Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

You can add my MacBook Pro early 2011 with hd display. Bye bye graphic card... My Mac is dead!

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".

Actually, you should still have pretty much the same option as the rest of us; replace the logic board and pay for the repair from your own pocket. That'll set you back anywhere between 300 to 1000$ depending on where you're located, but since you're paying for the repair, it shouldn't make any difference what caused the damage to the current one. And if the new one fails, as it will, you should be entitled to a free repair for that just as the rest of us are.

Now Apple only grants the lousy 90 day warranty to their repairs (they know their devices are bound to fail, don't they, if they can't even trust their own repairs to give it a full year's warranty?), but at least here in Finland they (as in Apple authorized service) do also say that they respect the local consumer protection laws which guarantee a longer warranty than that..

Same here, That graphics switch is temporary, Apple should fix it, Headache!, Headache and more Headache!, i Bought a 2008 13", MacBook and it is still working up to now, I Bought it Singapore now i'm here in norway the 2008 MBP IS STILL working, Apple say something please.

**SEEKING ADVICE FOR TODAYS APPOINTMENT REGARDING DISCRETE GRAPHICS CARD ISSUE 2011 MACBOOK PRO'S**

hey guys, so I've got an appointment @ the Apple Store at 11:30am today regarding this issue.. i'm experiencing the exact same problem as pictured with all the same triggers,etc..

i'm a little nervous though.. i'm still covered by my 3-year AppleCare plan on my Late 2011 MacBook Pro (8,2).. but before this problem, i had upgraded my RAM to 16gb (2x 8gb), replaced the main harddrive with a Samsung 850 Pro (512gb) and replaced the SuperDrive w/ OWC Data Doubler + 2nd Samsung 850 Pro (512gb)..

I've built computers before, so I'm comfortable with handling/installing components (aka not a noob).. so i know that this issue goes along with the rest of you and had nothing to do with any sort of negligence on my end (cautious perfectionist lol)

I have to drive 1hr45min to the Apple Store for my 11:30am appointment about this graphics card issue.. I know that OWC posted about the laws that protect consumers and allow them to upgrade products using 3rd-party manufacturers, without voiding the original warranty..

I'm a little worried that they might try to give me slack about my upgrades and say that it was either 1) my fault or 2) voided warranty bc of my upgrades or 3) me getting thrown out cuz i fight them about the law in place lol

What do you guys think? Do you think I'm screwed for my appointment today?

I don't want them to void my warranty for an issue that is documented and all stems from their bad soldering..

Has anybody been in my position with this graphics card issue and went in with 3rd-party upgrades, but still covered under AppleCare? And how did it go?

Thanks!

I'm sure some people will give you advices for your appointment before tonight.

As always, it will mainly depends on the 'genius' that will take care of you but a good advice would be to anticipate what they will say to blame it on anything but what everybody here already knows.

So if you can, bring some printed documents from various sources on the web covering this issue so you being clear knowing what you're saying and talking about.

They will probably use your upgraded ram and/or ssd as an excuse to explain your problem but still, you can at least easily put the original ram in place so they can only try and blame it on one of your 2 ssd's.

And since you seem to be pretty aware of what you did with your hardware, I guess you can manage to rule them out as a source of the problem.

Keep in mind that everything on this forum is no proof to anything for Apple as anyone can say anything and can't be verified.

And most of all, get prepared to be offered a nice logic board switch as this is all they have as a (expensive) 'solution'.

Other option for you is to find a reballing service.

Good luck.

I'd also make sure you have a full backup of all your data. Apple may insist on putting stock parts back in when they do a logic board swap so they can rule out it being a problem with none stock parts. They seem to be trying every trick in the book to avoid dealing with this issue in a proper manner, so if they can blame the problem on something else other than a faulty GPU they will. The good news is - you have Apple Care so should be covered if it genuinely is a problem with the GPU. Their diagnostic tests should confirm this, so there is little Apple can do to wriggle out of it. Take print outs of info that supports your case as trying to get a Genius to google a web page is a recipe for disaster. I'd also print out the page showing your legal rights with regards to upgrades too, but again Apple seem to act a law unto themselves and disregard local consumer laws where possible. They will try to insist it is an isolated problem that they've never heard of before and your symptoms are entirely unique. In reality they know full well that heat inside the case is instrumental in causing the GPU to fail, so additional SSDs inside the case may contribute to its early failure even though the system should be able to cope with it. Unfortunately it's pot luck which Genius you'll get, but the fact that you have Apple Care will make a big difference in how your case is handled. You'll probably just get a 'yep' new logic board required because the GPU has failed - no problem. They'll be more keen to fulfil the terms of your Apple Care agreement than to stand there and argue regardless whether this actually properly 'fixes' the issue properly once and for all. It seems that 'the least path of resistance' is the route that's followed rather than going out of their way to ensure you receive outstanding customer care.

