Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

This problem is so completely frustrating.  Literally thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of these units are having the SAME GPU manufacturer faults.  We purchased these top of the line, expensive machines because they were supposed to be of good build quality.

My MPB Early 2011 17 in died out before its second year anniversary.  Silly me did not purchase the warranty because I barely had enough to afford it in the first place.

When I sent it into Apple, they quoted me $610 + tax to replace is (around $700 total) because I had a dent in the lid.  I declined because I knew it was just a problem with the GPU chip and I wanted the component fixed.  They told me to take it to a third party to get the component repaired.

Well I ended up doing just that, I paid $200 to get the chip reflowed (90 warranty), and after the 4th month, it died again.  I have left it a paper weight since then (Jan 2014) just to see if Apple would do a recall.  Sadly, I am losing all hope.

My question to the community is: I found another MBP tech who can reflow my chip again for $115 - should I send it to him for another 3-4 months of my MBP working?  It's either that, or hold off in hopes that Apple does issue a recall (which I believe will never happen).  It almost seems like every 3-4 months, I'm just going to have to pay the $115 to keep getting it reflowed.  I loved this machine dearly, but I am sadly disappointed with Apple's service here.  I will never purchase another Apple product and I have since stopped recommending Apple products to anyone (in fact I steer them away). 

Music_Pharoah wrote:

 

 

 

My question to the community is: I found another MBP tech who can reflow my chip again for $115 - should I send it to him for another 3-4 months of my MBP working?  It's either that, or hold off in hopes that Apple does issue a recall (which I believe will never happen).  It almost seems like every 3-4 months, I'm just going to have to pay the $115 to keep getting it reflowed.  I loved this machine dearly, but I am sadly disappointed with Apple's service here.  I will never purchase another Apple product and I have since stopped recommending Apple products to anyone (in fact I steer them away). 

Please do not get another reflow. Reflow is very dangerous to your machine. The best solution is reballing. The difference is that reflow is like reheating your logic board or chip to make the solder liquid again.  Reballing, on the other hand, means that the chip is removed and then carefully resoldered back into place. If performed by a capable technician, a reballing can make your system like new and it will last much longer than any reflow.

Reballing usually cost around $150-200. Some reputable reballer services offer up to 6months to 1year warranty. Take a look into it. There have been a number of reballing services from various countries posted on this thread..

Not starting a discussion about reflow vs reball, but:

Theoretically a reflow is less dangerous then a reball.

With a reball you have to lift the chip, clean the pcb, clean the chip, put alls on the chip, reflow balls to the chip and reflow chip to the motherboard.

Much more handlings compared to a reflow only.

Depending the problem, a reflow can be a long term fix too if done well.

However, if it fails again later probably best to reball immediately.

Maybe the one that reflowed it before can reball for only the price difference?

Well I am another happy mac customer who can add my name to the list. My late 2011 15" model is also experiencing this same issue. Just started recently (July 2014). So far I am using gfxCardStatus to keep myself using the integrated mode only. However on occasions my system is still locking up and requires a number of boots to get back in. I expect from reading other comments that it is only a matter of time before reboot no longer fixes the issue. Probably too late to hope on a recall for this one.

My MacBook Pro works now but only with the intel graphics, hardly what I paid for, but it is running, the issue I have is it will not run iPhoto, everything else works ok

It is not a software problem as my windows 7 does the same thing, i can only run that in safe mode, or with the discreet card disabled (it will not allow intel drivers for the card, so i have to run it in VGA mode)

UPDATE: The 1-800-SOS-APPL number has been disconnected, it gave me the 1-800-275-2273, the people I talked to were very friendly and are now becoming aware of the issue, do not be put off by the 59.00 charge that is mentioned, you do not have to pay that to talk to them, ignore this and wait to talk to someone. They are friendly and want to help us, even if it is not in their power to do so immediately.

cu do's to Dana and Bob, very pleasant and helpful to deal with, though I do not have a resolution as of yet (and may not get one) the suggestions they gave were valuable

What we need to do is call the correct number, get your case number and make sure they know what is wrong, ie: the discreet graphics

Letting them know the issue is the only way they can have ammunition to address this issue, they are not here to fight us, but help us, keep this in mind when you phone them.

Each phone call they get with a 2011 MacBook Pro with this issue will allow them to compile the numbers THEY need to have this addressed.

Note: if you pay for the repairs, make sure you save your bills, if in time Apple does address this, and I feel they will, Apple will reimburse the repair costs IF THE ISSUE IS ADDRESSED, they will  however not reimburse anyone if it is not recognized and supported, myself I plan on limping on with my computer as it is currently, as it runs on the integrated chip, not exactly what I paid for, but I do not want to pay for a repair that may not hold (90 day warranty does not really compel me to put out the cash for the repair)

I too have an early 2011 Macbook pro 15" that started doing the frizzy screen thing two days ago.  After looking at this thread and others, I can boot up in safe mode but I have to turn off my sleep mode - as soon as the Mac falls asleep, I cannot get it to come back on.  I downloaded gfxcardstatus but I can't even get to a point where I can use it - will try booting in safe mode and looking for it so I can turn off the discrete graphics card.

