Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I sent mine off to ps3specialist today. ps3specialist, if your reading this, please take care of my pride and joy?

Apple and your bank account got married.  Customers are the unwanted step-children.

Same issue here with my mbp early 2011.  This is after resetting PRAM and SMC multiple times. Plus a wipe and clean reinstall.  Using gfxCardStatus to force the system to no longer use the AMD card is the only option I have found to offer more stability. 

Really disappointed after spending over $2k on what was supposed to be a quality system to have a component failure like this and Apple not address it with a reasonable solution.

I've read that for some who have taken their machines to Apple for repair (sometimes more than once), Apple sometimes performs a stress test on the machine to ensure that the problem does not show up again.  Does anyone know which tests are used for this and if it is something developed by Apple or if it is something else?

I don't think the early 2011 13" ones had discrete GPUs. Which is what Marian234 was referring to.

paigoomein wrote:

 

I've read that for some who have taken their machines to Apple for repair (sometimes more than once), Apple sometimes performs a stress test on the machine to ensure that the problem does not show up again.  Does anyone know which tests are used for this and if it is something developed by Apple or if it is something else?

No test will ensure that a problem does not develop in the future.

Yeah, I realize that, but just curious as to what they use and consider as a stress-test for these machines.

Well im off to the Apple Store Birmingham (UK) tomorrow to see what they do. I fully expect them to say they want to charge me for a new Logic Board.

Im currently using my 2011 MBP 17" now but if I do anything processor heavy not even graphics heavy I get a blue screen or scrambled screen. if I plug my external monitor in using clamshell mode it will instantly crash.

A previous post mentioned I could cite EU law regards a laptop lasting a reasonable amount of time cant find the post now of what I need to quote or push for but ill see what Apple say first.

Its a 30mile trip for me to the nearest Apple store so I will not be impressed if I get a generic response and their stance is there is no design issue or known problem. I'll play dumb and be thankful if they repair saying we're doing you a favour and dont wish to admit fault as long as they dont charge me hundreds for a new logic board.

here's hoping.

chat now with Apple Specialist.

My MBP was probably jealous and wanted to join the group. Do you guys provide with member cards ?

I didn't have any issue with it. It worked perfectly since the last two years and this evening : BAM!

Screen went black and the fan turned crazy! Reboot... White screen and no way to make it start.

After many tries, impossible to do an HD recovery. I ended with that blue screen with vertical black lines.

Before finding this discussion, I started by placing back the original HD (I've switched to an SSD). I even went for putting back the original 2x 2Go of RAM (I've also switched to 2x 4Go) and... Same bad result. Which lead me to fear motherboard or GPU failure....

Thanks to this discussion and to many blogs I've red so far, It seems pointless to replace the GPU as it will probably happen again.

Let me join you guys and ask: "Hey Apple! What have you done here?"

I run out from Windows OS searching for stability and here I am about to buy a new machine after two years. I still have a WinXP-computer on shelf somewhere which is still starting up after 10 years. Ok, I didn't turn it up a single time since the last three years but come on.... As a freelancer, I expect it to last at least 4 years for deductibility and fiscal reasons.

tallmystcarpet wrote:

 

As a freelancer, I expect it to last at least 4 years for deductibility and fiscal reasons.

UK consumer laws expect a laptop to last at least 6 years under the Sale of Goods Act.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-23189582

asdff

"the expected life of the motherboard..."

The term "life" is ambiguous.  One, there is "economic" life.  That is, the point in time that it costs more to repair, than to purchase a newer one.  Two, there is "service availability" life.  That is, the period of time that the vendor provides actual repair services.  Three, there is "MTBFST" - mean time before first service call.  That is, how long a module will last before something breaks the first time.  Neither one of us have read the legislation, but my money is on door #3.

Shouldn't that be MTBFSC? No matter, neither seem to turn up any useful information in a web search. Presumably it's the same as, or similar to, MTTF (or MTTFF) - "Mean Time To First Failure".  How could anyone access this data? 

The other life definitions don't apply as manufacturers wouldn't consider repairing a logic board, they'd just replace it.

How do you think UK (and Australian) consumer protection agencies derive the six year figure?

officially joined the club...:(

also found that  gfxCardStatus newer versions (2.3+) won't allow you to lock in Integrated Only mode (see http://gfx.io/switching.html#power-source-based-switching), which means basically you can do nothing to prevent mbp to go crazy when automatically switching to AMD card.