abelliveau

Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory) running OS 10.8.2.  It has two graphics components: an AMD Radeon HD 6750M and a built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000. Since I've had the computer, the screen would get a blue tint when the computer switched between them.

 

However, as of two days ago, the problem has become substantially more severe.  The computer was working fine, when all of a suddent the screen when completely blue.  I had to force restart the computer.  Since then, the screen has gone awry on numerous occassions - each time necessitating a hard reset.

 

I installed gfxCardStatus, and have discovered that the computer runs fine using the integrated card, but as soon as I switch to the discrete card - the screen goes .

 

I am just wondering what my options are (any input on any of these would be appreciated!):

 

1) Replace the logic board.  Would this necessarily fix the issue?

 

2) Is there any way to "fix" the graphics card? 

 

3) Keep using gfxCardStatus and only use the integrated graphics card.  This is definitely the easiest/cheapest option, but to have such a computer and not be able to use the graphics card seems like a real shame.

 

4) Is there any other alternative?

 


MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB memory

Posted on Feb 1, 2013 4:45 PM

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Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

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  • by werewolves?,

    werewolves? werewolves? May 13, 2014 1:08 PM in response to abelliveau
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    May 13, 2014 1:08 PM in response to abelliveau

    Add me to the list of failing 2011 15" MBP GPU's. Can still boot into OSX using all the tricks I've read in this thread (for now), and forcing the integrated graphics with gfxcardstatus seems to be working for the moment.

     

    My MBP is few months shy of 3 years since purhase. We have fairly robust consumer laws in New Zealand so I will be having a chat with Apple Support and see how it goes in forcing a repair under our local laws.

     

    From reading what every one has written, I'm not incredibly optimistic about the results of a repair anyway...

  • by iceman600,

    iceman600 iceman600 May 13, 2014 1:54 PM in response to Jhay-ar
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    May 13, 2014 1:54 PM in response to Jhay-ar

    Jhay-ar

     

    Thanks but I sent my MBP to  ps3specialist. I need a reliable machine... ill report here the soon as i get it back.

  • by AppleQuadCore,

    AppleQuadCore AppleQuadCore May 13, 2014 2:39 PM in response to drfrombris
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    May 13, 2014 2:39 PM in response to drfrombris

    Thanks for this info, I live in the UK and am having GPU issues with my 2011 15 inch i7 2.0ghz mbp. Although if Apple offered to fix mine they would probably turn me away as I have removed my optical drive to put in an extra hdd.

  • by BlankGroove,

    BlankGroove BlankGroove May 13, 2014 3:13 PM in response to FredBrazil
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    May 13, 2014 3:13 PM in response to FredBrazil

    Fred, tambem moro no Brasil e tenho o mesmo problema. Vamos nos unir para resolver esse problema.

     

    Um abraço

     

    <Personal Information Edited by Host>

  • by BlankGroove,

    BlankGroove BlankGroove May 16, 2014 8:49 AM in response to jebedias
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    May 16, 2014 8:49 AM in response to jebedias

    Caro amigo, tambem moro no Brasil e tenho o mesmo problema com meu MacPro. Vamos nos unir para resolver essa questão?.

     

    Um abraço

     

    <Personal Information Edited By Host>

  • by BlankGroove,

    BlankGroove BlankGroove May 13, 2014 3:31 PM in response to abelliveau
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    May 13, 2014 3:31 PM in response to abelliveau

    Look this thread. The iMac version of our macbook pro had the Graphic Card replaced:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5167?viewlocale=en_US

     

    Obviously Apple think it´s too costly to recall our MacPros, and they are not carying too mutvh to their reputation.

     

    I was for years the most defensor of Apple. Literaly sold a lot of their equips to all of my friends and coworkers. If this will not be solved, I think that I'll need to do all the way back and report in every way this case here in Brazil.

  • by ps3specialist,

    ps3specialist ps3specialist May 13, 2014 3:35 PM in response to BlankGroove
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    May 13, 2014 3:35 PM in response to BlankGroove

    This is a stand alone graphics card not an onboard chip, that is why Apple can easily replace it.

  • by Charles Constant,

    Charles Constant Charles Constant May 13, 2014 5:00 PM in response to abelliveau
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    May 13, 2014 5:00 PM in response to abelliveau

    I'm adding a note here though I have no new information to share. I want to help the thread grow, though I imagine Apple is already aware of the impact, after 338 pages of customers with the same problem.

