Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Hey guys, just informing you that I went the email Tim Cook route and got a free logic board replacement. I don't understand what standards of distinction Apple employs but it looks apparent that they grant a free replacement in some cases, but not in most cases.

Ok, It has come to an end finally. Roughly two months ago my MBP has started to give the problem. I came here posted on the forum, emailed to Tim, tweeted it and liked the fb page. I could continuously use the laptop with GFcard status. Then problem got worse as i couldn't switch the GPU to integrated , it stuck on dynamic switching. When i tried hard it froze on the gray screen then died with blue screen after four five reboots.

Here  in  Sri Lanka they ask around 70-80k to just replace the logic board ( roughly 650 USD). Apple has to recall this product and give a replacement.

So I couldn't resist because I need to work on my MPB desperately, baked the logic board in the oven, seems to be working alright again. Let's see how long it will last.

Hej dancnz ...

I believe the reason why you can't make any display adjustments when using the integrated Intel GPU is that there aren't any native kernel extensions or plugins to control it. This is theoretical but the most probable explanation.

You could try moving the AMD* and ATI* files now located at ~/DisabledExtensions back to the /System/Library/Extensions folder, one at a time, rebooting after every single file transfer, and check if you can make display adjustments after a successfully boot. I don't believe this would work because the .kexts are for the Radeon chipset but it doesn't hurt to give it a try. Start with the .plugin file. Please post your results if you try this.

As a shortcut to modify files in single user mode you can subtitute the first 5 commands that I shared in the other post by the following 2 commands:

/sbin/fcsk -fy (press return)

/sbin/mount -uw / (press return)

If the other post was helpful you should like it as it may be helpful to someone else in this stressed out situation. This way the post can gain relevance in this thread and can be more visible to others.

Best,

H.

horatiusmagnus

Would you mind sharing the email you sent to Tim Cook (removing any personal information as necessary)?

I did say only corporate, with home types the horrors I open up are pretty similar. A combination of cotton bedding fibres, tobacco and animal hair is the worst, one MBP 08 unibody in particular stands out adding a cola spill on top!  Logic board had to have a denatured isopropyl bath, gross!

Deeply dissapointed I've just come back from Apple Store here in Valencia, Spain. My Mac Book Pro 17". 2,2Ghz from 2011 has the logic board broken due to the same problem. The answer from manager of the Store was they has no real information about the problem and while they can't do anything. They can not test if every message appears in this forum belongs to a real customer..!! Ha,ha,ha. I've heard a lot of excuses but this one really is amazing. More than 257 pages ( there are more in other forums but the problem is the same) in this forum and they have not notified for this problem?, they offered me i must to pay more around 500€ to repair the logic board and wait if Apple decides to run a replacement program to get a full refund. That's unbelievable..!!.they know the problem but they don't worry about it because it's not very loud. Even the technical advisor told me that Tim Cook the Apple's CEO read some complaints.. Right now I've got a beautiful toaster of more than $2400. Well done Apple guys, but the next time I would like to buy a laptop not a incredibly expensive toaster. The worst part it's that you can pay the 500€ of repairing budget but the problem will back in 1-2 years. Is it worth?

P.S: I'm filmmaker and editor and I''m stopped from 2 months ago losing money and refusing customers because I can't edit. Are you refund this expenses as well?

I have a MBP late 2011 2.2ghz with failed logic-board, currently in the Apple shop.

The problem I'm seeing is that there is no unified front to our issue — a lot of so called "isolated cases" in Apple's eyes — but there needs to be a tangible, disgruntled, unified user-base.

It would be good if as many of you could send your contact details and repair ID # so that a case can be built.

Does anyone know of any larger consumer watchdog's that might take notice? We need to push this in the press, and build pressure on Apple to at least give an official response, instead of inconsistent responses on a case by case basis.

To do this we need to put faces and case studies to the unsubstantiated claims made by all of us when we've cited the issue to Apple support and staff.

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Hi Ian,

And nice to meet you. I'm agree with you. Apple doesn't run any repair program if they have not real data about the customers. Other way, if we don't push them to take actions they will keep looking the stars. But I don't want only they replace the logic board, I want they guarantee that the technical or design problem is resolved. Anyway 2 years or before we will be at the start point again.

Daniel.- Spain

Also, from another thread:

For those in the UK.

Relevant or Related Legislation:

Sale of Goods Act 1979. Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994. The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002.

