Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Excellent, I'm allowed back on, For some reason after my post last week I wasn't allowed to see this thread if I logged on, I could read it all but the second I logged on it disappeared? Strange?!

ANYWAY. . .Personally, My 2011 17' macbook wont boot anymore, or even allow reinstall or safe mode, I'm told its 'the' graphics card problem by a Mac approved engineer . .  I have spoken to apple in the states this week on the Chat window and they had a representative call me in the UK. I was told that there is no replacement plan in place for this problem by the representative in the states but they did agree it seems to be a fast growing problem. I was told by the UK representative, who was very rude in general;  that if my warranty had run out there was nothing apple would do, I protested some more and then they said if I go it a Mac approved store and get a report done they will look at the issue. Ive already had this done by a professional mac approved engineer who charged me £35 for the testing and diagnostics, but apple wont accept their opinion. Now I have to go and spend £99 in a mac store for them to do the same testing and even then apple cant say if they will be able to do anything. So if that doesn't work I will have to spend about £350 on a new graphics card, plus installation. So I work out that its costing me about £560 to get a mac that cost me well over £2000 to simply work.

Like most people on here, I love and live macs, I thankfully have more than one so I haven't lost my income due to this problem, I have converted all my family and most of my close friends to Apple over the years, and now I don't know what to even think about the product, its left me feeling robbed and stranded by the closest thing to a religion I have. If anyone can help with this Id really appreciate it.

The agreement you signed when you joined this forum does not allow posting links to polls or petitions. You gave your word, now it is time to keep it.

My early 2011 COB MBP (15.4/2.3GHz/8GB/256GBSSD/SD/HR-AG) began to exhibit graphics problems with my second Cinema display in Feb.2014. I took it and the display to the Genius Bar where they were only partially able to recreate the problems … it appeared to be a loose connecter. Fast forward two months … one month AFTER my 3-year Applecare expired … and my MPB exhibits major failures. A very short search found this thread, and others, very clearly describing the symptoms and cause of the problems. Disabling the GPU switching and operating on the integrated graphics only was successful for about three weeks after which the MBP failed completely upon startup and login. I have been using a newer mid-2012 MBP in the interim.

Last week, I finished a major project and was able to spare the time to take the 2011 MBP to the Genius Bar on 06/28. The tech booted the system up and immediately recommended a logic board replacement. I suspect that by now, the failure is "common" enough that the techs are coached on what they find and how to respond. Even so, I received the aforementioned programmed response (paraphrased):  "Apple doesn't have a recall or TSB for this problem because it isn't common enough and too few computers are affected". - I called B.S. and pointed him to this thread which is over two-years old. Even so, I still had to pay $310 + tax for the flat-rate repair. I received the repaired computer on 07/04 and it appears to be working normally.

Previously, I was planning to gift this until-then flawless-performing MBP to a nephew that is departing for college this year but I can no longer comfortably do so because of this GPU problem and the uncertainty that the device will not fail again. Such a waste for an otherwise excellent computer that cost over $3,000 new and was worth at least half that before the GPU problem became endemic.

AppleStore/Genius Bar sent me a standard request to rate their service … I rated their service as mostly satisfactory except for Apple's and Applecare's response to this issue. In the "other comments" dialogue, I wrote:

"Apple released a defective product:  The 2011 MacBook Pro with ATI graphics processor unit (GPU). The GPU on this product is either installed incorrectly or is subject to failure (most likely solder failure in the socket) that causes the GPU to not be recognized. The failure occurs after two or more years of usage, is likely related to heat cycles (hence the time delay until failure), and is not recognized under Applecare, nor as a technical support problem - even though there is a 2.5-year old thread on the Apple Discussion Forum with over 6,656 replies and over 832,440 views to date. The problem exists, Apple's standard USA solution costs $310+tax (enough to buy a fair PC) and is likely temporary at best. WHEN this repair inevitably fails, I will have to decide whether to send the computer to a third party specialist for the proper repair (GPU replacement with LEAD solder), pay for another Apple repair, or simply junk the computer. Presently, I have a mid-2012 MBP to use; but I question whether this 2012 computer will ALSO fail after two-years of use."

Csound1 wrote:

 

The agreement you signed when you joined this forum does not allow posting links to polls or petitions. You gave your word, now it is time to keep it.

