Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Just so new people can get a digest of this issue, I am re-posting my earlier comment (with some updates):

The overall problem appears to be caused by the discreet GPU being exposed to extreme heat over time. Eventually, the GPU itself is damaged *or* the solder points are compromised. Either way, you get a graphics failure followed by a kernel panic.

Think of the problem like placing your Mac into an over at 450 degrees for a long time and then expecting it to work normally when cooled again. There is a cumulative effect to operating at excessive temperature.

Cause of the overheating

1) Some have said that Mavericks (or an OS X upgrade) is the cause of the heat. This may have some validity because Mavericks taxes the discreet GPU more often and therefore more heat is generated.

2) Some have said the amount of thermal paste and/or method Apple used to apply the paste has led to less than satisfactory heat transfer to the heat sync (which is designed to draw heat away from the GPU and CPU).

3) Some have said that thermal paste naturally dissipates/breaks down over time and this in and of itself can add heat to the core of a MacBook Pro.

4) Some have said that the fans and airflow design are less than satisfactory to handle the heat generated by the MacBook Pro components.

5) Some have said using a MacBook Pro in a warm environment or on a surface that traps heat (such as on a bedspread, lap, wood table, etc.) adds to the build up of heat inside a MacBook Pro.

6) There is no doubt that the more heavy-duty "super-users" generate more CPU and GPU cycles that add to the internal heat in a MacBook Pro (or any computer for that matter).

I believe all the above contribute to the premature failure of the MacBook Pro graphic systems. Your combination may be different, but the result is eventually the same.

So, depending on how "hard" you drive your Mac cumulatively will determine when (or if) your MacBook Pro will fail with this issue. A user of Final Cut Pro and Photoshop will have this issue occur much faster than someone just browsing the web.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?!

As Apple, and most other manufacturers these days, do not work at a detailed level of compoents on a board, the only "repair" they can offer is to replace the entire logic board. Yes, it is overkill, but it is the only way to handle mass produced products. (I remember TV and stereo repair shops.  Notice how they have virtually disappeared...)

The question is why consumers are being asked to pay for what ultimately is an inherent design flaw. I doubt Apple could have tested to prevent this up front, as it took approximately two years of average use to start to see this manifest itself. After working with them, I *KNOW* they are looking at this discussion thread, reviewing individual cases, etc.  However, they don't have enough "evidence" to provide a blanket program.  At some point they will have the evidence they need to call this a PROBLEM.

Although my faith is shaken right now, I still have belief that Apple will get to a tipping point here and take care of their users.  Apple used to "listen" faster, but I also understand that they need to be fiscally responsible to shareholders before handing out "money" to resolve an issue.

POSITIVE ACTION!

TAKE GOOD NOTES on your issue. An Apple Store Genius told me the notes I showed him will be my saving grace. YMMV.

My own two cents...

1) Re-applying thermal paste would possibly reduce heat generation, but it is not sanctioned by Apple and would likely void warranty *or* any future repair program by Apple.

2) Reflowing (remelt existing solder to get rid of fractures and cold joints) would possibly "fix" graphics, but it is not sanctioned by Apple and would likely void warranty *or* any future repair program by Apple.

3) Reballing (replacing the solder points) would likely "fix" graphics, but it is not sanctioned by Apple and would likely void warranty *or* any future repair program by Apple.

4) Replacing the logic board would certainly fix the issue, but is likely temporary. Think of this as putting a new IDENTICAL turkey (logic board) in the oven.  It too will cook over time and show the same issues as the nice cooked turkey (dead logic board) you just took out! 

Now, perhaps, just perhaps, Apple figures a solution to the flawed logic board and they do a modification to the logic board production, such as: (a) change the GPU to a model that produces less heat, (b) use better heat sync components, (c) change fans to move more air, and/or (d) use different solder that doesn't break down. Then replacing the logic boards might be a permanent solution for us unlucky soles with these dead/dying MacBook Pros.

WHAT CAN I DO?

Keep fighting the good fight. I've done things the Apple way, going the logic board route and doing everything asked of me. This way, if there is an Apple sanctioned action, I'll be sure to be a recipient.

You may also take a little laugh break with my satire...

TV script idea for Jony Ive:

It's the most exquisite hardware with the most powerful processor and graphics we've ever produced.

