Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Do you really not understand that my personal business is nothing to do with you? Are you so arrogant that you demand an answer?

Get over yourself!

I posted an advise before not to replace the logic board, you will be loosing your good logic board to a much worse one, I don't know why people insist to go that track which cost them more and give them more trouble and even with the slim chance of getting a good used logic board you still get only three month warranty and most probably you will be going into the same problem again, the only real solution is reballing and I am not saying that because I repair them, I have more business than anyone can imagine so I am not looking for more. Also for people who suggest that just replacing the thermal compound is a fix , tat is absolutely not a fix, MacBook has a very sensitive logic board and taking it out and reassembling it is not as easy as people think , the picture I am posting here is an example for someone tried to do that and he end up with a broken - mostly unrepairable or replaceable screen port - so rather than getting things better it went far left and became much worse and also much more costly to fix.

This is the best I can do to take such a picture but you can see- even if not very clear - that the screen port is internally damaged and here is its replacing pictures :

Of Corse not an easy repair and not a cheap repair so avoid getting into that and don't risk your logic board.

Just went to the Apple Store here in Seattle and paid $500 for a new logic board. I don't have the option to be without my MBP for very long. Incredibly disappointed in Apple for not addressing this issue and leaving loyal customers a hefty bill for their obvious mistake.

I ended up phoning apple support 2 times and sending a email to Mr. Cook, A email was send by one of his assistants, they eventually phoned me.

They said here was nothing anyone could or would do, I can only speculate now, but that would be unfair to them so I will refrain from that.

Apple has pretty much ignored this issue as far as I can tell, each person I have talked to seems to think this is merely a isolated issue, will I purchase another apple? i am not sure, I have run Apples for at least 2 decades, but after my several discussions and emails. My confidence in their product is shaken, a premium priced unit that has a serious design flaw? This does not bode well, will other machines they sell with discreet graphics fail similarly?

The saddest part? I have a Power Book 233, one of those old black ones, it still runs perfectly, it was that type of quality that endeared their product to me.

My old Ibook (the hello kitty toilet seat, is now a music server, and has not missed a beat, aside from a now dead battery, but it runs fine connected to the power). My 2011, is crippled and will only run now on the integrated graphics, and only after going into safe boot and disabling all the AMD drivers, will it still be running as many years down the road? Hardly, it now barely functions. But I can check and send emails on it. But a Chrome Book can do that for a fraction of the cost.

We also have a retina 15" with the Discreet and integrated graphics, will this also in time fail after usage of perhaps 2 to 3 years? Does anyone know if these machines will fail as well? This really has me worried.

I need a replacement for my crippled 2011 Mac Book Pro, I am holding off purchasing another Apple, waiting to see how they respond to this

If anyone from Apple even trolls these threads take notice, I was planning on making another purchase in a short period of time, I am delaying that purchase now, and I will no longer recommend Apples to family and friends as I once did, I will not be blamed for suggesting someone purchase a item that will fail, and Apple needs to restore our confidence in their product.

I will be sending several emails to the person who got in touch with me from Mr. Cooks office, I am not hopeful for any positive results honestly.

hi DMC440.. went to bed.. good morning.. no it doesn't immediately freeze on launch.. but the controller seems to override the GFXcard setting and switches to the discreet as opposed to integrated.. pretty soon after that it freezes. seems GFXcard cant hold it on integrated.. so the machine is totally useless for graphics or video which is what I mostly use it for. ... when its rebooted.. 3 times out of 4 the screen shows the linear pattern in the pic I posted..  at which point one can be sure it will just hang and heat up.. and quit by itself once its reached the temperature limit.. ?  one has to reboot until it one gets a normal screen at which point it'll go through to the login window.. best to let it sit and cool down and think about what its gonna do..  as someone pointed out earlier.. ..  I've managed to clone it so can work on it hung off the imac.. but that's also an early 2011.. and seems they're also prone to this graphic card issue.. but its all a huge time waster.. Akamyself, thanks for the thoughts.. read about and checked the various reballing options ..  I'll probably go that way once back in Eu .. I noticed someone on this list mentioned installing a later logic board .. had also been wondering whether that would be an option.. whether it could be fitted.. shame to leave stuck in neverneverland.. a bit anal on that front.. still have my mac emulator for the Atari from '86  :-)

scorpionlilwhip wrote:

 

We also have a retina 15" with the Discreet and integrated graphics, will this also in time fail after usage of perhaps 2 to 3 years? Does anyone know if these machines will fail as well?

I suspect the 2011 issue is an isolated one, albeit a major one that Apple should address. As articulated by Gavemeckem back on page 495, in 2012 models Apple were "very quick to put the ivy bridge CPU and Kepler combo inside which runs 30% cooler". Maybe not THAT quick. But personally, I feel reasonably confident in the longevity of more recent machines. Gut feeling, speculation, no trouble with a bunch of other devices, etc etc.

Anyway, I wanted to report that I have just past three months with a replaced logic board. So far so good.  I realise I'm not in the same position as many of you; I was able to get a free replacement - even without Applecare - most likely due to a little incentive known as Australian Consumer Law.  I didn't get heavy and the Genius made it sound like they were doing it out of the goodness of they hearts, but...  I think mentioning the ACL helped.

