Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I did the same thing (removed opti-bay hdd) and reinstalled the OS. And it worked fine ... for a week. Then it  was worse than before. I tried isolating it to different HDD/SDD/optibay/RAM/OS (10.8 / 10.9) configurations but it was none of those. $310 depot fix and it's been good for almost 3 months now.

I filed a bug report (bugreport.apple.com) detailing the issue and most of the articles online. It was closed yesterday with this message:

Duplicate of 15762304 (Open)

I'm so let down by this whole affair that not only this may be my last Mac computer, I've also began to challenge everyone who asked me about Apple computers and steered them towards PCs...

i'm also having similar problem, started 3-4 months ago, replacing hdd after failing to boot. Even after fresh install still no luck. Ive sent an online complaint but no response at all. called apple last week, here in malaysia, the cost for replacing the motherboard is USD674. Now i dont know what to do.

LeVeL5: I too submitted a bug report and received a similar reply (i.e., my submission was a 'duplicate'...in my case, of 15803665. Now I have no idea how to find out what '15803665' is, nor know how similar it is to YOUR 'duplicate', so I have no idea what that means. All the return e-mail said was because my submission was a 'duplicate', my submission "will be closed".

Makes one wonder whether they keep tack of how many 'duplicate' submissions they have...and if they do, to what extent a LARGE number of 'duplicate' submissions raises the issue in their priority bucket.

Regardless, at the end of the day, I would hope Apple would do 'the right thing' and at least help to take care of the problem. Even if they offered to 'fix' the issue (with a REAL fix, rather than simply swapping motherboards) for some discounted rate...say, $100 or so...that would be a HUGE help to many, restore faith in Apple (at least for those who haven't entirely given up already), and represent some proactive thinking on Apple's part (before waiting until this issue 'blows up' in some widely-read media outlet...which seems inevitable...causing more severe damage to Apple). If they don't, consumers will simply vote with their feet...and tell everyone they know about the issue...and I can't imagine why Apple would want either of these.

I've already started the process if telling people about Apple and the poor quality. You're paying for style and design not quality. Look at the issues going on with the retina displays appalling...

I just let me developer account expire.  Apple called to renew and I told them that until they issue a recall  I will no longer be developing for or buying their products.

My 2008 Macbook Pro died because of the Nvidia issue.  Thank you, Apple for fixing that AND the battery that started swelling so bad that my keyboard would type by itself.

My 2011 Macbook Pro is now about to die completely because of this issue. 

My iPad mini is freezing and crashing all the time since iOS7. 

Every iPhone my girlfriend and I have had has lasted around a year or two before either the screen button, power button, or sound has stopped working.  Thankfully Best Buy mobile has a great insurance plan.

Apple, if you're looking that's around $10k in purchases over 3 years.  I also convinced a half a dozen friends to buy Macbook Pros because they saw my development environment and fell in love.

I am spending way too much money on this stuff just to have it fail.  I was a Linux user for 6 years before I bought my first MBP and I will be a Linux user again.  And hello, Android.

I miss Steve Jobs.  The quality and care coming from Apple has gone way down since Tim Cook took over.

Congratuations, you're the the 200,000th viewer of this thread!

You Win a new Free MacBook Pro! **

** by "new" we mean a replacement, used logic board which will die in 1 days after the warrenty expires and by "free" we mean at least $310 USD.

Add me to the list of the afflicted. My early 2011 MBP (6750 GPU) started acting up just after Mavericks. Slowly got worse and worse. Now I'm lucky if I can get an hour of work done before crashing. I crash immediately if I open Photoshop or Dreamweaver. This is after a complete wipe and fresh install of everything.

+1 for me mid-2011 mbp 15" graphics card issues as well. I had the 2008 model which also died and didn't realise they had a recall but had already sold it for $300.

The only thing that really keeps me with Apple is OSX. I can't stand the Windows operating system, but I'd be willing to mount a hackintosh computer based on more reliable PC parts running OSX.

In the meantime as well I steer friends and family away from Apple laptops because of the hardware issues. If you live in a hot region of the world these will die from heat.

The repair people at bga_repairs explain the issue very well:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Macbook-Pro-15-17-Laptop-Logic-Board-Repair-/30063 7658480?pt=UK_Motherboards_CPUs&hash=item45ff669d70

Add one more to the list.  15" early 2011, 6750, 2.2 i7, 8gb, ssd.  I'm still running snow leopard, so I know it has nothing to do with Maverics.  So far successfully running GFXCardStatus 2.2.1 (last SL compatible version), but I should be able to use the discrete graphics I paid for in a $2500 computer.  First, and almost certainly last, MacBook I will purchase. 

Add another to the list.  Late 2011 15 inch i7. Same problem everyone else is having with the GPU. I can get it to boot once in a while but it won't stay on long before freezing. Pretty useless I just packed it up and tossed it in the top of the closet hoping for a fix.

If not it will be my last Apple purchase as I bought it in Jan of 2012 and it didn't even make it 2 years.  Heavy paper weight though.

Tell me about it. I've been agonizing the last few days over what to do - my MacBook had become intolerably unreliable and had already failed on me in deadline situations on multiple occasions, but I was extremely reluctant to purchase a new machine without a plan for my old one and was concerned about getting it fixed by a third party. So what do I do? Pay for the logic board replacement at some $800 dollars in Canada, get a third party repair for $300, or sell my damaged machine for a fraction of what it's worth and replace it? Not an appealing option to be found.

Fortunately, I took the advice offered in this thread and got the GFX Card Status application which has been working so far and will hopefully help me muddle along one way or another until I determine my next step.

The worst bit of this all is that, as much as I'd love to invest in one of the new haswell retina models and had always intended to upgrade at some point, objectively speaking, it would probably be a poor investment wouldn't it? I don't mean that in a whiney, trying to alarm Apple way either - if your $2000 investment becomes unusable through no apparent fault of your own and the manufacturer ignores the issue, you shouldn't buy another one. And that *****, because I love my MacBook.

that is exactly my situation.. since october 2013

Though the Montreal store quoted me $ 611.67 tx included, 800 seems very steep.

I hoped Apple would do/say something before 2014...

Thanks Jayannemark. I'll give it a try and give an update. Probably next month.

Just want to add that despite these issues I have no intention of giving up my MacBook Pro 15". I briefly considered selling it after I get it fixed but I love my high res anti-glare monitor too much to give this beauty up without a fight. Yes, I'm annoyed with Apple right now but I'm not giving up. It's not so much the failure but more because they are not admitting it and because they are deleting posts. Hopefully that will change. Maybe by the time I get to the Apple store on Saturday. Either way I still love my Mac and and I don't hate Apple. On the other hand if they don't do the right thing, I'm also willing to take things further. It's not right that so many of us are having this issue through no fault of our own.