Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Early 2011 MBP 2.2 i7 - same issue just started happening oct. 6

Getting 2nd logic board replaced through apple @ the flat rate $310.00 covered under 90 day warranty, here in Chicago  (which i want to get refunded if its not fixed)

but after scanning through the 614 pages i am not very hopeful this will be resolved

My question that is sort of OT but still relevant. Is this discrete graphics card/logic board problem prevalent 2012 or 2013 models (non-retina) ?

How can there be no news/media coverage on this problem!? This needs publicity!

Now that´s just about time to get this issue under the big spotlights. 615 pages here reflecting so much trouble for so many people

who were putting their trust & money in Apple´s top model Mac Book in 2011.

Were do we go from here? Anyone here who has the right contacts with some Media folks...please show up!!!

MacWorld has had 2 or 3 small articles about the GPU failure and the unresponsiveness of Apple but that is obviously not enough!

I am putting my hopes in this frustrated crowd......It´s time for the next step! Inputs???

JKKiang wrote:

 

Hi mate,

 

Got my logic board replaced for free again (2nd time now) as it is still within the 3 mths warranty period.
This is what I think is happening to the late 2011 15-inch MBP.

 

The silicon/gel that is used on the GPU has a shelf-life of approx 24 months.
This is the reason why we could use it for the first 2 years without a glich and things start to fall apart after that.

 

I have TWO MacBook Pro's A1120 and an A1260 both had the GPU problem.  So I am not putting you down when I post this creaction.  Yes Heat Tranfare past "gel" some times has need to be replased and it would seem that MacBook Pro's are in need of this more often than other computers (in my experince) but this is NOT down to "shelf-life".  "shelf-life" relates to the time it, the "gel" stays unused (not between a working chip and the heatsink).   The "gel" has to be in a cirten state befor being used/applyed to the chip and over time this state changes (.....like becoming to thick or setting.....) The "gel" should only "Set" once inplace. 

I have a MacBook Pro 17" of 2011 which has the same problem. I talked with the Dutch Customer Service of Apple on the phone today. They told me that they are aware of this discussion thread, that they looked into the problem and that they are sure that it is not a problem of Apple. So they did not want to repair the problem free of charge. They also told me that they do not know of any case in which someone with this same problem had his problem resolved for free. But apparently, there are people who get it fixed free of charge. It's kinda frustrating to hang on the phone for over half an hour, just to get that useless and wrong info.

It would if not else be polite of them, to explain how they came to the conclusion that it's not a problem of theirs. If they came out with a conclusive explanation, many of those who have that machine and haven't yet experienced the problem would maybe be saved from a costly LB replacement.

I guess they won't.

I have same problem with my Mac Pro 15" and I found tons of people who use Mac 15" by 2011. I heard that Apple recall for iMac by 2011 with similar graphic card problem, but nothing for Mac book?

TDelabie wrote:

 

I have a MacBook Pro 17" of 2011 which has the same problem. I talked with the Dutch Customer Service of Apple on the phone today. They told me that they are aware of this discussion thread, that they looked into the problem and that they are sure that it is not a problem of Apple. So they did not want to repair the problem free of charge. They also told me that they do not know of any case in which someone with this same problem had his problem resolved for free. But apparently, there are people who get it fixed free of charge. It's kinda frustrating to hang on the phone for over half an hour, just to get that useless and wrong info.

Lucky you. I spent 2 months phoning, emailing, writing and chatting with a good selection of Apple employees, only to be told by the Executive Relations EMEIA that Apple does not care about Dutch consumer laws, to hire a lawyer and move to Windows if I don't accept this. And, yes, this includes Tim Cook's office...

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TDelabie wrote:

 

I have a MacBook Pro 17" of 2011 which has the same problem. I talked with the Dutch Customer Service of Apple on the phone today. They told me that they are aware of this discussion thread, that they looked into the problem and that they are sure that it is not a problem of Apple. So they did not want to repair the problem free of charge. They also told me that they do not know of any case in which someone with this same problem had his problem resolved for free. But apparently, there are people who get it fixed free of charge. It's kinda frustrating to hang on the phone for over half an hour, just to get that useless and wrong info.

