My Macbook MLB has failed twice in 4 months.

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Level 1

1 points

My Macbook MLB has failed twice in 4 months.

Hi all,

Machine: Mid-2012 MBP with retina display, purchased in September 2012.

September 2013 - the laptop would shut down during graphics-intensive tasks. On reboot, the machine would power on, but with no display. When I connect to the laptop with Teamviewer, I can see in the system report that the discrete graphics card is unavailable. Also, no displays are detected. I tried hooking it up to an external display via HDMI, but it isn't detected. The laptop was under the 1st year applecare, so I had the entire MLB replaced by an authorized service center.

It worked fine for about 4 months. Now, in Feb 2014, the same problem has re-occured. I find it hard to believe that the new MLB can fail so quickly, surely there is some other problem? I suspected some kind of power supply issue, but there aren't any components in between the external power supply and the MLB. Also, did not find any similar complaints or cases reported online. The cost to replace the MLB would be around $700, and I don't want to spend that kind of money if the MLB isn't the real problem.

Does anyone have any ideas?

MacBook Pro with Retina display

Posted on Feb 14, 2014 11:39 PM

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Answer 1

6nuew Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 15, 2014 12:42 AM in response to 6nuew

PS: I have read about this problem in earlier MBPs. People have reported that a "reflow" of the GPU is an effective solution. Any thoughts?

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Answer 2

Feb 15, 2014 2:24 AM in response to 6nuew

No known issues with the 2012 Retina models - only the 2011's with the AMD Radeon GPUs.

It's highly unusual that a logic board replacement would fail again so soon - and with the same GPU problem. If you've already put a new logic board in, I wouldn't pay to have it replaced again. Were it me, I would just cut my losses and purchase a new machine. And I don't think that your machine is a good candidate for a BGA reball -> that may be just another temporary fix.

My 2¢...

Clinton

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