Q: Early 2011 Macbook Pro 15' - Logic Board Failure

Very interesting information.  The info at patentlyapple.com is over a year old.  I'm going to see if I can find out what ever happened to the suit.  Also found it interesting that contacting Apple in Cupertino may get a defective one fixed for free over taking into an Apple Store. 

Diane1349,

If you find more corrent information, please post it: many are following this discussion.

Case was dismissed.

http://www.topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/5291-texas-judge -throws-out-macbook-defective-motherboard-class-action-lawsuit/

Perfect... How they get a 5 year old computer out of a late model 2011 is beyond me.  That's 3 years accoring to my calulations. 

*An update on my replaced mother board.  Right out of the gate when the Apple store turned mine on, I noticed some really bad garbled pixels on my screen uring startup.  The technition said it was because it was freshly installed. 

Fast forward to today, about 3 months after the repair, my computer's fan runs about doulbe the speed it should.  I still have issues with the crazy pixels on start up and it's my guess, it's only a matter of time before it goes out again.

Sorry but... Never again. 

And one other thing.  Why should wether or not you purchased Apple's extended care have anything to do with the quality of the product.  You're already paying nearly tripple for the product.  Shouldn't Applle exteneded care just be part of the package? 

I, too, can't figure out how the court's judgement is relevant to the 2011 MBP. But can understand why the Texas court threw out the case.

The problem, from what I've read, is that the plaintiff was unable to prove their case satisfactorily. They were unable to show specific things to support their point. There may have been a problem with certain early 2011 MBPs, but the court wanted more specific evidence.

Now...if an invesigator were able to show how tin whiskers from Apple's lead-free solder had caused the logic/graphic board problems, that would be solid evidence that can be validated. It still can.

I'm sure that Apple would welcome research that would improve the reliability of their products, so doing this research would be a win/win.

You should not have paid this.  No matter what Apple says, Australian consumer law says otherwise.   I have had a $3200 macbook pro for 2.5 years. It has begun having problems and I wont be paying apple to repair it.  If they refuse to fix it I will be taking them to court:

On January 1 this year the new Australian Consumer Law (ACL) came into effect.

It is largely based on the old Trade Practices Act but, for the first time, unifies most consumer law across the states and territories, and clarifies many of the old provisions it replaces.

One of the key provisions is s54 of the ACL, which is a statutory guarantee of acceptable quality enforceable against the suppliers of goods (i.e. retailers, dealerships, etc.), as well as manufacturers.

This section of the law requires that goods be fit for the purposes they are commonly used for, acceptable in appearance and finish, free from defects, safe and durable, all according to the standards of a "reasonable consumer".

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's chairman Graeme Samuel says this means that many goods come with a statutory guarantee against the supplier that lasts longer than the manufacturer's warranty.

"Sometimes you'll see manufacturer's warranties that may only be for three, six or 12 months in total, whereas the retailer's guarantee under the consumer guarantees can sometimes extend beyond that, having regard to the nature of the product and its intended use," Mr Samuel told ABC News Online.

In determining what is an appropriate period for a guarantee to apply, the law forces courts to consider the nature of the goods, the price of the goods, and statements made about the goods either on the packaging or by the supplier or manufacturer.

In layman's terms, that means a consumer can expect a longer legal guarantee to apply for goods that generally last a long time, that are relatively expensive, and where any claims are made about the quality and/or durability of the product by either the salesperson or manufacturer.

For example, if consumers generally buy a television with a reasonable expectation for it to last five years, then they may have a statutory guarantee against the retailer that lasts substantially longer than the one year manufacturer's warranty.

If the TV is a more expensive brand, especially one that makes claims about its quality and durability, it will be held to a higher standard of quality and durability under the ACL than a home brand that is half the price and does not make similar claims.

Obviously, the law does not protect consumers if their attention was drawn to the fault before the sale (either by spoken words or by a written notice), or they inspected the goods and the fault should have been obvious in that inspection, or the consumer causes the fault through misuse.

Took my Early 2011 15' to Genius bar today. It started 2 months after it was purchased in 2011 with grey screen that looks like dust on a table and when you move the cursor it draws pattern. I was not able to replicate the problem each time I took it back to apple. It finally stopped working last night so I took it to apple store. The technician took it upstairs for diagnosis - very strange. He told me I need to replace the logic board! Last apple product for my family, and any friend I can diassuad from buying apple laptop...

I found this interesting.  This is the exact same issue I was having with mine and I would have tried this for sure... http://ales.io/2014/03/09/how-to-bake-a-mac.html

Just adding my voice to the chorus, same problem. I am running an experiment today to see if this is only about running with an external monitor.

I noticed that , at the top of this page it says "branched to an new discussion", yet when I click on that it says I am not autorized to see it - what's up with that?

I had the logic board replaced in August 2013 at a local Apple-approved service centre after the screen became pixelated and multi-coloured. I had it replaced again in February 2014 at the local Apple Store after the problem came back. Both times were under Apple Care, but I'm concerned about what happens when my Apple Care runs out in April.

Frankee,

I had my logic board replaced august 2013. One month after the repair warranty was up my laptop started giving me the same symptoms as before. Garbled screen, grey screen, colored bars on screen, no boot, and my fans sounding like the laptop might take off into space.

I have not been able to turn my laptop on since December.  I tried taking it to the apple store and they referred me to their authorized apple repair because they are the ones that I paid to fix it the first time. Needless to say, after a month or so of calling apple, the apple store, and the authorized repair place, I end up replacing the RAM twice. Apple even said I had a problem with my hard drive.  Got a second opinion,  nope.

So my laptop was finally diagnosed logic board failure again two weeks ago. The apple tech is urged me to call apple to cover thr cost of repairs and to email Mr. Cook himself. Im sorry even if it has been 6 months since repair, this is unacceptable.

Ive called and spoken to apple techs so many times...since December! I just pleaded with a senior cs tech blah blah today, to be denied again.

I was told its the discreet graphic card by amd causing the problems (like the 2010 nvidia issue). A manufacturers defect that apple is not owning up to. Help people help people. How can we organize this situation and be heard? My laptop was a $2800 machine (before repair), with a $400 logic board replacement, and it needs another $400 logic board!

Frankee,  I dont think the replacement of the logic board will fix your problem as long as you might want it to :/

2011 early macbook pro report in...same problem. Now have been running with gfxCard to use integrate graphic card only...Disappointed

I just wanted to give an update on my situation.

Got my laptop back today. 2011 mbp 15" with the amd graphics. I replaced the logic board back in August and it needed another one in December (past service warranty and Apple care) I also replaced the RAM twice.

I fought long and hard to get my laptop issues fixed with Apple. Let me tell you, it paid off. My logic board, RAM, and both left and right fan were replaced courtesy of Apple.

I encourage those of you with an issue to keep pushing with the customer service. Keep asking for a higher person. If that doesnt work, email (like I did), very kindly stating your situation. I emailed the head honcho himself and received a phone call two days later.

If enough people push and try and email, they will see that this is a true and definite problem.

I wish you all luck, and hopefully my laptop stays intact.

Same problem here. Last weekend the graphics card started to act up and by the end of that day the computer would boot, get to the Apple logo then blue screen. The next day it would boot, get to the Apple logo and grey screen after that. I took it to the Genius bar, told him my model and before I even finished telling him my problem he had a replacement logic board and labor cost pulled up on his iPad. $600 with only 90 days coverage after the fact. It sounds like those of you who have had it replaced are getting the same problem within a few months of the repair so it really seems like a gamble to pay all that money for such a potentially short fix.....