I am also part of this "club", my failure happened on Christmas Day 2013. Since then my 2011 17-inch Macbook Pro has been sitting in a cupboard collecting dust and I'm still waiting for an official response from Apple.
Apple should just replace them all, no hassle. That would be the right thing to do.
Apple has to be extremely careful about admitting fault, however, because that is ringing the dinner bell for class action lawyers who will advertise on late-night TV like "have you or someone you love been experiencing difficulty reading text on a MacBook Pro? Does the screen look like a bunch of lines that don't look like the Mac desktop? Then you may be a victim of MacBook Pro graphics card failure syndrome and entitled to relief. Apple Inc. has admitted a flaw in their graphics hardware. Call the toll free number on your screen to speak to the lawyers of Bagum, Tagum and Billum. There is no obligation."
Why couldn't it be handled like other product recalls? Apple likely knows what serial numbers would potentially be affected. That's what they did with some of the Macbook Airs. Not saying it's the proper way to handle it but curious if you or others might have an opinion why it wouldn't be.
Actually my 2008 is ancient, I'm just not ready to up grade. Hoping for something next generation real soon.
Ancient? Ha! I've got a 2007 MBP. Now THAT'S ancient.
Seriously though, other than it being (understandibly) slow it's still a fantastic machine. It has a couple keys missing and some won't work but a regular keyboard hooked up to it works just fine. It's one of the main reasons I will never choose another computer company to buy from. The build quality is second to none with Apple
Ancient? Ha! I've got a 2007 MBP. Now THAT'S ancient.
Seriously though, other than it being (understandibly) slow it's still a fantastic machine. It has a couple keys missing and some won't work but a regular keyboard hooked up to it works just fine. It's one of the main reasons I will never choose another computer company to buy from. The build quality is second to none with Apple
I'm running a 2001 iMac, the kind with the round base and swivel flatscreen display. It's just being used as an iTunes Server and Time Machine backup with an external RAID10 setup connected via FW400 and the iMac connects to my AEBS via 100Mbips ethernet, but it still functioning. That said, I am patiently waiting for the Mac minis to be updated so it can be replaced.
This is one area I wish all companies were more transparent.
Ditto. It's too often the squeaky wheel that gets the grease when they're not. I sent off my DSLR a few weeks ago because I was getting spots of oil on the sensor. This is a fairly widely known problem on support and fan forums with early-production-run units, but the company has never officially offered to fix or recall it. In my case the warranty was long expired before the problem arose.
The company first offered to clean the sensor (I would have to pay for it), but I knew that that would leave the underlying problem to recur later. I sent a reply to their service quote with links to many of the forums where people have presented evidence about the problem, and they agreed (without any additional back and forth) to not only clean the sensor for free but also to replace all of the affected parts for free.
I suspect that it got elevated when I complained, and the more senior tech support agent knew what was up. But the *right* thing to do would be to acknowledge the problem openly and invite users to submit their cameras for inspection if they can show that their photographs are affected.
Good service can be expensive when your designers or factory make a mistake, but it buys customer loyalty.
It isn't Apple failure, but rather the GPU manufactures that design and run chips right at the limits of the process technology. GPUs just are not reliable.
True, but Apple's selling a whole system. Unless you think the affected users should be petitioning AMD for help?
It's very similar to the 2010 MBP and Nvidia cards problem and there were problems on earlier MPS, always the GPUs. Apple replaced my motherboard, so I was lucky but not so, many others. Perhaps it is time Apple took GPU development in house.
Ancient? Ha! I've got a 2007 MBP. Now THAT'S ancient.
Seriously though, other than it being (understandibly) slow it's still a fantastic machine. It has a couple keys missing and some won't work but a regular keyboard hooked up to it works just fine. It's one of the main reasons I will never choose another computer company to buy from. The build quality is second to none with Apple
I've got a Mac Plus ... that's ancient! My Apple ][ and Apple /// were stolen from my dad's basement in Grange over Sands, UK. If you read this and you have them .... burn in hell ... slowly and for eternity.
I'm running a 2001 iMac, the kind with the round base and swivel flatscreen display. It's just being used as an iTunes Server and Time Machine backup with an external RAID10 setup connected via FW400 and the iMac connects to my AEBS via 100Mbips ethernet, but it still functioning. That said, I am patiently waiting for the Mac minis to be updated so it can be replaced.
Why do you need an iTunes server with iTunes Match now available? Or is it for videos? I got a new Mac mini recently for playing around with as a server ... now I am wondering why I bothered.
It is a manufacturing defect, hence Apple's responsibility. The discrete graphics were silver soldered to their subassembly. They develop cracks and instability due to poor connections. This is apparently made worse by higher temperatures. These were designed to be high performance machines and aimed at a market of professionals who use these computers to do high speed rendering, etc. Just the conditions that will cause the failures.
