Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Guys,

If you think reballing is the solution. Then apple wouldn't need to have a recall or replacement program.

Cause you just gave the solution which is to reball the GPU and it works.

If you want to have a recall/replacement program. Please stick to it.

Reballing is not THE solution. It's what apple wants you to do so they doesn't need to be responsible. Get it?

Reball is, if you want to use your computer.

Reball is, if you rely your work on your computer.

Reball is a fix for us who needs quick and reliable fix for us to do our work in our machine.

If you only do Facebook and chat and watch **** on your computer then i think you can wait for Apple to act on this.

No one can tell for how long apple will ignore our concerns.

Unfortunately Reballing and GPU chip replacement is, at this time, the only practical solution for those people like myself that need a working computer to use. As the anecdotal evidence in this thread tells us, the Apple solution of replacing the logic board appears to be only a temporary solution that is more expensive that getting a 3rd party to Reball.

It would be useful to the discussion if Apple commented on the Replacement parts that they use. If those parts were new logic boards, I like many other would be more likely to go down the Logic Board Replacement route. Statistically a new board should last a similar time to the part that failed, so we could expect the repair to last 18+ months.Worth a gamble.

However Apple are typically not using new parts. They are Refurbished parts. However there is no comment on what the refurbishment process is. Are they just reflowing? Are they reballing with lead solder? Are they replacing the GPU chip with new parts?

If we had some understanding on what has been done to the Refurbished logic boards we would at least be in a position to make an informed decision as to what repair route to take. As things stand, the only way we can get a repair where the process is a known quantity, is to chose a 3rd Party who specifies what they repair.

Suggesting Reballing in no way suggests that Apple has no responsibility for this problem.

It is merely a pragmatic solution to allow people like myself to continue to use their computer to earn their living.

Clive Sweeting wrote:

 

However Apple are typically not using new parts. They are Refurbished parts. However there is no comment on what the refurbishment process is. Are they just reflowing? Are they reballing with lead solder? Are they replacing the GPU chip with new parts?

They're not touching the GPU at all. Very likely the only thing they do is roughly test the board for function and if it seems to work, ship it back out to the dealers. There are a number of sources where these logic boards may come from and since life expectancy is usually many more years (yes, even Apple expects that) it's normally an OK thing to do but in this particular case that's completely bogus without a rework of the GPU. In the beginning they'll make a small buck with their ridiculous prices (US with their flat fee depot repairs excluded) but in the long run they'll fail quicker and quicker and under warranty so that will become really expensive and lead to full replacements anyway since they'll run out of replacement parts eventually (if they don't start reworking as part of refurbishment). Not to mention the reputation and marketing desaster...

Early 2011 15" MBP here. I'm experiencing discrete GPU chip failure and I'm about a month out of AppleCare. As soon as I push the processors/graphics by doing video chats/Youtube/games, I get the vertical line screen distortion followed by the grey screen. When I disassembled the heatsink assembly, I realised that they used too much thermal grease and it was also poorly applied.

Is there any way I can do a direct purchase of a replacement logic board?

Reballing is one solution but it's not without it's own risks, at the end of the day you are sending out your crazy expensive mac hoping that some bloke can successfully do a tricky procedure.  Customers should not have to resort to such things when the product is clearly subject to such a design fault. I can understand why people do it but it should be up to apple to pull their finger out.

I will see how long mine lasts, I like OSX but I'm not paying apple again if they don't sort this.

Here is what everybody should know to be able to make a judgment, Its general , computer repairs are five levels , it starts with software installation and operating system installation and also driver installation then it goes up to the second level which is regestery and virus cleaning , then the third level which is hardware upgrades like adding memory or replacing a stand alone grachics card or any kind of PCI or AGP cards , then it goes up to the forth level which is diagnosis of broken hardware component and replacing it like diagnosis and replacing a faulty wifi or bluetooth adapter, replacing a bad screen and so on, then comes the fifth and highest level of computer repairs and that is the level of repair that goes to diagnosis and replacing faulty onboard ICs and BGA chips and that requires very high skills and very advanced training and machines, more important it needs a lot of hands on and that level is what we are talking about because it deals with the BGA packages and that included onboard graphics chips, labor in this level is also expensive so realistcly Apple or any other computer manufacturer will find it too hard - close to impossible - to hire or train the required number of those fifth level technicians to do the right repair for the deffective or broken graphics chips, it is also too expensive repair considering that this repair for avarage reballer would take around 3 to 4 hours for each board and also take in consideration the success rate which won't be too high for avarage reballers as well so the best I would expect from computer manufacturers is to refurbish their boards by reflow and that is the reason for the high failure rate of the refurbished logic boards.

Hi

Is there anybody in Tokyo Japan knows how to fix this shi*t excep the Genius Bar ?

the best I would expect from computer manufacturers is to refurbish their boards by reflow and that is the reason for the high failure rate of the refurbished logic boards.

No sane manufacturer would ever attempt to reflow fully populated PCBs or even just single BGA chips. That's a guaranteed recipe to make things worse.

