Late 2011 Macbook Pro Logic Board recall

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Level 1

16 points

Late 2011 Macbook Pro Logic Board recall

A month ago after I installed Sierra 10.12.4 my Macbook Pro 17” and shortly there after it started showing vertical lines at the start up screen , shutting down/restarting, and at times wouldn't get passed the login screen. I tried band-aid under disk utility and it helped for a week. It then started again.

I contacted Apple support, and they said they had no idea what was wrong with my Macbook. They tried to help and recommended I should ship it in for repairs. It would have cost me $600+. Due to falling on hard times, and finding it difficult to find a job I couldn't/can’t afford to send my Macbook Pro in for repairs. I continued to look for a resolution. The issue persisted, and I continued to do research on how to resolve my issue.

I ran into a post on the internet stating that in 2013, a year after I had purchased my Macbook, Apple had agreed that my model had a defective logic board and requested a recall. They stated they were able to repair them free of charge. I immediately contacted Apple, and was helped by the first person to answer the phone (whose name I forgot to get).

She contacted the closest Apple store in San Antonio. They couldn't help me because they no longer had the part in storage. The part was considered vintage. She informed me that I could take it to an Apple approved repair store and have it fixed their at my expense, but Apple couldn't fix it at this point. She then stated, even though the part was vintage my computer was not. She gave me a second option of taking in my computer Apple could buy it back, and I could use it to purchase a new computer. I told her I couldn't, as my investment into the computer was far greater than what I could get back from it. She contacted her Supervisor (Daniel, Employee # 304963).

Daniel informed me that the deal for repairs had ended in 2015 December. Which was a mistake on the employee's part, because it had actually ended in 2016. I asked for the repair to which he said "No". Further more I informed them I had no idea that there had been a recall, he stated they did their part by putting it on their website. I informed him had I known there was a recall I would have brought my laptop in for a repair. Daniel again stated they had done their part and put it on their website. I asked why wasn't an email sent out with the recall information. Daniel said, because they would have had to send thousands of e-mails and it wasn't feasible (Yet, they can send out thousands of emails about their new products). Daniel further said they had put their recall on the website and Apple could no longer help me because my warranty was outdated, and their replacement/repair had ended in 2015 (I'm sure he meant 2016). He argued that Apple didn't have to send out emails, because no other company sends out emails about re-calls. I informed him car dealerships do. His reply, "that's a matter of life or death situation." I informed him that even Wal-Mart sends out notices about re-called toys. His reply "..." nothing. I asked if there was anything Apple could do to help me with the fact that they sold me a faulty product, he said "No".

They did provide 2 recommendations, 1. fix it outside of Apple since it's a vintage computer, and at my expense or 2. Bring it in and sell it bak to Apple and use the money towards a new computer (Which I would, if I could afford a new computer HARD TIMES APPLE)

Dear Apple, I don't want a new Macbook, I am not trying to steal or rob your company of any money, I am not asking for a hand-out; I invested $4,000+ on this current Macbook because I believed in Apple. I believe in Apple customer support, to which I have no complaints on. I believed Apple would have done everything possible to inform its customers if there was a problem with my purchase, if I had the money, (and a job) I would purchase a new Macbook.

I just want what's fair. I bought a faulty machine from the company, and I'd like to have it fixed, even if it's from an outside Apple approved source. I don't feel it's fair that I'd have to pay for it. I wasn't informed of the re-call, until my Macbook began to have all the issues described on your website. Apple, I've been a loyal customer for decades when times were good. I believe in your products, which is why I am still a customer, but please I need help, I can't lose this Macbook. I use it for everything from job hunting to learning.

Sincerely,

Daniel A. Morales( no relation to employee Daniel)

MacBook Pro (17-inch Late 2011), iOS 10.3.1, Faulty Logic Board

Posted on May 13, 2017 7:28 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

126,955 points

May 13, 2017 10:10 AM in response to Daniel78852

There is a work-around that shuts off the discrete graphics and allows you to continue to use these Macs for "ordinary" things, but probably not adequate for Video Editing.

Install gfxCardStatus (https://gfx.io) and set it to "i" (integrated graphics only). It will allow your MBP to run on integrated graphics only, bypassing the discrete GPU which has the issues. This may allow your MBP to run normally, although it will have reduced graphics performance when permforming demanding graphics tasks. The alternative is replacing the logic board, which is not cost effective on a machine that old, unless gfx does not resolve the issue and you really want to keep this MBP.

There is an acknowledged bug in the current version of Cody Kreiger's Open-Source gfxcardstatus, and the developer has confessed he does not have time to fix it right now.

There is a fork off the main build by steveschow available that seems to fix that problem for current versions of MacOS such as ElCapitan and Sierra. He provides a finished .app for direct download -- you do not have to compile anything.

https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases

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Answer 2

May 13, 2017 9:54 AM in response to Daniel78852

NB> Readers and Posters here are other Users like you, and are willingly offering you friendly advice. Readers and Posters here DO NOT speak for Apple, Inc.

The longest possible warranty on those computers was three years if you decided to buy the AppleCare extension. Apple voluntarily ran a substantial recall program for nearly four years, which ended at the end of 2016. If you had experienced serious enough problems to seek service within that time frame, AND it had EXACTLY the problem the recall addressed, Apple would have covered the repair. (if you had a third-party repair for exactly the same problem, Apple would reimburse most of the cost of the repair under certain conditions.)

The program requirements included a certain range of serial numbers, built in a certain time frame, that were otherwise working but failed the 15-minute Video Switching Test (VST). If your computer was not working well enough to run the Video Switching Test, it would NOT have been be repaired under that program.

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Since your MacBook Pro did not give you enough trouble for you to seek service within that time, Apple's position on this issue has been that your computer "worked well enough", and you got "expected" performance from your computer. There is not likely to be any further compensation for owners of these computers.

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