Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Hi folks,

I own a late 2011 15-inch macbook pro (2,4 GHz/AMD Radeon HD 6770M) and it's been a month since it's become a complete disaster. Blue screens with or without black stripes, screen glitches, inability to wake up from sleep, taking 6 tries to boot - my mac has it all.

Let's see what happens.

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Hi,

You can find local reapair shops from Taobao.com. Enter keywords like "laptop chip repair", and specify your location, then you get the search result, and you can talk to each seller about your issue. The seller "markzheng1983" offered me the price I mentioned in my last post. Their workshop is near Shanghai South Station. You can contact him in IM software of Taobao.com.

Besides, you cannot upgrade the graphics card, either the graphics memory. This is because most graphics cards have different footprints. And even if you find two chips with the same footprint, it's unlikely to combine a different chip in your logic board due to the lack of speci. So, it's unwisely to try upgrade any computational unit in your computer.

I have the same issue as everyone else...

My local retail store Liverpool One UK has no appointments so I book in my MBP with the nearest apple support centre, 1hr drive for me...

After diagnostics they have told me that I need a new Logic Board...price £450+VAT!!!!!!

What the heck! please can you let me know if you think Apple will finally acknowledge this hardware problem

I bought my MBP pro in the US in May 2011....problem like many others only started last week while watching a Video...I have had fan and overheating problems for a while though...

I just can't afford £450+VAT for a Logic Board replacement that might not solve the problem.

Please can someone at Apple reply to me....

Thx in adavance   

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My early 2011 MBP just died today like everyone. I'm not sure what to do next and I need it for work

Has anyone who has removed the graphics drivers and uses gfxCardStatus upgraded to 10.9.2?

Any upgrading won't help.

Hi Pete_robo  I was in same situation as you.  Choices are limited over 3 years old.

You can get the graphics chip replaced/ rebelled search ebay.co.uk for reball or laptop repair. prob cost £ 60 to 80  but insist on a 6Month Warrenty.

Or you can get Apple to replace the motherboard and have a 3 month warranty.  << cost me £ 470

** in the UK **

If you paid for the laptop with a credit card you might be able to claim back the cost of the repair from the credit card company that you used to buy the MBP.  Use the same card to pay for the repair and put in a chargeback request under section 75 of the consumer credit act.  The basis of the claim would be that such expensive repairs should not be required on a laptop < 4 years old.    You would need to have evidence that the repair was needed due to “internal component failure” and not water or impact damage.

Search for

For those of you struggling to power on your MBPs, I think I found a workaround using the integrated GPU... I only did this 3 times but it worked for me, hopefully it will for others and will keep working until Apple decides to do something.

You'll need an external monitor, I use my TV with an HDMI cable. What I did is plug it in, turn on TV, turn on laptop, wait until grey screen, power off MBP. Unplug cable and turn laptop back on. On the first try it powered on using the integrated GPU (which takes hours of power on/power off usually).

I guess plugging in an external monitor somehow triggers the MBP to power on using the integrated GPU the following try. I'm using my laptop right now, and using gfxcardstatus set on "integrated only" I can use Photoshop or edit videos (I'm a photographer so that's my main concern). I then never close or turn off the laptop until it starts glitching (after a week or so). Then the nightmare starts again but with this workaround I'm hoping it'll be easier to turn it back on.

Good luck guys, hope this helps!

I have also found that unplugging and replugging the battery under the bottom cover helps too.

Early 2011 15 inch MBP here using Radeon 6490M ... dead for the last month or so (at the grey screen). Will fill in the feedback to apple as well as it is obvious that they sold all of us defective units. Bought it in August 2011 so there's only 5 more months before the 3 year period (where even if Apple starts the replacement program, they still use the 3 year cut-offfrom date of purchase).

I suspect Apple is keeping this quiet unlike the Mid 2010 Macbook Pro replacement program because they know that replacing it with another logic board won't solve the problem. It looks like they might have to replace it with something totally different which will cost the company a bomb ... thus the silence.

