Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

So after the numerous emails sent on the Apple Contact Day last week, I have been eventually contacted by Apple in the person of Chiara Casto, Distribution International. She was very polite but after about 15 minutes of conversation, the result is that she could do nothing, but cross her fingers. The "engineers" at Apple are the only responsible for activating a recall campaign. My case (and the phone call) will be reported. If and when those engineers decide that we deserve to have our machines fixed at Apple expenses, they'll let us know. The only thing I could do was to state my disappointment. Let us hope that something will change soon; the only thing I wish to suggest to everybody is to go to an apple store or contact apple care and make sure that have a case logged.

Hola a todos. Hoy he vuelto a contactar con soporte oficial de Apple, abriendo una Excepción gratuita de soporte, y he expuesto mi problema completo una vez más. Ahí no pueden hacer nada (lógicamente), pero al menos tengo dos códigos con la incidencia registrada, donde se guarda el historial del chat de soporte, o las posibles llamadas realizadas. No tengo ni idea de qué sería necesario aportar en el hipotético caso de que Apple decida iniciar un programa de reparaciones gratuitas, pero, por si acaso, he guardado esos números de incidencia en mi dossier del caso. Aparte, suelo enviar feedback de soporte en la página oficial tantas veces enlazada aquí. Ojalá pronto Apple haga algo, mi MacBookPro no sirve para NADA, ya que ya ni siquiera se enciende la pantalla.

Decepcionado (por ahora) con Apple.

Bad design - I would possibly say more a very bad idea sticking a massive sandy bridge CPU and AMD GPU in a design originally meant for a c2d CPU and 9600/9400. Add the usual slapdash thermal paste and rough contact plate as other factors no wonder they were very quick to put the ivy bridge CPU and Kepler combo inside which runs 30% cooler. Too much to handle for this chassis.

VIctim no 7 was given your link on eBay this morning - I will be throwing in a BTO upgraded i7 BGA in with my box when I ship mine to you nudge nudge wink wink!

The full system lockups are indeed a much more seriously problem.

My system just bricked - a mid-2011 MacBook pro.. 15" with an intel i7 2.0Ghz quad core processor and the AMD Radeon HD 6490M discreet graphics card. Complete factory setup with no modifications otherwise.

I've used it for the last 3 years with moderate graphics use - some multi-tab web browsing, some use of Windows in Parallels, video and photo work but nothing extremely intense. I've been having occasional blue screens and glitches on and off for the last year and a half. Today I was doing some video conversion work and running a backup simultaneously when the computer just suddenly shut off.

When I tried to turn it on again I got the chime, the apple logo and progress bar, and then just a gray screen. Total lockup and (I believe) failure on the part of the AMD GPU.

Trying to boot up from a backup drive and from the OSX install DVD gave the same results. After further attempts at disk repair and resetting NVRAM, I was able to recover some use of the computer by disabling the AMD Radeon discreet graphics card and using only the integrated intel GPU - via the temporary fix here: https://people.cam.cornell.edu/~zc227/extras/early2011mbp_graphics.html#tempfix

This at least gave me an opportunity to recover my files, and confirms that the AMB GPU is the problem.

Though from what I understand the system is really not meant to be used exclusively with the integrated intel GPU - especially when doing anything GPU intensive. This is absolutely not a real fix but a kludge.

My warranty is just up (I bought this computer new in mid-2011). I live in the Netherlands so hopefully there are EU protections against defective products like this. I'm really surprised Apple isn't doing something about this. They've done recall programs in the past for a similar issue with 2011 imacs.

GavMackem wrote:

 

Bad design - I would possibly say more a very bad idea sticking a massive sandy bridge CPU and AMD GPU in a design originally meant for a c2d CPU and 9600/9400. Add the usual slapdash thermal paste and rough contact plate as other factors no wonder they were very quick to put the ivy bridge CPU and Kepler combo inside which runs 30% cooler. Too much to handle for this chassis.

Nicely articulated. This accords with my suspicions, although I don't have your extensive technical experience.  THIS is the underlying problem resulting in the diagnosis PS3Specialist made (dust, etc) which in turn results in the symptoms which has driven most of us here.

FIX? ******* FIX?

