Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

No. Their excuse is that THIS MBP is already a replacement for another POS that had a design flaw that they had to replace, so they refused and basically said "tough luck"

Shows the Apple of yesterday compared to today in a nutshell.

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MagicHamster wrote:

Could someone please tell me how to find information on resoldering, if I should and where I can do it?

Is there any sticky post explaining? Is there another discussion? Why not update the first post with links and info?

Thank you very much!

Hi Magic,

A dedicated environment was setup exactly for that, it's open for suggestions and all, but has the capacity of creating a good/clear structure, stickies, etc.

Also the SN's can be collected there.

Search: "All the information you need to get informed quickly and get your MBP 2011 GPU problem solved" and you'll get there.

Also useful for everyone that rather gets their machine fixed fast and good, rather then waiting for Apple to finally wake up..

So what are we all doing?  Are there any "real" solutions to try, or are we all just waiting for the lawsuit or Apple to make a move...?

My MBP died today and I'd rather not go thru some of the crap others seem to have experienced from Apple directly.

Brent, an Apple tech I know for a major corporation told me to send it to the Apple Depot for repair. Not sure how to go about doing that - perhaps open a one time Apple Support ticket if no longer under warranty or Apple Care, and try to get your case escalated to Sr. Tech Support which may have authority to approve sending in for repair. I think it's a flat rate of around $300, and if you're lucky you may get a tech who knows a way to get it done without charge, which should really be standard m.o. by now IMO and not hit or miss.

The tech I know says the Depot is very good and will usually do the flat rate repair in which they set everything back to factory (RAM, HD, OS, etc.) and repair anything and everything faulty on the machine, except anything resulting from "accidental" damage. He says that if the Depot replaces the logic board, he has found that was the culprit *most* of the time. Says he worked on 500+ of these and didn't get recurring problems once the logic board was replaced.

Of course, there's always exceptions which makes me nervous about paying for such service even though it seems like a reasonable price for everything that's done. But if you can get it done at no charge, and it eventually fails, then you won't be any worse off than you are now. That's my approach anyway.

I suppose as far as any long term assurance, I'm waiting on outcome of lawsuit. The DC law firm has a team of tech experts working on diagnosing the problem to determine everything that's been causing it.

Tfix.com seemed like one of the most professional repair centers I could find, that seemed to really know what it's doing when it comes to replacing the GPU. Unfortunately, Tfix is in London and it costs $100 insured shipping one way, but I'm not ready to pay for repair at this point anyway.

A project manager there told me -

• Only same or compatible part can be installed. There are different date codes of the parts, meaning that there are many re-releases of the same part.

Parts released on or before 2011 were known to be faulty. We install parts only released post 2011. It is exactly same model but it has different date code.

• Tfix started getting these failing MacBook Pros ever since 2013

• To date Tfix has repaired over 200.

• Tfix runs a 3D mark stress test for at least 90min and closely monitor temperatures to ensure it is not reaching critical number, MacBooks are known to run on quiet high temperature due to it's design however we ensure it does not reach critical temperatures.

I sent the following reply, but haven't heard back as yet -

You wrote "MacBooks are known to run on quiet high temperature due to it's design however we ensure it does not reach critical temperatures.”

How do you ensure that?

After making repair, how does user know what critical temperatures are or how to ensure that they aren’t reached?

In other words, is replacement really a fix or not?

The law firm that is filing the class action lawsuit against Apple Computers has communicated the following.

After reading it and a bunch of information online, especially in the Apple Support Communities thread - 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card - I’m not getting much assurance that spending $300-$400 is going to be worth it.

Can you honestly recommend doing this repair, or is it better to cut my losses, salvage what I can, and sell for parts on eBay?

In other words, is making the repair just risking throwing good money after bad or not?

While replacement hopefully solves issue with lead free solder and faulty AMD discrete graphics cards, that does nothing about the Sandy Bridge CPU that is only used on the 2011 MBP and is said to overheat.

Can a logic board be installed with an Ivy Bridge CPU instead? If so, what are ramifications?

I’d like to keep the ability to run the original 10.6 OS.

Law firm says that this failure has existed for some buyers since early 2011, a few months after owning machine, and that Apple knew there was a problem, that it issued a 2011 MBP specific update that slowed down the CPU so that it didn’t heat up as much - which is a breach of warranty because they advertised the machine to be 3x faster as … blah, blah, blah.

Here’s a copy of latest law firm report from the Apple Support Communities which was immediately deleted by the forum moderator.

I was told by law firm in phone conversation with me that they have a team of experts still working to determine actual specifics of the problem -

[copy of email was included that was deleted by moderator of this forum thread]

Just back from the Apple Store.  I asked if the Genius was aware of the MBP2011 failing GPU issue. He said his 2009 laptop was still going strong. I said that my 2009 MacBook White was also running well but neither of our machines had the combination of a Sandy Bridge CPU and AMD discrete graphics card. And that tens of thousands were having this issue at the moment.

This set the backdrop that I knew what I was talking about.

