Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Long time lurker of this thread since my 15" MBP stopped working in July 2014. Long story short: I got the graphics repair done through Apple's repair program last week. Got it back yesterday and it works but VERY SLOWLY.

The battery won't hold a charge (I knew I needed to change the battery since before the MBP stopped working) but I'm not hesitant to put the money down in case the new motherboard succumbs to the same issues (I'm planning to run stress tests on it this weekend). I compared the specs of the repaired MBP with the original purchase order and everything seems to be the same so I'm wondering if the lag in the computer is the bad battery or something that's related to the motherboard.

I read someone else had an issue with a slow machine after the repair so it may not just be me?

I have 4GB 1333ghz RAM but it was fast for what I used it for so I don't know what's causing the slow processing now. (I have a 2.0GHz Intel Quad-core i7 processor, if that helps anyone with any advice)

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

Sounds more like a software problem to me…

How about a fresh system install

I don't really want to do that since I'll probably lose all my files/programs and I don't have an external HD to back it all up onto. Do you think upgrading to Yosemite help? I think I'm using Mavericks (not at home so I can't check)

Hi everybody,

 

I handed in my 2011 15" MBP last wednesday, Since in Germany the replacement program started on friday I'm still waiting the repair to be competed.

I had no Problem with the 16GB Ram or the "not original" harddrive.

 

According to the technican the replacement logicboard is different to the old one and the GPU has a lower TDP. So there should not be a problem with the gpu anymore.

 

As long as my mbp works another couple of years im am satisfied with this solution, but we will see if it does so

 

Have a nice day without graphic issues

That is good news

I am glad the chip is different but it probably still isn't running at the values announced by Apple back in 2011. Anyone done a comparative benchmark ?

Mmmmmm

Are you saying that you don't do back-ups ? That's NEVER a good idea !

A system update should not make you lose any data so yes… an update to Yosemite would probably help.

If you really don't want to go that route, try creating a new user on your existing system, and see how that runs.

Weird user preference files can sometimes cause problems, so a new user account would show if that's the problem.

There's also all the usual maintenance stuff you can do… permissions, check your drive condition etc., but I'm sure you've already done that, haven't you ?

Check the last few pages. The benchmark thing has been kicked around quite a lot

I would recommend against upgrading to Mavericks.  It will almost guaranteed be slower for you, especially if you only have 4GB RAM.  I had a MacMini with almost identical specs as my MBP 2011, and with 4GB RAM running Mavericks, it was almost unusable, until I upgraded the RAM.  Upgrading to 16GB will make a huge difference.  I'd go that route first, only about $160 US.

I already have Mavericks and wondered about upgrading to Yosemite.

@Charles - I back up the important files but not the whole drive. I will run a few utility tests tonight but I'm sure they'll come back fine. When I went to the Apple Store they ran diagnostics on the hardware and everything (except the dying battery and the graphic chip issue) came back OK. Thanks

klod wrote:

 

No fix suggestion but just wanted to add myself to the list of people affected by this hardware failure. Early 2011 Mac Book Pro, AMD Radeon 6490M currently disabled otherwise the laptop won't even boot. Issue started in June 2014. By December the chip is not responding when dynamically switching to it.

If anyone is interested on Jan 28 I took the mbp to the Apple Store (Glendale, CA) for a flat rate repair. Repair was done in their Memphis depot. On Jan 31 the mbp came back to the store with the logic board replaced. Total cost with tax 328.90. I ran the stress test for a few days non stop and didn't see much issues..yet. Yesterday, I got a check in the mail from Apple for a refund of the repair. By the way, this https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/ says that "Apple is contacting customers who paid for a repair either though Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider to arrange reimbursement" but I didn't hear anything from them so you have to contact them and mention "Refund Request - MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues" to get the check. I called them on feb 21 so it took 10 days to get the check. Well at least I'm glad they did something about it. Don't know if I got another bad chip; I'll find out hopefully soon before the new extended warranty runs out in Feb 2016.

mamihlapinatapai wrote:

I went to the Apple Store they ran diagnostics on the hardware and everything (except the dying battery and the graphic chip issue) came back OK. Thanks

… which kinda confirms what I thought… software problem The dying battery will make no difference if your charger is plugged in.

