Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

So what is at this moment the status of the Apple refund program? I have a MBP15" bought in CO (even though I reside in Italy) in March 2012, a little after two years it broke after the graphic board issue, I can still turn it on, access data via firewire target mode but can't access login window, it definitely is one affected by the "problem", what does it happen now, will I get a repair (which I think not the case since all logic boards carry the same issue) or a refund? I read proof of buy not required, at this link (which works on and off) my MBP is recognized having a valid purchase date, what should I do now and what to expect out of this?

****, that was quite a powerful machine, updated with 16GB RAM it was quite a monster

Thank you

Giovanni Aprea2 wrote:

 

So what is at this moment the status of the Apple refund program? I have a MBP15" bought in CO (even though I reside in Italy) in March 2012, a little after two years it broke after the graphic board issue, I can still turn it on, access data via firewire target mode but can't access login window, it definitely is one affected by the "problem", what does it happen now, will I get a repair (which I think not the case since all logic boards carry the same issue) or a refund? I read proof of buy not required, at this link (which works on and off) my MBP is recognized having a valid purchase date, what should I do now and what to expect out of this?

 

 

....

 

 

 

Thank you

If the worse you could do is break even, would you bet?

You have a non functioning machine through no fault of your own.  It didn't fail because you bought it from one place and lived in another, it didn't fail because your neighbor bought it and sold it to you.  It failed because it was incorrectly built, Apple didn't put in sufficient quality for it to function a reasonable length of time.  I have a functioning MacIntosh 512K, built in 1984, in my basement which demonstrates Apple's vision of a reasonable period of time.  I have seen nothing that says Apple has reduced their vision.

Apple will setup a series of gate guards, hurdles, to discourage you to advantage Apple.  Ignore them, request to talk to their boss.  As demonstrate by the extent of Apple's reluctance to make this product whole again, Apple's leadership sees virtues as words preceded by $$ signs.  Customers choose Apple and paid a premium $$ expecting a level of quality as demonstrated by a history of quality products such as my MacIntosh 512K.

If the worse you could do is break even and take your broken machine home again, would you bet?

I am not sure about everyone else but my computer starts with bars on the screen and will not log in, so it is pretty obvious there is a problem they don't have to take your word for it. I did some graphics tests  at the genius bar recently, they wanted $600 for a logic board replacement , I said no.  They set the repeat cycle to 3 , the screen froze. If your computer is affected it will not be hard to see, it doesn't need tests. If your computer starts up normally but freezes under certain conditions then they will have to do the tests to prove the problem exists...

At first I read here how to identify my MBP being recognized as one of the "faulty" ones and it clearly is, when I go through the check procedure I only get to know that my computer is not under warranty any longer so how does this program work, do I have to call an Apple participating shop/assistance to get to know?

Then, what happens, do they fix the machine (which I can't really see how since the MainBoard is still the same faulty one) or refund the amount spent at time of buying?

Thank you

Yes, the mid-2014 MacBook Pros being delivered now have three approx. 1.4 inch (3,56 cm) by 1 mm vents (not measured but guesstimated) either side of the machine, just under the bottom edge. So certainly a new case and cooling design. This brand-new free replacement machine (after 4th logic board change on my old early 2011 MBP) is running coolly and sweetly. When I go into anything graphics-intensive (such as DxO Optics pro), after a while it turns on the fans and runs fine.

But another thought - Apple keeps saying the over-heating problem affects a SMALL number of machines. Compared to sales, could this be right? In relative terms of course. This would be consistent with what the very effective Senior Adviser in Ireland told me - that in his experience most people seemed to buy high-end machines as some sort of fashion statement (perhaps also to be able to do mundane tasks quickly and effectively) and only use them for email, web-surfing and a bit of office work, with a bit of presentation from time to time. So they never test them to anything like the extent of we all here who have suffered repeated catastrophic graphics break-downs and who actually USE their machines for graphics, photo, music and other computing-intensive tasks that actually push the graphics chips.

Giovanni ,

My screen looks just like yours, an affected computer out of warranty. My computer is a late 2011 17 inch. This is a repair program, you just have to have a computer in this list:

You have one, if it displays the issues listed you will get it repaired for free. Make an appointment with an Apple store or AASR

I don't think this is right. I don't do anything graphic intensive. I have had a second monitor attached for several years without any problems. . After the Yosemite upgrade in November i started having problems. Now I can't attach the monitor, can't shutdown (takes an hour or longer to get going)  and I have to use the integrated graphics card (Intel  HD 3000) and use software gfxscardstatus and smc fan control to work with it. I just let the screen sleep but not the hard drive as this will automatically restart to a screen with bars on it....

