Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

But then again, by moving to Windows you'd be stuck with Windows and all the viruses and problems that come with it..

I always made sure to invest some money in a proper anti-viral software, thus I never really had a problem with viruses etc. The good thing about Windows for me has always been that it just works. (Sorry, not sorry for the burn Apple)

Yea, but the bottom line is that Windows *****. I like Macs. At 55 yrs old, I am a 30+ yr mac user. I do not really want to change. I am generally happy, but my 2 MacBook Pros, 2011 (15" early 2011, 17" late 2011) are really making me wonder. Maybe I will switch to Linux... I just find the Apple response to this very real problem totally repulsive - I expect better

Yeah just walked into Apple Store and bought new machine and asked them to put that I did this on my case number. They said they needed a tech to do that and there were no techs available.  I'll call today and make sure they know that the only reason I bought a new machine was because I have a brick of a mbP.

Haven't used Linux - but yeah, whatever floats your boat. But Apple won't see any reason to change as long as everybody keeps buying their computers albeit their decreasing quality.

In fact, that may serve as an encouragement to continue business as usual.

I'm sorry to break this to you... but in my experience the quality has not decrease one bit.

My  1999 Bondi blue iMac had a Daughterboard malfunction at 11 month (luckily covered by warranty but it was yet another ticking bomb). The clamshell iBook from 2001 overheated and the rubber covering most of the computer started to come off. I had to pull all the rubber off otherwise it won't stay level on a table!.

At this point I switched back to a linux PC. On 2008  I bought 2 White MacBooks, both ended up with a bad backlight controller (after 3/4 years use so I would say its fine, but I still have a 2005 PC with no problems, not even the hard drive). The backlight controller is inexpensive compared to a logic board anyway.

The 2009 mac mini had a huge power supply that died on my after 2 days. Apple replaced it right away since it was only 2 days old!.

I honestly don't think Apple will do anything about the 2011 macbook pro being almost 2015. They are not even selling this computers anymore (every new model will be retina with soldered ram and hard to change flash storage).

Obviously you have more experience than I do, as I was merely echoing what I keep hearing from other customers. But may I ask you: Why do you keep buying Apple if they have continously failed you?

I write apps.  No way to write iOS apps on a Windows/Linux Box.

Btw, I've had about 15 Apple Laptops, iMacs and Mac Pros thus far.  This is the first time I've run into Apple not recalling a machine that had GPU issues.  My iMacs GPU was replaced out of warranty and another MBP had a similar issue and was replaced entirely under AppleCare.

So the only solution is Apple to replace our fail mbp with a new retina model as i read some cases like that in other sites.

If they replace all the broken mbp 2011 with a 2013-14 model, how much it will cost to them?

1 - 2 hundred million dollars? it's nothing comparing with the billions they have. or am i wrong?

If they want 100% customer satisfaction and don't lose them, they should do something like this as everybody knows that the replacement logic board is not a solution.

Because sadly this is not the only computer manufacturer that has problems.

I also have my share of PC laptops with problems. Specially HP. Most of the people I know had problems with their laptops and most of them were even worse than this GPU issue.

I remember when I bought the iBook on 2001, it came with a piece of paper saying that Apple used a revolutionary design and because of this there might be unforeseen problems that might arise in the future and Apple was not taking responsibility of this. I remember that clearly and I think they consider that their philosophy even today.

I'm wondering if there is someone on this thread from California and went to Cupertino Apple base and complain about it.

or if someone approach Tim Cook and ask him what they will do about this issue.

Ahh I see. I had been using and iPod, iPhone and an iPad for a while before I decided purchasing an Apple computer and except for the lurking terror that is iTunes, I was very happy with the products (except for the MBP). I am not attached to or forced to work with OSX, hence I can only imagine how frustrating it must be if one is and the computers keep failing.

Apple clearly doesn't care... amazingly they did recall similar (but not the same) AMD chips in the iMac - which exhibit entirely similar symptoms to our Macbooks ("Pro" notation removed to maintain descriptive integrity)

"Apple has determined that some AMD Radeon HD 6970M video cards used in 27-inch iMac computers with 3.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 or 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processors may fail, causing the computer’s display to appear distorted, white or blue with vertical lines, or to turn black. iMac computers with affected video cards were sold between May 2011 and October 2012."

15 inch, Early 2011 MBP

8g of crucial ram

2ghz Intel i7

UK

First ran into problems about 7/8 months ago when my mac froze after being connected to an external monitor, it showed signs of screen tearing then, but i didn't think much of it. Currently it may take me anywhere from 1-20 attempts to start my mac up, sometimes it will start first time, other times it seems like pot luck, Resetting PRAM seems to help, but not much, Safe mode results in a blue screen, and most other attempts just end up in a grey screen. Kernel Panics, Beeping noises and other worrying signs also rarely crop up.  Once the mac has started it is often fine (till screensaver/sleep...) I have found using a combination of gfx, caffeine, istat and just leaving the mac running to be the best way to avoid these problems. I have found however that recently even when i have managed to get the mac working it will not work well, with basic apps such as activity monitor proving too much of a task to load, and web pages refusing to load (for ages, if at all). This is a joke, as a recent graduate, i cannot afford to spend money on a replacement logic board, especially as i believe they will still suffer the same problems. Yet using my mac is causing me to tear my hair out, it may take half a day to get it started, only to be useless when it does. Apple clearly need to get their priorities straight, what happened to the customer is always right? This problem will continue to develop in my mac and many many others, and i will not be happy until apple provide decent customer service, admit this is their fault and offer us a working replacement for this supposedly "premium" product.

As you are in the UK you need to contact the retailer you purchased from - be it Apple or other and use UK Consumer protection law...

As I understand it this also applies to any fix paid for in the UK by a user once out of AppleCare ..i.e.  .. if you have paid to have a faulty logic board replaced at your own expense once and it fails again  the repair is also subject to these  UK consumer laws.

Summary of Consumer Law in the United Kingdom

Your consumer rights for goods purchased in the United Kingdom operate alongside, and in addition to, your rights under the Apple One-Year Limited Warranty and the optional AppleCare Protection Plan or AppleCare+.

Under UK consumer law, consumers may choose to have defective goods or goods which do not conform with the contract sale either repaired or replaced free of charge. If a repair or replacement is not possible, would impose a disproportionate burden on the seller, or could not be performed in a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, the consumer may choose either to have the price reduced or to withdraw from the contract by returning the product in exchange for a full refund.  A consumer is also entitled to withdraw from the contract by returning the product in exchange for a full refund if the consumer rejects the goods within a reasonable period of time. The primary responsibility to provide a remedy is on the seller, which would be Apple if the goods were purchased from the Apple Online Store or an Apple Retail Store.  If the goods were purchased from a third party reseller of Apple products, the primary responsibility to provide a remedy will lie with the reseller. For goods purchased in England or Wales, these rights expire six years from delivery of the goods.  For goods purchased in Scotland, these rights expire five years from delivery of the goods.  A claim under UK consumer law may be made subject to the defect being present at the time of purchase.

Any defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract which becomes apparent within 6 months of delivery are presumed to have existed at the time of delivery. After the expiry of this 6 month period, the burden to prove that the defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract existed on delivery generally shifts to the consumer.

UK consumer law automatically introduces the following terms into any contract of sale for goods and/or services to consumers:

For additional information on consumer law, please visit the European Consumer Centre website at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/index_en.htm