Apple needs to offer a complete replacement program to a new MacBook Pro that has been redesigned to meet these more stringent requirements. Hopefully the current Retina 15". Although frankly, I would be hesitant to buy any MacBook Pro with discrete graphics (all high end models) given Apple's public inattention to the soldering problem. Who is to say the new machines don't have the the same problem? I anticipated at least a 5 year life for my MacBook Pro 17", not less than 3 years. Cost over $3500. They will replace the logic board. That is their solution to this problem thus far, but that only comes with a 90 day warranty when out of Applecare, which all of these systems will be within a few months. (I still have it for 6 weeks) Is Apple stringing us out until Applecare expires?
This is not the Apple I have known for the past 35 years of buying and for the entire period where it was possible to represent Apple as a Video VAR. I have sold dozens of Apple based systems and rely on them for my current production business. Reliability is directly related to stock price, if nothing else will move them to action, perhaps this will. Apple, provide us with an answer to this problem. Stop ducking it.
I had the same issue with my 2010 Nvidia 17%u201D MBP and when I went to Covent Garden after a second failure within a month of my first repair I tried to calmly reason with the manager there and he treated me like garbage! I decided to sell the machine on ebay, then I had to spend money that I had specifically put aside for further university tuition to pay for an early 2011 replacement. I remember at the time I had just started a new job and instead of being at work I was running around trying to get this sorted out and twiddling my thumbs at the studio since I could do bugger all without a computer while my boss just glared at me. I%u2019m just so angry with the way I was treated by Apple.
By the sound of it loads of other manufacturers are having similar issues with the same products, perhaps they need to sit Nvidia and AMD down and have a long hard talk, I can%u2019t afford for my current machine to fail%u2026 I always keep it elevated on a stand to make sure it receives adequate air circulation after the nightmare of the 2010 model.
Why do you need an iTunes server with iTunes Match now available? Or is it for videos? I got a new Mac mini recently for playing around with as a server ... now I am wondering why I bothered.
Mainly for videos for the Apple TV and Macs via Home Sharing. I wish that iDevices could also be connected to Home Sharing so they could stream from this server but that ideally will come with a dedicated RAID Home Server form Apple.
I had a mid-2010 15" MBP with the well-known 'defective video card' issue. It went in for service three times during the first two years - once for a optical drive replacement and twice for graphics issues. The next time it failed, the Genius at my local Apple store consulted with the store manager and replaced it with a new MBP.
I ended up exchanging the MBP for a top-of-the-line Haswell 13" MBA. Within the first year, the MBA had its logic board replaced twice, and its IO card once. It is unfortunate that Apple's products are not as rock-solid as they used to be, but I am more than satisfied with the way Apple handled the issues.
I wish that iDevices could also be connected to Home Sharing so they could stream from this server but that ideally will come with a dedicated RAID Home Server form Apple.
How exactly do you mean: 'stream from iDevices'? If you want to control playback from an iDevice simply open the Music app/More/Shared and pick the PC/Mac that has the media you want to play back. It does time out on my MacPro, might be due to the excessive amount of media (66,000) with a 135MB .xml file.
It does work instantly when using the Remote.ipa
Since you're IT affluent I take it you mean something different then this....
How exactly do you mean: 'stream from iDevices'? If you want to control playback from an iDevice simply open the Music app/More/Shared and pick the PC/Mac that has the media you want to play back. It does time out on my MacPro, might be due to the excessive amount of media (66,000) with a 135MB .xml file.
[image]
It does work instantly when using the Remote.ipa
[image]
Since you're IT affluent I take it you mean something different then this....
1) Thanks! I just checked the Video app on my iPad mini. I had no idea I could access all my movies and TV shows this way. Although it's still limited as there is no List mode or search option like you can use with iTunes connecting to Home Sharing.
2) It would be nice if that XML file was looked at like Time Machine and Dropbox files, insofar that the local and remote files are compared and the changes are brought over. That could save a lot of time as my iTunes Library DB file is also quite large.
I find it easier, snappier and getting better results in posting a question here than on the Apple Support pages. With a petition resulting from that 100+ pages thread (I had to get this post back on topic, didn't I?)
2)
That is a clever idea; they really should implement this. All it would take is to add iTunes to their Mobile Documents in iCloud (~/Library/Mobile Documents/):
Comments
Why couldn't it be handled like other product recalls? Apple likely knows what serial numbers would potentially be affected. That's what they did with some of the Macbook Airs. Not saying it's the proper way to handle it but curious if you or others might have an opinion why it wouldn't be.
Seriously though, other than it being (understandibly) slow it's still a fantastic machine. It has a couple keys missing and some won't work but a regular keyboard hooked up to it works just fine. It's one of the main reasons I will never choose another computer company to buy from. The build quality is second to none with Apple
I'm running a 2001 iMac, the kind with the round base and swivel flatscreen display. It's just being used as an iTunes Server and Time Machine backup with an external RAID10 setup connected via FW400 and the iMac connects to my AEBS via 100Mbips ethernet, but it still functioning. That said, I am patiently waiting for the Mac minis to be updated so it can be replaced.
This is one area I wish all companies were more transparent.
Ditto. It's too often the squeaky wheel that gets the grease when they're not. I sent off my DSLR a few weeks ago because I was getting spots of oil on the sensor. This is a fairly widely known problem on support and fan forums with early-production-run units, but the company has never officially offered to fix or recall it. In my case the warranty was long expired before the problem arose.
