Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

RAM is a user replaceable item, has been for years. Adding other parts to the MBP may not be acceptable in these circumstances, why chance it.

Richard Liu wrote:

 

jimoase wrote:

 

 

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I had my machine fixed by a third party repair shop prior to the warranty program.  My machine has several upgrades.  The repair was successful and Apple recently sent me a refund check for the repairs.  Apple never asked if my machine had been upgraded, they were just interested in the serial number, my name, who did the repair, what was repaired, when and the cost.  Check is in the bank.

 

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As jimoase pointed out, Apple is the only one offering to repair qualifying machines for free, so it pays -- so to speak! -- to exhaust all your options for free repair before turning to a third party like the one with which he is so satisfied.

 

 

As a point of clarification.  My machine was repaired by a third party prior to the warranty program.  I choose a third party because of all the reports filed during this discussion of Apple repairs repeatedly failing and because the cost was about half the quoted cost of having Apple do the repair.

My suggestion was that if one Apple shop gives you grief by saying they will not make the repair under warranty because you upgraded your machine after you bought it, then call other Apple shops or talk to Apple management superiors as appropriate.

There are a couple of people that expressed their opinion that you need to acquiesce and return your machine to its original configuration rather than make waves. Those are the two interesting arguments I referred to in my response, call around and assert yourself or acquiesce.  Of course the assumption would be if your were to return your machine to as delivered that those replaced parts were still functional.  Both my hard drive and DVD reader failed and were replaced.  Many have reported similar failures.  If you have experienced a similar fate: then what?

I have been misquoted as saying if all else fails turn to a third party. (see above)

jimoase wrote:

I have been misquoted as saying if all else fails turn to a third party. (see above)

No, you have not been misquoted.  The quote is a faithful reproduction of the text in your message.  However, the punctuation in the line that begins, "As jimoase pointed out" gives an impression that I did not intend.  It should read,

"As jimoase pointed out, Apple is the only one offering to repair qualifying machines for free.  So it pays -- so to speak! -- to exhaust all your options for free repair before turning to a third party like the one with which he is so satisfied."

With that minor change it would have been evident that the recommendation to exhaust all options for a free repair before paying a third party to do it is mine, not yours.

With regard to your suggestion, I did not quote it because I disagree with it.  My recommendation is based solely on experiences related in this thread:

1. Apple Stores and Apple Repair Centers have been rejecting as "unrepairable" machines that have something else in the optical drive bay.  In such cases, either the owner did not appeal or Apple rejected the appeal.  At any rate, we are still waiting for a report of an Apple Store or an Apple Repair Center repairing for free a machine whose SuperDrive has been replaced by something else.  There is one report of an Apple Service Provider doing that after Apple interceded on behalf of the owner.  It is unclear whether Apple knew about the SSD in the optical drive bay before interceding, as the ASP had rejected the machine because of the results of some "tests."  So, anyone who wants his machine repaired for free would be wise to roll back any upgrade to the SuperDrive.  If that is not possible, an ASP might let it pass.  There are no reports of Apple Stores or Apple Repair Centers doing that, however.
2. It is evidently not necessary to roll back upgrades to the HDD and the RAM to get a machine repaired for free.  Apple Stores and Apple Repair Centers seem to be accepting such upgrades, providing that the SuperDrive has not been upgraded as well.
3. Apple is reimbursing owners of affected machines who had them repaired prior to the announcement of the repair program extension, even if a third-party performed the repair.

So, whoever is more interested in getting his machine repaired for free than making waves would be well advised to take the experience of people whose machines have been repaired or rejected into account.  I have attempted to summarize those experiences above.  It's fine for you to advocate making waves and crusading against evil Apple.  Your machine was repaired by a third party before the program and Apple reimbursed you.  Others who take your advice to tackle the upgraded SuperDrive issue head-on no longer have that option and will probably not be so fortunate.

I got my "Early 2011" 15' Macbook Pro repaired last week at the Covent Garden Apple Store in London.  It was ready for me the next day! Such was my disbelief when I received the completion email I had to ring them up to confirm it was not a mistake!

