My early 2011 MBP starting having graphics problems that would be induced by running iMovie, most photo editing applications and even video streaming. This started about two weeks after my warranty expired. Took it to the Genius bar, where they confirmed it was a graphics card problem. The rep said, "your Apple Care is expired -- however, I have some latitude..." The MBP was fixed in two days, no cost to me.
It was sent to depot, where they also concluded that the CD drive was broken (I knew this, but didn't bring it up, since it's not critical to me and wasn't ready to shell out $$ for something I rarely used), so they replaced that at no cost. I had also previously upgraded the stock 4Gb RAM with 8 GM from Corsair. Depot diagnostics said the RAM was causing kernel panic, so they replaced it with 4Gb of Apple RAM and gave me the Corsair back. I'm not sure if I'm convinced the Corsair RAM still is a problem and I really would like to get back up to 8 Gb RAM, so I'm tempted to swap it back in.
Anyway, I'm not flush with money and knew the repair (just the graphics) could come to $500 or higher, but I had read enough about how prevalent the problem was and concluded that Apple was likely to relent and ultimately pay me back for the repair as a result of their own recall or even possibly another type of recall that has been prompted by that special extra incentive called "class action". In the end, I suspect they decided to not to universally announce a recall, but to cover the cost of any MBPs with this problem for those who bother to bring it in and complain.
My late 2011 Macbook Pro started with the screen freezes and now doesn't work at all. Took it to Apple this week and explained the issue, also mentioned the research I'd done into this problem. The guy seemed to be aware of the problem. He said as my laptop is 2 and a half years old, it should be replaceable under the European Union Consumser Goods Act - 6 years in England (UK). He needed me to verify how it was purchased i.e. direct from Apple and not as a business purchase, in order to quallify for a free repair. Funnily enough when I produced a purchase code I was told it did not qualify and should cut my losses and buy a new Mac. Sounds like complete bull**** to me and a ruse to wriggle out of consumer law! Apple should be held accountable for this. I have invested a lot of money in this laptop and also a fair bit of software. Also why is Applecare for 15" laptops much more expensive compared to all other Apple computers - £279 for Macbook Pro vs £199 for Mac Pro? Very dodgy indeed!
Anyway, I'm not flush with money and knew the repair (just the graphics) could come to $500 or higher, but I had read enough about how prevalent the problem was and concluded that Apple was likely to relent and ultimately pay me back for the repair as a result of their own recall or even possibly another type of recall that has been prompted by that special extra incentive called "class action". In the end, I suspect they decided to not to universally announce a recall, but to cover the cost of any MBPs with this problem for those who bother to bring it in and complain.
That is incorrect. Depot repair is typically around $300-350 for one of these depending on the model. It's a flat rate. It's also an exchange of the entire logic board, although the replacement may be new or refurbished as is the case with any repair.
I've never posted anything anywhere before today. Just thought I would throw this out.
2008 i bought a macbook pro. 2 months before warranty was up it crashed. couldn't be fixed. Apple gave me a new early 2011 macbook pro. Now 2 months past my warranty I have started to experience similar screen shots, fan revving up and unwanted shut downs. Next step. drive to a town 2 hrs away after work tomorrow. Drop off for diagnostic and Apple said they will try to help me when they receive the diagnostic report.
I'm totally in your boat. The reason I switched to Mac is because I was convinced that it would last me. Now, Im outside the country, in a remote location, teaching, and Im having this problem. Come to find out even if I could get my some authorised Apple Support centre somewhere, I read this...
"Apple will replace the graphics card of affected iMacs with the aforementioned serial numbers at no cost for up to three years from the date that the computer was purchased, which makes early adopters eligible until May 2014."
Literally two weeks ago.
?I mean, I saw the movie "Jobs" if there was anything Steve was passionate about it was the USER INTERFACE and thats exactly the problem here. I think it dishonours his memory NOT to replace ALL of the chips in the affected computers.
I'm totally in your boat. The reason I switched to Mac is because I was convinced that it would last me. Now, Im outside the country, in a remote location, teaching, and Im having this problem. Come to find out even if I could get my some authorised Apple Support centre somewhere, I read this...
"Apple will replace the graphics card of affected iMacs with the aforementioned serial numbers at no cost for up to three years from the date that the computer was purchased, which makes early adopters eligible until May 2014."
Literally two weeks ago.
?I mean, I saw the movie "Jobs" if there was anything Steve was passionate about it was the USER INTERFACE and thats exactly the problem here. I think it dishonours his memory NOT to replace ALL of the chips in the affected computers.
