Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Pricy, yes. But I'd consider it, even if it's not logical, captain.  However, is it possible with a 17"? There was only one more model after mine and the chipset was much the same. You'd want to jump to the mid-2012 to get the Ivy Bridge/Nvidia combo which may not suffer from the issues we are all experiencing. But I recall at least one mid-2012 user on this thread who seemed to have the problem.   Purely academic, but I might research it a bit more.

By the way, no-one has responded to my query about Hackintoshing a Sager or some other high-end laptop.

Pier11 wrote:

 

Of all 3 options, upgrading the logic board is clearly the worst of all, unless you can find a bargain for it with more than 2 months warranty.

Pier11 wrote:

 

JoseAngelAcosta wrote:

 

I Understand You May Fav everybody to Reballing their boards, I Fav to Upgrade It.

 

A logic board costs about 800$ + shipping from Ebay, and you usually get 2 months of warranty. You'd be investing about 900$ in a machine with 2 months of warranty, and old components such as the screen, battery, hard drive, etc, that may fail anytime soon.

 

A reballing with ps3specialist costs about 150$ + shipping and he gives a 1 year warranty. Here the screen or battery could fail too, but at least you'd have spent about 250$ not 900$.

 

For 999$ you can a buy a 13'' Macbook Air with a fourth generation core i5 which is faster than a 2012 core i7, with 1 year of warranty, a new SSD, and an intel HD 5000, which is more than enough to handle most of the normal tasks except gaming, or heavy use of Premiere, After Effects, 3D etc. If you are a pro in those fields you should really be getting a desktop anyway. For 1000$ you can get decent powered pc desktop and install your favorite operating system (which is what I did when my MBP 2011 died recently).

 

Of all 3 options, upgrading the logic board is clearly the worst of all, unless you can find a bargain for it with more than 2 months warranty.

1. As you do indeed point out, a logic board replacement / upgrade is a bad idea. A like-for-like logic board replacement is to re-introduce the same defective / designed flawed version for that model and therefore the fault will again imminently present itself further down the line. However an 'upgrade' to a newer but fully compatible model version is expensive and only comes with a couple months warranty and therefore could be back at a nightmare scenario again if a problem occurs soon after the warranty - assuming there was even a newer 2012 compatible upgrade version logic board version for the mass of 17 inch MacBook Pro owners here (I own a 17" as well). Also if Apple do a recall / replacement program, then you could be in the dog house if (and I'm sure that it may do) the program stipulates that the machine must not have had any repair/modification work performed on the unit other than by Apple.

2. Reballing maybe a short term temporary fix and the price is certainly more attractive, BUT again as above if Apple do a recall / replacement program, then you could be in the dog house if (and I'm sure that it may do) the program stipulates that the machine must not have had any repair/modification work performed on the unit other than by Apple.

3. I didn't pay the better part of £2,500 with the view of spending another grand less than a few years later; I was lead to believe this was a mobile computer if impeccable quality, power, durability and lastability with no equal. Yet I find cheaper laptops a fifth of the cost lasting longer.

Admittedly it's a real dilemma; on one hand owners cannot wait as they need their machines to be functional so that they continue to be productive and therefore may choose to take the plunge and have their units either reballed or logic board swapped by other services, only to possibly risk the issue returning at a later stage and worse still could effectively fall into any exemption clause mentioned earlier if a re-call / replacement program is issued by Apple.

On the other hand we could hold our breath, cross our fingers and further put pressure on Apple to urgently resolve this epidemic, however meanwhile we cannot be productive on our defective machines and we may die holding our breath.

I'll be taking my Micky-Mouse Book Pro to the Apple Store soon and will be requesting to see the General Manager as I will not be in the mood to be receiving "this is the first time I'm aware of this issue" admissions from the Genius Bar.

