Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card
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Dec 9, 2014 3:17 AMby Bassbarbie,I am in the same boat - my second board seems to be failing too (after 2 months) and is going back to Apple today - thankfully still covered by Apple Care.
I know it's not of any help, but just to say, this isn't just an Apple problem. My previous Dell laptop had 2 new motherboards. I still have it - I only use it occasionally. It limps along on it's third one. I never use it without a fan on it, and avoid using it for long periods of time.
I would go for an integrated graphics card next time.
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Dec 9, 2014 4:17 AMby NikolayKolev,Hi guys,
Here I go again. So, as some of you may remember I send over my MBP 15" 2011 to a reballing service here in Italy (a store in Genova, called Non Solo PC Store).
The total cost was:
€25.00 for the transport
€160.00 for the work on it
€40.00 for the new chip
+ taxes
Today I got my Mac back. And it's running all good and fine, just like it did before.
The guy who had it repaired, had left me some notes and good things to do for avoiding that the problem arises again.
Here is what he said:
- Avoid playing movies in streaming
- Avoid playing games in Facebook
- Avoid Flash Player!!
- Install smcFanControl and rev the minimum fan speed up (about 4000 RPM), but I also did a middle setup (about 2800 RPM) cause it's not noisy but still it's cooled better than when it's just on 2000 RPM.
- Check that the machine is always nicely cleaned (remove dust and stuff form fans and/or from the point where the air flows in and out, usually it's where the screen is attached to the body)
- Avoid sending the machine in sleep mode (shut it down when you don't need it and power it up when are back and ready to do some work)
I'm attaching to this email two photos of the chip that is screwing you!
Just so you know how it looks like!
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Dec 9, 2014 4:21 AMby obwianMacobi,NikolayKolev wrote:
Hi guys,
Here I go again. So, as some of you may remember I send over my MBP 15" 2011 to a reballing service here in Italy (a store in Genova, called Non Solo PC Store).
The total cost was:
€25.00 for the transport
€160.00 for the work on it
€40.00 for the new chip
+ taxes
Today I got my Mac back. And it's running all good and fine, just like it did before.
The guy who had it repaired, had left me some notes and good things to do for avoiding that the problem arises again.
Here is what he said:
- Avoid playing movies in streaming
- Avoid playing games in Facebook
- Avoid Flash Player!!
- Install smcFanControl and rev the minimum fan speed up (about 4000 RPM), but I also did a middle setup (about 2800 RPM) cause it's not noisy but still it's cooled better than when it's just on 2000 RPM.
- Check that the machine is always nicely cleaned (remove dust and stuff form fans and/or from the point where the air flows in and out, usually it's where the screen is attached to the body)
- Avoid sending the machine in sleep mode (shut it down when you don't need it and power it up when are back and ready to do some work)
I'm attaching to this email two photos of the chip that is screwing you!
Just so you know how it looks like!
So basically, don't use it how it was intended to be used - and now we know why Apple were so keen to kill Flash!!
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Dec 9, 2014 4:27 AMby aixgeek,I have purchased 2 MacBook Pros, 4 Macbooks, a Mini, and several iPhones/iPads/iPods over the last few years; I have always been a cheerleader for the Apple brand and the quality of their products. My 2011 MacBook Pro went belly up with the graphics card failure yesterday, and I'm not sure what to do about it. From what I have read, if I shell out the money to fix the problem, it may be fixed with a part that has the same inherent design flaw. While I really like the integration that exists between the various Apple devices, I'm not sure an inexpensive laptop running a Linux distribution might not be a better choice. I figure I am spending the extra money on Apple products for superior hardware and software and, if I am not getting what I am paying for, then it's time to take my business elsewhere.
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Dec 9, 2014 5:15 AMby hype1,I receive tens of email a day of notifications of people complaining in this thread but I would like to thank Apple today! My Macbook Pro, Late 2011, 17 inch, was on repair last week due to this issue and although I was very worried it would cost me 600 euro's after reading this thread, I am now happy to let you guys know that my logic board replacement was done for free! I guess due to customer protection, or Apple might just admit this problem exist. I'm located in The Netherlands by the way...
My trust in Apple is restored for now. Hope you all will have your costs covered as well.
(Oh... how good it feels to type this on my own mac again...)
Best of luck!
J
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Dec 9, 2014 5:56 AMby D3us,NikolayKolev wrote:
Hi guys,
Today I got my Mac back. And it's running all good and fine, just like it did before.
