Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card
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Aug 20, 2014 6:47 AMby lexsto,My MBP2011 now has the same issue.
I use it for work including doing graphical work and websites and now the machine is pretty near useless to me as any time I try to use Photoshop or do anything graphics heavy it does the white lines thing. I have found out (among other things) that this is more than likely down to faulty soldering of the GPU on the logic board.
It's out of warranty and I don't have Apple Care but if I did it would have run out by now. So I am in the position of scrapping the machine or replacing the logic board which 1) costs a fair bit and 2) may not even solve the issue.
As I bought the machine direct from Apple and not through a reseller, I have been in touch with Apple Executive Relations and they have offered me a gesture of goodwill to fix the issue and cover the cost. I think I am one of the lucky few to have been offered this but I did find out a few things whilst on the phone with them and in my research of this issue. I thought I would share them with you.
1. There are three threads on the Apple forums that I could find that now have over 2 million views and 10,605 (at time of writing) replies - mine will make 10,606 I guess.
2. I was told that if you experience this, or any other technical, issue you have to follow their process which is: go to an apple store to get the machine looked at, get it repaired. Simple, but they will only cover the cost of the repair if you are under warranty or in the 3 year period of your apple care. However, in the UK you can claim against the reseller for defects like this under UK consumer law for up to 6 years after purchase. I suspect this may be easier than it sounds.
3. They wouldn't tell many how many complaints about this issue they had received, but they did say they were investigating the options but there was no decision from Apple yet. Reading between the lines this says to me that they know there is a problem (if there wasn't what would they be investigating???) but don't know what to do about it or don't want to do anything about it. But that's just my supposition.
4. I was also told that it was difficult to speak the issue I was experiencing generally (because I brought up the fact that so many other people seemed to be having the same issue) and that even if the symptoms looked the same it might be a different cause. Hmmm.......
5. I was also told (because I was sceptical of the logic board fix being offered to me) that this resolved the issue in the majority of cases. Again that makes me think they have received a fair few (and when I say that I actually mean a LOT) of complaints about this issues.
6. Lastly, there is an online petition about this issue which has now passed the 10,000 mark. I asked the man from Apple at what number would they consider this a critical issue and initiate a replacement programme like they did with the 27-inch 2011/2012 iMacs that had a video card problem? He said he couldn't comment on that.
My advice for what it is worth is - post your experience here, sign the online petition (just search for MBP 2011 petition on Google and you'll find it - I am not sure if I can put the actual link up here), and then get in touch with Apple Executive Relations and see what they say to you.
Finally, I saw a great quote from ttrtilley on one of the many forums that has a thread about this issue, which was "Too many lemons from Apple". It's quite apt given the global and highly widespread nature of this issue.
I do feel given to what I have read about this online that Apple's reputation is being damaged on a large scale and what I find bemusing is their apparent attitude to it. No decision has been made yet? Well I wouldn't waste any more time thinking about it - they just need to sort it out or they will start to lose more than "face".
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by clintonfrombirmingham,Aug 22, 2014 7:46 AM
clintonfrombirmingham
Aug 22, 2014 7:46 AM
in response to Pain and Virtue
Level 7
(30,009 points)
Mac OS XCan't give out Mr. Cook's email address or this post would be deleted!
Clinton
MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), OS Mavericks 10.9.4, 16GB Crucial RAM, Crucial M500 960GB SSD, 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display
<Edited By Host>
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Aug 20, 2014 10:06 AMby vishalkullarwar,I am having the same issue. When I open any of the programs from the Adobe Creative Suite, the system shows a blue screen with black line or a grey screen and I have restart it multiple times to make it work. Few days back when I started iPhoto the system showed me a grey screen and the OS didn't boot. It took a good 4 days and mutilple restarts to actually get it started. Its very difficult and being a photographer these programs come to use on a daily basis. I checked with an Apple reseller and he said the entire logic board has to be replaced and it doesn't come cheap.
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Aug 20, 2014 1:08 PMby webdesignertuts,Hello all ..
I reached a temporary fix .. ( until I have the logic board replaced ) because I live in the middle east and there are no Apple Store around.
I am having the same exact problem .. with AMD Radeon HD 6750M
I did install the gfxCardStatus, V2.3 ( when ) I was able to start the mac on, immediately set the it to: use integrated only, but after a while the mac starts to freeze and I had to force shut down and do the same process again and agin.
Temporary Fixing
The fix I did is to delete the AMD drivers from: system/Library/Extensions
But not all of them, only 5 files, and they are:
AMDRadeonVADriver.bundle
AMDRadeonX3000.kext
AMDRadeonX3000GLDriver.bundle
AMDRadeonX4000.kext
AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle
After that I restarted the system, and everything works just fine.
No need to use gfxCardStatus anymore.
The resolution of the screen is normal.
switching automatic graphic ( from preferences ) do nothing now.
My Mac description:
Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,3 Processor Name: Intel Core i7 Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB L3 Cache: 6 MB Memory: 8 GB Hard: SSD 128GB -
Aug 20, 2014 2:09 PMby D3us,Fuzolan wrote:
Same Problem here...
They should release a patch to disable the amd completely.
It would be something...
Theat's like buying and paying for a 4 cilinder car.
Of wich 3 cilinders would later prevent you to start the car.
Would you go to the garage to let them disable those 3 cylinders to use it on 1 cylinder only?
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Aug 20, 2014 2:23 PMby danmcq,D3us wrote:
Theat's like buying and paying for a 4 cilinder car.
Of wich 3 cilinders would later prevent you to start the car.
Would you go to the garage to let them disable those 3 cylinders to use it on 1 cylinder only?
If the only other option was not being able to use my car at all, then yes I would.
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Aug 20, 2014 2:26 PMby actionman99,Can't agree more, we're all doing our best here to cope, but we can't make replacement logic boards!
This is where daddy-o has to step in and do the job properly.
This a metaphor by the way, Daddy is Apple and the Job is their... well, wallet.
Everyone misses Steve!
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Aug 20, 2014 3:29 PMby ghughu,I'm having the same issue - early 2011 Macbook Pro w/ 2.2ghz i7 and the AMD 6750 card.
I've taken very good care of the laptop and am extremely disappointed with Apple's response.
Going to try again at the Apple Store tomorrow but not too optimistic - might be time to move away from Apple if this is how they treat customers who spend thousands on their products.
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Aug 20, 2014 3:54 PMby danmcq,DMC440 wrote:
kishin094 - minor pedantic point: can you describe what you mean by the "Blue Screen Of Death"? That is a particular Windows phenomenon (and OS/2, for those who remember it) and doesn't really describe the symptoms most users here are experiencing.
Actually, one of the symptoms of this GPU failure can be a "blue screen of death," as I experienced myself. I experienced this particular problem every time I tried to load the Mavericks install.
