Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

SAME with 15' early 2011!

Another unhappy early-2011 Macbook Pro owner here, with the same problems that just started last night. Signed the petition, but I'm sure this means money out of my pocket to fix before anything gets done (if anything ever gets done!).

I am sorry, I hope it gets recalled.

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I own a 15" early 2011 MacBook Pro. Today I sent the following feedback to Apple, using the link provided above  (http://www.apple.com/feedback/ ) :

I want to add my voice to the many others who have complained about the problems which hundreds, if not thousands, of loyal Mac users have had with their 2011 MacBook Pros because of bad design and/or bad manufacturing, resulting in:  overheating, failure to adequately dissipate heat, failure of the GPU to perform properly, etc... ultimately leading to screen distortion and often a total shutdown of the computer. For more details I refer you to the user discussion at: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4766577?start=2055&tstart=0

Apple's transparent attempts to avoid its' clear responsibility for this problem (including treating it as an Apple Care expiration issue, and not a design or manufacturing matter)  have gone on long enough. Apple, with its very deep pockets, should be ashamed.

Hi Everyone!

I had the exact same problems with my early (April) 2011 MacBook Pro 15''

Processor  2.2 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory  4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Graphics  AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB

Last four characters of the Serial Number DF91 - apparently out of the graphic Card Replacement Program:

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/16/apple-initiates-graphic-card-replacement-pro gram-for-mid-2011-27-inch-imac/

Mid August 2013 I had the problem that everyone experienced, when it was just 4 month out of the warranty: glitches, pink horizontal lines when booting, freezing screen and even blue screens. At the time I was in Italy, and since there isn't an Apple Store in my hometown, I had to bring my Mac to an Apple Authorized Reseller. As the script, they changed the logic board and charge me around 600 euros (800 USD).

It worked just fine unitl December 2013 when, completely out of the blue, it didn't turn on at all. This time I was in Miami, at the Apple Store, they run the same tests and told me that the problem was for sure the logic board again. I was pretty ****** off, since the logic board broke 10 days after the 90days warranty (how convenient). I was just "lucky" that they mentioned the flat rate repair, so i spent "only" 310 USD+tax, but this time apparently also my hard disk was broken and they had to change it, together with the logic board and the battery, and they didn't offered any kind of backup of the data.

However, for now it is doing just fine, finger crossed nothing will happen again.

As the Apple exectuives stated for the 30 years aniversary: "The Mac keeps going (in repair) forever" - I hope not!

I already started a discussion here reporting the same problem, now i'll do it in this one too since it's important to keep all the reports together. My early 2011 15" MBP went from totally ok to death within just 2 days, now it won't go further than the apple logo at the loading screen.

Same here, 2 days.

Emailed my feedback today, plus email to Tim Cook. Hope we get heard.

I remember having issues with my GPU (the one that occured when they switch between the HD3000 and the 6750M. I disabled the HD3000, and today the 6750M passed away.

Very cute…

Well, there is obviously a problem, and I have decided to add my voice here.

Now, I am waiting for some news from Apple.

Dear all 2011 MacBook Pro wallahs,

I thought I should add my two pennies’ worth to the great dGPU debate or what I have become accustomed to calling my macLife crisis (the stress and anxiety my early 2011 MBP has caused me is not quantifiable). I am a self-employed designer from the UK currently residing in Sweden and I am exclusively dependent on my early 2011 17” MBP for my livelihood.

I should start by saying I've been an ardent Mac customer for 20 years (I’ve spent small personal fortune on Apple products in that time) and I am writing this from my trusted 2003 PowerBook G4 17" running OS X 10.5.8, slow but it works. Up until 2011 I used this PowerBook as my workhorse from morning to night 7 days a week (running CAD and modeling software). I have owned various Macs since 1994 and all outlived their functionality (that is why I have never bothered with Applecare), hence my decision to part with large wad of cash in my next investment which I purchased from the Swedish online Apple Store with the following spec:

• Model Name: MacBookPro 8,3
• Model no: A1297
• Currently running: OS X Mavericks (Supplied with OS X 10.6, this version was installed when first logic board failed)
• Processor: 2.3GHz quadcore intel core i7
• Memory: 8GB
• Hard drive: 750GB @ 5400
• Disp: 17" with antiglare
• SMC Version (system): 1.70f6
• iGPU: Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics processor
• dGPU: AMD Radeon HD 6750M, 1 GB dedicated GDDR5 memory
• Keyboard: Swedish
• Purchase date: 26th March 2011 (or 34months old, less 1 month repair time)
• Paid: 27,545SEK (4,317USD or 127USD a month)