They had a similar problem when Steve was at the company. They extended the warranty to 4 years from the date of purchase, they didn't replace every chip. They simply can't do that because the chips don't keep getting manufactured. By the time 3 years comes around, they are most likely recycling boards over and over until eventually people just have to buy a new machine. It's a bad situation to be in and I feel they should at least offer trade-in value towards a new machine or figure out a way to disable the dedicated GPU permanently so that the machine is usable.
Hi.. I'm just technician from Malaysia and operating MBP reballing here in my country. I've been doing research regarding MBP early 2011 GPU disaster since early 2013.So many MBP here in Malaysia has been repaired and solve by me.The problem is come from solder ball they use for (standard ROHS)Leadfree solder ball are not suitable with heat/cold condition.Please research Leadfree solder vs Leaded solder >>>http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/leaded-vs-lead-free-solder.29590/<<<; Basically i'll replace GPU,CPU and Vram solder ball with Leaded solder ball. For any MBP users that have problem with their MBP please send me your email to [email protected] for more info.
I'm just technician from Malaysia and operating MBP reballing here in my country. I've been doing research regarding MBP early 2011 GPU disaster since early 2013.So many MBP here in Malaysia has been repaired and solve by me.The problem is come from solder ball they use for (standard ROHS)Leadfree solder ball are not suitable with heat/cold condition.Please research Leadfree solder vs Leaded solder >>>http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/leaded-vs-lead-free-solder.29590/<<<;
Basically i'll replace GPU,CPU and Vram solder ball with Leaded solder ball.
For any MBP users that have problem with their MBP please send me your email to [email protected] for more info.The cost for MBP repairing is around 300usd + postage
This problem has got so widespread now apple has removed the thread! We were discussing a group action against apple this week and for some reason the thread has now been removed!
This problem has got so widespread now apple has removed the thread! We were discussing a group action against apple this week and for some reason the thread has now been removed!
Apple is notorious for removing threads. Two threads I started were removed. The first one was about their lack of updating the Mac Mini. Someone brought up Hackintosh. I mentioned that there were people doing it with the then new Dell 101 netbooks. That is all that I wrote and the thread was deleted. Nobody on the thread was promoting doing it or saying they did it. Just the mention that some people were doing it caused the tread to be deleted.
The next one was about defective Mac Book batteries that were made by Sony and the big recall that happened in 2007. I was saying that the Apple battery in my 2008 Mac Book was made by Sony and was doing the exact same thing yet Apple wasn't willing to exchange the battery. That tread got deleted too.
Both of these were acts that really made me angry and very disappointed at the Apple company. Until then I had real appreciation for the product and I believed the hype about their great customer service. Then I experienced the actual fact that if something is really wrong with a design, Apple will do all it can to sweep it under the rug to avoid a massive recall. Apple refused to do anything about my defective battery.
I reported the defect to the Consumer Product Safety Commission because such battery problems were linked to some fires. Months later Apple calls me about this report. They asked me to take it to an approved repair shop. The battery was examined and photographed. Within a few days I had a new battery. It seemed that only government intervention got Apple to replace that dangerous defective battery. They wouldn't do it on their own to protect me. They only did it to avoid governmental problems.
The great progressive company known as Apple is really a giant behemoth that will do only what it feels is best for the bottom line and they are very strongly into censorship on their forums. This proved to me that Apple is a two faced entity. Don't believe the sweetness and light image. It isn't true.
Apparently the post is still there, I can see it now, I'm just not allowed to see it when I log on with my apple user. I think they have banned me . . . Mention taking action and that's what you get. I used to be Apple through and through, converted almost everyone I can to apple . . really shocked now I have seen this side of them. I now have over 2k GBP of mac now sat in a cupboard with not even a dignified response from Apple.
The great progressive company known as Apple is really a giant behemoth that will do only what it feels is best for the bottom line and they are very strongly into censorship on their forums. This proved to me that Apple is a two faced entity. Don't believe the sweetness and light image. It isn't true.
Apple's forum is their official one so they can't be expected to condone people recommending competing products and taking action against the company. That's what forums like these are for.
