Hi Everyone,
I have had this problem for about 7 weeks and have upgraded to Mavericks with the same issue.
I see that there is a three year period on this but suspect that my three years have passed by now.
Would anyone know if this has been extended?
Thank you.
only Apple can answer that question. Call your local Apple store or AASP for a definitive answer.
only Apple can answer that question. Call your local Apple store or AASP for a definitive answer.
Some people reportedly have gotten their machines fixed outside of this 3 year period. It seems to depend on the personnel at the store. Personally, I always go in rather than call on something like this. I just think it improves the chances. There's also a depot repair program for this if you're deemed eligible. I understand it's in the $300 range. For that, they fix whatever may be wrong with the machine. It's my understanding that before the store manager will ok that, they go over the machine very carefully looking for any signs of abuse like dents, etc.
Obviously, free is better. Good luck.
Thanks for your replies, much appreciated.
I'm in New Zealand and believe it or not there is not one Apple Store here so I can only talk to people who service Apple computers - the last one I spoke with was not aware of the issue, so I said that I would do some research.
It is difficult to perform any work to put it mildly and I have just upgraded to Marvericks which now results in the MacBook Pro turning itself off and restarting rather than just going blank with the machine running and having me turn it off then on and viewing the report which happened with the last OS.
Cheers!
Thanks for your reply, please see my appreciate comments below.
Cheers
Here's a bit of a band-aid. It won't solve your problem, but it will improve it while you try to get this resolved. Install gfxcardstatus and force the graphics to on-board rather than discreet. It should at least reduce the number of kernel panics.
The problem covered by TS4088 was caused by graphics chips with a Latent defect being installed in MacBook pro models for a certain period. If you never upgraded the software, you never saw any problems.
If you upgraded to a new version of Mac OS X it tended to use the chips differently, and sometimes problems showed up.
Eventually Apple figured out what was causing this and came up with a separate test for the problem -- the Video Switching Test or VST Test. It takes only a few minutes to run, and ends in a spectacular PASSED or FAILED banner on the screen. It is not unreasonable to ask them to run it on the spot in front of you.
The standard overnight diagnostic loop test does NOT find this problem.
Once you know whether you have this problem or whether your Mac died from other causes, you can try to negotiate. Very few have had the repair covered after the time period has fully expired without some unusual circumstances. You can always ask (but they can always say no.)
The List price on a motherboard replacement is about US$700. Some Users have been able to get the Store Manager to allow them access to Depot Repair. For under US$350, they send your MacBook to a Repair Depot, and it is returned in about a week with all listed problems addressed for that flat rate.
I would expect in a country with no Apple stores and no Depots that repair rules would get interpreted "by the book". You can always ask (but they can always say no.)
Is this problem covered by Apple if three years have passed?
