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imawsm Author

Level 1

4 points

Frozen macbook pro, late 2011 model, rebooting to a blank white screen

I am using a macbook pro, late 2011 model. I bought in January 2012, have been using it all the while until yesterday 26th April 2013 with no problems at all. However, as i was watching a movie, the screen froze, with a weird red checkerboard pattern all over. When i tried rebooting it, it was fine at first, but then the horizontal lines appeared across the screen, and the computer froze. Then i had to reboot multiple times as i kept getting a blank white screen.

I am really unsure of what went wrong, so i searched for apple software updates, and there was a java update available, so i installed that and turned the laptop off. When i turned it on again, i watched youtube a couple of minutes, and when i tried to open a video, the screen froze with black horizontal lines again, and it refused to boot - just stuck at the white screen after the on chime. Does anyone know what happened to it? I really don't want to spend thousands on repair cost after all the laptop is still very new.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Apr 27, 2013 1:30 AM

71 replies

Jul 5, 2013 11:09 AM in response to imawsm

Hey All,

Yes I have the same problem not booting up, dark blue screen with vertical lines, then the grey screen,

The apple guys said 750USD for the either the screen to the gfx card, The model is late 2011, but in saying that, the hard drive went on it, the track pad went on it, the battery went… and the power cable burned in half???? *** seriously………..

I just use the laptop for work on a desk I don't abuse it or anything like that!!!! Think it was faulty from the get go and its not even 2 years old. The apple service centre suggested I buy another laptop!!!! Yea!!! Sure thing…………

For apple and there high quality products??? I think they should stick to there word, longer guarantee, or at least admit it was a bandy machine we will fix it, but I got quoted almost the same price to get everything fixed as it was to buy a new computer!!!!!

Im at my whits end with it!!!! 25000USD is a lot of money for most people, and the simple answer of yea dude just buy another one aint gonna wash!!!! Any help or ideas would be really appreciated!!!!

Cheers…..

PS it seems a lot of people have the same problem with the same issue apple should admit there is a computer fault, and honour there word of quality products.

imawsm Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 7, 2013 2:10 AM in response to Idisk problems

Are you using the 13 inch or the 15 inch model? My problem was with my 15 inch MBP late 2011.

Also, do you have an IT mall in your area? You could try checking there if there is anyone who could change your graphic card. But you also mentioned that the power cable got burnt? That's serious.. I am not sure whether it is worth repairing or not. My AASP suggested that i just get a new model, but after paying MYR5700 for it, i feel its just not worth it.

Also, i have sold my 15 inch late 2011 model. While you can try to repair it, there is no guarantee that the problem would be solved permanently. As for me, after changing the graphic card, my MBP started overheating even more. I would suggest you to just get another brand laptop, or get the 13 inch model if you'd like to continue using Mac..Most of my friends use the 13 inch model but they don't seem to have any problem. I also think the AMD Radeon card which is present in the 15 inch late 2011 model causes the laptop to overheat, and to make it worse, the design of the MBP does not allow proper ventilation, even when using a cooler. If you noticed, the new line of MBP uses the NVIDIA cards.

Please check through forums to see issues with any particular Mac that you might want to buy next time..

Apple for some reason, does not have proper customer service. And they NEVER check their support pages.

If you want help, you'd have to pay. But in my opinion, this particular 15 inch model line is DEFINITELY faulty.

Jul 7, 2013 2:12 AM in response to imawsm

But in my opinion, this particular 15 inch model line is DEFINITELY faulty.

Not so.

Clinton

Aug 9, 2013 11:52 AM in response to imawsm

I have been having this same problem, and it started a couple of days ago out of nowhere.

My Macbook Pro 15" (purchased Sept. 2011) was connected to my external monitor at home and it suddenly crashed.

After restarting it, I had all kinds of screen problems...

red lines on the screen, split screen, blue screen on startup..

I reinstalled from scratch but that didn't solve it.

Now, when I turn it on it takes a while to startup and the screen flickers, the red lines appear and if I, eventually, get to login, the smallest stuff I do will trigger all the screen problems and it eventually locks and needs to be restarted by holding the power button.

Besides that, a couple of months ago my battery simply died.

It started losing power out of the blue as well and after 5 days it wouldn't hold any charge at all and simply would say on the System Report that I had no battery on my Macbook Pro.

I'm seriously disappointed at APPLE because this Macbook Pro is not even 2 years old...

And I need it to work!!! I'm a PhD Student... so I don't have enough money to just go and get a new one, as I have been suggested...

And I'm a techy guy, so I know how to take care of my electronics.

And it seems that there is no cheap way out of it...

Any suggestions?

iamfunny

Level 1

0 points

Aug 25, 2013 8:46 AM in response to imawsm

Hi iamwsm,

I am facing the same problem with my MBP 17" 2011. I came to the same conclusions before reading this thread

Was quoted RM 2200 to change the entire logic board. Where is the spare part/retail shop that you went to? Appreciate any help...

calng12

Level 1

0 points

Sep 15, 2013 10:32 PM in response to imawsm

Hi imawsm, are you from Malaysia?
i Got the same problem as u mention for my macbook 15" mid 2011.

I had double check with my hardisk and it seems fine,

i believe it got to be a spoiled graphic card.

would yo u mind to share where's

the spare part/laptop repair shop you mention?

cal_n12@yahoo.com

imawsm Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 26, 2013 7:00 AM in response to iamfunny

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply.. i havent checked this site for quite some time..

The shop is located at low yat plaza, 2nd floor, DS Notebook Parts IT Horizon

imawsm Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 26, 2013 7:03 AM in response to calng12

Hi,

the shop is in low yat plaza, 2nd floor, DS Notebook Parts IT Horizon.. Hope you can get yours repaired..

