Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2008 MBP Logic Board

A

asmallchild

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 25, 2007
205
0
I purchased my first apple computer in 2008, a 15" MBP

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

It's been literally problem free for me since I purchased it.

Out of the blue this weekend, it would power down and then refuse to boot up despite numerous mashes on the power button.

I went into my local Apple store and of course, my AppleCare had run out, I was diagnosed with a faulty logic board.

Now I've heard people complaining about the same thing happening to them, is this a common occurrence?

I was not pleased with my previous PC devices but to give them credit, they lasted!

Is it common for something so vital to just stop working 4 years into product life? I take immaculate care of my computer, have not subjected it to drops, haven't really traveled too much with it.

As great as the product has been, I am slightly disappointed in its (lack of) longevity.

The people at the genius bar looked like I had 5 heads when I agreed to plunk down $300+ to repair a 4 year old laptop. It took every last bit of restraint to stop myself from screaming at them, "Yes, I know it's stupid. Do you think I would be repairing a 4 year old laptop if I have the funds to purchase a new one?!"
 
T

thundersteele

macrumors 68030
Oct 19, 2011
2,984
9
Switzerland
asmallchild said:
Is it common for something so vital to just stop working 4 years into product life? I take immaculate care of my computer, have not subjected it to drops, haven't really traveled too much with it.

As great as the product has been, I am slightly disappointed in its (lack of) longevity.
Click to expand...

From my experience, full failures are very rare, but they happen. The 2008 pre-unibody MBP (and other laptops from that time) suffers from a production defect of the Nvidia GPU, see the link in the above post for more details.
 
A

asmallchild

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 25, 2007
205
0
I do have a pre unibody mbp but I don't have a distorted image or no image

My whole laptop doesn't boot, can I blame the nvidia card for that?
 
M

moonwalk

macrumors regular
Jul 14, 2009
124
91
asmallchild said:
I do have a pre unibody mbp but I don't have a distorted image or no image

My whole laptop doesn't boot, can I blame the nvidia card for that?
Click to expand...

Asmallchild: A friend of mind had a similar problem to yours. His early 2008 MBP wouldn't boot. No apparent video card problem, etc. He took it to Apple store, where he was told it was indeed an NVIDIA/logic board failure. So yes, that could be your problem, and probably is.

My friend's Applecare had just expired two months earlier. At first the genius said the repair would be $600. My friend politely asked for a break. The genius spoke with the manager, and they agreed to split the difference and charge my friend only $300 for the repair. Friend was happy, as he got a new lease on an old machine for only $300. YMMV.
 
Last edited:
A

asmallchild

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 25, 2007
205
0
moonwalk said:
Asmallchild: A friend of mind had a similar problem to yours. His early 2008 MBP wouldn't boot. No apparent video card problem, etc. He took it to Apple store, where he was told it was indeed an NVIDIA/logic board failure. So yes, that could be your problem, and probably is.

My friend's Applecare had just expired two months earlier. At first the genius said the repair would be $600. My friend politely asked for a break. The genius spoke with the manager, and they agreed to split the difference and charge my friend only $300 for the repair. Friend was happy, as he got a new lease on an old machine for only $300. YMMV.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help, I guess my Bill of $300 might already be a discount, hopefully it'll buy me another 3 years :)
 
A

asmallchild

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 25, 2007
205
0
My little update:

Tried asking when I picked the unit up if the failure if the Nvidia graphics card could have caused my logic board problem. They didn't budge and I still had to pay the $350

I'm not pleased I had to replace such a seemingly important part of my laptop after only 4 years of extremely light use

That being said, I thought Apple was phenomenal throughout the process. I'm not happy at paying $350 but I guess to get a new logic board and optical drive out of it, that's not a terrible price.

I was treated very courteously (and in a timely manner to boot) at the Genius Bar.

The speed of the repair was very impressive (4 business days)

Pick up was a breeze and the work done to my unit was phenomenal. Left all my data intact too!

I'd definitely give Apple another chance with my next computer (hopefully 2+ years from now) and here's hoping the logic board on that device gets to the 5 year mark ;)
 
Astroboy907

Astroboy907

macrumors 65816
May 6, 2012
1,387
14
Spaceball One
asmallchild said:
My little update:

Tried asking when I picked the unit up if the failure if the Nvidia graphics card could have caused my logic board problem. They didn't budge and I still had to pay the $350

I'm not pleased I had to replace such a seemingly important part of my laptop after only 4 years of extremely light use

That being said, I thought Apple was phenomenal throughout the process. I'm not happy at paying $350 but I guess to get a new logic board and optical drive out of it, that's not a terrible price.

I was treated very courteously (and in a timely manner to boot) at the Genius Bar.

The speed of the repair was very impressive (4 business days)

Pick up was a breeze and the work done to my unit was phenomenal. Left all my data intact too!

I'd definitely give Apple another chance with my next computer (hopefully 2+ years from now) and here's hoping the logic board on that device gets to the 5 year mark ;)
Click to expand...

Not a too shabby price on a logic board, depending on your model (+ Optical). Though I could've done the repair in ~2 hours with everything on hand.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom