Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Evil8Beezle wrote:

 

Be aware that when Pier11 says "new"and uses quotes. He/she is being sarcastic, and your probably going to get a second hand/reconditioned logic board that just buys Apple another few months in fobbing you off...

Indeed. I thought it was obvious, but yes I was referring to the fact that we don't really know what components Apple is using to replace the logic boards. Considering they fail quite often, and the 90 days of warranty, it's reasonable to assume those are not new components. And if they are really new, they must be using the same defective batch they used when building the machines.

I can't see that there would be enough new units Pier11, and I can't see that they are scavenged from MBP's with other issues that didn't get repaired either. I simply don't beleive that there would be enough logic boards to go around.

The only logical conclusion is that Apple are reusing the ones they are taking out of previous customers machines with the same issue. Maybe they are reflowing them, or maybe they are just doing a stress test that doesn't properly expose the fault, and why a lot of people who have had the logic board replaced find that the fault reoccurs within hours.

Great way to make money though. Charge customers hundreds of pounds and just swap components around between them. Genius!!!

I cant believe some owners are even accepting the fact that they are going to have a third and even fourth (on previous page) logic board replacement. No one should have to go through that as this problem seems to be an endless loop.

It's clearly without a shadow of a doubt a genuine design flaw defect in relation to the GPU/Logic board configuration and it's design - wether it's insufficiently cooled causing damage over time, or the integrated PCB connections connecting it are failing in due course, due to long term repeated heat expansions & contractions, the GPU chip's quality and integrity may have design issues or a combination of all; the fact that a sheer mass and multitude of users/owners are experiencing the same similar failures relating to the same defective components is very clear we have a major design defect that needs addressing.

Replacing the GPU/Logic board with what will clearly be the same version possessing the same design-defective components is only going to re-introduce the exact same related problems further down the line - your just resetting the counter on the 'time-bomb' which is doomed to go off at a slightly later date (just weeks for some owners and months for other).

Logic board replacements don't appear to be working, it's time for a recall or 100% working alternative soloution.

Yes DIESEL-X, but Apple are not listening or interested. All we can do is voice our issues and sign the petition. I'd post a link, but I did that earlier and Apple deleted my post!

I wonder if I stood outside the Apple shop in town with a sandwich board on, and started handing out leaflets if that would help.  

DIESEL-X wrote:

 

Logic board replacements don't appear to be working, it's time for a recall or 100% working alternative soloution.

I wrote an e-mail to Tim Cook explaining exactly that. Of course I got no response.

This is what I wrote

"Back in 2009 I had a similar issue with a 2007 Macbook Pro out of warranty which Apple repaired at no cost, but right now most users affected by this issue do not believe a repair with identical hardware is a solution to this problem.

A fair solution would be to give your customers affected by this defect a coupon on your store of about 60% of the price paid for the product, which would account for an approximate resale value of a high end Apple laptop after 3 years. Users could be able to choose to either get an inferior machine or invest that coupon in a new high end machine. In any case, Apple would be paying only fabrication and distribution costs, and avoid losing thousands of customers."

I think Apple's going to continue to stonewall on this one, so the best move for everyone who's had/having this problem is to plan your Apple exit strategy. I'm on my 3rd logic board and while the "Genius" claimed it was new, there's no way to confirm that and so I assume that I'll have a dead MBP again in a number of months.

Even if Apple offered me a "new" (probably reconditioned) machine, you can bet it wouldn't match the 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB HD that my current machine has. Those two things are more important than a retina screen (my current one is HD and it's been great) or a faster processor.

I dropped my early 2011 MBP 17 (i7, 8gb) to Apple for the Logic Board fix. I was 1.5 days out of warranty, with no love. I agreed to the $310 price to repair my laptop only because I use it for a living as a graphic designer. While in talking to the "Genius" which wasn't a genius, I was told maybe I should cut back on my heavy usage on Photoshop and Illustrator. I told this nice gentleman that I purchased the $2900 laptop because I was told that it would be able to handle any design job I wanted to tackle. If I wanted to replace my computer ever 2-3 years I would of bought a Dell. I purchased a premium product with premium parts.

It's like buying a McRib from McDonalds only to be disappointed when you find out it isn't really ribs you’re eating. Not the same analogy, but you get what I mean!

It's like buying a Range Rover and then being told by the dealership to keep it off the backroads and instead parked in the garage.

FYI, this might be worth looking at:

http://software.intel.com/sites/default/files/m/d/4/1/d/8/Intel_C2_AE_Power_Gadg et.dmg

<This link is a direct download>

hi I have a MBP early 2011 2.2 Ghz, AMD Radeon 6750, But this method does not work for me! "sudo nvram boot-args="GraphicsEnabler=No"" do have any suggestion ?

You should talk to AppleCare people about your case. some people like you that only out of warranty a few months and apple agreed for a free fix or replacement of the board. Good luck!

I'm thinking of still paying the $19.99 to talk to a person in support with knowledge of the computer rather than some nube at the front counter claming to be a Genius.

If you are referring to the online support, you can request an exception to the fee if you are not covered under Apple Care.  however, be warned that you encounter the same level of "genius" there as well.

MARSERdesigns, think there are more real geniusses on this forum than Aplle employs....

Hi Guys,

I tried something that was posted and it helped me boot the Macbook Pro, of course it can not handle any heavy graphics but at least browsing and accessing data is possible.

Below is the Temp Fix provided by Zach Clawson:

Since the issue is with the AMD Radeon GPU chip, you'll need to "trick" your computer to only use the integrated Intel GPU only. This can be accomplished by hiding (some or all of) the AMD GPU driver files from the system. I don't take credit for this solution, numerous sites and forum posts provide it.

1. Start in console mode: Start your computer holding Command + S
2. Mount the hard drive: Once there, type mount -uw /
3. Create a backup directory: From the root directory (where you should be), type:
   mkdir /Users/your_user_name/AMDDriverBackup
4. Move the files: To move all of the files type:
   mv /System/Library/Extensions/ATI* /Users/your_user_name/AMDDriverBackup
   mv /System/Library/Extensions/AMD* /Users/your_user_name/AMDDriverBackup
   
   Moving just two of the files initially worked for me, but I had to revert to moving all of them with time (not sure why). Moving just ATIRadeonX2000.kext and ATIRadeonX2000GLDriver.bundle were all it took.
5. Restart: Type sudo reboot to restart, or sudo shutdown -h now to shutdown.

You should now be able to boot your computer into a state where you can do basic web browsing and word processing. Most importantly, it's an easy way to get your files.

Original link:

https://people.cam.cornell.edu/~zc227/extras/early2011mbp_graphics.html