Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Same thing happened to mine. Graphics failed while normally browsing, cannot have any graphics at all now. Did intensive video editing a couple days ago. Shouldn't Apple give some explanations?!

I have macbook pro (15" early 2011, 2.2Ghz, 256G SSD) with graphcis failure recenty.

When using iPhoto and iMovie, suddently screen blacks out.

After force power reset, glitches appear on screen and failed to boot.

Eventually after having enough cooling time, macbook-pro works again.

But, from that time Macbook-Pro sometimes freezes or blacks out again with blue glitched screen.

It seems to be more worse, today even toggling enable/disable automatic switching graphic option on energy star from control panel makes macbook-pro screens out and gone.

Apple authorized techinal support says to me that reparing logic board may require 800,000(KRW) - about $800 in U.S.dollor.

I'm waiting for clear explaination about this issue.

Hi guys,

I was just wondering if there is a way to tell if a late 2011 15" macbook pro has been reballed?

Also when they replace the motherboard do they take the sticker from by the ram sockets with the S/N off of the old motherboard and put it on the new one?

Something weird is going on with a mate of mines macbook, he just got it back from a motherboard "Replacement" but the IO ports where dirty as if they had been used for the last 2 years as his old mobo was. But i decided to delve further and poped it open and the motherboard had the same serial number as the old one/the machine and according to people online when the motherboard in a mac is replaced the S/N on the motherboard should be diffrent...

Cheers

"another fact is that the people who took the matter in their hands and send their computers for reballing got their computers back working and no one heard from them since"

No, that is NOT a fact.  Reballing has not had lasting success for everyone.

If so, that is the speechless clue make everyone agree on the fact that the problem come from the macbook pro architecture itself. If one piece still failing even done by another professional using different material, and in a short time, then it's the machine problem = Hidden malfunction.

Well, I'm not denying the effectiveness or appropriateness of the reballing procedure, I'm just correcting the record: reballing is NOT a guaranteed fix.  Best option?  Possibly - but he took it further to say that there have been no complaints.  That is not true - maybe he didn't mean to put it so strongly though.

YOUR CONCLUSION IS WRONG AND YOU ARE FISHING IN THE DIRTY WATER, REBALLING RESULTS VARY FOR TOO MANY REASONS AND IT CAN LAST FROM ONE DAY TO ONE YEAR OR MORE DEPENDS ON WHO DID IT, WHAT MACHINE HE USED, WHAT MATERIALS HE USED AND HOW GOOD HIS THERMAL PROFILE AND THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR BESIDE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE REBALLER AND HOW TRAINED HIS HANDS IS AND HOW MANY TIMES HE HAS DONE IT SO DON'T JUMB TO WRONG CONCLUSIONS. NOT EVERYONE DOING REBALLING IS A PROFISSIONAL AND NOT ALL PROFISSIONALS HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE OR USE THE SAME MACHINES AND THERMAL PROFILES AND MATERIALS AND THEIR REBALLING RESULTS ARE NOT THE SAME. THE LOGIC BOARD IS NOT A FACTOR IN THE REBALLING RESULT AT ALL.

I WAS TALKING ABOUT MY OWN RESULTS NOT EVERYONE DOING REBALLING.

@phreelee Agree

Honestly, you make me think of someone do it as a black job, beside his job, and pray voodoo dolls when doing it without knowing anything about electronics.

You think people/robots in manufacturing have this kind of results requirement ?

Anyway, done with troll.

What equipment do you use for reballing and how would you compare it to Jovy Systems rework station?

What do you think about new series (2013 production year) of AMD chips?

Here is my side of the story, My Macbook Pro 17 inch was already out of apple care by 3 months. I went to apple two days ago here in Australia.  They immediately told me that the problem is due to faulty logic board. They didn't even run the diagnostics. How? Well, Anyways. They told me " we understand that you have got a very expensive machine and the logic board replacement is also very expensive so we will do it for you one time free of charge. you will have 90 days warranty and even after that you will be covered under Australian consumer law for a reasonable amount of time"

Just got my laptop today and wondering how long the fix is going to last.

i am another one to count with the same problems that appeared recently. I have a MacBook Pro 15 2011  with two graphics components: an AMD Radeon HD 6750M and a built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000.

Now it's like out of question to use iPhoto or read a video. Moreover, it's pratically impossible to start my Mac because either the page turns blue either it turns white. Nothing really works or when it does (like resetting the PRAM), it never lasts

I can't believe Apple is just ignoring all of us for so long...

CLEARLY YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT SO YOU BETTER TALK ABOUT SOMETHING YOU UNDRESTAND SO YOU DON'T LOOK STUPID , YOU CAN NOT COMPARE REBALLING WITH A ROBOT MANUFACTURING, IN MANUFACTURING THEY ONLY DO THE LAST STEP IN THE REBALLING PROCESS WHICH IS ATTACHING A CHIP TO A NEW EMPTY LOGIC BOARD, THEY DON'T REMOVE AN ATTACHED CHIP, THEY DON'T REMOVE OLD SOLDER FROM THE CHIP AND THE BOARD, THEY DON'T REBALL THE CHIP AND EACH ONE OF THESE STEPS IS A LOT MORE HARDER THAN THE STEP THEY DO WHICH IS ATTACHING THE CHIP TO THE BOARD , WHAT MAKES REBALLING A VERY SENSITIVE PROCEDURE AND REQUIRE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE IS THAT EACH STEP OF THE PROCEDURE MUST BE DONE WITH 100% SUCCESS OR THE WHOLE PROCESS WILL FAIL SO 99.9% SUCCESS IS SIMPLY A FAILURE , DID YOU GET ANYTHING FROM THAT SO YOU DON'T KEEP SAYING ITS A TROLL JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!! BY THE WAY MANUFACTURING FACILITY WILL NOT FIX A FAILED LOGIC BOARD BY REBALLING, THEY CANN'T.

No need to mystify your work dude. I think everyone here know about soldering things, what the difference ? Smaller ? Woot. Nobody say it's a easy things, but it's clearly a science without any magic.

Anyway, hopefully for you some people are scared/unconfident or whatever and will keep listen this kind of things. Keep going, you will always find someone to pay so ...

Ps : no need to use caps letters, it don't make your opinion/through stronger.

Manufacture don't repair because it's totally not worth the money. They have automated chain, process, failure acceptance. Why would they give a **** of a problem cost more to solve than a simple change ? Their success rate is better by following the process than bring an exception by repairing. That's all.

But anyway thanks for your opinion, I like your way to think and prove your words.

"Manufacture don't repair because it's totally not worth the money."

Just to be sure that I understand what you're trying to articulate: "Apple's vendors do not repair circuit boards because it's cheaper to discard a defective board."  You are absolutely wrong.  Boards are tested prior to assembly into the casework, and each electronic component is checked for proper value, alignment, and approved manufacturer.  All exposed solder connections are exposed to polarized light, and the color banding is computer-analyzed to ascertain proper flow temperature and thickness.  Any defective board is rejected, repaired, and retested.  Good boards are then assembled into casework, and then tested as each manufacturing station.  Throughout the manufacturing, any defective module is replaced and, when ever possible, repaired.  Modules that cannot be repaired during the manufacturing process are returned to the various vendors for repair.