Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Just adding my laptop to the list of affected computers. Early 2011 MacBook Pro model.

Wished Apple would do something about this, because all we PAY A LOT OF MONEY FOR THIS!

THANKS!

You are welcome!

1. My wife had a talk with Apple Support here in Cork (IRL) there were very friendly as usual,but even the
2. Senior Adviser coulden`t help as expectet by us.The hint he gave her was to use the feedback option
3. to led Cupertino know that they have an issue here. By the way the 1 hour talk was free of charge.
4. It is a pity,i have read by about 150 posts which left me with the feeling that the problem can`t easely
5. be solved,not even for money.
6. My Mac is touched with Velvet Gloves only and had no collaps the last 2 day´s but i down`t dare using
7. my graphic programs nor iPhoto. Thank`s god I make my money the analog way.

I whish us all a bit of luck     have a nice one

Hi Guys!

I just create this account in twitter (MBPro2011) to send everyday tweets to all the oficial apple twitter accounts. We need put all our energies to find a solution to this issue.

Please add me and help me with this new iniciative.

It may not make much sense, but I was able to make my MBP function in an acceptable way.

Here's what I did:

1) Ran the command lines on Terminal, just like it was posted in this thread before (which basically consists on creating a folder for Disabled Extensions somewhere, going to System/Library/Extensions and moving the AMDRadeonX3000.kext (the number varies according to the GPU you have) to this Disabled Extensions' folder.

2) Now the Discrete GPU will not work. There will be some drawbacks on graphics processing.

3) Restart the MBP.

4) Go to Disabled Extensions and move the kext file back to System/Library/Extensions.

5) Now gfxCardStatus displays the discrete GPU icon when I plug the MBP to an external display, or open Photoshop, for instance, but it all runs quite normally. Unfortunately, I don't have the knowledge that's required to make some assumptions upon this.

I know. It doesn't make sense. But it worked.

My MBP now has more stability and even detects external displays. It occasionally fails, still. But is much less often. I did this twice already.

Hope it helps someone here.

I'm still wondering if I'll pay for an authorized repair.

Keep us posted eLVog. You are right - it doesn't make sense.  I can mostly keep my machine running and useable by using gfxcardstatus to force it to only use the Intel chip. The problem is when I need to restart.  It's hit and miss. Sometimes it starts and then, when I go to enforce the Intel GPU, it freezes.  There's not a lot of rhyme or reason so I'm suspicious that your fix is just a 'hit' and there will be 'misses' to come.  But please let us know.

As for moving the extensions, I tried that but, as you say, without them there are graphic issues (lag and the system thinks it's using an external display) and when I put them back I was warned they they wouldn't work and needed reinstalling!  Thank goodness for Carbon Copy Cloner.

Just got back from the Apple store, same story for me: Logic Board requires replacement for about $600CAD, I passed on that for now but am not hopeful of a resolution..I guess I'll wait until it completely dies.

Wow, I'm just discovering this thread and all of the similar compaints! Didn't realize this was a common problem. I had the logic board replaced on my 2011 MacBook Pro in February 2013. It was replaced under my Apple Care warranty, and I didn't do any research on the issue at the time. I just took it in and got it replaced. Two days ago, it failed AGAIN. And this time, my Apple Care expired just a few weeks ago.

So disappointing. This is the first Mac computer I've owned, although I've got an iPhone and iPad as well. Bought a PC yesterday just so I can get back to work! Get it together Apple!

I honestly can't justify spending the money to replace the logic board again considering the last replacement lasted just 14 months. Right now I'm trying to get it working long enough to install gfxCardStatus as some people have metioned.

WE NEED A RECALL!

Well that was unsurprising. My reply was deleted within 5 minutes of posting:

"We removed your post Re: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card because it contained rants or complaints that weren’t constructive. We understand wanting to share experiences, but these forums are meant for technical questions that can be answered by the community."

Since Apple demands a technical solution, I will be happy to provide one for the community.

You can find out how to disable the discrete graphics card causing banding and other display issues by following the instructions on the page below:

http://www.asyncro.com/2014/03/24/macbook-pro-discreate-graphics-card-issue-fix- updated/

It details how to boot the computer using the integrated GPU to avoid crashes from the problematic discrete GPU. I hope this helps!

<Link Edited By Host>

This issue just happened to me this week. 15" MBP early 2011, boots to grey screen with lines through it and occassionally a green tint. Went to the Apple store and they quoted AUD$709.50 to fix it. Ouch.

I had removed ATI* and update cache. But after reboot I still able to swich to discrete graphic card. Do you have same behavior?

Removing the AMD* files only kind of helped with my MBP early 2011:

My graphics is even without the dedicated graphic card corrupted: Even the first gray screen after hitting the power button is kind of screwd, every second pixel line seems to be missing or has an offset. So i cannot live with the "go to intel chip graphics". But at least I am able to boot up and log into my account...

Greetings from Hamburg/Germany, I´m adding my MBP 15“ early 2011 to the list. 600 EUR to fix the problem, 3 months guarantee, Apple this is ridiculous !

600 Eur? Grap. My plan was to go to Gravis tomorror (no Apple Store here). But 600 is way to much :-/

Did you try to discuss the story behind the problem?

If you do end up going to Gravis, mind telling me the quote they give you?

Was nen scheiß, mal ehrlich...

600€ is so much higher than other numbers in this thread, hopefully Apple Germany is not that evil.

Did you try hamburg4 (apple store and aasp)? They know of the problem, exchanged my logic board (under AppleCare) twice and told me they do not think I'm crazy that it happens again so fast, they even had one where they had to exchange it 3 times. I always go there.