DIESEL-X wrote:

 

I'll be taking my Micky-Mouse Book Pro to the Apple Store soon and will be requesting to see the General Manager as I will not be in the mood to be receiving "this is the first time I'm aware of this issue" admissions from the Genius Bar.

Print out the first 10 and 100 last pages of this thread.......you got alll this covered..and thell them it's 400 pages long.....and show it to them....I might do this with the Amsterdam Apple shop

PERSONAL UPDATE

While my first logic board replacement for my Late 2011 17" MBP is functioning without any GPU issues for the past 9 days, it didn't take more than five minutes before I noticed that the fans now run way to fast/often.

Of course, I quickly and persistently have been informing Apple of this "out of spec" behavior with their repair.

I fully expect this logic board replacement to be a temporary "fix" and I'll need to be knocking on Apple's door again soon. My logic: If I "cooked" the original logic board to failure, I'm doomed to repeat the process again...

Meanwhile, I continue to document all details and make sure that the Apple staff I have been working with adds all my observations to the case notes.  This serves three purposes:

1) Let's Apple know that I am following every recommended step so that I qualify for whatever assistance they are going to eventually need to provide.

2) Let's Apple know I am not going silent on this issue. This proves that time, work and effort are being expended... both mine and their staff hours are being documented.

3) Most importantly, now that my case has been escalated, my observations are going to some top level people at Apple. This is far better for the collective of affected users than taking it into an Apple Store where the lowest-level Geniuses work and don't necessarily talk issues upwards. Note: I'm not bashing these employees, just stating that this type of issue tracking is not in their pay grade.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED

1) Apple is most certainly listening. So long as each of us is respectful and sending useful data to Apple, we will get where we need to get. I am working with both the Executive Team and a Senior Specialist. They are indeed documenting and communicating.

2) One Apple person explained to me that Apple logic boards are manufactured by one of several 3rd parties.  They eluded to the fact that only when a certain percentage is reached (a tipping point) can Apple move forward with a resolution.  Although this may be frustrating to us, this makes perfect sense in the manufacturing world.

While I don't know exactly, I suspect that this 3rd party vendor's contract states something like: Apple will pay you X dollars for making Y number of logic boards. If your failure rate reaches Z, we have the right to recover a percentage of X.

So, working in concert with Apple, our campaign should be to document our cases as high up as possible so that the tipping point is reached.  The Apple Store Genius or an Apple-certified repair shop is typically too low a level to be working with.

----

Yes, I believe there are more levels to this issue than what I outlined above, but this seems to be the ONLY tipping point that matters to Apple at this time.

Sure, I believe that Apple is tarnishing their reputation every day for not getting ahead of this with their users first and then waiting for the 3rd party tipping point later. I hate spending my time on this and losing my machine to the repair process after spending premium dollars.

Yes, we pay Apple premiums for all their products and as a life-long 30+ year supporter of Apple, I think their hardware quality/design started sinking in 2007 or so.  I've been the unfortunate user of two other recalled MacBook Pro units. Maybe Steve Jobs was wrong with demanding completely sealed laptops. Heat dissipation requires "cold air in." Where do you get that if the unit is sealed?

I'd certainly welcome a few holes in my MacBook Pro casing if the core temperature dropped and the design wasn't pressing to the edge of thermal possibilities.

----

Apple is still one of the best companies around when it comes to taking care of their customers. It just seems to be taking longer than ever before for them to "get with the program".

...my 2 cents.

I own a Macbook Pro 15" from early 2011 ...of course with the AMD Radeon HD 6490M in it. I was shocked to find this huge discussion, after searching the web. This forum conversation was the second result in my Google search. How can Apple ignore 638.822 Views and 6.138 Replies to a single thread? I thought I could find a way to fix the problem by myself, but now it seems I have to pay a lot of money for fixing a computer, that is only 3 years and 3 months old. Dear Apple, I hope you will change your mind quickly and support all of us with a fair exchange program, otherwise I foresee that you will loose lots of your clients over the next years. My last Apple Laptop died after 4 years all of a sudden, too. What is the problem with your products? While all of my friends, who are using PCs, have to exchange them after many years, "because they get too old and slow", I have the feeling to waste too much money for a good looking, but very poorly built product. When I buy a product that is so much more expensive than any other laptop on the market, I expect quality and a good service!

