2011 Macbook Pro Logic Board Failure

BobTheFisherman wrote:

I agree that a computer's logic board should not fail in 2 or 3 years, but it happens.

It does happen and, as I wrote above, that's not really the issue.

The arrogance of Apple denying the problem at the beginning, the insulting twist of calling the lawsuit mandated fixes 'a quality program' followed by the shady practice of then re-issuing boards patched in a way that they will fail, again is the problem.

The heart of this issue is not a faulty piece of hardware, but the disastrous choices made by a company that can never acknowledges when they made a mistake.

Do you remember when the iPhone 4 had a bad signal and Apple told gave an explanation that amounted to users the phone wrong ? it's exactly the same kind of bratty arrogance.

If you don't remember that episode, google it ("iphone holding phone wrong", 18.2 million links)

Hi! I've only read 2 pages worth of bantering on this thread, but in case someone is looking for a reasonably priced solution here is a company on eBay doing this exact repair for about $200:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXCHANGE-MACBOOK-PRO-15-A1286-820-2915-B-2011-LOGIC-BOAR D-REPAIR-NEW-GPU-REBALL/111473619668?_tr…

I love my early-2011 "vintage" MBP and Arepoli I feel your pain. Mine failed 37 months after purchase -- a month after my AppleCare expired. Apple agreed to fix it. Here I am PRECISELY 37 months later and it has failed again. I want to keep the frosted screen -- this was the last MBP made with that option (can't stand those highly reflective new ones) and had the ability to easily update the HD and RAM. I've upgraded the HD to a 1 Tb SSD and put in 16 Gb of Apple approved RAM. It's a great machine EXCEPT for that GPU. (Might add this is the second Mac I've had major GPU issues with. A few years back I had three GPUs replaced in an iMac.)

At this point I'm not all that happy with the new iMacs. And, frankly, it wasn't until very recently that the MBP lineup had any significant upgrades from my 2011. And I don't need to carry around a dongle collection to get work done.

If anyone wants to blast me, go ahead. I've got work to do and won't be back.

This is a good price for a repair. However you need to be capable of removing the logic board. On MacBook pros that can be a daunting task. IFixit.com gives the logic board removal a "difficult" rating and it takes 1-3 hours.

I have the old anti glare hi res screen on mine too and it still looks great and gives true colours greys and whites. I bought a mid 2014 Macbook Pro the other day as I know it's only a matter of time that my second logic board replacement will die. The Retina screens are awful on the 2014 model. From what I can see on various threads online the 2013 models are the same. A horrible yellow green cast on them. I was horrified when I saw it. Got the screen replaced under warranty and the brand new screen was exactly the same. Without wanting to be dramatic here... it is seriously deflating knowing I soon wont be able to use my 2011 MBP. It still works beautifully and runs all the Mac OS . This "vintage" policy is ridiculous. As a photographer I need a properly calibrated screen on my laptop. I travel alot and I can''t carry around a monitor. I'm going to try and calibrate it with Spyder in a couple of days. If it still looks bad then it is getting sold. After 20 years of Mac I will grit my teeth and move to Windows. Extremely disappointed in this now shoddily run company.

BergoniaC wrote:

IFixit.com gives the logic board removal a "difficult" rating and it takes 1-3 hours.

It's not that difficult to remove; it's mostly tedious, but in practice it's 10-15min with the right tools if you're comfortable with that kind of process.

I believe the majority of Macbook Pro owners are like me, have no experience or practice removing or installing Logic Boards. For me one reason for buying an Apple computer is so I wouldn't need to remove parts because they are suppose to just work.

I am currently experiencing the EXACT same issue with my early 2011 MacBook Pro. I have replaced the HDD that has failed with a great Samsung Pro SSD drive and upgraded the RAM and have also replaced the Optical drive, to now have the screen show grey after the Apple logo. I have tried every reset possible to no avail. I have an appointment at the Apple Store on Friday with the Genius Bar to look at it. It ***** to know that there is probably no recourse to getting it fixed now and I agree it does suck that you can upgrade or replace a lot of things to prolong the life of your laptop to have the logic board fail and not be able to replace it is crazy. I did get a long life out of my laptop and have had many nights of it cooking itself. I have also looked on eBay to even purchase a used one that is working just to be able to back up my hard drive and be able to get a new computer after paying off the wife's camera. The sad thing is that this laptop has really been a great computer aside from the heat issue. The new ones now no longer have optical drives and basically only have several USB 3 ports and are too thin to allow me to use the 1TB SSD Samsung I purchased. I guess my only other alternative is to buy a rack and use the hard drive as another backup. Oddly enough I had just purchased the Airport Time Capsule 3TB to back up the laptop and it failed before I could do so.

DZohan thank you for providing your detailed experience. I'm going to give this another try. I have two of these computers and both have failed twice under warranty. I switched my small business to Apple products in 2006. Since then I have purchased a combination of new and used Macs. Strangely, the six Macs I have purchased new (three iMacs and three Mac Book Pros) ALL have had serious hardware issues requiring multiple repairs and replacements. And three of these were video card related. (One iMac series had major video card issues. I had it repaired two times under warranty and then it failed again outside of warranty.)

I really admire the OS X operating system, but as elegant as their hardware looks, they have serious underlying issues that have cost me much time and money.

Yup, I'm part of a great conspiracy that is out to convince you what products to use and what to believe. Hopefully you are wearing your tin foil hat because I'm again about to post. I don't work for Apple; I don't get compensated by Apple; I care less about Apple other than I do use MacBook Pros; I do not own any other Apple products; I use Windows PCs daily; I don't care it you use Windows PCs or Apple notebooks; I try to offer advice to those willing to listen.

Apple has a feedback channel which I suggested be used. They pay attention to feedback provided via the channel. They do not pay attention to rants posted by conspiracy theorists in these user-to-user help communities. People posting assistance here are doing it in good faith to help each other. I don't care if you switch to Windows. So take the advice given or don't.

I have the same problem. For me, Macbook pro is the most expensive home electronics. It is not acceptable that Macbook pro-2011 is a vintage after 6 only years. Apple definitely should be responsible for the repair as Toyota and Takata are doing, since their failure is obvious.

andrewj44 wrote:

so who deletes comments on here Bob? You or Apple

The helpers here are just users like you. Apple provides community hosts, Apple employees, who monitor these communities. They are the only ones who can delete or edit a post. When a post gets deleted the poster gets an email from the hosts stating why the post was deleted.

Only the Apple Support Community "Hosts" (not individual Users, no matter how many points they have) can remove User comments.

Removed comments typically do not adhere to the Terms Of Use that you agreed to when you signed up. If you need a refresher on the terms of Use, they are posted nearby.

Because the Terms of Use specifically spell out what these forums are for and what is acceptable content. Petitions are not acceptable content in the Terms of Use which we all agreed to when we joined the communities.

Grant,

Here are couple interesting tidbits from Apple Support Communities Agreement:

7. Apple may offer you benefits and award privileges for your participation in the Site. 19,000 post... you get anything for that yet?

2.1.2 Discussions of Apple policies or procedures.... So I guess this post will be deleted and your post should be deleted.

2.4. Do not post polls or petitions. So suggesting that a petition should be started is the same as posting a petition.

5.3 Apple reserves the right to delete any Submission, or take action against any account, at any time, for any reason.... I like this catch-all. "For any reason".

Will you or Bob The Fisherman acknowledge that everyone on this forum apart from yourselves are angry with Apple and have genuine grievances regarding the faulty GPU's and the way Apple have handled it. Why are you two the only ones who are constantly on the defense? Why are you two even involved in this discussion in the first place?