When you put one of our top-of-the-line laptops in your lap, it's such a hot product you'll instantly change your mind about why we've even called it a laptop. It not only burns skin, it'll burn a hole in your pocket.

The revolutionary 2011 MacBook Pro has been designed to "just work", so long as you keep these few Apple tips in mind...

• Don't make the Mac work too hard. With the blazing fast processor and graphics, you'll want only to read email and lightly surf the Internet.
• Don't watch lots of YouTube videos, plug in an external monitor (using our Thunderbolt port designed for just that task) or use any computationally taxing program, like our award-winning PhotoBooth and Aperture.
• Be sure to write your expiration date on the top case as you remove your exquisite new MacBook Pro from our environmentally-friendly box. We recommend about two years. For your personal expiration date, simply touch the "al loo min ee um" area above the 5 key and if it is too hot to tolerate, subtract a few days.
  
• Don't ever upgrade your OS. What we give you in 2011 is fine, despite our constant push to have you upgrade to take advantage of iCloud and other cutting-edge Apple innovations.
• Run Photoshop and Final Cut Pro only if your MacBook Pro is constantly run in a 68 degree room with a circulating fan running across all surface areas of your Mac. Oh, and NEVER take your laptop outdoors (they hate that).
  
  Steve Jobs would be proud of the thought and design we crammed into this product. The folks at AMD told us not to worry about little things like solder, heat sink, airflow, etc. so why should you?

<Edited By Host>

Yes, I vacumed my logic board. It did have quite a bit of dust. But this didn't solve anything.

17-inch, Mid 2010

I am on my 3rd main board, the last one was replaced 8/22/13.  Now the video is getting 'glitchy' again...

Model Name:          MacBook Pro

  Model Identifier:          MacBookPro6,1

  Processor Name:          Intel Core i7

  Processor Speed:          2.66 GHz

  Number of Processors:          1

  Total Number of Cores:          2

  L2 Cache (per Core):          256 KB

  L3 Cache:          4 MB

  Memory:          8 GB

  Processor Interconnect Speed:          4.8 GT/s

  Boot ROM Version:          MBP61.0057.B0F

  SMC Version (system):          1.57f18

Computer fixed.

Problem was Logic Board and Solid State Disk drive...both replaced.

Apple tested iand repaired in one day and sent the unit back next day air.

Not to bad but I am glad I purchased the extended warrenty. This paid for itself.

So, i called apple support this morning, mainly to document my issues since i don't have apple care. They didn't seem surprised, nor did they question me when i told them i thought it was the pro-logic card. I explained to them my symptoms and that i had done a lot of research about this on the Internet. I told them, i know you guys can't comment but can you help me document this in case there is a recall. They were very nice and very understanding and I was decent to them. They told me to go see a genius at an apple retail store to make my case stronger if a recall does occur. They also documented my call and gave me a case number. They also told me to leave feedback on the apple website, because the more feedback we leave, the better case we all have.

So for those of you without apple care, I suggest you get all this documented by apple support and apple retail genius's. Although right now we are all SOL, the more people that log cases with apple, the better chance we have at getting our faulty MBP's replaced.

Cheers!

IS IT POSSIBLE I JUST FOUND A SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM?!?!?!

Ok, this is really weird. I just got my display+external display working again. I have no idea how long it will last, I have no idea if this is a special case or not. I will just share with you what I did. I have a 2011 17" Macbook Pro, AMD GPU 6750M, Intel SSD + 500Gb hard drive as a Fusion Drive.

My initial issue was no video. I had a blue screen with black vertical stripes while trying to install the OS from external USB.

To solve the problem, I installed the OS (10.9.3) to an external hard drive on another (working) mac, and booted from the external drive on the working mac., then I used the commands in the following link to disable the AMD kexts on the external drive:

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

I then booted from the external drive on the broken machine. I got a "working" solution with 0 GPU accelration. Everything graphics-intensive was running terribly slow. Safari was crawling, but Google Chrome was very usable.

I couldn't get gfxcardstatus to force the Intel GPU. I was stuck with the AMD GPU without the driver's acceleration, and when I tried to switch, I got a message that I can't switch because I have an External Display connected (which I didn't).

Then I used Carbon Copy Cloner to move the data from external disk (with AMD drivers disabled) to the internal Fusion Drive).

So far - it was pretty special case scecario for my problem, you probably already have a working Mac, but if you don't, you can see how I solved it.