(I experience the graphical glitches and vertical blue stripes since a few days, they came all of a sudden from one day to another and most of the times, my Macbook doesnt even boot.)

Warning to those who are thinking about replacing the logic board:

I replaced the logic board 2 weeks ago and last night the MBP again started to show corrupted screens and hang when I run Aperture for about 20 mins. After the replacement, i have installed gfxcardstatus which shows Aperture uses Discrete graphics card.

To those who are thinking about replacing the logic board like me, be warned. I am going to run some HD movie to do a stress test, and will proabbly bring the MBP back to the service provider next week.

Will update later.

Alexbao wrote:

 

Warning to those who are thinking about replacing the logic board:

 

I replaced the logic board 2 weeks ago and last night the MBP again started to show corrupted screens and hang when I run Aperture for about 20 mins. After the replacement, i have installed gfxcardstatus which shows Aperture uses Discrete graphics card.

 

To those who are thinking about replacing the logic board like me, be warned. I am going to run some HD movie to do a stress test, and will proabbly bring the MBP back to the service provider next week.

 

Will update later.

Yet another post stating that a REPLACEMENT logic board failed within hours/days/weeks.

THESE CANNOT BE NEW LOGIC BOARDS!!!! (Some of the recycled boards are just more used/knackered than others...)

Alexbao wrote:

 

Warning to those who are thinking about replacing the logic board:

 

I replaced the logic board 2 weeks ago and last night the MBP again started to show corrupted screens and hang when I run Aperture for about 20 mins. After the replacement, i have installed gfxcardstatus which shows Aperture uses Discrete graphics card.

 

To those who are thinking about replacing the logic board like me, be warned. I am going to run some HD movie to do a stress test, and will proabbly bring the MBP back to the service provider next week.

 

Will update later.

What kind of replacement board do you have, and where you got it?

Warranty on replacing LB is 90 days....

Pier11 wrote:

 

JoseAngelAcosta wrote:

 

I Understand You May Fav everybody to Reballing their boards, I Fav to Upgrade It.

 

A logic board costs about 800$ + shipping from Ebay, and you usually get 2 months of warranty. You'd be investing about 900$ in a machine with 2 months of warranty, and old components such as the screen, battery, hard drive, etc, that may fail anytime soon.

 

A reballing with ps3specialist costs about 150$ + shipping and he gives a 1 year warranty. Here the screen or battery could fail too, but at least you'd have spent about 250$ not 900$.

 

For 999$ you can a buy a 13'' Macbook Air with a fourth generation core i5 which is faster than a 2012 core i7, with 1 year of warranty, a new SSD, and an intel HD 5000, which is more than enough to handle most of the normal tasks except gaming, or heavy use of Premiere, After Effects, 3D etc. If you are a pro in those fields you should really be getting a desktop anyway. For 1000$ you can get decent powered pc desktop and install your favorite operating system (which is what I did when my MBP 2011 died recently).

 

Of all 3 options, upgrading the logic board is clearly the worst of all, unless you can find a bargain for it with more than 2 months warranty.

FYI a 2012 i7 logic board sells new stock for abouy 600 Us$ at China including shipping worldwide (look eBay aliexpress),  In my case my system has 2.5 yr and I'm considering getting an late 2011 logic board due memory compatibility (a 2012 requires faster memory),  but I'm only considering,  at eBay and aliexpress you also find logic board repair services a bit cheaper for 189 they do every repair not only reballing.

I'm also considering Diesel comments and to store my dying mbp (still working but tricky) until Apple effectively rules an recall or nothing, maybe.