There would be no point in buying one of those however. You can get the 2013 Retina model for £1400 with a warranty and same working resolution as the 17" when it's in stock:
If the broken one sold for £200 and a 2011 replacement was bought for £550, the loss would be £350 as it's £350 you wouldn't have had to pay. The machine you buy however is still worth £550. It's important to remember that the loss in a computer is in how much it depreciates, not how much you pay for it. If you buy a new laptop for £2000, it's not a £2000 loss as you can sell it immediately and get almost all of the money back. The loss is in how much you sell it for vs how much you paid. Even if it was in working condition, your resale value would mean you'd have lost around £1400 on it over the 3 years you owned it.
This doesn't excuse Apple from not handling the issue and with parts that have a high failure rate, it's much better if they extend the warranty to cover this kind of failure.
Now having the same problem since yesterday. This is an obvious case of planned obsolescence. I want my money back! Apple your credibility is on the line here, too many people having the same problem now. We should organise a way to complain. What can we do?
Late 2011 MBP and having same problems. After a diagnostic they determined I might have bad RAM (which I had upgraded from 4 to 8GB). $100 for the RAM and $125 for the service and still having same problems. It does seem extending the warranty to fix this issue would be the right thing to do. I am considering selling it and switching to a windows machine, though I am pretty invested in Mac, this makes me feel like it's not worth paying the premium for a Mac only to deal with this nightmare. I have lost hours and hours of work with random crashes. It will run ok until I try to edit video or even just play back HD video and then CRASH.....Been to the Apple Service provider locally (no Apple Store within 4 hours) 4 times and no fix. Next up on the list is to swap out the logicboard to the tune of $500+. Wishing I got Applecare, but still feels like they should extend the warranty and fix this issue.
Late 2011 MBP and having same problems. After a diagnostic they determined I might have bad RAM (which I had upgraded from 4 to 8GB). $100 for the RAM and $125 for the service and still having same problems. It does seem extending the warranty to fix this issue would be the right thing to do. I am considering selling it and switching to a windows machine, though I am pretty invested in Mac, this makes me feel like it's not worth paying the premium for a Mac only to deal with this nightmare. I have lost hours and hours of work with random crashes. It will run ok until I try to edit video or even just play back HD video and then CRASH.....Been to the Apple Service provider locally (no Apple Store within 4 hours) 4 times and no fix. Next up on the list is to swap out the logicboard to the tune of $500+. Wishing I got Applecare, but still feels like they should extend the warranty and fix this issue.
That's what Applecare is for. If you choose to forego it, you have to suffer the consequences.
Comments
It was sent to depot, where they also concluded that the CD drive was broken (I knew this, but didn't bring it up, since it's not critical to me and wasn't ready to shell out $$ for something I rarely used), so they replaced that at no cost. I had also previously upgraded the stock 4Gb RAM with 8 GM from Corsair. Depot diagnostics said the RAM was causing kernel panic, so they replaced it with 4Gb of Apple RAM and gave me the Corsair back. I'm not sure if I'm convinced the Corsair RAM still is a problem and I really would like to get back up to 8 Gb RAM, so I'm tempted to swap it back in.
Anyway, I'm not flush with money and knew the repair (just the graphics) could come to $500 or higher, but I had read enough about how prevalent the problem was and concluded that Apple was likely to relent and ultimately pay me back for the repair as a result of their own recall or even possibly another type of recall that has been prompted by that special extra incentive called "class action". In the end, I suspect they decided to not to universally announce a recall, but to cover the cost of any MBPs with this problem for those who bother to bring it in and complain.
My late 2011 Macbook Pro started with the screen freezes and now doesn't work at all. Took it to Apple this week and explained the issue, also mentioned the research I'd done into this problem. The guy seemed to be aware of the problem. He said as my laptop is 2 and a half years old, it should be replaceable under the European Union Consumser Goods Act - 6 years in England (UK). He needed me to verify how it was purchased i.e. direct from Apple and not as a business purchase, in order to quallify for a free repair. Funnily enough when I produced a purchase code I was told it did not qualify and should cut my losses and buy a new Mac. Sounds like complete bull**** to me and a ruse to wriggle out of consumer law! Apple should be held accountable for this. I have invested a lot of money in this laptop and also a fair bit of software. Also why is Applecare for 15" laptops much more expensive compared to all other Apple computers - £279 for Macbook Pro vs £199 for Mac Pro? Very dodgy indeed!
"AppleInsider has reached out to Apple for comment and will update when a response is received."
So did that reply ever come, since this post was done in january, it seems like they are ignoring you just like they are ignoring us?
