Apple says some MacBook Pros affected by faulty Nvidia chips

[DjAmTraX]

Apple said this week some of its more recent MacBook Pro models may contain faulty Nvidia graphics chips that produce distorted video or fail completely.

The problem

In July, Nvidia informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would incur a $150 million to $200 million charge to cover repair and replacement expenses resulting from "a weak die/packaging material set" in certain versions of its previous MCP and GPU products employed by various notebook vendors.

"The previous generation MCP and GPU products that are impacted were included in a number of notebook products that were shipped and sold in significant quantities," the chipmaker told the Commission. "Certain notebook configurations of these MCP and GPU products are failing in the field at higher than normal rates."

When contacted by AppleInsider shortly after the filing, officials for Nvidia refused to confirm or deny whether Apple was among the notebook manufacturers affected by the issue, citing "confidentiality obligations" to its customers that prevent it from discussing the matter.

For its part, Apple also contacted Nvidia in July and was assured "that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected," it revealed in a support document for the first time this week.

"However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected," the company said. "If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within two years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty."

Affected MacBook Pros and symptoms

Among the models affected are those that were manufactured between approximately May 2007 and September 2008. They include the MacBook Pro (15-Inch, 2.4/2.2GHz), MacBook Pro (17-Inch, 2.4GHz), and MacBook Pro (Early 2008).

Customers who own one of these systems should look for instances of distorted or scrambled video on their screen, or the absence of video on the screen (or external display) when the computer is running.

Getting your MacBook Pro repaired

"If your MacBook Pro is exhibiting any of the symptoms listed above, please take it to an Apple Retail Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) for evaluation, or call your local Apple Contact Center," Apple said. "Before visiting the Genius Bar at the Apple Retail Store, please make a reservation."

Apple is also issuing refunds to customers who may have paid for repairs related to this issue. These customers should contact Apple for details on the refund process.

Lawsuit

Despite Nvidia's claim that its graphics chip failures were limited to a certain number of chips manufactured for a certain number of notebooks, the Inquirer in July charged the company with masking the severity of the problem, alleging that "all the G84 and G86 parts are bad. Period. No exceptions."

"All of them, mobile and desktop, use the exact same ASIC, so expect them to go south in inordinate numbers as well," the publication said.

Last month, Nvidia shareholders joined the fight byfiling a class-action lawsuit, accusing the company of violating federal securities laws by concealing the existence of a serious defect in its graphics chip line for at least eight months “in a series of false and misleading statements made to the investing public.”

As a result of its denials, the shareholders claim the company underestimated expenses and overestimated revenues, which led to "a material negative impact on the company's financial condition, financial statements and future business prospects."


http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...dia_chips.html

[Cave Man]

Wow, that's amazing. It only took them six months to admit. Apple is such a fast-moving, nimble company.

[Creibold]

And the stock takes a hit again.... oh apple, you waited to long to admit it.

Bottom feeders anyone?

[iShater]

Originally Posted by Cave Man

Wow, that's amazing. It only took them six months to admit. Apple is such a fast-moving, nimble company.

At some point you do trust your suppliers when they inform you of issues in their systems. Would you make an announcement recalling/extending product warranty without confirmation? Its business. Sux.

[venasque]

Originally Posted by iShater

At some point you do trust your suppliers when they inform you of issues in their systems. Would you make an announcement recalling/extending product warranty without confirmation? Its business. Sux.

I agree. Nvidia said that the chip issue wouldn't affect the Macbooks. Apple decided they would test that for themselves and have released their findings along with news that they would cover the issue, even if you're not in warranty.

Did I read a different article then you guys did, or am I just feeling less cyincal at the moment?

[mamcx]

This also could affect regular white MB? And if yes, how check if have the faulty chip?

[AAPLaday]

Originally Posted by mamcx

This also could affect regular white MB? And if yes, how check if have the faulty chip?

This is just for the macbook pros

[nikhsub1]

Originally Posted by mamcx

This also could affect regular white MB? And if yes, how check if have the faulty chip?

Wow dude. NO. Does the macbook have an nVidia GPU? No. With that knowledge, it is impossible for this to affect any CURRENT macbooks. This is macbook PRO only.

[Eidorian]

Originally Posted by mamcx

This also could affect regular white MB? And if yes, how check if have the faulty chip?

You don't have a nVidia GPU in your MacBook.

[PDE]

A one year extension is way too little. When the Powerbook 5300 and 190 had logicboard issues, they extended to 7 years. It's unreasonable for Apple to limit it to one extra year, when the problem could easily show up after that. I'd think the very minimum should be three years like applecare, and even that is little given the cost of this machine. We're not talking about a $300 toy.

No kudos for apple given that other manufacturers openly admitted the issue a long time ago and that it has been affecting Apple laptops for a long time. This took too long to acknowledge and the remedy is too little.

[panzer06]

Originally Posted by mamcx

This also could affect regular white MB? And if yes, how check if have the faulty chip?

MB do not have nvidia GPU, so no.

