apple store where the genius has told me that the hardware is absolutely fine and they would not replace a chipset for me because there is no need. He mentioned that it was a software issue.

So now, when it has died and I have to fix it, I would really like to speak to that genius one more time.

This whole story makes me feel like it`s time to get rid of apple products at all.

My MBP logic board died last Friday. This is my story also. It appears that when I had an issue in March 2016, I must have met with the same genius as you did. You think they could have let us know that the hardware could be replaced by Apple's recall. Now my computer will not even boot up. I was told that new logic boards aren't even available. So, if you did want to replace it, you could have the same issue again up the road.

So it is a week later, I cleaned my macbook on the 22nd and it never gave me any trouble again. I was close to give it to a specialist, who asked for 180€ to resolder my chip. I think it was the dust and maybe some sticky dirt on the board that made my macbook react as if it was dying. Ran the hardware test too from CD, no problems found...

I still run it with integrated graphics most of the time, I can't trust it yet and need to finish some work.

Well, I didn't meet that "genius", but I did talk to another "genius" on the phone whom I told that had I known about the program I would have brought it in before they closed. But I figured, like you found out, that I likely would have had nothing replaced either because the only thing that was happening to me, and maybe not even in December, was I had a little garbage on the screen when booting. Now, I can't even use gfxCardStatus to switch to the internal mode because it thinks the external monitor is in use (which I have none connected, but I suspect either the card, or the fact that I was FINALLY able to move the driver out of the way so the machine would stay in low res and boot. Otherwise I'd have a brick and wouldn't be writing this at all.) and the "genius" says they have no more parts.

I am feeling the same way about Apple at this point because I don't always want to be "dragged" into the "future" when I have reasons for using the tools I bought in the past, like integrated firewire without extra dongles, no halt-and-catch-fire cables or ports like USBC (Okay, I'm giving them a cheap shot here, but they deserve it), and a 17" monitor so I don't need a larger external display. If I'd wanted a lighter laptop, I WOULD have bought one already. But, I'm not the customer they are interested in anymore. Not everyone wants a shiny new plaything. Some of us just need something that meets our needs and works fairly well. It has worked up to a point, but to have a program to fix this sort of thing and not clue people in with a recall letter seems underhanded. I don't know how often car makers get away with behaviors like this (I'm sure they try sometimes), but eventually they usually get around to fixing as many of the recalled items as they can.

Maybe its true, they have no more parts, but it does seem that some folks even got a little compensation for fixing the problem before the program was in place, but now not even that much is offered. At any rate, as good as Apple service can be, and as reliable as a lot of the parts have been, their products just don't hit the mark like they used to. Hopefully I can find a way to keep this laptop around till I do have a reason to upgrade, then maybe I'll be able to think about Apple again, but more cautiously.

Reballing might generally be a waste of money. The real problem might actually be a combination of poor cooling for the graphics chip, and Apple using a poor quality variant of the graphics chip, which fails due to the unmitigated heat. One's best bet is to heat the chip, which will restore function for a month or two.

<Link Edited by Host>

Another option to address a failing GPU is to just replace it. Heating it or reballing it is a temporary fix. Replacing it is a permanent fix.

I know it's soldered to the motherboard, but there's a simple straightforward way to replace it; however, Apple has deleted several of my posts here that give an explanation on how to go about replacing the GPU, so I guess just buy a new $750 motherboard, because Apple, lol.

Hmm... So my post has been deleted too. How's that for a neutral objective forum.

I like you to please make an effort to hint a bit more about the solution, or at least to get in touch with me on an other social medium. I'm not that hard to find, on the net.

jegelie2 wrote:

Hmm... So my post has been deleted too. How's that for a neutral objective forum.

My posting where I explain why this is no neutral objective forum was deleted too. It is hilarious to see how Apple still maintains this forum is neutral and objective, and actively removes all opinions which suggest otherwise...

I have 2 macbook pros from early 2011. my 17" GPU failed last year and was refurbished by apple at no cost.

As a precaution I took my late 2011 15" to the "genius" bar too. They ran their tests and told me it did not fail, so they could not do anything about it until it did (computer was fine, but I knew it would fail at some point )

Now a few months later GPU failed and the time to get it fixed expired back in december 31st...

Obviously I got no help from apple care at all even though they know about the lawsuits and the manufacturing problems. I tried to talk to the store manager but the pretty much told me I was dealing with a big corporation and would get no one on my side.

So disappointed on Apple, I thought we were paying a premium on this machines because they would stand behind their designs.

Any luck from anyone having this issue in 2017??

ugh... I took mine to a "genius" too. he's definitively a "genius" because he bought apple enough time to get away with not fixing my computer 😟 now my graphics card doesn't work.

Luckily non of their new products look good anyways haha

I was running into problems again after several weeks of using only the Intel chip on my late 2011 MBP 15".

I found a very small electronics company that specialized in Apple products and they successfully reflowed my GPU. This only cost me 170€ and they also replaced another component that was close to fail. Very happy with my "new" Macbook now.

Have you had any success with this? I am in the exact same position here in the UK, but I actually paid over £550 back in 2014 for a new logic board, which failed again a few months later. Apple then replaced it a second time free of charge because the part was under warranty still. Today the logic board has gone again a THIRD time and Apple won't touch my 2011 Macbook Pro because it is 'vintage'. I only found out today that there was known faults with 2011 models because I did some online research.

I contacted apple support and am now in the process of requesting a refund for the repair cost I was charged in 2014. However, this does not resolve the fact that I am now left with a faulty machine I can now do nothing with. I paid good money for a computer that was sold to me as faulty.

Very annoyed about the whole situation.

Have you had any success with this? I am in the exact same position here in the UK, but I actually paid over £550 back in 2014 for a new logic board, which failed again a few months later. Apple then replaced it a second time free of charge because the part was under warranty still. Today the logic board has gone again a THIRD time and Apple won't touch my 2011 Macbook Pro because it is 'vintage'. I only found out today that there are known faults with 2011 models because I did some online research.

I contacted apple support and am now in the process of requesting a refund for the repair cost I was charged in 2014. However, this does not resolve the fact that I am now left with a faulty machine I can do nothing with. I paid good money for a computer that was sold to me as faulty.

Very annoyed about the whole situation.

All these repair attempts lead to a useless laptop here. No graphics whatsoever, however the computer boots normally and can be accessed via thunderbolt network.

So after 6 years of trustful service of my old laptop, I ended up buying the mid 2015 model they have in the Store right now. Forked out extra cash to have the exact same specs I had (15 inch, 16 GB ram, 512 GB drive, core i7). It's a stepup though, due for a long time. Now I have Retina, USB3, a fast SSD drive, faster RAM and a more efficient CPU architecture. The gpu inside is *not* AMD.

It's just plug and play; the only dongle I bought was the MagSafe 1-to-2 adapter.

I am in the same situation. Now my Mac Pro is setting on my desk and I don't know what to do with it because I don't want to spend almost $300 to repair it. But I don't want to take it apart either....I also have to deal with my iMac as it has started showing graphic distortion.....