The guy who had it repaired, had left me some notes and good things to do for avoiding that the problem arises again.
Here is what he said:
- Avoid playing movies in streaming
- Avoid playing games in Facebook
- Avoid Flash Player!!
- Install smcFanControl and rev the minimum fan speed up (about 4000 RPM), but I also did a middle setup (about 2800 RPM) cause it's not noisy but still it's cooled better than when it's just on 2000 RPM.
- Check that the machine is always nicely cleaned (remove dust and stuff form fans and/or from the point where the air flows in and out, usually it's where the screen is attached to the body)
- Avoid sending the machine in sleep mode (shut it down when you don't need it and power it up when are back and ready to do some work)
Seems he's really confident in the repair, avoiding all those things...
Isn't what what you bought it for?
For the extra graphics power???
Like selling a fast car able to go over 250km/hour but telling the customer to not go over 100km/h to avoid problems...
1st Thing I mostly tell my customers after a repair is to do some stress testing and watch/report back the results and temperatures...
Do agree with keeping it clean
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Dec 9, 2014 5:43 AMby devarshi108,I paid $325 one month ago for a new logic board (they had already replaced the "video card", paid for by my AppleCare policy a year earlier when I had similar graphics problems). My 2011 Macbook Pro is already showing early signs of graphics failure, with the bizarro monitor freeze happening intermittently, usually disappearing within a few seconds, but crashing the computer at times. I still trust that Apple is going make all of us good on this thing, but then I've been accused of being naive at times.
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Dec 9, 2014 5:44 AMby mirkofromturku,Hi All!
I think we all have signed the petition, but I also made a Thunderclap campaign about this issue.
It started today, and ends at 24th of December. Just a little reminder to Apple. Please sign and join in you are having problems.
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/20251-2011-mbp-with-graphics-failure?locale= en
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Dec 9, 2014 6:22 AMby D3us,hype1 wrote:
I receive tens of email a day of notifications of people complaining in this thread but I would like to thank Apple today! My Macbook Pro, Late 2011, 17 inch, was on repair last week due to this issue and although I was very worried it would cost me 600 euro's after reading this thread, I am now happy to let you guys know that my logic board replacement was done for free! I guess due to customer protection, or Apple might just admit this problem exist. I'm located in The Netherlands by the way...
My trust in Apple is restored for now. Hope you all will have your costs covered as well.
(Oh... how good it feels to type this on my own mac again...)
Best of luck!
That's beacuse Dutch warranty states that a product should have a reasonable lifespain.
They were forced by Dutch consumer law/organisations, it's this sentence that saved you from paying:
"Verwachte levensduur van het product (geen vaste duur). De verkoper moet op de hoogte worden gesteld binnen een redelijke termijn na ontdekking van het gebrek."
http://www.apple.com/nl/legal/statutory-warranty/
However, you were lucky your shop applied it without you even mentioning it.
Most don't and charge for it untill you bring the extra Dutch legal warranty rules up.
Good for yout it's fixed, but do stress test it thouroughtly, many logic boards fail again pretty soon.
Believe me, if that Dutch warranty law didn't excist, you'd had to pay for it.
Same in UK,6 years and Scotland, 5 years.
Vooral testen, 3d demos, hd films in hoogste kwaliteit enz.... hoop voor je dat hij bljft werken.
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Dec 9, 2014 6:44 AMby TJMooseman,Apple has systematically addressed previous product issues before, but they have been awkwardly silent on this. From a corporate level, they refuse to acknowledge the problem. Yes you will find a few sympathetic Apple Store employes, but all they offer is a meaningless "I'm Sorry".
The lack of a formal response or acknowledgement by Apple in itself is interesting. I am afraid that the issue might be much larger then we initially all believe, in that it is limited to the early 2011 MBP 15". It may also be the 17", as some have reported. Maybe the larger size helps dissipate more heat and they are less likely to fail at the same rate. However, I wonder if anything changed in the MBP 15" core GPU design and manufacturing process since the introduction of the GPU and lead free solder-paste. Will later models 2012, 2013, 2014.... also fail at the same rates as the 2011, but just haven't been around long enough. If the root cause of the problem is in the design and manufacturing process and if my doom and gloom suspicion about later models is true, then Apple Management knows they have a VERY large problem on it's hand and they will likely avoid publicly addressing the issue.