Now, I tried to force the Intel GPU to work.

I used the suggestions in the link above. I reverted back to the AMD kext files, rebuilt the cache, and when I tried to boot, all I got was a grey screen. I connected my LED cinema display, which also showed a grey screen.

I then put a towel over my laptop, with the lid closed. The computer went crazy, trying to get the heat out. When it got too hot, the computer shut itself down to protect itself from damage. While doing this, it switched automatically to the integrated GPU during boot.

I immediatly removed the towel, booted the machine, and got an Intel GPU machine. GPU acceleration was working fine. I made sure the gfxcardstatus was on Intel GPU only, and the machine was working.

So, I decided to move to the next stage and disable the AMD drivers again as detailed in the link above. But, I was lazy . So instead of rebooting in single-user mode, I used the terminal while in the full OS X to run these commands. I then rebooted.

I was sad to see that after reboot, I was back at the same point as before - AMD GPU only, no drivers, so no acceleration, very slow responsiveness, and without the ability to switch to integrated graphics.

I thought that my problem was probably that I didn't follow the instructions of using the single user mode, so I tried to run the steps again, starting with getting the machine really hot first.

Now here's the kicker - I FORGOT TO RE-ENABLE THE AMD DRIVERS!

I put the towel back on the machine. The machine's fans went crazy. However, it didn't shut down like before! I connected the external display, but it didn't show any video (ofcourse not - there are no drivers silly!). But I didn't make the connection and just let it run for about 10-15 minutes.

At some point, I was thinking that this makes no sense. In the previous attempt, it only took a couple of minutes, but this time it take 15 minutes and it doesn't shut itself down? I was worried I'll damage my computer.

Then I realized my mistake, and very frantically, I shutdown the machine. I rebooted into single user mode, put AMD kext files back where they belong, rebuilt the cache, and rebooted the machine.

I was expecting to get the gray screen like before, but I was shocked to discover that MY MACHINE IS WORKING AGAIN!!!!!!!

I am now writing this on my external LED Cinema Display. Before this, I couldn't even get an image on the screen!

The only thing I can think of is that by disabling the drivers and putting the towel over the closed-lid laptop, I pretty much simulated the solution many people here tried of "baking" the logic board in an oven. But ofcourse - my solution is way simpler and not as risky - the computer would turn itself off if there is danger. Plus I don't have to take the logic board out.

I have to say this is pretty remarkable, I still cannot belive that I suddently have my beloved computer back.

PLEASE DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! I CANNOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS SOLUTION, AND THERE'S A VERY GOOD CHANCE YOU WILL FRY YOUR COMPUTER. It just so happens that it saved mine.

I hope this will save someone else's as well.

Thanks,

Oded S.

Hi apple_h8r

I cleaned my early mbp 2011 fans as both fans had some build up. Unfortunatly that did not resolve gfx issues.

I reset smc etc removed battery no joy. I would boot 30-50 times and all i would get is grey nothing.

Very annoying as 2011 to 2013 it ran sweet. Most of 2013 was a nightmare to the point i couldnt stand firing it  up as even if i managed to keep it stable no fans going mental, then weird horizontal black and white stripes or pink fuzzy haze. I then just used my ipad but that is really substandard experience to a mbp.

The thing is i could boot into single user every time. I mean every time. So what i did and im using that to this day is i moved the ATIDriverBackup folder that contains all the ati.kexe files to say my user area so it doesnt load upon boot.  No more glitches or fans kicking in. I can watch movies with vlc etc.

Every time i can boot up everytime now. Ive even added 16gb crucial ram and a 500gb crucial ssd with my 750gb where the optical drive is now. Still i can boot every time.

Its as good as i can get it stability wise. Im still angry at apple for this. Who cares if my mbp is 10mm or less, i want decent cooling, decent shelf life of a very expensive bit of kit. I feel they have lost the plot.

I can gone back to Lion as i hate all things app store.

Another early 2011 here. 

The only sign of wear on this machine is the rash on the bottom from sitting in the cooling pedastal I bought the same week as the macbook

3 trips to genius bar in all -

software reinstall + plus 24 hours of "rigourous" hardware testing

I received a phone call from the attendant genius "guaranteeing" that the hardware was "fine".

That night it froze and wouldn't reboot. reinstalled software again. same gray screen, no login

The next genius confirmed all - no safe boot, no single user, no nothing

$310 + tax, off to Texas.