So if you look at my previous posts you will now my early 2011 15" died like everybody elses. Apple treated me rubbish. Acted like they had never heard of the problem.

Update.

As a professional buying a professional machine you expect professional quality. Apple failed me, so i failed my employer who expect profesionalism. So i need a laptop quick. The 2012 non retina model means i can swap hard drives and be up and running quick.

I bought a second hand mid 2012 15" macbook pro. I bought the best last model before retina. Not the 2.6 but the 2.7 i7 with antiglare high res screen. Now the 2.7 i7 was released in February 13, 2013 so it really is the very best top of the range last non retina to be made. Apple care has run out.

Guess what guys.

I have a vertical blue line. indicating a screen hardware problem.

If you dont buy apple care your screwed as even the best most expensive newest laptops from apple are pure rubbish.

Apple i will be back when you can make a laptop that works. Maybe

Reflow means melting the solder that attaches the chip to the board hoping that it will fix the bad connection, its also the first step in reballing because it is the only way we can remove the chip from the board so by saying no sane manufacturer would ever attempt to reflow, what other way do you think they refurbish these logic boards ?! when you oppose an openion give us the alternative , not just opposition for the sake of opposition. If they don't reflow then they don't reball either !!!

I've been recommending my clients buy the 13" MacBook Pro (not Retina) for the last 6 months as it's the only Apple laptop available that you can upgrade RAM, HD and replace the battery. Whack in an SSD, 16GB RAM and you have a nifty little computer. Unfortunately they are getting increasingly hard to find.

I really can't see myself buying another Apple laptop if the current trend to sealed units continues. I'll just get a Macmini (assuming they don't turn into sealed units) or get Wintel hardware. I've already been trialing an Intel NUC as an alternative hardware platform and looking at HP laptops like my partner's.

It's an incredibly sad state of affairs. I've never resented paying top whack for Apple hardware, the residual value and general lack of hassle easily offset the premium. And so shiny! But if I can spend £500 and get an i7 (albeit ugly) WinTel laptop that lasts me 2 years, why on earth would I spend £1500+ on a Apple laptop with the same lifespan? It's not like Windows is that bad and all my apps are cross-platform.

For reference, here's a list of the Apple laptops I've owned.

Powerbook 145, 180C, Duo 230, Duo 280C, 540C, 5300, 3400, Pismo G3/233, Titanium G4/1000, MacBook Pro 2.16, Macbook Pro 2011.

The 3400 is still running happily - it's 15 years old.

The MacBook Pro 2.16 is still running happily - it's 8 years old.

I have a 2011 i7 2.2 MBP with 1gb 6750 ATI card.  Laptop came with 10.6.6 and had 10.8 running flawlessly until last year. It had been looked after impeccably, not even leaving the front room. No pets or smoke etc.

Then last year my issues started with crazy glitches, some random not all the time, then all the time.

Changed RAM, formatted HDD, changed HDD, cleaned dust off fans etc.  Was ok for a weeks or 2 then back to every day weirdness. Booting for 20 times in the hope it would stay up once !  GGGGGGGRrr.

Even tried up to 10.9 etc, still had issues.

When i booted into single user mode, that worked every time.

That gave me an idea.

I followed this thread closely.  The only thing that has worked for me the last few months is

by moving the ATI folders from the system drive (as advised by someone else), so when it does boot (and every time now) I have no glitches and can use it for 'most things'.  I even have 16gb of crucial ram, crucial 512gb ssd and the original 750gb as the optibay. By bypassing the ATI folder [this is not ideal it I know ] it has booted EVERY time, and is very stable. I have gone back to Lion now too.  I can use VM's, use VLC for videos etc.

I even had a Core 2 duo 2.2 MBP and that worked fine until i sold it.

My wifes Dell XPS bought at the same time in 2011 has not had one issue, sure ive reformatted that once or twice and was1/3 of the price of my MBP.

This makes me think twice for the next purchase. I don't think i'll by a MBP again not for the luxury price compared to other wintel laptops.  It just seems like apple is only interested in the 'stupid app rinse money off users in appstore' area and is loosing focus on the bread and butter of making decent kit. Shame.

Hello, I am living in Tokyo sharing the same problem with you. It seems you have been to Genius Bar? I tried several days ago. They charged me 40000jpy for replacement of a logic board, however I haven't done that. I went on looking for reliable repaire center in Akihabara. This time it costs 17000jpy for a reballing. Since they cannot promise 100 success, they need 4500jpy even though it fails.

I am still hesitating on it. I am not confident in reballing and afraid of the disable of recall with a repairs board if Apple takes action. Anyway I hope my information can help you.

Another thing I found strange is there are extremely few feedbacks on Apple Japan' community and any other threads in Japanese to discuss about this problem. On contrary, I found MacBook Pro is so popular in Japan. I don't know how a Japanese usually deal with such a problem. Keep silent and go Genius Bar directly to replace their boards or buy a new one? The silence here really surprised me.