"Their diagnostic tests should confirm this"

Hello, Has anyone had Apple's diagnostic test, either Genius Bar or Apple Hardware Test confirm the Graphics card Failure? Thanks, Stu

Hello all.

Unfortunately I am one more unhappy MBP 2011 user. Two days ago my screen went white with some light grey vertical lines, and after that I would only get a blue or grey screen after booting. Had to force the system to use only the integrated card, then I thought changing to Yosemite could do something. I installed it from Mountain Lion and strangely enough things were working smoothly until I plugged an external monitor. I guess I forced the gpu and it died. Now Im only able to boot into safe mode, so I have an extremely limited 2000 euros machine. This is unacceptable as a mass problem for so many people. This was my first Mac, and probably the last one.

Does anybody know a possible solution in Portugal? Are there some Portuguese users reading this? Is the reballing process worth instead of paying some 700 euros for a new logic board that will fail as well?

What are the perspectives on an answer from Apple?? When will it come? How come that don´t say anything?

Thanks everybody, lets keep making noise on this

Yes, The first time mine went wrong under warranty, since they just  automatically say you need a new logic board before you even open it up

The only way we can  make apple take notices is to kick uo a big enough fuss via Facebook  that they eventually realise it is damaging the reputation, damaging the value of the company .

Hi All,

I have a early 2011 and mine has just started having the same crash problems in the last 2 months. I can't believe it I bought mine on credit and have only recently finished paying for it. I have owned it for like 4 months and now this problem has started I'm gutted. Mine crashes at least 3 times a day now, Blue screen and is just really unstable. My warranty has run out also. GUTTED.

MBP 2011 LATE MOUNTAIN LION  1GB AMD / ATI VIDEO GRAPHICS 750GB HDD INTEL i7 QUAD CORE

GPU FAILURE

I HAVE BEEN IN TO THE APPLE SHOP AND THEY NOW REFUSE TO DO ANYTHING DUE TO THE 90 DAYS PARTS WARRANTY

I HAVE SPOKEN TO A LEVEL 3 MANAGER OR TECHNICIAN  WHOM HAD ENGINEERS 'INVESTIGATE' MY MACBOOK AND DECLINED TO ACKNOWLEDGE A FACTORY FAULT

THE REBALLING IS AN IDEA BUT I FEEL IT IS PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER TEMPORARY FIX

3 x MOTHER BOARDS + 2 YEARS LATER + STILL USELESS - RUNNING GFX CARD STATUS TO MAKE IT USABLE FOR EMAIL \\

I'M PLANNING ON LEAVING APPLE PRODUCTS .... IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE A COMPANY LISTEN

<Edited By Host>

Apple declined to comment. But in the meantime people spend money and waste time and potential business. This start to be a scam !

I can't imagine Apple isn't working on this issue, but probably hasn't got the ultimate solution yet.

I still trust Apple to solve this in a decent manner....

So, I got my MBP back from the Apple Store today, after having the logic board replaced. They said they'd run it through all the tests they had, including some lengthy temperature tests, so hopefully it'll hold. I did quiz them a bit as to whether they managed to find the source of the problem, but there didn't seem to be any notes on the repair to say exactly what had happened, other than "severe graphical distortion" that was fixed by resetting the PRAM (although the first time I took it in, the guy did this and it had no effect). I've been running some GPU stress tests on it today, and the GPU is now not getting above 76ºC, whereas before it was sometimes reaching 100ºC. It's noticeably cooler as well during general operation.

I think I start to get the symptoms of this..

Every time I watch YouTube videos the screen was frozen and the fan speed increased dramatically. (only on Safari!)

After I force shut down and turn it back on again, I got grey screen/blue screen with black stripes most of the time..

It's the 5th time this month, 3x repairable with Disk Utility, 2x with no problem

I wonder if I have GPU/HD problem here? Maybe something with Flash Player?