Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I believe the gpu is part of the logic board (main board, mother board whatever you want to call it), and that is why it requires a complete replacement to solve this problem.  I've done some research and a number of people believe it's some bad soldering of components, even to the extent they've put there logic boards in the oven to get the solder to flow again but I would imagine that would have limited success and not keen to try it!

I've noticed that it appears a lot of these mid 2011 models are failing about now so it'll be interesting to see if any admission of product failure comes from apple regarding these AMD equipped models..

Yes, they warned me it was not a trivial matter and there was a chance thing could go wrong and the machine get ruined. I took the chance. I trust the shop, and they happen to be good customers of my business (my company imports and services 1000s of PC laptops but I only use Mac)

OK bit of an update, and it's a positive one.  Apple have come to the party on the replacing the logic board, I just have to pay for the labour to install so my bill has gone from over $1500.00 down to about $350.00.  Whilst it is not ideal getting a logic board replaced on a less than 2 year old laptop, I'm happy that they backed up there products with what I feel is a good resolve.  People it is worth contacting them and expressing your displeasure and you may find it fruitful in the long run!

To those on this thread that have this problem.

Any ideas about a solution yet?  Trouble shooting ideas?

My problem is getting worse each day making it harder to startup in Intergrated.

Logic board swap doesn't seem to be 100% effective as some have reported new boards have same issue.

At a loss what my next step will be as my out of warranty - 20 month old laptop is unusable.

My problem is getting worse each day making it harder to startup in Intergrated.

I think my laptop is getting worse and worse every day. It almost doesn't boot at all now. Need to make a lot lot of resets before it boots So for those who need to repair it you need to act quickly until it's too late.

As an update to my original status, I needed to bring in my macbook for repairs again, as the fix didn't hold on for longer than a couple of weeks. Basically it's the same symptoms again, takes me a while to boot up without the lines on the apple logo. I switch to integrated and can work until I either sleep it for too long or until I switch to discrete card.

I was told the only solution left is to replace the logic board, or wait and hope that Apple recognizes the issue and issues an extended warranty replacement program for the affected devices.

i own the exact model mbp 8,2 early 2011. same symptoms guys. welcome to the club? haha. owmen.

Sad to hear it.

i'll try to read more on this during the weekend. i found a local shop for fixing laptops i'll try re-soldering the videocard before getting the logic board replacement. same here no applecare, so i might as well play with the board before surrendering. haha

anyway do all of us here need a battery replacement? mine says it needs one. i think i'll try to replace that from apple before the logic board.

has anyone tried the PRAM solution? (sorry i've only read a few pages) i'll be watching this page. thanks for the info guys!

PRAM reset does nothing in this case. Since the discrete graphics card issues generally reset your computer and since you need to boot up many times to get to a point where you enter the OS normally, I experienced that one USB stopped working and that the boot up sound would't happen.

In those cases, a PRAM reset helped clear it up, but the graphics glitches still exist.

by the way has anyone tried to revert to the original firmware or previous one? (is that even possible?) just to we can rule out that one.

Sorry to tell you this guys, but I tried every remedy I could in terms of firmware updates and the like.  The fact of the matter is the logic boards are a weak point and you will need to get it replaced.  Contact Apple, really reiterate your unhappiness and you may get supplied a logic board and just have to pay the labour.  Wish I could suggest an easier fix but I don't believe there is one..

Sorry to disappoint you, but my issues started a day or two before I applied the firmware update.

@dr.felix Yeah, I would love to, but there is no official Apple service here, only certified service centers.

oh well. best of luck to everyone! note to self: get apple care next time. haha. (i'm just laughing this off coz i have no other choice. cheers!)

by the way guys i disconnected the battery and did a fresh install so i'm basically running on the power adapter. turned off the graphics switching too. so far so good but i'll keep you posted when i'm heading to the apple store and surrender.