Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card
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Feb 6, 2015 9:37 AMby whatwillthishelp,The slow down technique doesn't fix the problem, instead it delays the problem as is apparent by the sudden influx of entries on this discussion.
that's exactly the point:
Less than a month after the 2011 MacBook Pros went on sale, Apple, in its first effort to quell thousands of complaints and staunch the flow of failed Laptops streaming into Apple stores, hastily released a software update specific to the 2011 MacBook Pro Laptops that was intended to remedy the graphical issues that plagued the Laptops. The software update did not solve the problem. In subsequent updates, Apple surreptitiously decreased the graphical performance capabilities of the laptops in order to reduce the laptops’ operating temperature and, hence, the failure rate of the solder attached to the graphics processor. These secret performance downgrades only served to delay the manifestation of the Graphics Defect until the Laptops were outside of Apple’s warranty period. But in all Laptops, these downgrades reduced the value of the Laptops by diminishing their graphical performance by 33%.
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In an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to quell criticism and fix the graphical issues affecting the 2011 MacBook Pro laptops, Apple quickly announced a pending software update for the MacBook Pros to address “graphical stability.” On March 21, 2011 – less than a month after the MacBook Pros went on sale in the United States – Apple released a software update for the MacBook Pros’ operating systems, which purported to “improve graphics stability and external display compatibility.”etc., etc., see
<Link Edited by Host>
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Jan 28, 2015 4:25 PMby kayazuki,romistanbul wrote:
Did anyone had a succesfull reflow around Berlin? I would appreciate if you would let me know.
All the best...
Hi, yea, on page 676 here you'll find a post (the 4th) of "14 minus 9" explaining how happy he is with the expertise of Mr Gruenberger.
You can go to that page quickly by clicking on the current page number to make sure you'll see the "start" value in the url.
Then change that value to 10125 and you'll be on page 676.
The 10th post (mine) shows the data of Mr Gruenberger. He's supposed to be very good according to others!
I had my MBP reflowed in Belgium, near Antwerp, also very good result so far (2 months, going steady and counting).
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Jan 28, 2015 4:28 PMby kayazuki,romistanbul wrote:
Did anyone had a succesfull reflow around Berlin? I would appreciate if you would let me know.
All the best...
By the way, search for "All the information you need to get informed quickly and get your MBP 2011 GPU problem solved", check the 3rd option and place your SN there so it can grow... Also report your machine at Apple so it's registered as another one.
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Jan 28, 2015 4:52 PMby Hitman4000,I got it repaired in an Apple store in Illinois. That's the thing. Don't tell them it's your logic board from the start. Let them figure out on its own.
I went 2 times. First time: I told them it was the logic board, they said they would charge me $300 before even taking my laptop (since they already know what needs to be replaced). The second time: they were unsure if it was the logic board, so they sent it in the depot to determine if that was it, and as it turns out $700 more worth of components were bad. After I got the laptop back, I had the promised $300 flat rate fee.
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Jan 28, 2015 4:51 PMby Hitman4000,Why would I stress my laptop 24/7 after I got it back form repairs? Well, because I don't want my laptop breaking down 4 months from now, outside of the 3 months repair warranty. Who on earth wants to spend $300 for your laptop to last 3 months?
PLUS, these laptops are designed to run hot often. If I was rendering a single frame scene in Vray, it alone would be rendering at max GPU/CPU usages for at least 5 hours straight. So ya...
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Jan 28, 2015 5:17 PMby Hitman4000,Rich Walsh wrote:
That was my Apple Service Provider's advice when my previous MBP needed a new battery every year. I'm sure Apple used to say it on a website somewhere, but I can't find that now. By doing this I can still get 3 hours out of my 3.5 year-old battery. My cycle count is 1,576 and the health is 60%. This is much better than I experienced before I started doing this. I can not see evidence that it is "bad for the battery".
This machine also runs hotter when plugged in – even if the battery's full – so unplugging it stops the fans being on (and keep the battery away from heat, which is definitely bad for all batteries).
I understand you want it to run cool, but the constant charging/discharging of any battery wears it's amperage levels down considerably. You can start with a 8000mAh battery and in a short 2 years, it might only be able to hold 4000mAh. But it is good you discharge the battery completely. Not frequently I hope, but any lithium ion battery, whether cellphone or laptop, needs to be discharged COMPLETELY at least once every 2 weeks so as to keep accurate battery levels and prolong life.
If your battery still runs hot while charging, I recommend you switch out the adapter. You are either using a 13" macbook charger (60w) on your 15" or something is wrong with your charger because it seems like it is constantly charging. However, it is true that in general it runs hotter when plugged in. HOWEVER, that is because there is less energy saver actions happening, aka your laptop will run faster plugged in. If you want a sure-fire way to cool down your laptop, why not use something that dissapates heat the same way a macbook pro was designed? And that is material heat transfer. Since the aluminum body of a macbook pro acts as a heat sink, go on Amazon and buy 2 of Targus Heat Defense pads. Inside are crystals that basically suck the heat out of the material through contact, and the crystals melt into gel when they have reached their melting point. Just swap out the pads when needed. I'm surprised more of you don't know about this cooling pad. It's passive, meaning no extra fan noise and it works way better than forced air induction onto your hot aluminum laptop.
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Jan 28, 2015 5:37 PMby josephchisunka,Another brick. I've had off and on problems with random spinning rainbow wheels and display issues. Finally gave up the ghost this afternoon and won't boot. I'm 6 months out of AppleCare. Hoping to take it to Apple Store and talk nicely with them to sort out a fix for what seems like an incredibly common issue with this particular model of their line. Blows.
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Jan 28, 2015 9:24 PMby Hitman4000,iPrologue wrote:
Computer died 2 weeks ago cause of the logic board Got it exchanged for a new logic board but the brightness button wouldn't work with the screen. They found out that it was the logic board again.
On my 3rd logic board
I don't know why your sad. If you get to your 4th logic board, Apple will replace your laptop with the most recent Retina laptop
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Jan 28, 2015 11:41 PMby Nickiwi,But there is practically a guarantee that Apple's own "repair" by replacing the logic board with one having the same characteristics and problems WILL fail - my " repairs have ALL failed, thus 4 logic boards failed between July and October this year - but in fact ALL the replacement boards started failing within a week or two - but I just could not afford to keep taking it back THAT frequently. So I learned to limp but it's cost me a LOT of time and trouble.