You have one, if it displays the issues listed you will get it repaired for free. Make an appointment with an Apple store or AASR

Mine is a late 2011 MBP 15", it does have all the symptoms, at beginning it kept working till switching to the GPU rather than then the built in one to definitely quitting to work from start up so no doubt mine is one of the affected ones, the doubts are:

do they replace? if so with what?

do they refund? if so how?

I will try and call a participating partner tomorrow to hear what they say, I wish there is the option to receive the box to send the computer over as I did in 2012 whilst I was in the US and my Ti667 quit to work, the service was amazing, I got the box on friday and on tuesday the working computer was back.

In honor of Apple and as stated by an above post my old PowerMac DualG4 still works, it's a powerhouse, they were built like tanks, can't really say the same for newer machined and I both owned and used quite many, what a pity, quality really fell down, prices also dropped but I was happy to pay what I paid for my Dual G4 and CinemaDisplay 23" if they would last the years they used to, actual hardware su**s, Apple is privileging iPhones over computing hardware, can't blame them but when I spend over 2K for a laptop I expect it to last at least a few years, not just two...

They should repair it for free, how they repair it is unknown at this point. If you already repaired it then you can discuss refund otherwise it does not apply

Nickiwi wrote:

 

But another thought - Apple keeps saying the over-heating problem affects a SMALL number of machines. Compared to sales, could this be right? In relative terms of course. This would be consistent with what the very effective Senior Adviser in Ireland told me - that in his experience most people seemed to buy high-end machines as some sort of fashion statement (perhaps also to be able to do mundane tasks quickly and effectively) and only use them for email, web-surfing and a bit of office work, with a bit of presentation from time to time. So they never test them to anything like the extent of we all here who have suffered repeated catastrophic graphics break-downs and who actually USE their machines for graphics, photo, music and other computing-intensive tasks that actually push the graphics chips.

Yes, possible.

This might indeed lower the numbers percentage of failing ones.

Imagine all these people only using it for email start 3d gaming or video edting/rendereing for hours.

What would happen then?

Apple sells them as suited for 3d, video edtiting, gaming etc....

Shouldn't fail on even playing some video like it dd on some.

I had symptoms, I used to do basic photo editing with my MBP and once in a while play X-Plane, a flight simulator, the last times I made an attempt at using it the only result, after a few minutes of flight, the computer would hang and the only solution was to switch off.

Csound1 wrote:

 

vsingha2k wrote:

 

Csound1 wrote:

 

Original Benchmarks for Macs (2008 to 2014) These don't separate the tests so can't really shed much light on one area, so..

 

Try this

 

http://macperformanceguide.com/Reviews-MacBookProFeb2011.html

pl send link to "graphics benchmark tests" and "pre 30%-performance-degradation-firmware-patch" (alleged) graphics benchmark data, if available.

Link number two is pre patch, it's the original machine test from 2011

Comparing w/ those numbers will require Adobe, LightRoom etc. which I don't have. HAVE YOU DONE the comparison? Or know of some such comparison? If So, please post the results?

Anyone, has a standalone graphics benchmark recommendation? and associated pre-firmware-30%perf-downgrade-patch benchmark data?

I'm back from the Apple Store with my repaired MacBook Pro 2011. They weren't able to run the new video test provided by Apple and the regular AHT all pass like usual but from the distort screen to freezed screen it was pretty obvious my computer had the GPU problem. So they completed the repair under the new repair program at no cost. But the technician at the Apple store told me that even if the program is up to next year my new logic board is only covered for 90 days. (Crap). No time to loose to stressed test this one.

Also for the performance drop, I have and HDD with 10.6.6 installed on it, it never got the 10.6.7 update, maybe I'll be able to run some benchmark to see the difference between 10.6.6 and Yosemite. Anyone knows good and reliable GPU benchmark for Mac to do this?

SkyHawk-YQB wrote:

Anyone knows good and reliable GPU benchmark for Mac to do this?

http://www.geeks3d.com/gputest/

http://unigine.com/products/heaven/

http://www.mersenne.org/download/_

If you run a CPU test, make sure to set it up 4 times each one running on a it's own core.

Might be a good test too as the dooling system cools both CPU and GPU over the same heat pipes.

Heat flows from GPU  to CPU and vice versa.

Add to that the worst ever seen appliaction of thermal paste...

It all accumulates.

Hope the new systems will have separate heat pipes for both CPU and GPU heat sinks.

SkyHawk,

Let me know how yours holds up. I got mine repaired about two weeks before this program was announced and I've been running FurMark on it almost non-stop since then (I've lost count of how many days, but probably shy of three weeks). In that time, I haven't seen any symptoms that the issue is reoccurring. I'd like to think that that level of stress would show something, but even the temperature of the core has been stable at a max of 75C.

Not sure what's different, but either I got lucky, or they changed something. Maybe just less thermal paste.

dennis