My experience with other reballing is mixed,  but in no case as good as I deserved,  an reballing or repair certainly may last weeks or year and half, isnt  no realistic consider  reballed logic board to last 2,3 year,  an new one will last much longer than that,  specially if provided with right application of premium thermal paste.

Kirth_Gersen wrote:

 

Warranty on replacing LB is 90 days....

New or Used?, a new one certainly worth notwithstanding the short warranty, an new product is always better than  one repaired (reballed).

An used lb is a no go, all we know the reason, and an repaired it's just the same thing, I'm not convinced about if worth to reballing an board, reballing is the lest reliable repair in electronics (ask everyone with an Xbox how log lasted),  an reballed lb will give us few months extra upto an year, from that get ready to get an new logic board (if available) coz your logic board will be very hard to reball again.

DMC440 

kophinos wrote:

 

Is ps3specialist still offering the reballing service? Who can vouch for his workmanship?

By all accounts his workmanship is exemplary.  His sanity is another matter.

Did you use his services? Can you vouch for his work? I have yet to see anyone report back saying they used his services and if reliable.

JoseAngelAcosta wrote:

 

Kirth_Gersen wrote:

 

Warranty on replacing LB is 90 days....

New or Used?, a new one certainly worth notwithstanding the short warranty, an new product is always better than  one repaired (reballed).

 

An used lb is a no go, all we know the reason, and an repaired it's just the same thing, I'm not convinced about if worth to reballing an board, reballing is the lest reliable repair in electronics (ask everyone with an Xbox how log lasted),  an reballed lb will give us few months extra upto an year, from that get ready to get an new logic board (if available) coz your logic board will be very hard to reball again.

I believe you are confusing the difference between REFLOWING and REBALLING!

josepiedaly1122 wrote:

 

DMC440 

 

Re: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

 

   Jun 14, 2014 12:10 AM    (in response to kophinos) 

kophinos wrote:

 

Is ps3specialist still offering the reballing service? Who can vouch for his workmanship?

 

By all accounts his workmanship is exemplary.  His sanity is another matter.

 

 

Did you use his services? Can you vouch for his work? I have yet to see anyone report back saying they used his services and if reliable.

I believe some people have used his/her services. But not everyone on here agree's with his/her alleged knowledge when it comes to leaded or unleaded solder.

DIESEL-X wrote:

 

 

3. I didn't pay the better part of £2,500 with the view of spending another grand less than a few years later; I was lead to believe this was a mobile computer if impeccable quality, power, durability and lastability with no equal. Yet I find cheaper laptops a fifth of the cost lasting longer.

 

Admittedly it's a real dilemma; on one hand owners cannot wait as they need their machines to be functional so that they continue to be productive and therefore may choose to take the plunge and have their units either reballed or logic board swapped by other services, only to possibly risk the issue returning at a later stage and worse still could effectively fall into any exemption clause mentioned earlier if a re-call / replacement program is issued by Apple.

 

On the other hand we could hold our breath, cross our fingers and further put pressure on Apple to urgently resolve this epidemic, however meanwhile we cannot be productive on our defective machines and we may die holding our breath.

 

I'll be taking my Micky-Mouse Book Pro to the Apple Store soon and will be requesting to see the General Manager as I will not be in the mood to be receiving "this is the first time I'm aware of this issue" admissions from the Genius Bar.

I'm as ****** as anyone here, but as you say we need those machines to produce income, which is why we bought them on the first place and we paid extra thinking we would get a reliable working tool. Right now my macbook pro is a very expensive paper holder and I'm using my new desktop machine I was fortunate enough to be able to buy and keep working almost seamlessly because the software I use is multiplatform.

Sadly, I don't think Apple will do a recall. When Apple does a recall it does it very fast, such as the recent EU iPhone charger thing, or the iPhone 5 sleep button issue. This thread is a year old and Apple hasn't even acknowledged that there is even a problem.