Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Excellent link. Many thanks.

Well Said Bro!.
The best solution to this problem is an extended warranty on at LEAST the early 2011 MBP 6750m

Links to surveys and petitons are a good way to achieve this.

Sad that they are being deleted.

I have an AMD Radeon HD 6490m, so the problems aren't limited to just the 6750m.

I called Apple at their contact number 1.408.996.1010 and navigated the robotic menu. I hit a wall when the robot said I had no telephone support and I'd have to pay a single incident fee of $19.99 or end the call. I was grumbling and pondering what to do for about a minute when the robot said "I didn't understand anything you said, I'll transfer your call to a human" and then I unloaded on a very nice guy named Armando.

He said he had the same 2011 MacBook Pro as me and that he actually experienced the GPU issue and replaced the logic board, that there was no recall program yet but he was hopeful that one would be made available because "Apple does the right thing and Apple wants me to enjoy my laptop and not just dump it on eBay", and suggested I got my brick to an Apple Store or mail it in. I wish I could believe him.

I encourage everyone who hasn't yet walked to an Apple Store or to an Authorized Center to call them and voice your concerns and let Apple know it's not an isolated incident.

I'm still going to take my dead MBP to an Apple Store in my next trip to the US, since it's the only opportunity I have to get it repaired and get the Geniuses to look at it.

Signed! #239

In the past 24 hours I've counted at least 40-50 GPU failures between this thread and a couple others on here. I have had this problem since December too but I didn't ever post anything about it until two days ago. Makes me wonder how many people a day are suffering from this painful problem. Luckily I am in a position to blow money to fix apples problem but it is not right. I have complained to them about this problem in every way that I know of and nothing works. They just act surprised by my problems, as if I am the first person to ever bring this problem to their knowledge. Ah I'm sick of dealing with this.

48 hours after turning in my 15" it's back from the authorized repair staff who (against my advice) did a board swap. I'll take it home, transfer my files back to it and see whether it lasts or not.

Nice. I also sent a bug report to Apple via http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html Let's hope issue an official statement soon.

I emailed him and actually got a phone call four hours later from Executive Relations, hadn't even given them my phone number.  Have sent them all my info, including photo's and will see if they can sort this once and for all.  If they offer me another Logic Board I will not be a happy camper as many others here have experienced multiple failures.  I want this problem fixed.

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Thank you very much for that tip! I just emailed Tim Cook and I am patiently awaiting a response.

I sent a pretty lengthy email explaining how everything started from the very beginning to ending up with no solution anyone at Apple has offered that I am willing to accept (paying for the logic board replacement).

I will get back to you guys if I hear anything from the higher ups at Apple.

As reported in a prior post I too have an issue with the GPU on my MBP 15-inch. I sent the following letter:

Dear Mr. Cook:

I have been a loyal long time Apple user having started with System 3.2 on a dual floppy Mac SE.

Recently while operating OS X 10.9 on my MBP A1286 2.2 GHz late 2011 my screen flashed and went black when watching a YouTube video. A forced restart gave me a gray screen after the Apple logo. A second forced restart in Single User mode presented me with a dark blue screen after the Apple logo. A third reboot in verbose mode allowed me to download and install the gfxCardStatus.app 2.2.1. I am now able to use the MBP with gfxCardStatus.app installed. This limited action does not make me very happy.

Reading the Apple Discussion Board topic, "2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card" (thread 4766577) it seems that I am not alone with this problem. (The thread is currently at 143 pages and counting) It is being suggested that I can replace the motherboard, reball the gpu chip or replace the gpu chip all at my expense. I find this un-acceptable and would request that you look into this situation and consider a recall program for all of us with this failed gpu chip. We pay for a quality product at a premium price.

I am now writing this on my 13-inch MBP 2.4 GHZ which has never given me any problems. Hoping to hear from you and Apple."

I too had a long conversation with Executive Relations. Their comment was that there is no fix yet and that I visit the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store to have my concern documented. This I did.

<Personal Information Edited By Host>

Anyone else worried that this is fast turning into a "Sophie's choice" scenario for Apple at this point?

As far as I can tell from the comments of posters who seem to have a good understanding of the issue, every response option suggested thus far within this thread, even those that don't actually fix the issue long-term** = super expensive and/or technically unfeasible***

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the only real/long-term solution = replacing every single failing 2011MBP with a new MBP? Or is it technically feasible to replace our logic boards with an entirely new+different GPU (e.g. Intel Iris)??

**If not, replacing every single failed logic board with the same - albeit new or refurbished - logic board is little more than a short-term band-aid (bc the replacement boards are failing too!).

That's correct. Most of what I read is people who have got their logic board replaced have been through more than one replacement. I can only recall reading one post where after 3 months, someone's computer was still funcitoning properly after a logic board switch. Everyone else is reporting the same issues after having their logic board replaced.

@Gerald Raddatz

> A second forced restart in Single User mode presented me with a dark blue screen after the Apple logo.

"Single User" mode does not use the discrete GPU and should boot to a command line.

You probably meant to say "Safe" mode.