The company first offered to clean the sensor (I would have to pay for it), but I knew that that would leave the underlying problem to recur later. I sent a reply to their service quote with links to many of the forums where people have presented evidence about the problem, and they agreed (without any additional back and forth) to not only clean the sensor for free but also to replace all of the affected parts for free.
I suspect that it got elevated when I complained, and the more senior tech support agent knew what was up. But the *right* thing to do would be to acknowledge the problem openly and invite users to submit their cameras for inspection if they can show that their photographs are affected.
Good service can be expensive when your designers or factory make a mistake, but it buys customer loyalty.
It isn't Apple failure, but rather the GPU manufactures that design and run chips right at the limits of the process technology. GPUs just are not reliable.
True, but Apple's selling a whole system. Unless you think the affected users should be petitioning AMD for help?
I've got a Mac Plus ... that's ancient!
Why do you need an iTunes server with iTunes Match now available? Or is it for videos? I got a new Mac mini recently for playing around with as a server ... now I am wondering why I bothered.
Apple needs to offer a complete replacement program to a new MacBook Pro that has been redesigned to meet these more stringent requirements. Hopefully the current Retina 15". Although frankly, I would be hesitant to buy any MacBook Pro with discrete graphics (all high end models) given Apple's public inattention to the soldering problem. Who is to say the new machines don't have the the same problem? I anticipated at least a 5 year life for my MacBook Pro 17", not less than 3 years. Cost over $3500. They will replace the logic board. That is their solution to this problem thus far, but that only comes with a 90 day warranty when out of Applecare, which all of these systems will be within a few months. (I still have it for 6 weeks) Is Apple stringing us out until Applecare expires?
This is not the Apple I have known for the past 35 years of buying and for the entire period where it was possible to represent Apple as a Video VAR. I have sold dozens of Apple based systems and rely on them for my current production business. Reliability is directly related to stock price, if nothing else will move them to action, perhaps this will. Apple, provide us with an answer to this problem. Stop ducking it.
By the sound of it loads of other manufacturers are having similar issues with the same products, perhaps they need to sit Nvidia and AMD down and have a long hard talk, I can%u2019t afford for my current machine to fail%u2026 I always keep it elevated on a stand to make sure it receives adequate air circulation after the nightmare of the 2010 model.
Mainly for videos for the Apple TV and Macs via Home Sharing. I wish that iDevices could also be connected to Home Sharing so they could stream from this server but that ideally will come with a dedicated RAID Home Server form Apple.
I had a mid-2010 15" MBP with the well-known 'defective video card' issue. It went in for service three times during the first two years - once for a optical drive replacement and twice for graphics issues. The next time it failed, the Genius at my local Apple store consulted with the store manager and replaced it with a new MBP.
I ended up exchanging the MBP for a top-of-the-line Haswell 13" MBA. Within the first year, the MBA had its logic board replaced twice, and its IO card once. It is unfortunate that Apple's products are not as rock-solid as they used to be, but I am more than satisfied with the way Apple handled the issues.
I have the same issue with my early '11 MBP. Gotta check the status of my AppleCare warranty.
Have you tried packing it in dry ice when using it? That should keep it cool enough so it won't have any heat-related problems.
How exactly do you mean: 'stream from iDevices'? If you want to control playback from an iDevice simply open the Music app/More/Shared and pick the PC/Mac that has the media you want to play back. It does time out on my MacPro, might be due to the excessive amount of media (66,000) with a 135MB .xml file.
It does work instantly when using the Remote.ipa
Since you're IT affluent I take it you mean something different then this....
1) Thanks! I just checked the Video app on my iPad mini. I had no idea I could access all my movies and TV shows this way. Although it's still limited as there is no List mode or search option like you can use with iTunes connecting to Home Sharing.
2) It would be nice if that XML file was looked at like Time Machine and Dropbox files, insofar that the local and remote files are compared and the changes are brought over. That could save a lot of time as my iTunes Library DB file is also quite large.
It is soldering fault.
Over time and temperature GPU lose contact with motherboard.
I find it easier, snappier and getting better results in posting a question here than on the Apple Support pages. With a petition resulting from that 100+ pages thread (I had to get this post back on topic, didn't I?)
That is a clever idea; they really should implement this. All it would take is to add iTunes to their Mobile Documents in iCloud (~/Library/Mobile Documents/):
3F6W968EF7~com~abvio~Cyclemeter
82J93X7T25~com~apple~mobileiphoto
com~apple~Automator
com~apple~finder
com~apple~Keynote
com~apple~mail
com~apple~Notes
com~apple~Numbers
com~apple~Pages
com~apple~Preview
com~apple~ScriptEditor2
com~apple~shoebox
com~apple~system~spotlight
com~apple~TextEdit
com~apple~TextInput
D5BQCYM3TN~nl~sanomadigital~nuhd
SHM24X5HK7~de~meteogroup~WeatherPro
XXKJ396S2Y~com~autodesk~SketchBookPro
3) So many options, so many things Apple could implement. I wish I could take a look at their wish list. Also wondering if they have their own one for Aperture; here's mine:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/179038/aperture-wish-list-aperturex-aperture-v4