This  just about made up for the initial problems I was having in obtaining a Genius Appointment.  Apparently they are trialing a new concierge service where only 50% of appointments are available online and the other 50% for walk-in customers. None were available online so out of frustration I just went to the store. Don't do what I did and rock up in the afternoon....to be only turned away as there were no available appointments. I was advised to arrive early to get an appointment. I got there at 10:30am the next day and was given a 4pm appointment.  So, unless you work or live next to a store this is also massively inconvenient!

The repair:  According to the invoice the logic board was replaced (part no: 661-5852).  I had this replaced already a couple of years ago under Apple Care.  The Genius told me that from his knowledge they were using brand new logic boards for the repairs under this program. The previous repair I had under Apple Care would likely to have been a reconditioned part which would still have had the defects leading to the failure. I have had the laptop back for just under a week and I do notice the machine running considerably cooler (and quieter). I hope it lasts!

What's the turn around time for repairs?

I dropped my MacBook Pro off on Saturday to my local Apple Store.

Didn't they give you an estimation on how long the repair should take when you were at the store? Only they could give you a proper answer as it all depends how busy they are.

I was told it would take 5-7 days when I dropped it off.  However, it was ready the next day!

PS: This was the Covent Garden Store in London. 

Thank you for the reply.

I Dropped mine off at Cribbs Causeway Bristol store. 

They did say 3-5 days but am missing my Mac so was hoping to hear people get them back sooner rather than later.

My 2011 Macbook pro crashes unexpectedly every 3-4 days, with distorted or scrambled video at the time of crash and as the computer reboots. However, the diagnostic test run by Apple technicians to verify eligibility of a repair under the extension program fails to detect the problem. This is clearly because the problem only occurs intermitently, so Apple should either perform more thorough testing of affected machines or believe its customers (why would I want another logic board if my computer was not crashing because of display issues?).

I'm having the exact same issues plus I have pictures of what my screen looks like when it crashes. Apple ran their tests but couldn't get the graphics card test to fail while in their care so I'm not included in their repair. They did call and let me know that they'd fix the logic board for $310 if I wanted to fix the issues I have that they can see in pictures. It's frustrating, I guess I'll just deal with an unusable computer until apple figures out how to stress the machines to get the intermittent ones to fail... or I'll just sit and run the test myself.

just wait a few days. it will likely give up on you. mine was fine as of a week ago Saturday. Sunday evening comes and down it goes. Coaxed it back up, was fine Monday. Down again Tuesday. More effort to get it restarted but finally did. Not knowing the problem, upgraded to Yosemite thinking it would clean up any system problems (naive of me maybe). No such luck. Spent most of Thursday night fighting to get it to start at all. Finally did. Friday morning... logged in and down went Mac. Couldn't get it up again at all. Took it in for check/repair and found out about this issue. They diagnosed, ordered new logic board and had it repaired by Sunday late afternoon. Working now but seems like I'm getting weird shifts in color on screen....

by the way, to anyone participating in the boards that brought this issue up and forced it with Apple you have my thanks. here's to hoping our new logic boards last the life they should be expected to

I have my camera on standby here as I was hoping some photographs might convince the 'geniuses' that my macbook pro is eligible! Sorry to hear that didn't work for you. I am hoping that, as defiantone suggests, my macbook gives up completely soon so the problem becomes plain obvious. Migrating to Linux in the meantime. If I can get all my workflows running, Apple never again!

Hmm. So I get a refund for my repair minus the tax I paid. Why am I still out of pocket for their fault? Surely Apple should stump up the full refund? If I were to go in today with the fault and have it repaired, I would not be expected to pay any money, so why, when I originally paid over £400 for the repair including taxes, I am only getting just over £300 back???

Apple don't receive the tax monies, the State government gets that. Ask them for your tax contributions back.

Yeah but it's Apple's fault the tax was taken off me in the first place. As they have now finally admitted responsibility, they should refund me the whole amount taken from me and chase up the tax themselves. I didn't pay one bill to Apple and another to the state, I paid it all to Apple. As such, I should get it all back from them. Whether they then get the money back from the government is of no concern of mine.