It seems a lot of people are having the same problem.. I remember the technician mentioning that he got a few cases like this and managed to repair it. Good luck!

imawsm Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 26, 2013 7:13 AM in response to renato.gama

Hi..

I understand how you feel. Being an MSc student myself, it took a huge chunk of my savings to get it and to have it spoiled so soon is just so upsetting...

You could try getting someone to change your graphic card.. Mine had almost the same exact pattern as your screencap. That usually works but i am not sure for how long..since my laptop shortcircuited a month after repair due to some condensation- not sure how that happened. I think the only way to avoid this is through prevention of heating, though the machine has heating problems due to its design. I'm pretty sure adding a few vents below the mac/sides would solve this problem in the first place, something that apple should think about.

I never had any problems with the battery, but when i used the laptop, i used to charge it full then use it until the battery was low before charging again. I never let the battery charge continuously even after it was full.

Try changing your graphic card, It is the cheapest option..

Good luck!

Oct 3, 2013 12:31 PM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

I just dropped my 2011 2 Ghz 15" MBP off at an Apple store with the same problems described in this forum. The Genius agreed that it was the graphics chip and ordered a replacement. To his surprise, while entering the warranty claim (yes I had AppleCare), he discovered that this is a "known issue" with this model. That means that Apple is aware of the problem. Because of this many of you may have recourse to get out of warranty repairs similar to that done on the old Nvidia 8600 gfx chips in the pre-unibodies.

Hope this helps

RMW

Level 1

5 points

Nov 21, 2013 9:00 PM in response to imawsm

I'd like to add another link to this chain of misery. Last week my MacBook Pro (early 2011) suddenly started suffering the same symptoms -- split screen, vertical or horizontal lines, garbled screen, frozen white screen on startup, etc. I was surprised to see so many other people dealng with the same issue.

amanuo

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2013 12:30 AM in response to renato.gama

I've had all problems mentioned in this thread with my MBP early 2011. Has worked perfectly until a few months ago (2013). So far I've tried reinstalling the OS, replaced the motherboard twice ⚠ (by official apple partner repair shop) and recently replaced the battery because its health was critical and i thought it might be related.

Still it currently boots to either blue or white screen again. Quite desperate to find out what the cause is.

I'm reading in this thread that the graphics card can be replaced individual from the motherboard. I thought it was solded on so it would automatically be replaced along with the board?

HelgeCPT

Level 1

0 points

Mar 4, 2014 9:29 AM in response to imawsm

Has anybody come across a solution for this issue?

While in photoshop the same thing seemed to have hapened to me (2011 macbook pro), froze to a grey screen. Force shut down, restarted, freezes at a grey screen after chime and apple logo with spinning thing. When booting via safe mode i had the blue/black striped screen. Seems to be happening on several MBP with a AMD Radeon 6750M GPUs. What is happening Apple??

henser87

Level 1

0 points

Mar 13, 2014 7:47 AM in response to imawsm

Hi all ...

I've been getting the same symptoms described here in my MBP 15" i7 @ 2Ghz (early 2011).

I first had these issues a couple of months ago, still running on the original OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.8), while watching a Youtube video. Managed to solve it temporarily by booting in safe mode and restarting to boot normally. Updated to the OS to Mavericks a month ago and got the problem again. This second time happened while surfing the web (simply loading a webpage) and know I can't manage to boot it in any way. Tried the following:

. boot Normally (result: no boot, gray screen);

. boot in Safe mode (result: no boot, blue screen with vertical black lines);

. boot in Recovery mode (result: no boot, blue screen with vertical black lines);

. boot in Internet Recovery mode (result: no boot, gray screen / can't access router (no Internet access));

. boot in Single User Mode (result: no boot, gray screen);

. boot from Pen Flash Drive with latest version of Ubuntu OS (no boot: black screen);

. boot from DVD with Backtrack 5 (r3) OS (no boot: black screen);

. boot from original OS X install DVD (no boot: black screen);

. boot with different combinations of commonly used peripherals (normally and in safe mode without any luck);

. reset NVRAM / PRAM (result: no boot, gray screen);

Additionally I've opened the laptop and checked HDD connectors. Connectors are OK.

Apple should DEFINITELY assume responsibility for this know issue in MBP 2011 models as they are faulty judging by the amount of cases. I've had mine for almost 3 years without any problems, and now, all of the sudden, this happens.

Anyone has any ideas on how to call for Apple responsibility over this known issue?

Best,

Message was edited by: henser87

Mar 17, 2014 9:23 AM in response to imawsm

Hey imawsm

Back again after 8 months, the apple guys were of no help, so I spent my savings on a new mbp, and now im starting to see the same problems with this one and the graphics card!!!! I mean come on what the ****, thankfully its still under warenty so I can get it fixed, but what the **** apple why are you letting these computers go to the general public with these major problems........... Just a reminder of the last computer

"The apple guys said 750USD for the either the screen to the gfx card, The model is late 2011, but in saying that, the hard drive went on it, the track pad went on it, the battery went… and the power cable burned in half???? *** seriously"……….. And not even 2 yers old!!!

Really disappointed with these products................. Really Gutted, think the next computer will be a PC, I cant keep buying defective products from a company that doesn’t care about its clients. The old laptop doesnt even turn on anymore without the power cable so the battery is totally dead now,

APPLE IF YOU CAN HEAR THIS YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO YOUR CLIENTS, SELLING DEFECTED MACHINES SIMPLY ISNT GOOD ENOUGH.

Frozen macbook pro, late 2011 model, rebooting to a blank white screen