Aescleal

Q: 2011 mac mini video issue

Hi, my Mac mini 2011 has the identical video issue as the 2011-2012 MacBook Pro see here:  http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

 

Does Apple have any similar program for the mini?  Identical graphic fail.  Last fall I talked to support about it and was told since I was out of warranty... sorry.

 

But since then they've acknowledged the 2011 MBP has this issue and are doing something about it.  But what about the rest of us with this same issue?

 

Can anybody tell me if they've opened a similar program for their other computers?

 

Thanks,

Pete

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on May 27, 2015 9:53 AM

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Q: 2011 mac mini video issue

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  • by 8odders,

    8odders 8odders Feb 14, 2016 6:31 AM in response to arturodoyle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 14, 2016 6:31 AM in response to arturodoyle

    Me too

    2011 Mac mini, 2.5GHz with Radeon GPU.

    Started restarting for no reason about once a week or so.  That went on for a month or 6 weeks then the machine died.

    Now I just get the chime, apple logo appears then either white screen, black screen or black and white vertical lines.

    Occasionally it will boot up but it will only run for 15minutes before white screening again.

    Only had the machine just over 3 years, happened a month or two outside Applecare

     

    I'm having an engineer look at it now who advised me that here in the UK under the sale of goods act 1979 you have 6 years of warranty from the retailer if the goods are deemed to be expected to last that length of time.  If they don't last that length they are deemed to be not fit for purpose.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2875453/The-six-year-warranty-right-shop s-don-t-tell-customers-Law-says-retailers-responsible-dealing-complaints-officia l-guarantee-expires.html

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54

     

    He advised me to make a claim against Apple and that he would provide the necessary engineers report.

    As I bought direct from Apple, in this case they are the manufacturer and retailer.

     

    I think Apple should do the right thing here and offer the same repair to the faulty mini owners they offered to the MBP owners.

    The only reason they feel they don't have to is down to the numbers sold.

    This is no way to treat their customers.

  • by CedricJab,

    CedricJab CedricJab Feb 21, 2016 6:26 AM in response to arturodoyle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 21, 2016 6:26 AM in response to arturodoyle

    Same issue here with a Mac Mini mid 2011 2.5GHz and a discrete AMD Radeon HD 6630M. At boot I get the green / grey vertical stripes, then the grey screen. It started happening a few hours after installing the latest 10.11.4 public beta.

     

    I took it to a local Apple store, the diagnosis is a faulty graphic card. Apple does not want to admit the coincidence with the software update. So I'm left with a dead Mac Mini or paying several hundred bucks to replace the logic board.

     

    In the first few days after it started, I was still able to boot to recovery mode, now I'm stuck with the grey screen.

     

    Apple, please recognise you have issues with these graphic cards like for the MacBook Pro.

  • by Leidon,

    Leidon Leidon Feb 25, 2016 8:22 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (145 points)
    Feb 25, 2016 8:22 AM in response to Aescleal

    My Mac Mini (2011) has been doing the same thing (2.3 GHz i5, 4GB Memory, Intel HD Graphics 3000 384MB graphics) Some times it works fine for a while then freezes up with screen glitches. I have read that my logic board would need replacing. It makes a good paper weight right now.

    DesktopGlitch.jpg

  • by arturodoyle,

    arturodoyle arturodoyle Mar 27, 2016 4:35 PM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 27, 2016 4:35 PM in response to Aescleal

    After a while of having the Mac Mini running half the way, with an unusable video card, it died again.

     

    I had planned before the whole disaster a trip to New York (we don't have Apple Stores at my country).

    I was planning on buying a used Logic Board so I could replace the board and hence the video card. But it's expensive and a hard piece to find.

    The price range was between 320 and 400usd. But only from private sellers in Amazon.

     

    So I took my Mac Mini to the Apple Store, I had nothing to lose (they consider the RAM and disc upgrade as user replacement so they didn't care that it wasn't the factory model). I had a meeting at the so called Genius Bar, we ran all the possible tests, we couldn't find the problem. They advised me to check in the mac in order to get a better diagnose, since they don't charge for that, I accepted.

     

    After a few days, they told that they couldn't precise what the problem was, but they were pretty sure that by changing the logic board, it could be fixed. They would charge me 400usd for the replacement and labor (only 39usd of labor, the rest the replacement itself). I stated that if the new piece would have the same video card I wouldn't be quite satisfied, they told me that from what I told them and what they found on the internet they already had a different video card on the logic board (I didn't quite believe the guy at that time). Anyways I accepted.

     

    Another few days went by, I called again and they told me that they couldn't fix the problem with the new logic board, they did some new tests and something went wrong. So they were going to replace the computer, I asked if I could get my SSD back and they complied.