Sad that the issue can't be accurately diganosed yet (?) , shame to waste people's time (and take their money) when at this point it's a known issue.

Just like core2duo models.

I'll sign the petitions, send feedback, etc

Best of luck to everyone. thank you for this thread!

Writing this post on my iPhone as my late 2011 15" mbp has eventually refused to boot. I've been able to boot up for the last month (problem started in April when using Premiere Pro and playing Skyrim thru Steam) using all the various keystroke methods (sum, recovery mode, pram reset, safe mode, smc reset, usb bootdisk, etc.) and gfxcard to turn off the discrete gpu, although it would take dozens of reboots first, but now nothing seems to work and it is looking like a nice aluminium brick.

I have a choice to make: buy an expensive new logic board which will eventually have the same problem, reball the solder/ replace thermal paste which is cheaper but risky, buy a new Mac which will most likely have the same problem, build a PC Hackintosh (yes, I'm seriously thinking of abandoning Apple after being a loving and loyal brand user for 25 years!), or wait for a recall. The longer Apple wait for a recall the more chance I will go the hackintosh route. I can borrow an airbook but will have to return it very soon, so Apple please do the right thing and help us all to remain loyal to the brand, thank you.

Recall is not gonna happen as there are so many people that already paid for the repair. If Apple decides to recall it'll cost Apple not only of the new machine but also of the refund. That's huge money.

But if Apple does not recall, how many customers are they going to lose and how much more bad publicity are they going to get?

I have been with Apple for almost a decade, but there are many who have been even longer. If Apple loses such kind of customer, they are losing a lot more money in the long run.

Also, we are thousands of affected users. Each of us is telling our story to our friends, family and colleagues. I'm sure everyone we speak with will at least reconsider buying an Apple product, or even go to the competition.

Apple: it's in your best interest to solve this as cleanly as possible.

I honestly think apple is going to leave us in the dust on this.

They don't care about losing a few thousand customers. They know they still have a huge customer base regardless.

And the Proof is in the pudding. Their product line for the next couple of years is all mobile phones, watches and small laptops. The MBP brand is doomed and they don't care anymore whether or not they lose our loyalty because they are killing the brand line.

They know that millions, perhaps billions will be buying their phones and other products. So no loss if they lose a few thousand, perhaps even 100,000 customers because of this. It's easier to lose those customers rather than instate a compensation program that will cost them millions.

I've lost all hope in Apple. Especially after reading about their future direction in products.

I think you're right, benedictros, the irony being that Apple was known as a company that fostered passionate loyalty among users, but they seem willing to toss that away now.

I've been using Macs for close to 25 years, but am finding it hard to justify spending so much money on computers that seem to have a self-destruct element built in. The exterior is gorgeous - even after 3 years it looks like new, with only a little wear on the keys and the glass track pad  is easily the best there is. However, beneath the pretty skin, there are problems. The fact that the current models have no user serviceable parts means you have to buy AppleCare, unless you have more faith than I do that the hardware will survive more than a year.

On my current early 2011 MBP, I've had 2 power adaptors go bad, and two logic board replacements, this on a machine that when I take it in, the only external blemish they can find are a few minor scratches on the bottom of the case. I'd like to be able to get 5 years my MBP, like I could out of my PowerBooks. Previously, it was a lack of speed that forced me to upgrade, but of the 4 PB/MBPs I've bought since 2006, 3 have needed a logic board replacement, 2 of them more than once, so it's been a lack of hardware reliability that's forced me to upgrade.

When my 2011 MBP dies again, I'll  be considering solutions other than Macs.

benedictros wrote:

 

I've lost all hope in Apple. Especially after reading about their future direction in products.

Yup, and it will get worse.

Cramming same/more power in an even smaller case?

That's asking for problems.

Yes, I know, Hasswell has a smaller die and is supposed to run cooler.

But it also has the voltage regulators onboard...

If it ever fails on you out of warranty wonder if Apple wll repair it for a reasonable fee.

At least they don't in Europa...

iFixit repairabillity score of 1/10... Verry verry customer friendly an green thinking Apple...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XGxPpteQbdI#t=168

Ment the models with extra GPU of course.

Even if it is an nVidia instead of Ati.

It will generate extra heat, maybe less then the Ati's did, but it will add.

If they use the same cooling system, fear it might fail too again.