Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Looks like I'm in the club too.

Started a couple of days a go with my 2011 MacBook Pro when watching video on YouTube then started to have an issue with my second monitor being connected and finally today it's decided that it's done with Photoshop.

Installed GFX earlier so gonna give it a week or so to see if this *magically* fixes the MacBook as I really don't want to fork out to fix something that should never go so quickly - has anyone had any luck with the 'unfit for purpose' line?

WEll, i sent mine into apple for fixed.  They replaced the logic board, screen, keyboard, hard drive and optical drive.  well, it has only been 10 days since getting it back and had the same failure last night.  Screen went nuts, line all over, and had to hold down the power button to shut it off.  When i tried to restart it the screen was in almost a rainbow effect on it and you could see the pixels.  It then went to the white screen while trying to load and never got past that.  I could close the computer and the little apple logo would stay lit up, i would open the computer back up and still white screen, it never turned off.

have another appointment with the apple store tonight.  They honestly should start reimbursing me for gas money.

robert

ps3specialist

It looks like the caps lock on your keyboard is broken.  Send it to me and I'll fix it for $10,000 with a 90 day warranty.

of course it failed again, hope you knew it would when you gave it to them the first time.

as a reminder for new comers, CPU and GPU are soldered together on the logic board.

if you experience screen distortion, red, blue, green (or whatever color) vertical bars all of a sudden or just plain black or grey, if your mbp sticks to the grey screen on boot up after the first Apple logo appears and the fans are running wild, that means the soldering between CPU and GPU is messed up.

since Apple doesn't do any reballing work, all they will do is swap your logic board for another one that has probably already been swapped from another computer for the same problem before. Swap your money from your pocket to their cash register in the process, if no apple care.

and since they obviously don't have any new parts, refurbished logic boards are all they can offer.

even better, their hardware tests doesn't detect this failure so there is no reason for them to change anything in this process.

if you want to fix the problem, find a reballing service, a qualified one with a 6 months to one year guarantee and you should be up and running again.

you would lose the right to be a part of any recall plan by Apple but maybe there won't be one anyway.

just be aware of that.

and most of all, that goes without saying, call the hotline (ask for an exception, free of charge), get a case number, send feedback on Apple's site and try your luck in an Apple store. google macbook pro 2011 and you will find other useful things do to and read about our failure.

if I made any mistake, feel free to correct me, english is not my first language.

Farazlarik

At least they offered to replace your logic board free of charge.

The first repair on my MBP was in April.  Main Logic Board replaced.

The second repair on my MBP was in June.  Main Logic Board replaced, both memory modules replaced, both fans replaced.

The third repair on my MBP was in July.  Main Logic Board replaced.

Haven't run it through it paces yet but already having issues with the audio port (audio devices only show optical out, no internal speaker).  Apple Support asked me to try reinstalling OSX first, and if that does not work, then erase the HDD and then reinstall OSX.  Neither worked, and not sure why they thought it would be the solution given that the only thing changed during the third repair was hardware.

Your luck my vary but I wanted to at least share my own experience thus far.

<Edited By Host>

We bought two 15-inch MacBook Pro late-2011 model and both our GPU failed.
Unit #1 failed last year September and replaced the board 3 times! With the most recent replacement done last month July 2014.
We do not use Unit #2 extensively and eventually the GPU failed today.

It looks like the lifespan of this GPU is approx 2-3 years, which is ridiculous.

My Acer Aspire 4736G bought in 2009 is still going strong till today and it costs only one third of MBP 15-inch.

Apple Inc, you have more than US$150 billion (as of June 2014) in cash reserves; more than what my country (i.e. Malaysia) have!

Please dont be so stingy and give us a fair solution.

"5 MBP's ranging from 2009 to 2013, all work fine (including a 2011) (plus 2 iMacs and 7 mini's of varying age)

I must have got lucky."

YOU must have. I have two old iMacs and a 2000 Powermac and an iPad mini that work fine too, but my newest apple, MBP 17" early 2011, a special build that I purchased the following year for almost $2400. that is just barely past the 2 year old mark has the graphic problem. I only use it for searching the web, email, iPhoto and Facebook. I don't even have photoshop. I do have an external monitor that I have used since two weeks after I bought my MBP. And that I think was my downfall. But I am older and my eyes get eyestrain with the smaller screens, so I prefer a large one. And I made sure the MBP would be able to use a larger screen before I purchased it. Boy, is that a let down.

Wow there's a class action lawasuit...

If that all you got from what I wrote there I have to tell you that you are very superficial. you need to get a check up ASAP.

For someone who mentioned several times that they are done with this forum, you sure do continue to post here quite a bit.  Just an observation.

A few thoughts:

1. I have logged myself here as another early-2011 15" MBP user with the same issue.
2. I email Tim Cook. I was very cordial and expressed concern with what appears to be a QC issue. I was assigned a customer support case. I explained my predicament to the rep, but kept it pretty laid back. They offered $100 toward a new purchase. I got the indication that even this process doesn't formalize the "issue" I'm having with Apple's technical side of the house.
3. I'm going to now do the Feedback form, hoping that adds to their internal tally. They don't monitor these discussion boards for QC issues. And it's easy to see why...
4. There's no small amount of petty back-and-forth that goes on in here. I wish people stuck with the basics... "here's my problem" or "here's how I fixed it" or "here's what I tried and didn't work".
5. Back on track, I've installed gfxCardStatus and locked my machine to using the integrated chip. No problems. I've done some experiments, letting it use the discreet card and every time it hoses up. Pretty consistent with most have reported.
6. I'm currently torn on buying a new unit and relegating this one to a home server role... serving up my iTunes and iPhoto libraries, OR sending this one off to be reballed.

ericsojb,

If I were you, I would have your unit reballed and if the reballing doesn't 'take' after one year, then would think of replacing the machine.

And, I, too, wish people would settle down - realists speak for themselves and there's no reason to delve into any sort of argument over whether which is leaded pr unleaded solver - either will do fine.

Just my 2¢...

Clinton

MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), OS Mavericks 10.9.4, 16GB Crucial RAM, Crucial M500 960GB SSD, 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display

You gave him the right advise and to prove that  I attached a picture of a 2011 15"  logic board that I just removed the GPU chip from two seconds ago , there is no better prove than a picture and its very easy to see why this logic board has failed, every single soldering point is bad and dirty , how else it can be fixed other than reballing ?!!!

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your feedback. As for the feedback form you mentioned, is it under Contact Us > Feedback > Product Feedback section?
If you have a different Feedback form "complaint" channel, we would like to know. Let's fry their internal tally numbers on faulty 15-inch early/late-2011 MBP!

best wishes,

JK