Yes, this HELP forum for users to help each other! It is sadly not a forum for Apple to HELP its customers....

I suggest trying to find someone credible to replace the GPU and use lead solder to seat it. That service seems to cost about $150 here in the USA and I think it is a permanent solution.

Note however, that I have a separate MBP available and I could afford to repair the 2011 MPB. Specifically, I recently had the logic board on my 2011 MBP replaced by Apple but it was a reasonable cost ($310 + taxes) and I am still hopeful that Apple will grow some balls, recognize the problem, and cover the repair cost. If that repair fails after the 90-day repair warranty period, I will likely have it fixed by a third party instead of Apple.

What does that have to do with keeping your word. If you don't agree with the terms of this site then don't post here.

Csound1 wrote:

 

What does that have to do with keeping your word. If you don't agree with the terms of this site then don't post here.

Keeping your word? Don't you mean abiding by the terms and conditions of the website (which no one bothers to read...)

I believed that Apple could be trusted to keep their word with producing quality products and excellent customer service, but I was wrong...

So you didn't bother to read what you agreed to.

Have a nice day.

To all MacBook Pro 2011 Users, I may have found a solution... Some of you may not like it. It worked for me, and I want to contribute to the possibly handful of solutions already (of which most are somewhat expensive)

Some Useful Info:

Before Discrete GPU FAIL:

MacBook Pro 2011 17-Inch

Intel Core i7 2.4Ghz

AMD Radeon 6770m 1GB

OS X 10.9.3

This failure consisted of basically all of the signs and symptoms seen on this thread. Graphical Anomalies of all types started appearing until the machine eventually failed to boot at all, being replaced by a machine which showed a grey screen and ran it's fans on overdrive for the duration of it's startup (lack thereof)

I talked with apple support for a time and determined with their help that it was a hardware fail. After concluding that discussion, the next day, i proceeded for 8 hours to an apple store (I live a LONG ways away front the city). They replaced the logic board gratuit (would've been $575.00) and it worked after.

... Until it started experiencing the VERY SAME graphical glitches, up to point where the computer stopped functioning entirely, AGAIN. This was only after 4 days of receiving it back from Apple. It was at this point where I did a lot of thinking as to what would make the GPU Fail. I do run high graphics capacity games, Graphics editing apps, Virtualization software... a plethora of high-quality layout and graphical rendering. But I had (stupidly) overlooked the fact that this only started happening after updating to 10.9.3.

I repeated the expensive (yet not as expensive as it would've been) process of getting the Logic board (or motherboard) replaced a second time, also gratuit courtesy of 3-year apple care. When I received it back Wiping and reinstalling OS X happened in very short order (technically over the span of 3 days... bad internet connection... anyways, you get the point, back on topic). Everything has been working well, and I have been using it for two weeks without any problems.

After Second Discrete GPU FAIL:

MacBook Pro 2011 17-Inch

Intel Core i7 2.4Ghz

AMD Radeon 6770m 1GB

OS X 10.9 (Later Upgraded to 10.9.1, then 10.9.2)

Using any OS below 10.9.3 seemed to fix the problem. My theory (though possibly completely unfounded) is that 10.9.3 installed new Discrete GPU drivers that put the cards in an constantly active and high-powered state (which would possibly crack or melt the solder depending on what was happening during the time card spent overheating) I was hesitant to go to 10.9.2 for fear of the same issues but I did so since several of my apps required it. I'm going to see how users of 2011 MBP's (who were so lucky as to not have the problems we on this particular thread now face) fair if they upgrade to 10.9.4... perhaps apple very discretely (oh, the irony) fixed the driver issues.

be all that as it may, I hope this solution helps a few of you suffering MBP users out there with dead machines. Simple answer (though not an absolute solution) is to do the following:

- Be sure to have some type of backup (Time Machine or other backup program)

- Restart your Mac while holding "option" to show boot partitions

- Select the recovery partition (in my case it was named "Recovery 10.9")

- Select "Disk Utility" and choose erase

- select your main hard drive as the one to erase and hit "Erase"

- Wait for Disk Utility to complete the process

- Once it is done red-dot the Disk Utility window and click "Reinstall OS X" in the main recovery window

- Make sure you have an internet connection

- proceed through the reinstall process (the program will guide you through it)

- Now comes the waiting (could be an hour, multiple hours, or multiple days depending on your internet connection)

- Once the process has been completed, you can now boot into a fresh copy of OS X.

