Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

L2 Computers in Manhattan does board level repairs with quick turn around. I opted not to use them for the GPU issue, as I believed Apple would one day cover the repair.

I just googled Tim Cook's e-mail address and e-mailed him directly. Hopefully he will be as good as the great Steve Jobs and will care about this product.

heck, If I wanted my issues to be ignored or not addressed, I could have just saved my money and just bought a dell or a laptop from walmart. Really the quality that we expect from Apple needs to go up and if we are paying premium price for a great product, the service that we can expect when a system wide known problem takes place should be better than this.

Don't get your hopes up too high, I did not get a reply form him or any of his associates. Maybe its just in the MBP 2011 'In' tray with all the others.

I did that in August before I had my initial "depot repair". The response was to "consult applecare." I have since sent a follow up and have not receive a reply.

Dear Mr. Cook,

I am a long time Apple products consumer and have been recommending Apple products to my friends, clients and colleagues for nearly a decade.

I purchased a 2011 Macbook Pro 15” new in 2011. The machine served me well until this summer when it began having sporadic issues where it would freeze and shutdown. The problem worsened until the machine no longer would boot. Upon investigating the issue I discovered that this a known common issue with the GPU failing after several years.

I have been to the Apple Store numerous times with this issue. On August 28, I spoke at length with the Apple Store Manager in Staten Island regarding this issue and my concerns after having read numerous posts of users with this issue having it reoccur and having to have multiple logic board replacements.  She assured me that my concerns would be documented and that Apple would make certain that I would be satisfied. I agreed to have the repair performed and picked the machine up on August 31.

After 10 days with the new board, I  began having sporadic issues with the machine, freezing and rebooting. The problem has only worsened since, with it rebooting 10x already today. The error log refers to a GPU issue, namely: Panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff7f8d79feaa): "AGC GPU REGISTER RESTORE FAILED : rdar://7254528, VendorID invalid"@/SourceCache/AppleGraphicsControl/AppleGraphicsControl-3.6.22/src/. After reinstalling the operating system and even trying a different drive install, the problem persists and is worsening. My subsequent reading about this error on Apple’s Support Forums again places the error with the GPU that has been a known problem.

After a month, several trips to the Apple Store, calls and chats with Apple Support and $330, I am again left with a failing machine. I am looking at yet more trips to the Apple Store in Staten Island, which is the closest store to me and requires a $15 toll on the Verrazano Bridge, gas, and most importantly time; all to address this reoccurring problem that is endemic with these machines.

How much more should I be forced to do in order to get an expensive machine that I happily paid for to function properly without failing in less than two weeks? At this point I am not confident that a second, third or even fourth logic board replacement will solve this problem for more than a couple of weeks. This is costing me in time, peace of mind and financially.

The biggest selling point with Apple products to me had always been their design and reliability.

I am very unhappy with my experience.

I agree fully. With a $300 computer you can deal with its failing after a few years and buy another six of them and still spend less than an Apple product.

If a Ford Fiesta has to go to the junkyard after three years, there is no feeling of being cheated. But, if a Ferrari has to go to the junkyard after three years there is a definitely a difference.

Well,

Its really sad when my OLD HP (running win 98) and my OLD Sony Viao (running Win XP) is able to still boot up and the only issue that they have is the battery needs to be replaced. But the Mac that I bought is already having issues. hmm.. may be its time to re-think the next ph and not go for i-phone 6 and go for another Non-apple brand... cause if this is the type of service that I am looking forward to I rather just switch brands.

Easy solution mate,

Save the gas and money, just drive down to Wal-Mart and pickup a cheap laptop that you can junk in 3 years. Benefit? Well you will feel too bad for getting crappy service, cause you know your expatiations will be low.

i hope tcook's mail account and desktop is flooded with letters!

now i also mailed my letters to apple europe in ireland and to cupertino

i pasted a few quotes of this thread from the last days to show that people are really getting angry

hope that is ok for everybody i quoted

Macbook Pro 2011 GPU failure – it's enough! 

Dear Sir or Madam,

i write you from germany and hope you really consider this and take responsibility

for the issue. It is beyond comprehension for me how Apple can still ignore all these voices

(see below) – i think you are really loosing your reputation here.

It would be sad if you don't care about this. I was always happy with my Macs (since 1996!) because they were reliable quality products and didn't only look like this...

And now one could almost get the impression it is "designed to fail".

I really hope that it is not on purpose, but then why don't you admit the fault?

It is an insolence to just replace the logicboards – but with the same GPU that will most likely cause the problem again – and even let people pay for that! It is also not intelligent.

My Macbook Pro (Serial C0*******F8Y) – doesn't this stand for "professional"? – had 3 logicboard replacements so far, all due to GPU failure! not to mention all the stress i have as a freelance graphic designer when i have a deadline and – again! – cannot use it!

Now i don't feel that my Macbook is reliable any more, because i know it has the same faulty gpu built-in. It is really very annoying (also that i have to write this letter).

The following voices are taken from the thread 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card on your own support sites – only a few quotes out of 8350 replies (from the last 3 days only!):

"The complete silence from Apple on the matter is extremely frustrating."