I followed one of the instructions in another site to force the MBP to boot using the integrated graphic ... he mentioned to boot in single user mode and then to move all the ATI or AMD preference files in the library to the Desktop. That allowed me to boot into the machine in safe boot mode which allowed me to backup my entire harddrive via the target disk mode.

Thing is, I can't login unless I use the safe boot mode. If I don't use the safe boot mode, I can see the cursor but the login window is empty (no username, no password area).

Ended up buying a spare HP laptop (I have to work for a living) to do my work. Can't believe I paid RM6800 (USD2100) for a laptop that lasted for 30 months only. I had a Sony Vaio bought in 2004 and it's still running ...

Do the recall already Apple!!!!

I think I am going that route mysef and just upgrade to a retina with integrated video even though it feels like I'm downgrading from my I7 with a seperate video card to an I5 with integrated video.  I will be holding on to my other one in case it's actually recalled. I guess I will have a tax write off every 3 years now as I have to much invested in Apple software specific to work. I'm finding that I'm having to add apple care to everything at this point. It did save me on my iphone and a recent jump it took in to a pool. Sad that I'm writing this on a 2006 Sony Vaio that keeps working and working and was 1/4 the price of my Macbook Pro.

MBP723...just got exactly the same problem. Spent an hour to fixed it temporarily.

My external screen suddenly went blue with vertical lines...I knew it must me the discrete graphics problem that has happened to a few of my friends... Unpluged the displayport cable, turned on built-in screen, it was black. Tried to boot it for many times, the screen was just black, even no white light on it.

----how I fixed it temporarily----

1. Try to power on and click COMMAND+R at the same time.

    (The screen should be on, and wait for a few minutes to enter Recovery mode.

     Things is getting better now because the mac is set to boot from integrated graphic this time.)

2. Select to boot from your original disk from the dropdown menu.

3. Wait for another few minutes...I saw my screen is trying to switching for a few times...Then it return to normal       operation. Happy to see my familiar desktop again:)

4. Quickly download and install gfxCardStatus, and select using integrated graphics only.

     ( The mac dead another time when I try to set the integrated option... Reboot again...It works as normal this time. Try to set it again, and it works this time.)

    (I put a piece of ice at the bottom to keep it cool. Not sure it helps or not...)

I will be using the integrated graphic only from now on, until Apple decide to recall this defected product.

I feel excited not having to spend $400 to fix this bad engineered bug, with the risk of getting down again.

Even though I can't use external screen now, everything else is just fine. I belive I have the ability to power off and on, but I will only choose to go sleep for safey purposes...

Hope this post helps~

Are we still  at the same place?

This manufacturing defect is presenting itself throughout the 2011 Macbook pro line up. It is well documented on many sites such as;

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/apple-in-the-enterprise/internet-reports-sugges t-possible-2011-macbook-pro-graphics-issue/

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/17/2011-macbook-pro-gpu-glitches/

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/01/16/owners-of-late-2011-macbook-pros-repor t-critical-gpu-failures-system-crashes

Some people are able to limp home by choosing integrated graphics card, some are able to continue by forking out enormous amounts of cash at either apple stores for the, what seems to be, generic "logic board" replacement.or recalls via third part reballse (tthat actually were to be a more effective solution).

In the UK we are lucky in that the previously referenced Sales of Goods Act largely protects us from this kind of shoddy practice, I hope that other countries are equally well protected as this debacle really has to reach conclusion.

Yes, the twitter, Facebook etc campaigns are effective, but more imports high, for me at I East, what on earth has gosh happened to Apple?

I have

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Managed to hit send before I finished! :-)

Yes, the various Twitter, Facebook, Tumbler campaigns etc have at least got people listening, but in real terms, it only matters to the people who suffer from this issue. 

What really needs to be communicated to the general populous is the shoddy way in which this issue has been handled and the fact that although you may pay a premium price for a (perceived) premium product, you're actually getting something second rate that the company will not stand behind..

I am letting all my clients know of these issues and I am now actively advocating alternatives.

Seriously....what on earth has happened to Apple?!?!?

Is there a way to force macbook starting boot using integrated cards? My macbook randomly enter discrete although my gpxstatuscqrd setting was in integrated only... Now i even cannot enter safe mode, recovery etc... Please help!