I know that the general consensus is that this is not a proper fix and, should it fail again, I'll most likely go the reball route, although it will mean international despatch (unless anyone knows a reballer in Australia?)

I also know that I'm not as much of a power user as many of you - I don't really need it. But I did want a 17" which is one reason why a new replacement would feel like a downgrade to me, should it ever be offered.

I run GFXCardstatus on Integrated nearly all the time now; I have a three-fan cooling stand, and I'm hoping for many years of gentle usage.

Not really what the MBP should be capable of but I'm happy for the time being.

I also promise to stop feeding the trolls. From failed DJs in London to failed actors in Bangkok, they are sad, bitter people with too much time on their hands.

blalab wrote:

 

hi DMC440.. went to bed.. good morning.. no it doesn't immediately freeze on launch.. but the controller seems to override the GFXcard setting and switches to the discreet as opposed to integrated.. pretty soon after that it freezes. seems GFXcard cant hold it on integrated.

 

Frustrating.  Which version of Photoshop are you using (trying to use)?  I can run CS6 on forced integrated.

ps3specialist wrote:

 

I posted an advise before not to replace the logic board, you will be loosing your good logic board to a much worse one, I don't know why people insist to go that track which cost them more and give them more trouble and even with the slim chance of getting a good used logic board you still get only three month warranty and most probably you will be going into the same problem again, the only real solution is reballing and I am not saying that because I repair them, I have more business than anyone can imagine so I am not looking for more. Also for people who suggest that just replacing the thermal compound is a fix , tat is absolutely not a fix, MacBook has a very sensitive logic board and taking it out and reassembling it is not as easy as people think , the picture I am posting here is an example for someone tried to do that and he end up with a broken - mostly unrepairable or replaceable screen port - so rather than getting things better it went far left and became much worse and also much more costly to fix.

This is the best I can do to take such a picture but you can see- even if not very clear - that the screen port is internally damaged and here is its replacing pictures :

 

 

Of Corse not an easy repair and not a cheap repair so avoid getting into that and don't risk your logic board.

I'm beginning to think that we've had this discussion before.

But it is simply not true that simply changing the thermal paste does not work - I have a computer that could not even play an HD video or use a second monitor without crashing - Since cleaning and applying thermal paste (MX4) I have hammered this machine for a week with HD, 30" full res monitor, virtual machines, 3d apps - the machine has been perfect and not a single glitch. It is also much cooler and the fans are running much less time and at lower speeds - so while this might be temporary it certainly appears to have fixed the issue (for now). Obviously some logic boards will need reballing but I don't think every board will.

As you say this is not an easy task - it should be only carried out by someone who is confident with handling this sort of repair.

If the computer does subsequently fail - all I've lost is $15 and an hour and half of my time - hopefully by then Apple might have come to a solution for everyone or I'll send the board to you for reballing :-)

cs4.. maybe its more demanding..older framework ?  basically now have to do stuff on the old imac and airdrop if want to use in mails.. boring but getting faster :-)  interesting that cs6 works tho'..

blalab wrote:

 

cs4.. maybe its more demanding..older framework ?  basically now have to do stuff on the old imac and airdrop if want to use in mails.. boring but getting faster :-)  interesting that cs6 works tho'..

CS 3 thru CS 6 work, CS 2 (or lower) does not

blalab wrote:

 

cs4.. maybe its more demanding..older framework ?  basically now have to do stuff on the old imac and airdrop if want to use in mails.. boring but getting faster :-)  interesting that cs6 works tho'..

Strange.  Not that I hit it hard these days. Like the MPB is really overkill for my purposes, so is Photoshop. But, having worked with it for a couple of decades, everything else seems hamfisted. 

Do you see GFXcardstatus indicate the GPU change to AMD?  Are you 100% confident that you have it on Integrated Only? I only ask because, as has been mentioned before, it can take two goes to set it. I got caught out when I first started using it.

Csound1 wrote:

 

blalab wrote:

 

cs4.. maybe its more demanding..older framework ?  basically now have to do stuff on the old imac and airdrop if want to use in mails.. boring but getting faster :-)  interesting that cs6 works tho'..

CS 3 thru CS 6 work, CS 2 (or lower) does not

He's saying CS4doesnt work.  Under what conditions do those version work or not?

CS3 (and everything greater) will run on OS X 10.6, 7, 8 and 9. That's all OS X versions since Leopard (a long time ago). CS3 and CS4 will have a single issue, droplets won't work (if you use them you'll need an alternative) but that is all. CS2 and earlier are PPC programs, 10.6.8 is the maximum version of OS X you can use.

Csound1 wrote:

 

CS3 (and everything greater) will run on OS X 10.6, 7, 8 and 9. That's all OS X versions since Leopard (a long time ago). CS3 and CS4 will have a single issue, droplets won't work (if you use them you'll need an alternative) but that is all. CS2 and earlier are PPC programs, 10.6.8 is the maximum version of OS X you can use.

Right. Knew most of that.  not really relevant to the issue at hand. But thanks.  Do yo happen to know which versions would force the discreet GPU to run?

I don't usually bother to check when I am working, if the machine is doing what I expect it to that's all I need, but from memory I think that CS3 and 4 do not. You'll need someone with experience of the later versions of CS for a fuller description. I got tired of Adobe's ways and went elsewhere somewhere around CS5.5, now that it's a subscription model I doubt that I'll go back.