Sent one email to the Apple Store Manager in Amsterdam, no answer. Spent 1 hour on the phone with the Apple Care. They say that the number of people complaining (like in this thread) is probably really small, compared to number of happy customers. They don't acknowledge nor deny that someone had free repair. Solution: motherboard repaired for 350 EUR.

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another mbp 2011 dead. it had apple care which expired about 6 month ago. after less than one year the logic board failed and the replacement worked close to two years. then graphic glitches appeared from time to time, still under apple care, i went to an apple service provider who couldn´t reproduce the issue and told me to show up if it fails even after apple care expired since they already knew of the issue (they replaced the fans though to provide better cooling).

recently i had a split screen glitch and after that the mbp just boots to a grey screen. took it back to the AASP and they confirmed that the logic board needed to be replaced because of gpu failure. i told them that i was there before with the issue and asked for an exception repair (which is what they told me 6 month before). they kept the mbp for almost 2 weeks for diagnosis, then told me i should pay around 600€ for the logic board. furthermore they told me that they don't know the gpu to be an issue at all and that i´m the first case with the problem they encountered. i addressed this discussion here and showed them some other places in the web where you find information about the gpu issue and they told me that i shouldn´t believe whats written online. almost the same i was told by senior apple care support. since the issue is going on so log and still there is no response from apple i don't expect anything to happen. i decided to send in both my macbook pro´s (the 2010 with has the black screen issue, for which even a replacement program exists, i just got the issue too late & the 2011) for a gpu replacement at a reasonable price.

Hi, the Apple Discussions board does not provide a Private Message (PM) function. I am interested in the reballing vendor you used.

Hello scorpionlilwhip,

The best solution i see in your case, (its risky but i would do it), is to stress that new logic board (gpu) and break it in the 90 days protection plan. If u do that a couple of times they will eventualy loose money and offer you a new laptop, i saw someone doing this in this thread and it worked.

I would do the same if i had apple in the country i live in, but i dont, i have only resellers .

I posted that my MBP late 2011 has the same problem

What would be the best way to stress the GPU ?

Use an external monitor with the macbook in clamshell mode , and then launch during a few hours a program like Unigine Valley, or maybe Unigine with Geekbench at the same time (to stress both the CPU and the GPU) ?

I've tried this several times during a few hours and my GPU temp doesn't go above 72°C.

Thanks.

Yosemite seems to have helped my issues subside!

I had been experiencing the common issues stated in this discussion for a good number of months now, and have been watching the discussion here for a while, hoping something surfaces, but I haven't seen much hope here.

So I decided to go for the upgrade. Amazingly, I made it through the process without the dang thing flipping out!

First thing after loading the upgraded OSX a message appeared stating a graphic/GPU error had been detected... I hit "report" and carried on, and so far I have been running smoothly.

My machine is running quite normally, not too hot compared to before the upgrade, and with no graphical errors or reboots, but I'm still on day 1... My fingers are crossed... I hope that Yosemite has some engineering to help with this issue.

DynMOS wrote:

 

Yosemite seems to have helped my issues subside!

 

I had been experiencing the common issues stated in this discussion for a good number of months now, and have been watching the discussion here for a while, hoping something surfaces, but I haven't seen much hope here.

 

So I decided to go for the upgrade. Amazingly, I made it through the process without the dang thing flipping out!

 

First thing after loading the upgraded OSX a message appeared stating a graphic/GPU error had been detected... I hit "report" and carried on, and so far I have been running smoothly.

 

My machine is running quite normally, not too hot compared to before the upgrade, and with no graphical errors or reboots, but I'm still on day 1... My fingers are crossed... I hope that Yosemite has some engineering to help with this issue.

Then how can this be a hardware problem?

Thanks