Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Hi!

I Tried this program but when I select "integrate only" my laptop Has freezed...

is that possible to by a logic board and change it ourself? I don't want to pay anything to apple to manage it. Looks like they don't want to do anything for their customers..... What a shame

Now I've found this discussion, and I'm angry. There is no way Apple and its employees can deny that this is a widespread defect.

After thinking through this, I'm worried that there will be no recourse for each of us buying a $2,000 "lemon". As a thought experiment, let's look at this from Apple's perspective and suppose they issue a recall. These are the consequences I can think of:

1. Pay a lot of cash to "fix" every 2011 MBP
2. Address the sticky issue of whether you should "fix" by replacing the logic board with one that has the exact same flaw, and/or reball the GPU
3. Take a big hit to your stock price
4. Scare off some % of new customers, e.g., "I'm not going to pay $2K for broken hardware that needs to be recalled."
5. Lose some % of loyal customers, e.g., "That whole 2011 MBP GPU thing was a huge hassle, I'm not doing that again."

If Apple continues to ignore the problem, then these are the consequences:

1. Pay a relatively small amount of money to appease the loudest, most loyal customers on a case-by-case basis
2. Scare off a small % of new customers, e.g., "I heard John had a problem with his MBP so I'm not going to buy one."
3. Lose a small % of loyal customers, i.e., the ones who purchased a Late 2011, who use their computers enough for the problem to manifest, and who are willing to switch to Linux or Windoze.

If you ignore morality (and most corporations do), then the better move for Apple by far is to simply not acknowledge the problem. The only way to tilt the scale in our favor is to generate a lot of negative, mainstream media attention. Then the stock price and new customers come into play, potentially making the "moral" choice more appealing.

Apple, please accept this fault and fix our macbooks.

My 2008 macbook pro is still running.

My 2011 is plagued with graphic problems.

This just happened to my 2011 Macbook Pro... We were recording with sound engineers and artists and couldn't continue to work because the machines screen just randomly died. The computer's light was still on... Then after restarting a couple of time just a solid blue screen (sometimes with little horizontal lines). Oh well I just ordered another Macbook Pro from Apple. This time I did NOT opt for the high end graphics option, just went with the integrated Iris Pro graphics and upgraded the storage. This also happened to me with my 2007 high end MBP, the high end graphics just failed, leaving me the option to replace the entire motherboard or get a new one..

Lets pray that the new MBP doesn't have some weird Iris pro issue.

Maybe this thread will enforce the fact these failures are occuring and Apple will respond with some program to turn our new paper weights into working machines again. Please and thank you in advance Apple!

Calvinogood wrote:

 

Yes, there's a complaint from JMC to ps3specialist.

My full complaint about PS3Specialist can be found on page 586. I sent my computer to PS3Specialist twice - once for a reball and once for a "warranty GPU replacement" after his reball failed within a mere two weeks. I paid $70 + $20 shipping for the warranty GPU replacement and received my Macbook an ENTIRE MONTH later and the GPU glitched right away. Now, I am stuck on the integrated chip again.

I have asked PS3Specialist for a receipt indicating that a new GPU replacement chip was actually purchased but I have not received a response.

I strongly recommend avoiding PS3Specialist at all costs!!!

In my opinion, PS3Specialist has terrible customer service and warranty. If you're in the US (I am not), just take your computer to Apple instead and ask for the $310 flat rate. Please don't make the same mistake as me.

ps3specialist wrote:

 

No , you don't need to read 614 pages to find out what the problem is , I will summarize them for you, there are 933 soldering points attaching the discrete graphics chip to the logic board, depends on which points and how many points have bad connection you will see symptoms, these symptoms are different from one to another freezing, grey screen, blue screen, glitches, lines fine or wide , batches, pixilation , split screen, black screen, pink screen, computer powers on then turn off and go into a loop those among others are some of the symptoms of bad connection on one or more of those 933 soldering points. For Solution you have three options, first is to buy a brand new logic board for the range of $900 to $1200 depends on your model and specifications and where you buy it from , second option is to take your computer to Apple store and pay $310 for a flat rate logic board replacement that is used and most of the time don't pass the 90 days warranty , third option and probably the most reliable option and cheapest for most people is to get the GPU chip reballed or replaced by a reputable professional and that would cost less than $300 in most cases and comes with at least twice the Apple repair warranty. The rest of the 614 pages are arguments, chat and cry out for Apple free repair. That is the summery of this whole discussion until now and probably for the next 614 new pages.

I highly recommend avoiding option 3 if it involves using PS3Specialist for a reball. Apple's warranty isn't going to charge you for parts and if their repair fails in a mere two weeks (like mine did using PS3Specialist) you can bet that they will probably refund your money or fix it for free - unlike PS3Specialist.

Another faulty logic board for our 2011 MBP, too. $300 to fix a $2000 machine, worse is being told that it would be a 3-5 day turnaround, including overnight shipping. We are now on day 10 and counting and nothing has been completed. We are a loyal Apple household, but this has really left a bad taste in our mouths. No email updates, no phone call to let us know it is running later than expected, no re-evaluated ETA. We are both in school and this is our only computer.

I had my 2011 15" MBP bricked by this issue in January 2014.  As my warranty was expired, I sent the logic board to www.powerbookmedic.com for repair.  It came back fully functional.  And remained fully functional for like 8 months.  Now the glitches are back and certainly it's only a matter of time before it becomes inoperable again. 

  I thought I was doing the right thing by seeking an outside repair originally, since my warranty was expired.  Now that it has happening a second time, I figured it was worth contacting Apple.  Apple has told me that since I went through a non authorized repair company, Apple can and will do nothing for me. 

So now I have a $2300 computer, slightly over 3 years old, that has had two failures in 9 months.  I'm $400 out of pocket for repair already and Apple 2nd level service rep has literally told me "You have zero options". 

Trying to figure out if there's anything I can do.  I've taken the precaustions of preventing Sleep, and am running GFXCardStatus.  Is disconnecting the Discreet graphics card a confirmed fix?  I'm comfortable doing that operation if it works.  Hoping for something else but at this point, doesn't look good.

2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

We need media coverage, how about tweeting this to @cnntech @HuffPostTech @guardian and some others people can mention, let's create some waves.

Why don't YOU tweet it?

Hi gate5blues,

"I just ordered another Macbook Pro from Apple. This time I did NOT opt for the high end graphics option, just went with the integrated Iris Pro graphics"

Please excuse my ignorance but looking at the MacBookPro options, as far as I can see "the integrated Iris Pro graphics" is not a choice, it's all there is. What's the high end graphics option and where is it to be found?

I've just ordered the fastest etc MacBook Pro I can but thanks to a screwup with the bank I can cancel/change the order anytime in the next day or so. I'd love to know if I've overlooked a configuration option.

Thanks!

The lower spec'd 15" comes with integrated graphics whereas the higher spec'd version comes with a Nvidia Discrete GPU. If I end up doing the same, this is the route I would take also.

Ah, OK, I hadn't looked at that end of the scale as I hope to be using the new machine for many years yet. I wonder if I'll be disappointed again...

Looking further at this it seems to me that the difference is actually the "NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 2GB GDDR5 memory", no?