My late 2011 MBP has the graphics problem.  It took a month to figure out all the various symptoms were caused by the failure of the discrete gpu.  Symptoms:

• Pink lines across screen during bootup.  Was doing that for a year.  Sometimes, no lines,
• Would not always boot.  Gray screen of death.  Blue scteen of death.
• Only way to boot now is to remove /system/libraries/Extensions/AMD
• Now, recovery will not boot, even using the boot from internet option.
• Now, computer is stuck in discrete graphics mode, and there always are lines going across the screen.

I was resigned to submitting to the heat treatment.  After that, last resort:  leeches.

Today, I found a shop in Houston, TX, where I live that knows all about this problem and how to make permanent fix.  They replace certain chips that make up the gpu, using solder that doesn't melt under normal use.  It's really just one guy at the shop that has been repairing motherboards for 20 years that knows how.  Cost is $275.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I have had the same problem... It is very annoying. When you purchase a MacBook Pro you would expect it to "work" for at least four years without any problems. Well it died on me... Let's hope the heat problem did not damage the hard drive...  However having said that, many post 2010 machines seem mysteriously to have died within three years of purchase, even cheaper PCs. The problem is the manufacturing And the cheap solders being used by Chinese manufacturers. I am being forced to replace the motherboard or logic board within three years of purchase is in my view sad. The next mac l will buy will be cheaper, l am not shelling out another 2100 EUR for a product that dies within three years... Even though it has given me sterling service.

I'm also getting pink lines on the screen, but I can "login" before it halts on the grey screen of death. I never actually get to the desktop.

Early 2011 MBP 15", 2.2GHz i7 w/AMD, 16GB RAM upgrade, SSD upgrade. Completely toast now after 3.3 years of use. It went from working to broken just as I launched an app that activated the GPU. That caused a kernel panic and left me in a non-bootable state.

to boot, you can login as single user, by holding shift key at power up, when you get the txt, let go of shift.  When the text is done, enter the two commands shown for making changes. Then, move /system/library/Extensions/AMD* to a directory you can find later.  Then boot.  Good chance I will work

Hi,

Please add value to your complain by directing it to Apple feedback channel because Apple does not monitor this forum.
Kindly call Apple support center and get a case number opened Contact Apple for support and service

cheers

From Seoul,

I have suffered this problem a few days ago, and was told it's like KRW840,000 (US$850) to replace a logic board, which the customer service rep claimed they were unable to guarantee it will be a permanent fix nor the logic board will be a new one (i.e. the board could be a refurbished board).

So essentially, what they were saying is that yes you can fix your expensive laptop by purchasing a replacement part that costs as much as a new Samsung laptop but even that replacement part is not a permanent fix nor a new component!

Oh Apple... please do something about this!

and the Contact Apple for support and service only seems to apply if you have a valid AppleCare contract?

HEllo

I cannot Fins the AMD extensions in the library. Schold I look for other files? I am on Snow Leopard.

If it is that much, forget it... I am about to go to the electronics repair store and ask the repair technician to inquire how much a new logic board for the machine is... If l have to pay some 700 euro l will ask him to clone the hard drive onto a new hard disk and throw the machine in the trash. Apple you are losing the quality you once stood for.

Sent from my iPad

@Wheel-Idiot-No.1

You can get it fixed much cheaper by 3th party repairs by reflow/reball/replace the GPU.

If you want to trash it, trash it to me pleases ;-).

DMC440 wrote:

 

GavMackem wrote:

 

Bad design - I would possibly say more a very bad idea sticking a massive sandy bridge CPU and AMD GPU in a design originally meant for a c2d CPU and 9600/9400. Add the usual slapdash thermal paste and rough contact plate as other factors no wonder they were very quick to put the ivy bridge CPU and Kepler combo inside which runs 30% cooler. Too much to handle for this chassis.

Nicely articulated. This accords with my suspicions, although I don't have your extensive technical experience.  THIS is the underlying problem resulting in the diagnosis PS3Specialist made (dust, etc) which in turn results in the symptoms which has driven most of us here.

Absolutely it is the underlying problem. But if Apple applied the same wonderful engineering precision they apply everywhere else bar between that die and heatsink it would be far less of a problem.  Repasted MacBook Pros I do fail less - fact across the range including these 2011's.  Opening a mac product mostly as an enthusiast of engineering and design is like opening a box of diamonds, unfortunately rummaging through the diamonds I always seem to find this small but nevertheless important diamond which turns out to be made of .... !