Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Apple replaced my MB - free of charge. Interestingly, when I turned my machine on at the store, it had a globe spinning slowly and the machine took a long time to start. Also, some lines (one finger thick) appeared on top of the screen and I thought to myself, "That's it - New MB but another video card issued." I made sure to reboot my MB Pro in front of the genius guy and everything was fine after that. I wonder how long the new MB will last and whether I can rely on my machine now.

Quite crazy that ~900 pages worth of replies with advice and similar issues have been written in this thread. I'm going to add to it as well.

I've had my laptop (MBP Late 2011 15") for almost five years. I never dropped it, and mostly did word processing on it (occasionally playing videogames on it, but very rarely, and always while keeping it elevated). As a result, I have a lot of files on this computer that I didn't back up, as I trusted that Apple's sky high prices will be justified by the quality of the product - apparently not. I was working on Google Chrome when the computer suddenly froze and the images on the screen split in two (I would add the photo evidence that I collected but unfortunately I'm unable to do so on the phone I'm writing from - thanks again, Apple!). I decided that the issue is with the web browser, and proceeded to quit the web browser and delete it from my laptop. The screen returned to normal. Then, I decided to update my computer to OS X 10.11.5. The computer began to restart, and the grey screen with the loading bar and the Apple logo appeared. Then, thin red stripes appeared on the screen, and the bar stopped loading. A monute later, the screen went grey. I tried restarting the computer twice but to no avail - the same thing happens over and over. It's been 8 hours, the computer is heated like crazy, and nothing is happening. I'm not sure if I will be able to fix it for free, since the computer is long out of warranty, but I can readily say that this experience with Apple has been priceless 

I guess that it may seem strange and selfish that I'm ranting like this even though my computer is almost 5 years old  For me, though, this made the break-down even more devastating, as I was confident that my laptop is fine, and never backed up my files. I know better now, of course. Also, comparing the Apple and over computer company prices, it seems that Apple doesn't value quality.

yuliaser wrote:

 

Also, comparing the Apple and over computer company prices, it seems that Apple doesn't value quality.

Apple values shareholder value: the days that Apple laptops last for years are over.

I'm typing this on a linux system that cost about 25% of my MacBook Pro and lasts twice as long: goodbye Apple...

Has it worn out already?

Hi guys,

I would like to share also my experience on this crazy topic, because I had the same problem... twice...

I have a MBP 15-inch Late 2011. I stress my computer GPU quite often since I use daily 3D softwares, and play games sometimes. Everything worked fine, until maybe 3 months ago. Some stranges stuff like freezes and suddent reboots started to occur. So I dug on Internet and understood that I had this discreet GPU issue. At first it happened only when I used some GPU intensive apps for a long time. And it happened more and more, including various symptoms like graphical issues, distorded screens... Until I couldn't start my MBP anymore, it was stuck on a grey screen after the Apple logo.

4 weeks ago I brought my computer to the Apple Store. They ran some tests, including the video test which failed, meaning that I could benefit from the reparation for free.

1 week later I went back to the Apple Store to grab my repared MBP. They said to me that they had changed the logic board. During 1 day I ran some stress tests, and it seemed fine. And then I didn't touch my computer for 3 weeks because I was in vacation.

Yesterday I came back from holiday, started my MBP: the same problem occured!!! I could start my Mac, but once I started to run whatever apps which use the GPU a litte bit, some graphical glitches, or freezes or reboots occured.

So I brought my MBP to the Apple Store once again, and they will repair it once again for free since it's been less than 90 days since the last reparation. But I have serious concerns.

I have serious doubts that they changed the logic board, even if they told me they did. This time I took some screenshots of my MBP hardware info to be able to check if some stuff will be different after this reparation. If they changed the logic board, the MAC address of my WLAN interface should not be the same, right?

If they really changed it, since it happened again only after 2 days of use, I can't believe that they put a brand new logic board inside. It's more likely that the took one coming from an old MBP which was used for few years, and so more subject to fail quickly.

Anyway, I am waiting for my new reparation. But after this episode, how can I trust the abilty, the expertise and the honesty of the Apple Store guys to fix my computer for good?

Hope it helps,

Bye

yagero wrote:

 

I have serious doubts that they changed the logic board, even if they told me they did. This time I took some screenshots of my MBP hardware info to be able to check if some stuff will be different after this reparation. If they changed the logic board, the MAC address of my WLAN interface should not be the same, right?

 

If they really changed it, since it happened again only after 2 days of use, I can't believe that they put a brand new logic board inside. It's more likely that the took one coming from an old MBP which was used for few years, and so more subject to fail quickly.

It is more than likely you got a quick and dirty reflow, where an old logic board was 'baked' to revive bad soldering joints. It is well known this is a temporary fix, and Apple just prays this will hold long enough to survice its one year warranty period. It happened to me too, and both the Premium Apple Authorized Service Provider (Microfix, Amsterdam) and Apple are hiding behind each others backs to cover up. I moved to Linux.

i got same issue in early 2015 (macbook pro late 2011), and apple replaced my logic board by the new one under repair program.

but now i'm having same issue again... will apple replace logic board again? and how much time after this i will be able to use my laptop? is there any options with other gpu on board?

Yes, since the program has been extended until December 31, 2016:

https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

But you'll have no guarantee about how long will your MBP last. Make sure to stress hard your GPU after the repair.

I've already had the logic board replaced in my computer four times now, so it's currently on its fifth board - it doesn't seem like the underlying design or manufacturing flaw has ever really been resolved.

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I have a mid-2012 15" rMBP (Nvidia gpu) that has been suffering these exact issues for the last two years.  Started intermittently with random crashes and reboots and has increased in frequency to include black screens,  no apple splash screen despite USB ports being powered (external usb hdd).  Sometimes a SMC and/or PRAM resets get it back,  but it eventually occurs again. 

I took it I to the genius bar yesterday and was able to recreate the problem. The tech claimed that it was a power problem be a use the display would not light up.  I explained that the laptop was "on"  by plugging in my phone via USB and watching it begin to charge the phone.  She brought over  another tech to look,  and he explained that USB 3.0 ports provided power despite the power state of the laptop.  So I held the power button and both watched the USB power cease charging my phone.  They then logged it as a power problem and quoted $5xx to repair/replace the logic board.

To say I'm frustrated would be understated. I just spoke to the local action manager by phone whom assured me he would have his techs look again,  but I hold no hope for resolution.

Is there anything else I  an do?

Did they run the test to check for the graphics card fault?

When this issue occurs, the screen freezes, usually (but not always) like this:

But sometimes you get a Windows-style BSoD or big fat vertical bars across the screen. And then a grey screen while the machine tries to boot. Eventually it boots with the integrated graphics card. When this happened to me, I used to use GFX Card Status to avoid using discrete graphics, which is what caused the crashes for me. If you see a screen like this, take a picture of it and try to get a second opinion at another store, if possible- other users have been able to get their MBPs repaired just by giving them a picture of the fault.

My experience started with kernel panics, then the symptom pictured above. The first time I was still under AppleCare and once the machine was repaired, it was fine for over a year, until a couple of months after the extended warranty expired. When the repair program was announced, it failed the test, was taken in and repaired, but unfortunately began failing again after a few months. The 2011-2012 MBPs were badly flawed.

They have been unable to get the display to "light",  although it powers up. 

I had had the same issue on 2015 and had my MacBook Pro 15" late 2011 model reworked by Apple Store. It had been working well for almost 1 year but the same issue comes up only recently. I am so shocked to find out this post and see so many victims as same as me here, and what will Apple do about it?