"...this is the FOURTH LOGIC BOARD THAT HAS FAILED IN THREE MONTHS!!!!!!!

I paid loads to get the original logic board replaced by Apple back in June this year, and I have had repeated failures. I am still covered by the three month warranty period so doubtless they will replace it again.

But that's not the point. I cannot use a Macbook that can suddenly fail at any moment.

...

MESSAGE TO Apple: This is RUBBISH, a premium product less than three years old should not suffer constant GPU failures under normal/light usage. And your total lack of comment to a widespread problem only serves to cast doubt on the quality of your products."

"Its been said but I'll say it again, if Apple doesn't act on this egregious error, they've lost my business forever.  I'd love for my next computer to be another mac, but I just can't see spending an outrageous amount of money on a machine that is now behind the curve, and apparently cheap and dysfunctional.  Reliability was why I loved Macs and now my faith in them has been shaken to its core.

Oh well, I'm kinda excited to build my own super editing machine.  Thanks Apple for screwing me over"

"I find this hard to believe. 556 pages of people with the same problem and Apple is taking no action"

"My loyalty to Apple is waining. I have been a Mac user and evangelist for nearly 20 years..."

"With the literally THOUSANDS of people reporting similar problems with the discrete graphics card, you'd hope Apple would step up and make amends..."

"same issue.  Where is Apple with a response?"

"It's absolutely ridiculous, that this is not fixed by apple for free. Definitely not a component that should fail after 2-3 years!!"

"Apple really should issue a replacement. I paid a lot of money for this machine, because I imagined that I was buying quality. If the Apple brand doesn't represent quality, I guess it is just overpriced electronics. Maybe we should take all of our 2011 MBPs and drop them off on the lawn of Apple Headquarters..."

"I have searched and found a petition online, hope all of you find it and sign it too, frankly, Apple needs to address this."

"Seriously, Apple? I've paid >£2k for this piece of metal..."

"very unhappy with apple. APPLE, do sthing!  you known you are losing credit from APPLE fans"

"Having the same issue.  Why has Apple not responded with a fix???"

"If all of this was not SO TRAGIC it would be funny...

It looks like they designed these computers to work for 3 years and then self destruct.

BRAVO Apple!

Steve come back!"

and so on and on...

I hope there will be soon a solution to this for all 2011 Macbook Pro owners – and not just replacements of logicboards with the same GPU that will probably fail again after a while.

I still don't give up on Apple, even though my confidence is pretty much shaken...

Regards

(signature)

<Personal Information Edited by Host>

I am back to using an eight-year-old First Generation Macbook that still fully functions. Even old Apple products were built far more superior to new ones.

burmeseday wrote:

 

I am back to using an eight-year-old First Generation Macbook that still fully functions. Even old Apple products were built far more superior to new ones.

Indeed, my 2007 MBP outlasted my 2011 MBP.

i would love to work with my old G3 - it's still running

but unfortunately i cannot upgrade OSX or new software i need for my work...

a friend told me she now buys only cheap pcs at the discounter

because then at least she doesn't have to regret it if it is broken after few years

i think i will change to this strategy as well - looks like i am forced to!

i would prefer to buy and use high quality products that last long time

but unfortunately that doesn't seem to exist anymore

and also the softwareis designed that way that you have to buy new hardware as well

it is a terrible development - we produce more and more waste and destroy the planet - but the main thing is that profits of the big corporations are climbing!

welcome to the sinking ship!

Thanks for your post bleakaspect...

I've added my complaint also in the hope that Apple finally resolves this issue before a lot of their loyal consumers simply give up and spend their money elsewhere.

The funny thing is that I always go for refurbished electronics. They are sold at a 30% discount and have had a far more rigorous inspection than new. This 2011 Macbook Pro was the first I actually bought new....

I have a 2002 Dell that still works. I worked on 1995 IBM laptops that were still running a decade later, even an ancient Atari Computer that I came across that was nearing 30 years old, still worked - not so for a 2011 Macbook. Only my 2002 Compaq laptop failed within two years, but that was only a $50 soldering repair and lasted another three years before I killed it replacing a power port and broke some capacitors reassembling it at six-years-old.

Usually computers are replaced because they become obsolete, not because they burn out. The 2011 macbook pro with the additions of more memory and an SSD drive was as powerful as most other machines being made now. A 300mhz improvement in memory bus speed and slightly superior processing and graphics are the only thing separating a 2011 and a 2013 model,(Retina just became standard) which for me does not warrant a new computer any time soon.

Many pc sellers are still marketing core2 duos and i3 processor, surely an i7 machine should still be a good machine that would be relevant for several more years for people like me, yet we are seeing machines that are failing as if they are disposable junk.

Oddly this graphics problem surfaced after installing a SSD.  Is it possible that it harmed my logic board?

JoLaLove wrote:

 

Oddly this graphics problem surfaced after installing a SSD.  Is it possible that it harmed my logic board?

Not probable, SSDs emit less heat and consume less energy.

Unless you harmed the logic board yourself while changing the SSD...