Anyway, I'm not flush with money and knew the repair (just the graphics) could come to $500 or higher, but I had read enough about how prevalent the problem was and concluded that Apple was likely to relent and ultimately pay me back for the repair as a result of their own recall or even possibly another type of recall that has been prompted by that special extra incentive called "class action". In the end, I suspect they decided to not to universally announce a recall, but to cover the cost of any MBPs with this problem for those who bother to bring it in and complain.
That is incorrect. Depot repair is typically around $300-350 for one of these depending on the model. It's a flat rate. It's also an exchange of the entire logic board, although the replacement may be new or refurbished as is the case with any repair.
I've never posted anything anywhere before today. Just thought I would throw this out.
2008 i bought a macbook pro. 2 months before warranty was up it crashed. couldn't be fixed. Apple gave me a new early 2011 macbook pro. Now 2 months past my warranty I have started to experience similar screen shots, fan revving up and unwanted shut downs. Next step. drive to a town 2 hrs away after work tomorrow. Drop off for diagnostic and Apple said they will try to help me when they receive the diagnostic report.
3 yr shelf life is not cool.
They are calling Wednesday to tell me whats up.
@ Aincent
I'm totally in your boat. The reason I switched to Mac is because I was convinced that it would last me. Now, Im outside the country, in a remote location, teaching, and Im having this problem. Come to find out even if I could get my some authorised Apple Support centre somewhere, I read this...
"Apple will replace the graphics card of affected iMacs with the aforementioned serial numbers at no cost for up to three years from the date that the computer was purchased, which makes early adopters eligible until May 2014."
Literally two weeks ago.
?I mean, I saw the movie "Jobs" if there was anything Steve was passionate about it was the USER INTERFACE and thats exactly the problem here. I think it dishonours his memory NOT to replace ALL of the chips in the affected computers.
They had a similar problem when Steve was at the company. They extended the warranty to 4 years from the date of purchase, they didn't replace every chip. They simply can't do that because the chips don't keep getting manufactured. By the time 3 years comes around, they are most likely recycling boards over and over until eventually people just have to buy a new machine. It's a bad situation to be in and I feel they should at least offer trade-in value towards a new machine or figure out a way to disable the dedicated GPU permanently so that the machine is usable.
I'm just technician from Malaysia and operating MBP reballing here in my country. I've been doing research regarding MBP early 2011 GPU disaster since early 2013.So many MBP here in Malaysia has been repaired and solve by me.The problem is come from solder ball they use for (standard ROHS)Leadfree solder ball are not suitable with heat/cold condition.Please research Leadfree solder vs Leaded solder >>>http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/leaded-vs-lead-free-solder.29590/<<<;
Basically i'll replace GPU,CPU and Vram solder ball with Leaded solder ball.
For any MBP users that have problem with their MBP please send me your email to [email protected] for more info.
Hi..
I'm just technician from Malaysia and operating MBP reballing here in my country. I've been doing research regarding MBP early 2011 GPU disaster since early 2013.So many MBP here in Malaysia has been repaired and solve by me.The problem is come from solder ball they use for (standard ROHS)Leadfree solder ball are not suitable with heat/cold condition.Please research Leadfree solder vs Leaded solder >>>http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/leaded-vs-lead-free-solder.29590/<<<;
Basically i'll replace GPU,CPU and Vram solder ball with Leaded solder ball.
For any MBP users that have problem with their MBP please send me your email to [email protected] for more info.The cost for MBP repairing is around 300usd + postage
Apple is hiding something. Do not kid yourself.
This problem has got so widespread now apple has removed the thread! We were discussing a group action against apple this week and for some reason the thread has now been removed!
Apple is notorious for removing threads. Two threads I started were removed. The first one was about their lack of updating the Mac Mini. Someone brought up Hackintosh. I mentioned that there were people doing it with the then new Dell 101 netbooks. That is all that I wrote and the thread was deleted. Nobody on the thread was promoting doing it or saying they did it. Just the mention that some people were doing it caused the tread to be deleted.
The next one was about defective Mac Book batteries that were made by Sony and the big recall that happened in 2007. I was saying that the Apple battery in my 2008 Mac Book was made by Sony and was doing the exact same thing yet Apple wasn't willing to exchange the battery. That tread got deleted too.
Both of these were acts that really made me angry and very disappointed at the Apple company. Until then I had real appreciation for the product and I believed the hype about their great customer service. Then I experienced the actual fact that if something is really wrong with a design, Apple will do all it can to sweep it under the rug to avoid a massive recall. Apple refused to do anything about my defective battery.