Long appoinment short, the MBP is getting its second logic board in 4 months. Apple will be covering the cost which is just as well because I have no faith that the new board will be a long term fix.

Happy with the service and outcome from the Apple Store today, remain unhappy with the machine and Apple's "non-acknowledgement" of the problem. It's going to hit the news soon I reckon.

I was contacted by apple support after writing a letting to them expressing my disappointment of the issue and also being out of warranty  I was email back within a few days along for a contact number to call me on. Liz from apple care was very apologetic and asked for me to take the machine in to confirm the issue. when I dropped it off the tech asked what was wrong and I said I was lucky enough to have the dreaded 2011 machine and to his reply was say no more. I then said so you guys know all about it and he replied yep we know. A week later Liz called me back with the confirmation and said that there was currently nothing issued from apple about repair or replacement but in this case they would repair the machine for me free of charge. I did voice my concerns about reading this forum and the repairs don't seem to be working which she did clarify that they would continue to offer support if something went wrong in the future. I am yet to get my MBP back but hopefully all is good once I do. I urge everyone on here to contact support and report the issue, they will want you to take it to a tech to confirm the issue and if they don't offer to repair free of charge at least the issue is reported. This problem will never be fixed by Apple if you just sit back and wait for a recall, without numbers there will be no recall

Hi Everyone

I am writing to give an update on this issue. Just to recount... my MBP Early 2011 went into the white screen of death mode in mid-December. I had immediately taken it in for check up and diagnostics at a Apple Service Centre in Kolkata. After paying Rs. 2400/- they called me and confirmed the diagnostics, which I had already pointed out to them. After that I could not access the hard drive for almost 20 days, and later I managed to install the Snow Leopard that had shipped with the MBP when I bought it. In the meantime I had been reading each and every post that has got posted here, and somehow the restart with the 'twist' trick worked for me to install Mountain Lion.

But all this with disabled graphics and very low performance.

I contacted apple about a week and half back and the customer service rep. on the phone advised me to take the MBP to a nearest service centre and tell them the problem along with this forum. I told the rep. that this is now a know issue and thousands of people are suffering not just loss of money but faith in apple and more importantly productivity, as we use this computer for all our main work. The rep. was very helpful, and raised a case and encouraged me to go into the service provider.

Last week I took the MBP to the service provider in Hyderabad, RSG Infotech. The rep. there spoke the script that we usually hear: that they will have to check, they will have to run diagnostics, it will cost minimum amount to get it checked since its out of warranty etc. I patiently heard everything. Then I told him the specific issue, told him the history of this and also said that apple has told me to come there. I gave the case number to them and showed this community. Fortunately the MBP was going through a display hang where the safari browser kept on refreshing without anything, and the rep. saw it and said yes its a gpu issue. So, I asked him to contact apple and let me know. He called me up after two days and gave a quotation for Rs. 45000/- for changing the battery (for it had swilled-up), the magsafe port and the logic board. I told him to wait for my call.

I then contact apple on phone. The customer rep. was very patient and helpful. He said that there is an open case against my earlier call and he would transfer the call to his senior. The supervisor too listened to me and asked a few questions. She was again very polite and helpful, and asked for some time to get the hardware diagnostics from the service provider. After half an hour she called me back and said that the battery will be replaced free of charge. She asked for a day to respond to the logic board issue. Yesterday she called me and told that apple is going to take care of the other parts free of cost, and I would have to bear the cost of minimum service Rs. 1500/- I agreed to it. I also asked her what the warranty period of the replaced parts would be. She said that it would be 90 days and I could take the MBP back to the service provider if any problem occurs.

Now I am waiting for the call from the service provider. This whole process shows 2 things, first that apple is serious about its customer care, and second that they know about this issue but will only address it case by case. The whole picture seems to be that apple is ready to help but you need to go pass the first rung of customer care, and tell them specifically to raise this issue to higher ups in the hierarchy. Since we have been using apple products for a long time, and since the company can help us out reliably I thing everyone must contact apple on phone or through the service centres to get a case opened. Only then will apple understand the extent of this problem. I am not sure about the third party solutions of rebelling/reflowing in India. Since anything apple in India is a very highly priced product and they would charge you money only to have a look at it !

Will keep everyone posted on this

Hal Feldman wrote:

 

Here is one to ponder...

 

Was told by Apple today that "after evaluating my Late 2011 17" MBP (which had been in for its eighth trip for this issue), they have determined that replacing the logic board would not resolve the issue and therefore Apple would not be servicing my machine."

My reply (by phone to my designated Executive Office representative) was, "So are you saying that Apple recognizes that swapping logic boards does not resolve the design issue of this machine?" Their reply was, "No, we are saying that in your case it does not solve the issue and Apple will no longer service your MBP. You should buy a new machine and consider recycling this one."

