Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Richard,

thanks for the insight. Yeah I've seen many people claim that they were told the boards were newly redesigned ones, to fix the problem of overheating and that they also changed from lead-free solder as well, but I've also seen people were told that it was merely a refurbished board, so I'm not sure what to think. The genius told me it was a new board that they redesigned to fix the problem, but he didn't wanna say too much about the details. I've read peoples option of sending their repaired board to a third party to have it rebelled, as well, again with non lead-free solder, but I haven't heard of people saying that Apple reballed it with non lead-free solder. I'm calling Apple today to see the deal with the serials.

Either way, it's a tough spot to be in. If they still use the same solder than the standard heating/cooling cycles that comes with computer usage, especially intensive tasks like transcoding, moving large files and even some flash video, will eventually lead to the cracks in the solder that plague the 2011s and GPU failure.

May I ask you, is there a reason you don't wish to go the stress test route? Myself, I'm still unsure as well (although I am fairly tough on my system with transcoding and rendering as it is), but it feels hard to just use the machine as I would until Feb 2016 and then be up the river without a paddle, if in fact they didn't change anything. My 08 non-unibody MBP still works like a charm, it's never had a design flaw like this. And Im happy with the lifespan I've gotten out of it, for what I paid for it. But the 2011 was around 3k for me, which, I just have issues paying that much money for something that lasted 5 years or so, maybe Im just too frugal.

EDIT: Just called Apple, the guy was very nice and curious as to why the serial numbers were the same. He had no explanation and didn't try to bs me so he put me on hold to talk with a genius at the store I got it fixed at. He got back on and said all the geniuses were busy and that I should go to the store myself. Thus the game begins! Great.

I have been reading this discussion since last June, a year ago almost, since my computer went freaky. I won't go into all the stuff that has happened, but I have not had a chance to take it in to have it repaired and now when I can, I tried to remove all my data from my computer, so I would not have to worry about anyone taking info off of it in the repair shop; but now, my finder has quit working. I can't even get a finder window to open, so that I can find the folders that I wanted to download and save.

I am still running 10.7.5 because I am afraid to update anything, for fear I cannot start the computer anymore. I have been using the gfx card status patch and up until the last couple of weeks, it has been limping along pretty well. Now all of a sudden it has all sorts of new things going wrong. It started with being unable to access some websites. Now the finder has quit working and I have to keep quitting and restarting Safari several times a day to get anything done. Also, just recently it won't print. It just hangs and I need to force quit and restart.

Is there anyone who can help me with this problem? I am a self taught, older woman who can't remember all the techy stuff anymore so it makes things more difficult for me.

I'm writing this post in a hurry, so please don't judge me by my garbled post.

Thanks in advance for ANY HELP. HELP HELP!! PLEASE.

I forgot, my console tells me this when I check to see if I can find a hint to what is causing my problem.

6/1/15 12:55:17.200 PM fseventsd: SLOWDOWN: client 0x7fcc4d809000 (pid 32379) sleeping due to too many errors (num usleeps 35778)

6/1/15 12:57:20.423 PM fseventsd: SLOWDOWN: client 0x7fcc4d809000 (pid 32379) sleeping due to too many errors (num usleeps 35790)

Yeah I've seen many people claim that they were told the boards were newly redesigned ones, to fix the problem of overheating and that they also changed from lead-free solder as well, but I've also seen people were told that it was merely a refurbished board, so I'm not sure what to think.

Careful!  I wasn't told that my replacement board was "refurbished," but "überarbeitet."  Leo.org translates the German as "refurbished."  As a native English speaker who has lived in a German-speaking country for more than 35 years I agree with the translation, but the picture that I have in mind is that not every component on the board, and perhaps not even the board itself, is new.  In fact, somewhere in this discussion somebody reports opening his repaired machine to find components on the board that definitely were not new.  He asked Apple about this and they confirmed that used components that are still good are being used.  So I could imagine that some of the replacement boards are newly manufactured, while others are original boards with faulty components replaced.  Perhaps the GPU has been replaced by a more energy efficient one?  I don't know.