     

    I have a MacBook Pro 17-inch, Early 2011. Already paid around $600 to fix this issue, as I first experienced it a couple months after the warranty ran out. Took it to the AppleStore, had the board replaced. Since I have a long history with Apple products, and am well acquainted  with Apple's repair programs and hardware, I wasn't convinced the repair would be the last of it. No change in the hardware design, afaik, so no reason to expect the replacement to escape the problem.

     

    To prolong this MBP's life, I have since diligently monitored temperature. Since the repair, if I see internal temperatures above 70 celcius, I'll quit the app or process at fault, or shut down the machine if I can't easilly identify the app. Obviously, this is not something I should need to do, but aside from Xcode, I don't use many apps that tie up enough silicon to raise temperature above 60c. It has hardly interefered with my usage.

     

    I've been careful not to jostle the machine - no 24 airplane flights bouncing around in cargo or anything. It's spent almost the entire time on my desk. Not a lot of dust in the room to cause problems either. Ambient temperature is comfy. No reason of which I can think for the machine to fail again.

     

    Well, here I am a year later, and it looks like the replacement board is starting to fail again. There's no worthwhile troubleshooting for me to do, since the issue occurs upon first boot with a fresh copy of the OS X, and with only hardware connected being a single 1920x1080 display (I've tested with two different model 1920x1080 displays.) I won't bore you with a discussion of isolating the fault to the two displays or display adapters.

     

    At the moment, I can still boot, and have no practical issue using the machine but... intermittently I am seeing garbled video upon boot... and over the past month it has occured more and more frequently.

     

    I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect you will see a follow-up post from me in a couple months.

  • by Nollaig Shona,

    Nollaig Shona Nollaig Shona May 13, 2014 5:28 PM in response to abelliveau
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    May 13, 2014 5:28 PM in response to abelliveau

    I own an early 2011 17 In MacBook Pro  while working in Nicaragua last week the video  went south.

    I came back to my Apple Store after the trip and they charged me $300 to repair "everything".  This included

    logic board and a few other items.  I was not aware of the large video problem prior to finding out baout this thread.  I hope if something is resolved I will get my $300 back since it appears to be a problem manyothers are having.

  • by ai_enabled_ru,

    ai_enabled_ru ai_enabled_ru May 13, 2014 6:13 PM in response to abelliveau
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    May 13, 2014 6:13 PM in response to abelliveau

    Mine MBP 17" Early 2011 also died on this week... black screen, gray screen, blue screen. Repair price at local (Ho Chi Minh City) Apple Authorized Service Provider is 775 USD (and they give only 90 days warranty). So I decided to purchase new one 15" Retina and wait for the official response to problem with 2011 macbooks.

  • by R Kevin Watson,

    R Kevin Watson R Kevin Watson May 13, 2014 6:52 PM in response to abelliveau
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    May 13, 2014 6:52 PM in response to abelliveau

    Add me to the list of people with a defective early 2011 17" MacBook Pro model MD036LL/A. Purchased in July 2011 for almost $3,000 it was only used on a few business trips, so when it died with the gray-screen-of-death just over two years later it was a bit of a surprise. It was also painful as I didn't have another computer to use. I went to the Apple Store in Palo Alto, CA that night in an act of despiration, but I was rebuffed and told that there wasn't a free Genius time slot available. It cost me more than $300 to get the logic board replaced. The computer sits in a closet gathering dust as I don't feel I can trust it to work when I need it to work. Shame on Apple for this bad behavior.

  • by sspiff,

    sspiff sspiff May 13, 2014 9:26 PM in response to abelliveau
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    May 13, 2014 9:26 PM in response to abelliveau

    Add one more to the list. Been limping by for a few weeks now by hiding all of my video drivers. Bought this my junior year in college expecting it to get me through my PhD... Barely made it half way.

     

    2011 15", i7 quad core 2.2GHz w/Radeon 6750

  • by Macinsydney,

    Macinsydney Macinsydney May 13, 2014 9:48 PM in response to abelliveau
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    May 13, 2014 9:48 PM in response to abelliveau

    My Macbook Pro also developed the same issue and in a couple of days it stopped working. I took it to the Sydney Store and they told the logic board needs to be replaced...Come on apple please make it "Better"...

  • by wszf,

    wszf wszf May 13, 2014 11:14 PM in response to abelliveau
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    May 13, 2014 11:14 PM in response to abelliveau

    My mc721 last September has been hung up because the graphics card problem,

    Been sleeping until now.

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