That is the easy way out for Apple, another one is the notion of 'vintage models', that will not be serviced, by definition. I had the logic board of my old 2008 MBP replaced by Microfix through MacCity, in The Netherlands. When it failed again after less than oneandahalf year, they bluntly refused my request for guarantee, because Apple had now decided my MBP was vintage. To sum it all up, Apple claims the right to arbitrarily reject all claims for guarantee or service, whenever they feel suit, and rogue service providers and resellers conveniently hide behind that decision. The definitive answer in cases like this is to stop buying Crapple.

eezacque wrote:

 

Hal Feldman wrote:

 

Here is one to ponder...

 

Was told by Apple today that "after evaluating my Late 2011 17" MBP (which had been in for its eighth trip for this issue), they have determined that replacing the logic board would not resolve the issue and therefore Apple would not be servicing my machine."

My reply (by phone to my designated Executive Office representative) was, "So are you saying that Apple recognizes that swapping logic boards does not resolve the design issue of this machine?" Their reply was, "No, we are saying that in your case it does not solve the issue and Apple will no longer service your MBP. You should buy a new machine and consider recycling this one."

 

That is the easy way out for Apple,

Assuming it's a true story.

Hey guys. After two no-cost logic-board replacements from Apple, I finally managed to get them to replace the early-2011 MBP with a mid-2014 Retina MBP at no cost. I bought the high end 2.2GHz on May 2011 and the "GPU issue" only started around last year so I am way out of warranty, but I just keep my cool, I talked to them (Apple people) over email and phone, they were not particularly very helpful but they were not very bad either. I think you just need to make them feel like you are helpless and certainly do not make yourself feel like a boss. I think they must have known about this issue for a while and waiting for a memorandum from the "executive team". So they are giving me the high-end 2.5GHz 2014 Retina MBP and I'm getting it next week. Leave your Twitter account and maybe we can talk more about the issue and the process.

obwianMacobi wrote:

Shame Apple can't look after it's loyal customers in the same way as they look after their Shareholders...

http://www.macrumors.com/2015/01/22/tim-cook-9-2-million-2014/

At least you know where your money goes after you pay for the repair of your top class machine, which may not last more then a few days

If all this wasn't so deeply sad, it'd be just about hilarious.

When a company deliberately ignores 10.000s of problems like these and tells many of it's customers to keep paying for 'repairs', isn't that the definition of deceit....?

Dipsea wrote:

Diagnosed by the local repair guy as the logic board. My choice, pay a lot to have it fixed with no guarantee that it won't fail again soon in the same expensive way, or pay even more for a new Surface.

 

Where's that user friendly Apple that we all knew and loved?

Disappeared on October 5, 2011...?

I received my logic board back  and have been running it for 3 days now.  I have thrown just about everything at it to stress the graphics subsystem and so far, I couldn't be happier.  The turnaround time was about 2 weeks.  You have the option of sending in your Macbook or the board itself.  I opted for the logic board option which was cheaper.  They shipped me a box and a shipping label, I used the iFixit.com guide (they have an app too), a magnifying glass, and my own tools to disassemble the board.  I took everything off the board, including the speaker and fans, only item left was the heatsink assembly (I didn't want to have to deal with reapplying thermal paste afterwards).

They tested the board, reflowed it, and they even resoldered the left speaker socket which I manage to break off during disassembly (be careful with this one, it is really easy to break off, but they will fix it anyway).

Total Repair Cost: $299.00.  Cheaper than a new macbook and at least I know the board was reflowed instead of just replaced with a spare which may fail again down the road.   I am so happy to have my macbook back.  I had been using my wife's with my own hard drive via USB-SATA cable and dragging that thing around got old real fast!

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Brent Shum wrote:

So what are we all doing?  Are there any "real" solutions to try, or are we all just waiting for the lawsuit or Apple to make a move...?

My MBP died today and I'd rather not go thru some of the crap others seem to have experienced from Apple directly.

The whole world seems to be waiting for the possible success of a lawsuit. We should report all our faulty machines to Apple so the awareness MIGHT grow there (i doubt it), but my personal opinion is that I dislike the behaviour of this giant so much (that got so big only because of paying customers like ourselves), that I absolutely will not be buying anything from Apple anymore directly. No service, no iPhones, no iPad, etc, etc.

Though, I really liked working on my MBP while it functioned (bought it brand new from an Apple Store btw).

So I chose to have it reflown by D3us (after he explained me such specific details about his thoughts + the background of the problem itself).

I preferred to spend money (€125 only, so that wasn't so bad) on someone that knows what he's doing, then to a gigantic corporation which clearly lost it's dignity and sense of humbleness...

fsck! wrote:

  They tested the board, reflowed it, and they even resoldered the left speaker socket which I manage to break off during disassembly (be careful with this one, it is really easy to break off, but they will fix it anyway).

Great to hear you chose to for a functional solution!

Anyway, he reflowed it December 6, 2014 (almost 2 months ago). My machine is still running solid, I ran a Furmark test last evening, stressing my machine out for an hour and it was stable as a rock.

I hope your machine stays stable for a long time too!

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kayazuki wrote:

...

My MBP died 2,5 months ago (some strange graphic distortions and then a black screen; completely dead)  ...

Where can i find more Info about D3us?

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