Regarding stress testing:  I refuse to do Apple's work for them.  Stress testing is their job, not mine.  I did not buy this machine to stress test it, but do work with it.  Since it is always connected to an Apple LED Cinema Display 24" when it is at home (most of the time, now that I am unemployed), the GPU is always running.  The laptop is never turned off at home.  This is how I have always used my laptops, and I am not going to change that to pamper this machine either.  As I see it, stress testing the machine is more stressful on me than on the machine.  I mean, at what point may I conclude that the machine is OK?  In this discussion somebody even seriously suggested smothering the machine under a pillow or blanket while stress testing.

Yes, I understand how insecure one feels when Apple refuses to reveal how the replacement motherboards address the problems.  As far as I know, Apple never even officially revealed the cause(s) of the problem(s)!  Every time my machine hangs in the course of shutting down, every time Safari hangs, every time Wi-Fi fails to reconnect after the machine wakes up, every time the LED Cinema Display pixelates and I have to unplug the power cord and wait about five minutes before plugging it back in to fix the problem, I wonder whether this isn't the beginning the GPU problem.  But all of these things happen only occasionally, and no more frequently than before the video issues arose.

As I see it, the only purpose of stress testing is to kill the machine before the ninety-day warranty expires, and success is guaranteed -- anybody who does not succeed is just not sufficiently determined.  So what does one do after one has succeeded?  Take the "deceased" back to Apple?  And then what?  If Apple refuses to repair the machine under the Repair Extension Program because it was misused, then what?  If Apple does repair the machine for free, does one stress it to death again?  At some point I think I would feel compelled to consult a psychologist in my own best interest.

Others my feel differently.

We use our computers in the same fashion, you and I. I have mine pushing a 32" 1440p monitor as well so the GPU is always doing work. Interesting sentiments about the possibilities of motherboard "repair" options as well, it's kinda similar to how they used half Toshiba SSDs and half Samsung SSDs in the 2011, and you couldn't pick which one you got, it was luck of the draw.

I completely agree about stress testing and yeah, even with stories of people getting new MBPs after X amount of repairs, it just seem a)risky and b)unfair, to go about it like that. As it is now I'm constantly watching the temp anyways which is stressful enough, I just don't want it to die again, especially after the repair extension is over. I guess I'd just like to have the same confidence that I have in my 2008 MBP. I don't want a new MBP, they don't even make the 17" any more. Just wanna be able to use mine without fear of GPU death, but I suppose it happens with all machines, though this is my first time experiencing it with any computer, PC or Mac (knock on wood).

I still intend to make an appointment to get a definitive answer with regards to how they "fixed" it. Even the apple support rep was thrown off. I'm just hopeful they didn't throw in an old board without changing a thing, they owe us more than that, I feel, because it seems like a major design flaw, destined to fail. I've heard great success stories about people spending $100 bucks to get it reballed with lead solder but that just feels wrong to have to resort to as well. 

Leader solder is illegal, it's a poison. Is that what you want?

Not at all. Perhaps I misspoke with the description of what I've read people having done. I iist know they had it reballed, with a different type of solder and/or thermal paste. I just would like it to not have the issues that seem to only effect the 2011MBPs. My 2008 doesn't suffer from the gpu death. And I have yet to see news about anything more recent than the 2011s having such issues. That's all.

Are you sure you are experiencing the video issues that Apple describes in this document:  https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/ ?  If you are, I would just boot the machine, do whatever it takes to reproduce the problem, and photograph the machine while it is experiencing the problem.  Do not worry about removing your data.  After you have photographic evidence, make an appointment at the nearest Apple Store.  Take your machine and an external hard disk big enough to copy the internal hard drive to it to the appointment.  Have the technician confirm that your machine is eligible for the Repair Extension Program, then explain your problem.  Have him/her repair your internal hard disk with Disk Utility, clone it to the external hard disk that you brought along, and reinstall OS X 10.7.5.  That should suffice to ensure that your data is safe.  After you get your repaired machine back, you should be able to either clone the external hard disk back to the internal one, or, better, migrate all accounts on the external hard disk to the internal one.