I tried calling 1-800-SOS-APPLE but that said it was disconnected and referred me to normal help, who wanted $19 to talk to someone.  Are people paying this and starting tickets?  Is that my next move?  Sounds like no one knows how to fix this issue for good and I hesitate to send in the Mac only to be in this same situation 6 months from now, and $300-$600 in the hole.  It sounds like we are in a complete bind here - which is quite stressful.   

You're absolutely right, we are in a complete bind here.  After reading through more and more responses, my advice would be to *not* get it fixed.

I got it fixed once, and it came back 4 months later.  I've also been hearing that all the depot repairs are just refurbished boards, so you are bound to have the same problem 6 months to a year down the line.  It ***** to hear but your computer has become a paperweight like the rest.

My advice (and what I'm going to do) is spend the $700 and build a desktop with 4X the processing power.  It's a sad fact but dumping more money into the machine just is not going to be a long term solution here...

you do not have to pay to talk to them, they will let you know when and if you have to pay.

To report this issue they will not charge you, make sure they know it is a 2011 MacBook Pro with the AMD GPU, which they will figure out when you give them the serial number

They need as many people as possible to phone them at 1-800-275-2273, you may have to ask to be bumped up to a supervisor.

They cannot get a clear picture of what is going on unless they have the numbers, and the only way they can get these is by us calling that number with our serial number and our issue

Phone in, let them compile the numbers, sure posts on the threads may be a way to vent frustration, same with facebook posts as well, but the only way they get numbers is via case numbers tied to serial numbers of effected 2011 MacBook Pros.

Scorpionlilwhip, how did you keep from paying the $59. charge?

I am on a limited income and I saved for a long time to buy my $2400. paperweight. As I said before, it runs, but only on the integrated chip which won't allow me to do iPhoto. I have all my family pictures on there. I can't download them to my G4 as that system is not compatible with the time machine.

One thing I discovered is my MBP will not sleep with Time Machine hooked to it, or the printer for that matter. It fakes sleep, but the little light does not pulse. I just discovered this after all the troubles I have been having with it the last few weeks. Anyone else notice this? It seems there are a lot of little glitches with this machine that are either software or hardware related that have been hiding till now. I have had it two years almost to the day when it when kaput. That's a lot of money to pay for 2 years worth of computing, when you are poor like me.

I think I can use target mode to get my photos, but will I have to load iPhoto on my MacBook in order the transfer them to the G4?

When i stayed on the phone I asked the rep if i would be paying the charge, they told me no, I would not be charged unless I was being sent to a specific department regarding repair

stay on the phone and ask the rep if you will be charged, the mention of a charge is likely scaring away a lot of people from reporting this issue

what we need to do

Step 1 phone 1800 275 2273

Step 2 stay on the phone and ask if they will be charging you, when they tell you you will not be unless you require something specific

Step 3 give them your serial number and your computers problem 2011 MacBook Pro with AMD Radeon HD 6750 that is failing

Step 4 make sure you record your case number

After that..we are at their mercy, but keep checking back here, if they do something we will likely see it on the forums, unless they decide to email us personally.

But we need to phone them and have them compile the information they need to address this issue

For those unable to boot their computers, they will need to look through this thread, i booted into safe boot (wait for the chime to finish, then hold down the shift key till you get the status bar), then moved all AMD drivers to a folder on the desktop, rebooted and I now have a limping but functioning computer

in limp mode, you will not be able to access iPhoto, but using time machine and a external drive may back up your photos to the save

Hello Music Pharaoh, et al.,

I wanted to report that my early 2011 MBP 15" with its too-hot design is now running fine after have the GPU re-balled at Laptop Repair Center in Burbank, CA. I had the full-on symptoms, downloaded GFX, and was still crashing, especially after sleeping. Just couldn't stand it anymore. Did some research and found these folks had the machine to re-ball the card. (You can see a video of it on their site.) Took in the unit and got it back the next day. In the two weeks since then, not a single crash nor any video glitch. Will it last? Who knows? I've got a 90 day warranty, but I'm hoping the repair will last the life of the machine. I do know one thing for sure: my computer is running fine and it only cost $130.

Music Pharaoh, Cotter 2000, and so many others: Perhaps your MBP is worth that much investment?

Hope that helps others,

Franz

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I have terrible luck on the phone.  I just called and went through all of the motions to talk to someone.  They said "That is definitely the logic board" and sounded like he was not going to budge on the issue.  I was just starting to tell him about the graphics card and all the other people experiencing this, when we got disconnected.  I gave him a callback number, but received no callback.  So I have no case number and back to square one.  What a harrowing experience.

Is calling this 800 number any different than going through the Apple Care support through the online chat option?

I doubt it's your logic board but if it is, it is necessary to have it checked out or replaced. When I had logic board issues (mine had to be replaced 3 times in less than a year of buying my 13" mid-2012 non-retina pro) it would either freeze when bumped or shortly after being put to sleep. If left for a while, it would get hot to the touch and the fan would be screaming trying to cool it down or it would freeze while I'm using it. The screen would flash pixels of red, green, blue, magenta, black, and white in certain spots.