Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I have a very old Dell Latitude D610. It's been it with me for so long, that I can't even remember when I got it. I still use it, it runs W7 without problems. Battery still  lasts way over 2 hours. It was this quality that I expected when I bought my MBP. A companion that would be there always, silent, trustworthy. Shame on you Apple, shame on you.

Took my mbp to my local Apple store yesterday.  The "genius" didn't acknowledge he knew of any issues concerning this generation of computers. Showed him some pic's of other users video issues (never thought to take my own) and then explained that it won't even boot now.  He simply wrote it up, never once even tried to boot the computer.  I think he knew more then he let on... It's going to cost me the flat rate depot repair $310 + tax.  Not horrible, but not fair and not a solution to the problem, as it's is very likely to happen again.

<Edited by Host>

Friendly reminder to the new guys here, from your friendly forum member.

1. Call Apple Support and have them send in a report to the higher level enginerring team - this is probably the best thing to do

2. Submit feedback with the Apple feedback form

I will not rest till Apple does something about this.

One workaround I figured out to get the laptop to boot past the grey screen of death... when it gets to the GSOD and the fans go full blast, wrap the laptop in a blanket or towel. After a few minutes, it will detect that it's overheating and will turn itself off. After it does this, wait a few more minutes until it cools back down. When you turn it back on, it should boot all the way up this time. Apparently after an overheat, it boots with the integrated card. Then download GfxCardStatus, and switch it to "integrated only"

Then never turn it off ever again

This isn't a fix and it'll probably just get worse but at least it's partially useable for now... until I go buy another laptop

It always made me wonder how after every major OS X update, there seemed to be reports of users about their machines suddenly getting very, very hot with the fans spinning full blast (two of the responsible processes i remember were mdworker and kernel_task), especially the slightly older models seemed to suffer from this.

Might have been a little push in the right direction from Apple, right?

The first white Macbook i bought in 2008 shipped with OS X 10.5.6, and after upgrading to 10.6 the boot process suddenly took considerably longer. Even after wiping the HDD and reinstalling 10.5.6, this problem persisted.

It looked to me like 10.6 irreversibly changed something about my machine that was designed to slow it down.

Now, with all the overheating issues described above, i can't help but think that this is part of the Apple sales strategy.

I'm still have Mountain Lion on my macbook pro and i have this issue twice.

First was in July 2013 and i replaced the logic board in October under my Apple care and the second time was before 2 weeks.

So it's not about the OS X.

djzantas:

I never said it's an issue initially caused by OS X, but possibly promoted by it. Please read carefully!

I have had problems with my MBP 2011 right from the start, but only now did the graphics chip totally crap out.

Also, does anyone have problems with the internal keyboard and/or trackpad and/or bluetooth module not working after boot and/or after waking from sleep?

There were entries about malfunctioning USB things in my system log.

djzantas wrote:

 

Simon was very polite in our discussion on the phone and he mention that he will be very happy to open my case again if i need it.

 

Apple employees have mostly been very polite to me, explaining they can understand why I am upset, happy to sort things out for me, always available to help me, but in the end these are just cheap words. They kept me busy for almost two months, and only Margaret L. had the guts to tell me that Apple doesn't care, which was confirmed by Tim Cook's office...

<Edited by Host>

eezacque wrote:

Margaret L. had the guts to tell me that Apple doesn't care, which was confirmed by Tim Cook's office...

Is there a record of this statement?

<Personal Information Edited by Host>

Csound1 wrote:

 

eezacque wrote:

Margaret L. had the guts to tell me that Apple doesn't care, which was confirmed by Tim Cook's office...

Is there a record of this statement?

Apple is usually correct through email and chat, and refuses to answer letters.

It is though phone that they show their real face, and I didn't record the session.

<Personal Information Edited By Host>

Hows the macbook working after the update? Still going strong?

eezacque wrote:

 

Csound1 wrote:

 

eezacque wrote:

Margaret Lordan had the guts to tell me that Apple doesn't care, which was confirmed by Tim Cook's office...

Is there a record of this statement?

Apple is usually correct through email and chat, and refuses to answer letters.

It is though phone that they show their real face, and I didn't record the session.

So there is no record, but thanks

late 2011 15 inch model, same problem.

the machine actually dies (unable to boot) after the stripe screen happens.

tried the reset techniques, boots up sometimes (luckily so i can rescue files),

but always dies within 10 minutes of MAYA(3D software)

due to the nature of the machine, macbook pro users are mostly (if not all) professional developers/creators,

if our macbook Air breaks we can do the web-surfing and facebook stuff somewhere else,

but unstable macbook Pro causes way more frustration because it CUTS OUT the Production/Creative process,

result in real loss of money if not more.

people spend good money on the laptop for the word "reliable"

i didnt spend 50% to 80% more money to buy a laptop that becomes a brick after 2 years.

i first bought my mbp because i saw my co-workers old macbooks (not made of metal) that can

still get the job well done after 5 years or even longer.

come on Apple, i know your revenues drop but trust me,

dropping the quality will mean a landslide for you that you wont even have time to look at the numbers.

I'm with what Margaret L. supposedly said: Move to Windows. Pretty much every piece of software that is available for Mac, is also available for Windows and then some. Also, there is competition between manufacturers, so you're not stuck with one stubborn company in case you're not happy with their offerings. Regardless whether I am going to get my MBP back running or not, this was the first Apple computer (though not Apple product) I bought and it will also be the last one until they get their ***** together.

<Edited by Host>

They do not care anymore about computers. The revenue comes from iDevices. I hope that i can sell my clicking iBomb before it goes bad and move on. That is the healthiest thing to do.