Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Have the same issue here. Occasionally I can boot up the computer and maybe even use it for 1 or 2 days. But then it crashes in a seemingly random fasion. Although it seems the crash happens after launching Aperture.

I am at the authorized apple support now, after 1 months of troubleshooting with Apple Serivce hotline over the phone.

This is definitely going to hurt Apple's net promotor rating!

I just came back from authorized Apple service center where I reside. Apparently, they have faced this issue many times and customers give in and pay for the replacement.

In any case my options are either to pay $600 to replace the logic board, which I believe will fail again or try to pressure apple to do something about this.

I honestly think it is unfair for them to take people's money, over $2000 for a "premium" laptop, and then just turn a blind eye. I had other laptop brands last 8 years and would have longer if it hadn't accidentaly short circuited.

I am so frustrated and disappointed by Apple's lack of morality and ethics.

I think Steve Jobs would also be disappointed in the current managerial decisions.

Video of reballing graphics card. I for one had no clue as to what this meant or entailed. Now I do. Cool! Just because I thought everyone should see how the pros would reball your graphics card in the MacBook Pro, I'm putting this one up. Very cool: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h4M_2CXmVlY

So i thought this is interesting:

http://goo.gl/w6x2dt

What cool about it, everything in this video is wrong, wrong machine, wrong nozzel size, wrong technique, wrong GPU chip reballing and if you look closely at the soldering balls on the chip you will find many of them did not even solder and that while he is using leaded solder which has a low melting point , its a very poor quality repair , that if it works at all. Also that is a 2008 Model that uses 0.6mm soldring balls not the 2011 Model that uses 0.5 mm soldering balls which makes its reballing a lot more harder. I am sorry to say that but I wanted people to understand that it is not how it is done at all.

The question is, how long did it take for them to recall those 2007/08 models? I'm positive that they reacted much faster to that then they are reacting to this 2011 problem.

Besides how does such a prestigious, successful company commit the same exact mistake twice? Albeit with different hardware, you'd think they learned their lesson!

ps3specialist wrote:

 

What cool about it, everything in this video is wrong, wrong machine, wrong nozzel size, wrong technique, wrong GPU chip reballing and if you look closely at the soldering balls on the chip you will find many of them did not even solder and that while he is using leaded solder which has a low melting point , its a very poor quality repair , that if it works at all. Also that is a 2008 Model that uses 0.6mm soldring balls not the 2011 Model that uses 0.5 mm soldering balls which makes its reballing a lot more harder. I am sorry to say that but I wanted people to understand that it is not how it is done at all.

Was already getting worried ....looked more like a sweatshop quality

Sorry!! I just looked it up to get an idea if what it was! I'm a naive computer user that was interested in what the heck reballing was!! At least it gave me a primer! There was one with a machine, but it didn't allow me to understand what was going in and was boring, though maybe more on the lines of what really happens. No one watch my movie!! 

<Edited By Host>

    I'm having the same problem! I have a 2011 Macbook Pro 15"  and it has AMD Radeon HD 6490M Graphics card. It has same display issue: blue screen with lines, or gray screen, or distorted screen, or screen divided in half. It does not boot correctly most of the time. When it does, it freezes when working with iPhoto, iMovie, Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe Premiere Pro. I took the laptop to a genius bar and the told me it was the graphics card, and that they could repair it for over $300.00 and that it would take around 5 days. I'm upset, because I never had these types of issues with my other laptops which are PC,and I was expecting higher performance from my Mac. It makes me wish I haven't bought it in the first place, I could've spent much less in a PC. Now, because of this Mac issue, I cannot use my Adobe CS6 production suite for Mac (which also was very expensive) to do my  work. It is super frustrating! Also it is scary to spend more than $300.00 in repairs and then having the same issue recurring in couple of months as others stated. It would be nice if Apple creates a replacement program for this Graphic card issue.

ps3specialist now you are b*llshitting.

"What cool about it, everything in this video is wrong, wrong machine, wrong nozzel size, wrong technique, wrong GPU chip reballing"

Nothing wrong with that video or the machine, it's  just another technique. With IR you only use 1 nozzle, no need to adjust per chip. That is why he uses that reflective tape, to not overheat the surrounding area.  Also Don't see anythigt wrong in the technique used to lift the chip if you mean that.

What wrong chip reballing? Again, don't see anything wrong here. You probably use the same reballing station? Or maybe you use the grey one? Same principle. Or do you use Direct Heat stencils? Nothing wrong with that either, but then don't say using Non Direct Heat is wrong.

It's just what you prefer. I use both type of stencils, both work very well.

It's an old vid, of course it's another chip.

"if you look closely at the soldering balls on the chip you will find many of them did not even solder"

Really? can you see that from a not fully sharp, not perfectly focused vid? They seem to be lined up pretty neet to me.

"its a very poor quality repair , that if it works at all"

Why poor quality? EXPLAIN plz? Imo, it's same quality repair as most do. (Exept you of course).

"a 2008 Model that uses 0.6mm soldring balls not the 2011 Model that uses 0.5 mm soldering balls which makes its reballing a lot more harder"

Really? What's harder in using 0.5 vs 0.6mm balls?

You don't have to place every ball manually, do you?

The stencil puts them in the righ place while the tacky flux holds em on the spot.

I don't find it any harder to use 0.5 or 0.6 size balls. I even reballed memory chips using 0.45mm balls, even smaller then 0.5 I think?

"I am sorry to say that but I wanted people to understand that it is not how it is done at all. "

PLEASE SHOW US HOW IT'S DONE!!!

@ dakirth: why worry? no sweatshop quality at all. Believe me, the technician's knowledge and experience is more important then the used machine.

@Flora82: It perfectly show what reballing is or how it's done. Only difference her is Uken uses an infrared rework station where PS3 speicalist uses a hot air station. (At least, I think he uses HA, as that was showed on his webpage, hope his secret technique isn't a paint stripper...)

Other technique, same result. The cleaning/reballing part I am pretty sure will be mostly the same for both Uken and ps3specialist.

Unless of course he has a secret technique even me and some other well respected reballers never heard of....

MargaretPink,

Thanks for reporting here, too. What country are you in? As I suggested on your first post, I would recommend reballing rather than paying for a temporary (if that) logic board replacement.

There are people from all over the world watching this site - let us know your locale and maybe someone will be able to offer you a repair center that will do a good job with reballing.

Call back!

Clinton

Replying to you will teach you things I don't teach and that is why I don't show any videos for my repair, I show only pictures and the quality of my repair speaks for itself, I don't need to prove it , when you defend that video you are telling me that you know nothing and your experience is zero or below. telling you in details what is wrong is a technical lesson I will not give you.

Yeah, sure....

Please check these for understanding how many people suffer from this issue! Finally, Apple has to do something for us!

!!!

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2768351?start=2250&tstart=0

http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/21/is-your-new-macbook-pro-freezing-up-youre-not-the-only-one/