I reported the defect to the Consumer Product Safety Commission because such battery problems were linked to some fires. Months later Apple calls me about this report. They asked me to take it to an approved repair shop. The battery was examined and photographed. Within a few days I had a new battery. It seemed that only government intervention got Apple to replace that dangerous defective battery. They wouldn't do it on their own to protect me. They only did it to avoid governmental problems.
The great progressive company known as Apple is really a giant behemoth that will do only what it feels is best for the bottom line and they are very strongly into censorship on their forums. This proved to me that Apple is a two faced entity. Don't believe the sweetness and light image. It isn't true.
Apparently the post is still there, I can see it now, I'm just not allowed to see it when I log on with my apple user. I think they have banned me . . . Mention taking action and that's what you get. I used to be Apple through and through, converted almost everyone I can to apple . . really shocked now I have seen this side of them. I now have over 2k GBP of mac now sat in a cupboard with not even a dignified response from Apple.
Apple's forum is their official one so they can't be expected to condone people recommending competing products and taking action against the company. That's what forums like these are for.
Your machine is worth what it can be replaced for or its resale value in working condition. If it's a 15", that's about £550:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MacBook-Pro-15-2-5x2-5-0Ghz-320GB-4GB-MS-Office-2011-3-Months-Warranty-/191174668218
If it's a 17", £900:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-MacBook-Pro-Core-i7-2-2GHz-17-early-2011-A1297-/291179569106
There would be no point in buying one of those however. You can get the 2013 Retina model for £1400 with a warranty and same working resolution as the 17" when it's in stock:
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/FE664B/A/refurbished-154-inch-macBook-Pro-24ghz-Quad-core-Intel-i7-with-retina-Display
You'd be able to sell the broken one for £200-300, maybe more for a 17":
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Macbook-Pro-15Inch-2011-Spares-Or-Repair-/221423422366
If the broken one sold for £200 and a 2011 replacement was bought for £550, the loss would be £350 as it's £350 you wouldn't have had to pay. The machine you buy however is still worth £550. It's important to remember that the loss in a computer is in how much it depreciates, not how much you pay for it. If you buy a new laptop for £2000, it's not a £2000 loss as you can sell it immediately and get almost all of the money back. The loss is in how much you sell it for vs how much you paid. Even if it was in working condition, your resale value would mean you'd have lost around £1400 on it over the 3 years you owned it.
This doesn't excuse Apple from not handling the issue and with parts that have a high failure rate, it's much better if they extend the warranty to cover this kind of failure.
Have you or anyone else you know has done this that solved this exact problem?? Thanks!!!
did u have apple care plan?
MacBook Pro 15-inch, Late 2011
Now having the same problem since yesterday. This is an obvious case of planned obsolescence. I want my money back! Apple your credibility is on the line here, too many people having the same problem now. We should organise a way to complain. What can we do?
Late 2011 MBP and having same problems. After a diagnostic they determined I might have bad RAM (which I had upgraded from 4 to 8GB). $100 for the RAM and $125 for the service and still having same problems. It does seem extending the warranty to fix this issue would be the right thing to do. I am considering selling it and switching to a windows machine, though I am pretty invested in Mac, this makes me feel like it's not worth paying the premium for a Mac only to deal with this nightmare. I have lost hours and hours of work with random crashes. It will run ok until I try to edit video or even just play back HD video and then CRASH.....Been to the Apple Service provider locally (no Apple Store within 4 hours) 4 times and no fix. Next up on the list is to swap out the logicboard to the tune of $500+. Wishing I got Applecare, but still feels like they should extend the warranty and fix this issue.
Late 2011 MBP and having same problems. After a diagnostic they determined I might have bad RAM (which I had upgraded from 4 to 8GB). $100 for the RAM and $125 for the service and still having same problems. It does seem extending the warranty to fix this issue would be the right thing to do. I am considering selling it and switching to a windows machine, though I am pretty invested in Mac, this makes me feel like it's not worth paying the premium for a Mac only to deal with this nightmare. I have lost hours and hours of work with random crashes. It will run ok until I try to edit video or even just play back HD video and then CRASH.....Been to the Apple Service provider locally (no Apple Store within 4 hours) 4 times and no fix. Next up on the list is to swap out the logicboard to the tune of $500+. Wishing I got Applecare, but still feels like they should extend the warranty and fix this issue.
That's what Applecare is for. If you choose to forego it, you have to suffer the consequences.
get some good thermal paste and clean and re-apply it on the two chips. iFixit's instructions are excellent, and the whole operation should take about an hour,http://www.toptrafficsafty.com/category/led-road-stud/