Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I am afraid this will just happen again even if I get it "fixed."  What do you guys think? Would I be better off trying for the free repair and going a couple weeks without a laptop or just go for a new one and sell the old one.  I know that apple would still "recycle" it and give me around $400, even though thats only 20% of my original investment.  I am really worried i will end up with a bricked laptop the night before an exam (I am in college).  Should I be worried or is the fix an actual fix for the problem? If it is just going to give me a couple months more, I'd rather go for the new laptop now.

UPDATE: I had previously installed a 3rd party 500GB SSD in my 2011 MBP which has been working flawlessly until the day after I had my logic board replaced by the APPLE GPU swap program. Apparently, the 3rd party hard drive was initially not compatible after the logic board and caused the computer to crash. But after reformatting the hard drive, it has started to work again. Hope it lasts!

Check the glue. It is differently attached. And also VRAM. On mine it is written SKhynix. That is the only difference I wanted to point out, it is debatable

soccer727272 wrote:

 

Would I be better off trying for the free repair and going a couple weeks without a laptop or just go for a new one and sell the old one.

By all accounts Apple is turning these repairs around fairly quickly.  The announcement of the program states for mail-in repairs, "The repair process takes approximately 5-7 days from the time your MacBook Pro is received at the repair center until it is returned to you."  I would expect the time for carry-in repairs to be comparable, depending on the workload of the Apple Store or Apple Service Provider to which you bring your machine.  So you might approach an Apple Store or ASP and enquire about the current repair time.  Perhaps they can do something in view of your being a student.

Good luck!

PS:  I find your formulation of the alternative to repairing your current MBP, i.e., "going for" a new one, interesting.  It's almost as if no money would be involved.  Have things changed sooo much since I was a college student in 1973 - 1978? 

Strange!  My late 2011 MBP 17" contained a 1 TB SSD and 16 GB of RAM when I turned it over to Apple for repairing these video issues, and when I got it back with the new motherboard then SSD and the RAM were there.  The machine booted into the Apple diagnostics site (globe in the middle of the screen) when I first turned it on in the Apple Store, but then the technician rebooted while pressing a combination of keys, and everything was back to normal.

For me, the glue looks the same.

The "SKhynix" is still regular hynix memory.

SK Telecom got major shareholder and wanted their initials on it, still same Hynix.

But who cares?

It works again, and let's hope for you and all others it stays working.

(Not beeing sarcastic, mean it).

Beeing in these repairs, I am curious of course if/what they changed.

I have a Macbook Pro 15" early 2011. I've had more or less the same issue with everybody else. I had my second logic board replacement last November. However, I noticed that my audio began stuttering after the second replacement. It usually happens when the Macbook heats up, i.e. when a a graphics-intensive software is in use. Eventually, it got worse. The audio stutters just about every time I use the laptop, regardless if I use a graphics-intensive software or not. By mere simple causality, I can only attribute the problem to the logic board replacement. So before the the 90-day warranty for the logic board replacement ended, I brought my unit to the same ASC that did the replacement. After diagnosis, they acknowledged that there was an audio stuttering problem and they asked me to leave the unit with them. Nearly three weeks later, I called to check up on the unit. After misinforming me that it was already claimed days before, and they were adamant about it, they told me that it was ready for pick up. I didn't have time to check the audio thoroughly though I played a song or two from iTunes in front of the customer care rep. It worked fine. But when I got home, apparently they didn't solve the problem. I checked the service report and found out that all they did was reformatting.

My question is, am I entitled to the free repair? The Repair Extension Program specifically mentions "video issues".

I cant find the original website with the 2011 Discrete recall information.  Seeing this issue is a $350 repair and forcing you to pay upfront and get reimbursed later???  I have survived with the laptop occasionally going to a black screen and the lines for a few seconds here and there for over 2 years.  Ill try my Apple Store sometime this weekend to get mine fixed....but I too will not return my RAM back to OEM for the repair.  Not to mention APPLE needs to get away from SEAGATE junk Hard Drives, Mine died and Im on a SSD.  So i CANT replace the original drive.

Thank you all for the information, im now following this discussion and will post my results this weekend.

mazdaboi wrote:

 

I cant find the original website with the 2011 Discrete recall information. 

Here:  https://www.apple.com/support/ (bottom, "Exchange and Repair Extension Programs") and https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/ .

Seeing this issue is a $350 repair and forcing you to pay upfront and get reimbursed later??? 

Please read the announcement of the repair extension program and the feedback in this thread from people who have had their machine repaired!  I don't know where you got the idea that you would have to pay first, then wait to be reimbursed.  The announcement doesn't say that.  Nobody has reported that after picking up his/her repaired machine.

Ill try my Apple Store sometime this weekend to get mine fixed....

Do that!

....but I too will not return my RAM back to OEM for the repair.  Not to mention APPLE needs to get away from SEAGATE junk Hard Drives, Mine died and Im on a SSD.  So i CANT replace the original drive.

Calm down, please!  A very few people have reported here (I think, less than five) that their RAM has been replaced, but also that they received what was taken out.  You can always reinstall the stuff, can't you?  As for why some technicians do this and some don't, I don't know.  But it's probably not just to inconvenience the owner.

Good luck.

Some things seem never change

But some do. Looks like AMD build this chips for Apple just for Christmas

Thank you for the high-quality photos!

What is the specific graphics card of your Macbook Pro? Looking at the 1450 on the gpu, it seems that it could be a new chip. I looked up images on the gpus of the 6490m, 6750m, and 6770m, and according to photos, they all have 1105.

6490m (https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+Teardown/ 4990)

6750m (http://www.tested.com/tech/mac-os/1913-new-macbook-pro-gpus-compared-gt-330m-vs- hd-6750m/)

6770m (http://graphics-cards.electronicsnif.com/l/2375/AMD-Radeon-HD-6770M)

I'm thinking that the first two digits represent the year it was manufactured and released; the 6490m, 6750m, and 6770m were all released in 2011, which all have 11 in the first two digits. Therefore, the 14 on the gpu in your photo could mean that the chip was manufactured and released last year in 2014.

http://www.parts4laptops.eu/en/laptop-chipsets/451-amd-216-0810005-2014.html

Confirmed today that the Apple did refund the fee including VAT, fyi.

Confirmed today that the Apple did refund did include VAT, fyi.

Good Info, i was looking at the earlier posts for this repair...didnt realize it was over 842 pages in this thread.

Ill definately go by the Apple Store this weekend to see what the turnaround time is for a repair, I cant be left with just my iPad and Galaxy Tab Pro for longer than a day or 2, i use my Macbook Pro too much. Lol

Thanks again for the clarification!!!