If you need to update to a Higher version of OS X, and you've used my method, do the following:

- Select one of the OS X Updates 10.9.1/10.9.2

I would strongly recommend that  MBP 2011 (specifically 17" MacBook users) User not upgrade to 10.9.3, as this is where problems started for me. Yes, I know that some of you experience this problem in mountain lion or earlier, or don't have the same precise situation, and if so I cannot help you, I'm stating what worked for me so that others may try to salvage their systems and not have to go through more logic board replacements.

As for Apple's part, I'm absolutely disappointed. I've been getting quality support from apple for years now. Every problem that I couldn't seem to fix, support seemed to respond and answer my questions and resolve the problems I had. That Apple would simply ignore a HUGE problem (seriously, 300+ pages and 6000+ replies) that is CLEARLY NOT a problem resulting from heavy usage but in fact CLEARLY a hardware and/or software defect (Most likely hardware) is the move typically made by (to use italian) strontzi.

Hi @Zminus30degrees Thanks for your excellent post.

I just wanted to add to this, that I currently have OS X 10.9.4 installed on my Macbook Pro Early 2011 15 inch and I am still facing this issue hence clearly this has not been resolved with OS X 10.9.4.

I read somewhere earlier that even going back to Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion doesn't resolve the issue. May be if the GPU issue has already affected your logic board then there is no meaning in reverting back to previous OS X versions, but if you have a new logic board (like in your case), then the issue could be resolved by simply going back to previous installation of OS.

I am planning to go back to 10.9 now. Don't know if the issue with my Macbook Pro has really worsened the situation, but I will still give it a shot.

Thanks again for your amazing response.

Issue occured to me sometime after updating to Mavericks but I too doubt that software was the reason for the GPU failures.

I had the Logic Board replaced, and once I received It from apple, I went straight into recovery mode as soon as I booted it. waited 28 hours for the thing to reinstall mavericks, but it worked... much smoother too

I can't say anything about an early 2011 or 15 inch, as mine is a 17 inch with a 6770m. like I said previously, I think it has something to do on either AMD or Apple's end with the GPU drivers, which are different for every card and machine type (mostly). I still think a bad section of code in the driver itself could be causing the GPU to be overheating or to be left on continuously. After I had the failure after a certain time it refused to go into any mode, which I'm guessing is the point where the AMD card refused to let the graphics control go to the integrated intel card. this is all either estimation or speculation for those of you who have been looking at my post, I am relatively computer savvy, but I'm not THAT smart (though I hope to be).

I wish apple would respond to this, as to say this has gotten way out of hand is an understatement.

Hi everyone,

I am joining your club of early 2011 macbook pro broken graphic card users. More or less I am having the same symptoms as most of us. I managed to start my laptop but I cannot use the discrete graphic card at all - as soon as I start an app requiring the discrete card, the screen goes crazy. I'm using the gfx card status but version 2.3 won't let me use integrated card only mode if the software requires the discrete card.

I am going to visit Genius (sic!) today but I am not having any hopes of having my laptop repaired free of charge - my apple 3 year plan just expired!

An interesting fact is that when I managed to start my computer after many attempts, iStat was showing -178 Celsius temperature for GPU diode. After second crazy screen situation and a successful restart of the defective machine the temperature is 22 C. I am a bit scared to open any app that requires the discrete card to check what will happen - I just started time machine operation.

I hope that Apple will start exchanging the faulty part (motherboard) free of charge soon. If they don't, I am not going to buy a single product from them and I will be strongly advising against that to my family, friends and random people who ask me about Apple products from time to time. I just counted Apple products in my household and I think 12 products shows how strongly I like the brand. Perhaps, lack of help from Apple in the GPU faulty case can change not only my admiration to hate quite easily.

Good luck everyone!

Macbook Pro owners effected by this widespread issue need to do something. There are so many people in India with this issue.

Please keep in touch. I paid so much money into a product I thought was worth it but it completely is worthless and Apple is asking me to pay $750 for a logic board replacement.

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@kartik10692

I am with you. You can reach me on ******

I have already been forwarding this discussion's notification emails to ******** as he is very famous for responding to Public emails in 3 days max time. Lets see if I am able to get any response from him. Will keep you guys posted.

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