Key Facts:

• Wherever goods are bought they must "conform to contract". This means they must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality (i.e. not inherently faulty at the time of sale).

• Goods are of satisfactory quality if they reach the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking into account the price and any description.

• Aspects of quality include fitness for purpose, freedom from minor defects, appearance and finish, durability and safety.

• It is the seller, not the manufacturer, who is responsible if goods do not conform to contract.

• If goods do not conform to contract at the time of sale, purchasers can request their money back "within a reasonable time". (This is not defined and will depend on circumstances)

• For up to six years after purchase (five years from discovery in Scotland) purchasers can demand damages (which a court would equate to the cost of a repair or replacement).

• A purchaser who is a consumer, i.e. is not buying in the course of a business, can alternatively request a repair or replacement.

• If repair and replacement are not possible or too costly, then the consumer can seek a partial refund, if they have had some benefit from the good, or a full refund if the fault/s have meant they have enjoyed no benefit

• In general, the onus is on all purchasers to prove the goods did not conform to contract (e.g. was inherently faulty) and should have reasonably lasted until this point in time (i.e. perishable goods do not last for six years).

• If a consumer chooses to request a repair or replacement, then for the first six months after purchase it will be for the retailer to prove the goods did conform to contract (e.g. were not inherently faulty)

• After six months and until the end of the six years, it is for the consumer to prove the lack of conformity.

I am from Brazil, bought my 2011 MBP from Amazon US exactly 3 years ago. The issue started about a week ago and the cost of replacing the logic board(only thing offered by official apple support) is around U$1100,00 here, that's half of what I paid for the notebook. It's quite easy to prove that the problem resides in the GPU, after I couldn't boot anymore I did the single user boot, moved all the ATI and AMD drivers out of the /S/L/E folder so it would force the integrated graphics to be used and I could use the mac again without problems(well if you don't count thousands of green stripes on the screen and not being able to attach it to a monitor). What's really worrying is that the problem may come back if I choose to replace the logic board... So I sell it now for scraps or fix it and sell it for more but pass on a time bomb to the buyer?

The UK sale of goods act is what got my friends top of the range pre unibody 17 with GPU failure a non retina 15 inch MacBook Pro in exchange as he happened to return it to the exact Apple store he originally purchased it from.  The nvidia exchange program may have expired but the legislation certainly hadn't.

Organisations such as Which in the uk might be interested to hear of the issue in this thread also.

I've already made first contact, will be following up with a more formal email in the morning.

Hello There

I've got the same problem that you all, on a MBP late 2011, 15", 2,2 ghtz, i7. My AMD carte died 4 days ago. For me the question of using the "fix" of the Gfxcardstatus was not suitable. I work with photoshop and graphic progamm every day. I bought a new MBP yesterday at the Apple store Hong Kong (IFC mall) because i simply need to work !

I've bring my MBP by the way to the genuis bar and met a very nice "genius guy". I explain, i told him what i thought was the problem, he ran the test MRI and foud nothing, but the mac won't start up (grey screen after the logo) and i shown him some photo (taken with my iphone) of the vertical stripes, red screen... i also shown him this thread and said this problem was apparently known by Apple. He said he was not really up to date on this but he quotes me a logic board replacement for 470 euros (5000 HKD). I said that was not a fair price at all, my computer was 2 years and 4 months and that was not acceptable to have such a high price machine down after only this time. He understood very well and he decided to check with the manager to see if they'll can do something for the price.

He came back after 5 minutes and tell me the manager was ok to make the replacement and the labor work for 233 euros (2500 HKD) and i said ok. I have to mentionned that all people there was very friendly and polite.

Of course, it's not normal that i have to pay for this since the problem should be cover by Apple itself but i get a moreover fair price at least. I just will sell this MBP as soon as it is repaired. And so get the new one for not so much (that is really really better by the way).

I also had a discount on the apple care (yes this time i took it) that will cover all my recent stuff bought at Apple Store (iPhone 5, cinema display, time capsule 2To, apple tv, my new MBP, new ipad mini) but this was more linked to the fact i bought stuff with my company and so had a 5% discount on the iPad mini, 10% on the macbook pro and 10% on the Apple care that i bought the same day.

That was just to share my experienced with you all. Of course, i hope like you that Apple will do a move more "bold" soon for this problem to clearly show the world that they care about their fidels customers and that Apple is still a very high end brand and technologic company.

Cheers guy.