    I went to the store to pick up the new computer (by that time I didn't know if I had to pay anything or not, nor which model I was getting).

     

    They were going to give a new Mac Mini (late 2014 I think), the same gamma I had, the middle one, free of charge. Since I needed an SSD for a better speed for my work I upgraded it to the top model. I payed 326usd tax included and I got a new Mac Mini late 2014.

     

    I'm quite satisfied with the results.

    If you have your mac minis just sitting there I recommend that you take them to an Apple Store and see what happens.

     

    Hope this helps!

  • by lion_nel,

    lion_nel lion_nel Mar 28, 2016 1:06 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 28, 2016 1:06 AM in response to Aescleal

    same problem here with mini :

    Mac-Mini 2011 - AMD Radeon GPU Failur

     

     

     

    it takes a lot of evidence to Apple wakes up!
    they are currently ostrich

  • by Berc,

    Berc Berc Apr 26, 2016 10:20 PM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 26, 2016 10:20 PM in response to Aescleal

    I had a pink apple boot screen, then white screen and reboot.  I did a similar bake and it worked for me too.  I worked in the semiconductor industry for 20 years and an oven bake is a valid repair attempt.

    375 deg F preheated oven, eight minute bake, open oven door - DO NOT DISTURB BOARD until hand touchable. YMMV - Attempt at your own risk!

  • by smbhuin,

    smbhuin smbhuin May 20, 2016 11:46 PM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 20, 2016 11:46 PM in response to Aescleal

    I've the same problem. I have macmini5,2 aka Mid 2011 i5 2.5hz with AMD Radeon HD 6630M 256 MB.

    After a few involuntary restarts the Mini went dead. After starting apple logo would come on but after that, a white screen. I tried every letter combination for booting the computer, both disks and also an external pendrive. Nothing happened after the apple logo. Even in verbose mode I couldn't change a thing.

    Now It seems that it started happening with everyboady, so sooner or later Apple should do something about it!

  • by lion_nel,

    lion_nel lion_nel May 21, 2016 12:14 AM in response to smbhuin
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    May 21, 2016 12:14 AM in response to smbhuin

    yes absolutely.
    All minis have the same problem.

    I also have these problems as indicated on my link above.

    It is a shame that Apple does not move!

  • by tquast,

    tquast tquast May 23, 2016 12:08 PM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    May 23, 2016 12:08 PM in response to Aescleal

    Same here - all of the sudden only the grey Screen... Apple - plz help!

  • by Toni83.h,

    Toni83.h Toni83.h Jun 1, 2016 2:57 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 1, 2016 2:57 AM in response to Aescleal

    Same here - Apple please help us. We are MAC users like the iMAC and the MacBook Pro ones!

  • by rnpitta,

    rnpitta rnpitta Jun 16, 2016 3:10 PM in response to Toni83.h
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 16, 2016 3:10 PM in response to Toni83.h

    Got the same problem this week on my Mac Mini mid 2011 i5: Pink stripes and the grey screen. Thinking on trying the reflow as I have not much left to loose.

  • by lion_nel,

    lion_nel lion_nel Jun 16, 2016 9:11 PM in response to rnpitta
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 16, 2016 9:11 PM in response to rnpitta

    You have to go at Apple and claim a warranty repair.


     

  • by Toni83.h,

    Toni83.h Toni83.h Jun 16, 2016 11:39 PM in response to lion_nel
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 16, 2016 11:39 PM in response to lion_nel

    We shall show our complaints to the Apple Store to explain clearly how big is this issue. Otherwise Apple still continues to ignore us.

    Or we can write an email with our complaints directly to Tim Cook.

  • by v-i-c-,

    v-i-c- v-i-c- Jul 14, 2016 11:48 AM in response to Toni83.h
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 14, 2016 11:48 AM in response to Toni83.h

    Till today my mini was working without issues since I've raised fan speeds in november.

     

    But then I had 5 shocking hours of a weird flickering screen, exactly like a old TV which is out of sync. I've connected different screens and cables on both interfaces (display port & HDMI) and also tested it with the recovery system, the flickering always appeared when something changed on screen.

     

    Now it is gone and I have no issues since more than 2 hours, no idea why. But it looks like the final total GPU failure is unstoppable and just a matter of time now.

     

    <Edited by Host>

  • by Berc,

    Berc Berc Aug 18, 2016 10:49 AM in response to Aescleal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 18, 2016 10:49 AM in response to Aescleal

    Is your Mini still working?  I have baked mine twice.  And used a heat gun with a foil shield once. The problem comes back eventually.  Apple really should address this.

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