If you are not having the issues described in https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/ , you will probably still want to consult Apple about backing up the internal hard disk and reinstalling OS X 10.7.5.

Good luck!

My understanding, but I am not an electronics engineer, is, lead-free solder is "touchy" to work with.  It needs higher temperatures to melt and flow properly.  If the soldering temperature is not just right, the solder joint will seem sound, but the solder will react to high ambient temperatures by stressing the soldered joint.  I like to think of an improperly lead-free soldered joint like a thermostatic switch composed of two plates of different metals bonded together.  Each plate reacts differently to high or low temperatures, so the switch bends in the one direction or the other, depending on the temperature.  The improperly lead-free soldered joint reacts much the same way.  All this to say that it is certainly possible to use lead-free solder to solder CPU's and GPU's to a circuit board without encountering the problems that are causing the video issues, but the soldering requires a bit more care.

Some people claim that overly generous amounts of thermal paste on the chip backs further aggravate the problem by allowing the temperature to rise higher than it would with "just the right amount."  It seems, though, that there might be a trade-off involved.  Perhaps the "just right" amount would dry out faster than the generous amounts that are evidently recommended in Apple's repair manuals.  But, as I said, I am not an electrical engineer.

Well you certainly seem to have a grasp on it. Thanks for explaining it. Forgive me for misspeaking on lead solder, I only know that I've seen reballing done and assumed it was with a different type of solder (also people who've "baked" their mobos in the oven to reflow it). I do remember "thermal paste gate" on the early 2011s, which almost got me to take mine back. People claimed apple was using way too much paste and it would often drip over onto the PCB. There was also speculation that they use cheap thermal compound instead of top line stuff like mx-4 or what have you but it's all speculatuve apples and oranges. I'm guessing that even if it's the original board without changes, they probably did a much better job with paste and solder than the original factory. Hoping so at least. It gives me some peace of mind. We'll all know with time I guess. Apple's done a good job acknowledging the problem thus far so that's as much as we could hope for.

ok, I just retired my macbook pro 15 (logic board replaced). Apple told to me: "we have replaced your Logical Board with a new LB without gpu glue problem"

... I hope... ;

just few days ago, 3th replacement

bought (February 2011)

1st replacement: February 2012>>> under warranty

2st replacement November 2013 >> under apple car

3st replacement May 2015  >> under extension program

Just got off the phone with the manager of my local Apple Store in Sweden.

My 15" MBP early 2011 (with 256gb SSD in main bay and 512gb mechanical in superdive bay) is ready for pickup he said, but most of the components in the computer is switched out.

Logicboard

RAM (8gb)

Magsafe dc-board

Wireless/BT-board

Trackpad

And while they already were at it, they changed the battery aswell to a new one.

I bought my Mac in march 2011, built in february.

I havent had ANY problems AT all since a couple of days ago, just a grey screen after reboot.

I didnt know there was so much complaint with these 2011-2013 macs, so i was happy when the genius at my store said they cover the cost for the repair.

Richard Liu wrote:

 

Some people claim that overly generous amounts of thermal paste on the chip backs further aggravate the problem by allowing the temperature to rise higher than it would with "just the right amount."  It seems, though, that there might be a trade-off involved.  Perhaps the "just right" amount would dry out faster than the generous amounts that are evidently recommended in Apple's repair manuals.  But, as I said, I am not an electrical engineer.

Thermal paste is used to transfer heat from a body, e.g. a BGA to a cooling body with a low as possible resitance, and as fast as possible.

So, what it is good at is teaking up heat.

With a minimal amount it takes heat from the chip and transfers it to the cooling body.

If there is to much thermal paste used, squirted around the chip, what will happen?

It takes up the heat, but as it doesn't touch a cooling body it can't get rid of it.

Just holds it making it even get worse.

Guys just a question. For all of you that you successfully submitted your MBPs for repair, was anybody lucky enough to get an "upgrade". Mine is the MBP Early 2011 with AMD 6490m. Could i be lucky enough to take a logic board with let's say 6750m?

The answer to your question is in the last entry on the preceding page, just a scant 14 entries (or so) before yours.