Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

You can add my Late 2011 MacBook Pro to the list!

I guess it's safe to say it's exactly the same problem for the 2012 MBP Retina: the lead-free soldering that cracks because of heating over time.

This is the logic board for the 2012 MBP Retina:

https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/IAbJlQbhPUYnQMOS.huge

The video card is highlighted in red.

It is pretty similar to the one found in the early 2011 MBP:

https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/QWKKPpAh4AHJm1bf.huge

I'm a heavy user of cpu/gpu-intensive applications, so I think this problem will happen for 2012 "regular" users in the near future.

In my case I can switch to the integrated video card, so everything works more or less. I have a black screen when I turn on but if I close the lid, wait 30 seconds and open again it will switch to the integrated video card. More info here: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/162426/Black+screen+when+boot%2C+but+with+st artup+sound.

Note that this guy had the same issue as I, and in his case everything worked out pretty well for him:

Even though my machine is out of warranty for a year, but they decided to replace it for me to the latest model same spec with no cost, and also willing to upgrade my ram from 8to 16 with additiobal 240aud.

Now I have the top model 2014 model of retina pro. God I love apple...

I Have a late 2011 MacBook Pro that had this same problem.  It was so bad it would take dozens of attempts to boot and once it was running, I would use gfxcardstatus to prevent it from using the discrete card (or it would freeze).  Then about 3 months ago, the battery blew up (and nearly ejected the trackpad from the body).  I took it in and they promised me a free fix, I would just have to pay for a new battery $100.  3 weeks later I get an email from the repair dept saying they found water damage and repairs would be... $1800!  They said a soda was spilled directly into the macbook...  Among my many complaints are:

- I never spilled anything into it, and how would they not notice a SODA spill at the store?! He even opened it up to change the battery in the store, which they later told me had liquid damage to!

- $1800 is such an obscene price! It's almost what I originally paid for it!!

- They promised free repair and later backed out on it,

- The options they presented me at the store: $1800 repair, they will dispose of it (and I buy a new one), or i can take it.

So now I have a laptop with no battery and a broken graphics card. What am I supposed to do with it?  Do i sell it for parts and try to get $100 out of it?  Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks.

Ben

Greetings,

Wow! I'd say that the GPU and CPU are very near on that 2012 logic board, same as on the 2011.

I wouldn't be surprised if this series starts blowing out just after their warranty expires as well...

Regards,

JP

Don't try to sell it because you won't be able to really get anything out of it. Keep your MBP for now. Take all the nesecary steps to report the problems (I have posted several times here on what you should do) or you can just Google it. I can't links because Apple keeps taking them down. Hopefully if there is a recall program in the future, you will be able to get a replacement for your Macbook. But you won't be able to if you get rid of you laptop now.

With enough noise, Apple will be forced to listen.

I waited for over a year for Apple to do something and finally gave up... Sold it on eBay for $600, and yes I disclosed all the issues... I then bought a used (still in warranty) 15" retina model and couldn't be happier... **** you Apple!

Somebody actually bought your Macbook Pro, issues and all for $600??? Wow.

Seriously, does anyone have a fix for this??? Anything at all???

My macbook wouldn't boot until I moved all the amd and ati files in system/library/extensions

Now I get green lines everywhere and SLOW performance.  gfxcardstatus says I'm still using my radeon 6750, but that can't be right, can it?  It wont switch to my integrated Intel gpu.

Wow.......I've taken a massive break from this thread and the entire issue and now find over a year later that the topic is bigger than ever and Apple still are not doing anything about the tens of thousands of worldwide users with dud machines.  Mine freaked out in the middle of a DJ gig and killed my set not to mention reputation.  The problem of the freezing graphics was utterly random and seemingly unfixable.

Insane situation!  I can't even sell if second hand!

So much gutless irresponsible behaviour from a company that prides itself on quality.  What a joke!

Just found out about this issue tonight. I guess I'm another victim. Was watching a video on my late 2011 17 inch macbook pro when the screen split in half vertically. I restarted and resumed watching my video. 20 minutes later it did it again, followed by a blue screen(of death< I guess). Tried to restart it again... nada. Gets to the gray screen, the fan cranks up to full blast. Tried every troubleshooting method and none of it works. Stuck on the gray screen. I paid over $2500 for this laptop. To find out that thousands upon thousands of people are having this issue, with this thread having a couple MILLION views, and that they aren't doing anything to fix it? It's just disgusting. I don't know if I could buy another apple product in good conscience after this. And for the record, I also have a 15 inch macbook pro, a 27 inch iMac, an iPhone 5s and 5c, and iPad 2, so I am a pretty loyal customer. But this is just a disgrace. Can anybody point me in the direction of the class action lawsuit?

@Grahf85:

gfxCardStatus will only let you switch to integrated graphics when you're not using any application that's using the discrete chip; it should tell you what is being used, but it doesn't always. When that happens, reboot close any apps that you have set to run on startup, and switch to the integrated chip.

Good luck (to everyone).

To post a follow up to my previous post.

I tried to boot from the original OS X and got into a chime loop, after that I tried the SMC reset (alt/option+command+p+r) and voilá, started working again.

No glitches, no problems, I play diablo 3 ros a bit for a while to see if something would happen, so far working alright.

So i don't know if this was acuatlly the faulty gpu(which I'm not sure if mine is), OR was a software problem, I recently update to Yosemite.

Still I'm not gonna sit here waiting for something to happened, probablly gonna sell to some recycle mac place(I got one online that offerer 440pounds).

Robillionaire wrote:

 

But this is just a disgrace. Can anybody point me in the direction of the class action lawsuit?

Google it,

I just had a phone conversation with Simon K., (Customer Relations EMEA, Apple Inc., on behalf of Apple Distribution International) from Ireland and he told me that it's an unknown issue for Apple and there is not any replacement program at this moment. he called costumers with the same problem to get as much informations he can and report it.

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I Have had to change the board twice in the last two years resulting in more than 1000 dollars in repairs.

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