At this point it is import for me to highlight that I am a very cautious individual. I have been very meticulous with the administration of and general upkeep of all my Macs to help eliminate any mishaps. Since the first day I received this machine I have had it propped up on a cooling pad (purchased from Apple store) to ensure adequate air circulation to prevent overheating and plugged it into a surge protector. In fact, I move this machine maybe twice a year (when traveling to and from summerhouse an hour away), it has remained stationary (akin to desktop) for most of its life. All of which only compounds my frustration. Also, as work has been scarce I have never really had a chance to work this machine the way I did my PowerBook. I would say I use around 20hrs a week (less still post logic board replacement) for mostly admin stuff (nothing that I can think of that has pushed the graphics performance).

From day one this MBP crashed at least once a week, compare this to my 17”PB which crashed 3 times in 7 years, amazing. Then the first major incident, on starting the MBP one morning the apple logo came up and then suddenly disappeared as if going into sleep mode. As the keyboard lights were still on and I could still hear the processor cooling fans I assumed it may be a display problem, so I shone a LED lamp through the apple logo (behind display) and I could see the login window. I managed to connect an external monitor and the innards worked fine. As I live on an island (5 hrs by ferry and coach from Stockholm, 1 direction), an Apple Genius Bar was not an option (I don't think we have one yet in Sweden anyway), but luckily I found an Apple Authorised Service Provider 20mins away. They ran some diagnostic tests and found some faulty fuses that had something to do with the displays background lighting (‘Felet ligger i backgrundsbelysningens säkring på moderkortet’, make of that what you will). After some haggling they managed to convince Apple that these repairs had to be carried out at their expense due to Swedish Consumer Laws, which requires 2 years guarantee on all electrical components. This resulted in the following:

• Logic board replaced: 25^th Aug 2012 (or after 17months, now 17months old) 11050SEK or 1732USD
• Display assembly replaced: 25^th Aug 2012 (or after 17months) 7550SEK or 1183USD

Incidently, I was told that if I had to pay for this it would have cost me 20000SEK or 3135USD. Since this repair I have been even more cautious with it. Seven months later my hard disk died (hence the crashing):

• Hard disk replaced: 19^th March 2013 (or after 24months, paid 1280SEK or 200USD) by the same Apple Authorised Service Provider.

I had read about the AMD GPU problems a week or two ago and thought to myself ‘luckily I have a new Logic board in mine, this won’t affect me’. How foolish do I feel now? Last Saturday night, having 'shared to file' a 10min home movie (low res) in iMovies, it suddenly appeared, the dreaded black screen. I then forced shutdown and got the grey screen on restart. I tried booting from the recovery disk but got a deep blue screen instead. I then shutdown and tried a number startup functions which I have learnt over the years. These included the following:

• Reset NVRAM (Option-Command-P-R).
• Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC: Shift-Control-Option and power button).
• Start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items (Press Shift during startup) resulting in deep blue screen.
• Start up in Verbose mode (Press Command-V during startup).

All of the above had no impact. The next morning I tried booting again and it worked. I quickly did a time machine backup and then, having read this now infamous discussion group, downloaded and installed the ‘gfxCardStatus’ app and set it to integrated only. I also deactivated the Automatic graphics switching option in the energy settings for both Battery and Power Adapter (switching seems to be the instigator here). Later in the day the problem reappeared, this time instigated by the Display sleep option, which I later set to ‘Never’.

By Tuesday I was permanently stuck in the dreaded grey screen (in my case things have deteriorated very quickly). I had by then discovered the following options:

• Booted in Single-user mode to check for possible file system issues (/sbin/fsck -fy). All seemed fine and still no joy!
• Booted in Single-user mode again and managed to move the AMD extension files (for dGPU) to another folder and eureka!!!

I had managed to devolve my MacBook Pro into a Macintosh Portable (showing my age, very slow refresh rates). It now thinks I have an external screen connected (hence blue tint to everything) but I was finally able to Zero my private files, music, photos, etc so that I can eventually hand it in to the same Apple Authorised Service Provider.

I have now spent the best part of 3 days perusing the web to find a feasible solution, preferably endorsed by Apple and have found nothing. I have found plenty who have paid a lot of money for a new logic board only for the problem to reoccur either immediately or progressively, but return it does. This would make sense as, I am guessing, the logic boards they are installing were manufactured at the same time as the ones in our MBPs. Other clever individuals have managed to bake their AMD Radeon Chip with a hairdryer (I guess this closes fractures in the solder), curing the problem for the short-term, but this is way beyond something I would dare.