As csytsma pointed out… memory is always used on recent systems, so the more the merrier so to speak. That said, given that you're already on Mavericks, I can't see the upgrade to Yosemite doing any harm. My 17" i7 MBP with 8GB was running fine on it, if you don't count the sporadic pyjama stripes on it. It's actually in for repair at the moment so I can't say much more until I get it back, which should be by Friday.

My third logic board replacement, done at the end of January, is now beginning to fail. The monitor suddenly gets a blue cast to it — including all grays turning blue-gray — whenever it switches to the discrete/AMD processor. Not exactly helpful for processing images in Photoshop. This would seem to confirm that they hadn't started using new logic boards at that time in January. Rumors indicate they are using new units now, so a trip to Apple next week will hopefully fix this once and for all.

By the way, this was under very little relative stress: some light Photoshop use, a few videos, and a couple of simple web-based flash games were the most intensive programs. No stress tests required or needed.

Took my 2011 17" into the store and got a call today saying it doean't qualify as the diagnostic test doesn't show an issue. Never mind that the graphic failure was displaying in front of his face!!! I asked him...is it displaying graphics issues...yes? Is it a 2011 Early 17...yes" Then there's your diagnostic! However he refused to repair it as it wasn't failing their checks. JUST LOOK AT THE SCREEN FFS!

Johnno29 wrote:

 

Took my 2011 17" into the store and got a call today saying it doean't qualify as the diagnostic test doesn't show an issue. Never mind that the graphic failure was displaying in front of his face!!! I asked him...is it displaying graphics issues...yes? Is it a 2011 Early 17...yes" Then there's your diagnostic! However he refused to repair it as it wasn't failing their checks. JUST LOOK AT THE SCREEN FFS!

Faith, Persistence, Community....

Keep the faith that your machine will be repaired, persist in your effort and asked for the techs name, then let Apple know they have an employee who not representing Apple in Apple's best interest.  This technician is not properly employed and needs to find a position that better fits his skill set.

Johnno29 - take your MBP to another Apple Store, or find out when that tech is off and take it back to same store then to another tech. My experience with the world of Apple is there is no consistency and it just depends on who you talk to. Don't waste your time "reporting" the tech to Apple. That tech is a  "model" Apple employee. You need to find one who isn't, who actually has a conscience and a brain, and the repoire with management that's needed to get what you need. There's an Apple firewall by design so that you can't talk to anyone with authority to make decisions. Everything is filtered through peons who do the dirty work of putting off customers for Apple, not to mention overall cluelessness. One Apple Support "Sr. Advisor" had no idea why I couldn't partition my HD, another knew that if File Vault is turned on it has to be turned off first. Of course, even he didn't think to ask me that first, wasted my time having me boot into Recovery first to try to partition it there from Disk Utility. So don't lose heart just yet, make your mind up to be stubborn and persistent and wily instead of naive about Apple world. You may not get complete satisfaction and a workaround may not work at all, but it's worth a try. I've been stuck in the Apple 1 Infinite Loop for over 6 weeks. Sr. Advisor didn't bother to request my optical drive be fixed first time machine went to Depot so I had to ship to Depot a 2nd time which I don't like doing unnecessarily as hidden damage can occur that's untraceable and doesn't show up until later, sticking me with repair cost. However, my logicboard got replaced a second time, hopefully with new production stock. However, my MBP came back with a 1.75" scratch on top cover that wasn't there before. Now I'm getting a 3rd box to send it back to have cover replaced. And that's just the tip of the iceberg of Apple 1 Infinite Loop. I'm getting peanuts thrown at me, which I suppose is better than nothing even though that's next to nothing compared to what it's all costing me in $$$ for new machine and RAM to get me through 5 weeks before Apple initiated repair program, not to mention - stress, frustration, loss of time, energy, productivity and $savings from my nest egg. Did I mention I'm unemployed and haven't had real income for 8 years? Does AppleCare? I'll let you answer that for yourself.

Same happened to me today.

I showed them the graphic failure right on the screen.

Then  they are running the diagnostic test three times without a fault. So I'm not qualify for the replacement the said.

I became a little abusive and then they took the MacBook and and hopefully I get a replacement :-)