I am a layperson when it comes to the complexities of computers but the following questions need to be answered by Apple:

• Has the performance of the AMD Radeon Chip been tweaked through the various OS X revisions causing it to generate higher temperatures? This may be why the lead-free solder is failing (if it is).
• Is there a problem with the performance of the lead-free solder the AMD Radeon chip (dGPU) is seated on? Fractures in the lead-free solder would make sense of why this problem is instigated when switching from the iGPU to dGPU and why it gets progressively worse (like small tear in jeans, it is inevitable it will get bigger). I also wonder if great temperature shifts would exacerbate such a problem.
• And my last question may be really stupid, so clever techies out there please excuse me. Would it be possible to reduce the performance rates of the dGPU so that it generates less heat? This might help before the logic board is replaced.

I’m not really expecting Apple to answer these because doing so would admit guilt, but I am hoping an Old-timer at Cupertino may advise us anonymously.

I honestly believe Apple Computers would have addressed this issue by now but I am not expecting an olive let alone a branch from Apple Inc. One thing that is very evident is that Apple Inc has been very quiet! I am really none the wiser as what to do. We really need Apple to look in to this and come up with a viable economic solution (they’ve had over a year to do this). Changing the logic board prior to this would be futile.

A dream solution would be for Apple to offer, for a limited time, those who are still under guarantee to exchange their MBPs for a new equivalent and the same to those out of guarantee but for the price of a new logic board and installation.

I was hoping next year to invest in a Mac Pro but now I am just paranoid it will end up being a very expensive waste paper bin (might go well with my new expensive paperweight).

One place I think I will start is by drowning my sorrows :’(

Well Please add one more to the list i have a early 2011 Mac book pro 17 with a Amd Radeon facing this issue since last 25 days went to a apple care store they say replace the logic board well ie 580 usd in india. is anyone else ther in india with the same issue.

What i did is below

Issue happened after i update the latest mavrics, Photoshop, iphoto crashes the display instantly then i have to boot 20 times to get it up agan i tired to move back ot osx lion it worked for 3 days and that too started carshing. figured out mavrics is the only reosrt to boot back as it will use intel 3000 to boot not the redeon. i presume if i dont use photoshop or any video etc it should work fine. will wait till apple comes up with a solution.

Just finished restoring the last backup its booted fine will keep you guys posted.

Same problem with 15" early 2011.

Hi!

As probably being one of the unlucky one´s who been bitten by the same bug, could please point out what AMD files you moved (where to find them)?

I assume you managed to move them in single user mode (ie just in terminal mode). And as to changinge the gfxCardStatus, is that possible to do in single user mode as well (before starting up the "graphics"?

Per

Hej Per,

Yep! Boot in Single User Mode (command [cloverleaf] + ‘s’)

mount -uw / 

cd /System/Library/Extensions/

mkdir DisabledExtensions

mv AMD* DisabledExtensions/

This will move all the AMD extensions into a sub-folder called ‘DisabledExtensions’. Can I emphasize that I have never done this sort of thing before and this is no solution. It is only useful to get access to your hard disk, your MBP will behave like a vegetable.

In terms of the ‘gfxCardStatus’ app, people ought to forget about this as a solution. My MBP kept overriding it. Besides both the Automatic graphics switching option in the Energy Saver preference and gfxCardStatus app are reset on shutdown. So, when you bootup the dGPU kicks in prior to the login screen and everything goes grey :''(

HI again. had some success was able to boot proberly installed smc fan controler and set it to work on max, installed gfxcardstat and made it to use intregrated ie intel 3000 disabled auto switching in gfx and then worked for 2 hours  after which i shut it down and came home and booted again  the same problem did some 3 boots without success and then its up now. Safe mode clears the error and then you can boot successfully.

if the temp is under 50 degree then i guess it should work fine i have fixed with an appointment with apple care guy tomorrow will make him open the mbp and check the radeon shouldering and put new thermal compounds. the issue is the heating up.

Please try the below

remove the charger

boot in safe mode. keep SHIFT key pressed before apple logo.

even if you are not able to boot in completely wait for white screen and sound of fans kicking.

force shoutdown but using power button

then press the power again. this should take you to normal screen

install GFXstat set it use intel only ie integerated graphics card

install smcfancontroller set it to higher rmp.

so far its working for me i guess if the gpu is not cooked yet its worth getting a service done or checking thermal compound and shouldering. will update you guys again tomorro

hope this helps some of you to atleast back your data up. clearing pram never helped me but safemode did.