[areusche]

So now what?

I want a guarantee this will last me into grad school. 6 years no exceptions.

I'm going to give them a call and ask what's going on. I've been getting some graphical glitching when I use Frontrow during the fad.

[MoeOz]

Now we have to throw them away and buy the new ones next Tuesday Apple ? Right ? .. we have been saying this since ever and now they just admit it(when they got a new ones around the corner)with 2 years warranty ! what if it goes off just after these couple of years ?.. its a faulty ship already depends on my use it will burn after all .. this is not a fix we need a recall and a real fix .

[MacBookProJoe]

Well shoot, I bought my MBP on May 3rd. I wonder when it was MADE? Nice to have the information.

[vixapphire]

Originally Posted by MacBookProJoe

Well shoot, I bought my MBP on May 3rd. I wonder when it was MADE? Nice to have the information.

yes: does anyone know how to determine build dates?

i just bought one of smalldog's NOS santa rosa 17" hi-res 2.6C2D machines, and would love to know where it falls on the timeline (although it's undoubtedly at least "early 2008" if not late 2007). what to look for in the serial no. or elsewhere?

thanks for your advice.

[vixapphire]

Originally Posted by MoeOz

Now we have to throw them away and buy the new ones next Tuesday Apple ? Right ? .. we have been saying this since ever and now they just admit it(when they got a new ones around the corner)with 2 years warranty ! what if it goes off just after these couple of years ?.. its a faulty ship already depends on my use it will burn after all .. this is not a fix we need a recall and a real fix .

tibook owner here. had two. both had the hinge-video wear-out/deadend problem. that's life. laptops are high wear and tear items. ordinarily, products - even electronics - have 1 year warrantees. personal electronics (walkmans, etc.) often have as little as 90 day warrantees. a laptop straddles the gap of installed/personal electronics. a two year warrantee isn't horrible.

does it suck? are these things really expensive and damned if there's high risk of breakage there? yeah. but i'd reckon that if you're scared of facing potential problems/breakage out of warrantee with your laptop, your best bet is the applecare extended warrantee, and if not that, then don't buy a laptop. you can always take notes with pen, paper and pocket recorder and work on your desktop later.

just saying. these are the risks; we all know the rewards. far as i know, they didn't offer extended repair warrantees on the tibook hinges, which in light of the frequency of this particular type of video failure are clearly a design defect whose fault is clearly apple's (not its suppliers). i'm pretty surprised and quite happy that they convinced nvidia to do this at all (because it's likely nvidia that's paying for (at least a portion of) replacement parts, after all).

not a fanboy, just a longtime user.

[nufanec]

Originally Posted by areusche

I want a guarantee this will last me into grad school. 6 years no exceptions.

No company in the world will guarantee that.

[winterspan]

This obviously isn't good for Apple or those holding faulty notebooks, but lets keep it in perspective. This problem was related to a manufacturing process involving a lead solder that would fail at a high-temperature on the video boards. nVidia says they have made significant changes to the manufacturing process to keep this from happening and the boards that are failing were manufactured many-months-to-years ago. New macbooks/MB pros will no doubt be announced with nVidia chipsets. Assuming all the issues are worked out, it's a *POSITIVE* thing. nVidia's chipsets and integrated graphics chips are much more powerful than Intel's GMA. The graphics performance will be 2-3x faster, and all new nVidia chipsets have advanced hardware decoding of H264/VC-1 video with de-interlacing, iDCT, upconverting, noise reduction, etc.

Originally Posted by nufanec

No company in the world will guarantee that.

Exactly.. six year warranty on a computer?? I wouldn't even want that because in order for Apple to provide that, they would have to:
1) Sell their products at a much higher margin
2) Be very conservative with choosing components, opting for longest reliability instead of performance.

[macreation]

I've just splashed out on a refurb mac pro 3 weeks after my Laptop broke. Stupidly didn't buy Applecare and being out of warranty. I didn't think it would be worth repairing considering they were selling on ebay for the very same price a repair would cost.

Doh!

[captnfun]

Originally Posted by winterspan

This obviously isn't good for Apple or those holding faulty notebooks, but lets keep it in perspective. This problem was related to a manufacturing process involving a lead solder that would fail at a high-temperature on the video boards. nVidia says they have made significant changes to the manufacturing process to keep this from happening and the boards that are failing were manufactured many-months-to-years ago. New macbooks/MB pros will no doubt be announced with nVidia chipsets. Assuming all the issues are worked out, it's a *POSITIVE* thing. nVidia's chipsets and integrated graphics chips are much more powerful than Intel's GMA. The graphics performance will be 2-3x faster, and all new nVidia chipsets have advanced hardware decoding of H264/VC-1 video with de-interlacing, iDCT, upconverting, noise reduction, etc.

Keeping it in perspective I would read this announcement exactly the opposite. I would assume that new Macbooks and Macbook Pros would not have NVidia chipsets. Why would you publicly humiliate a supplier if you are getting ready to announce new laptops based on their chips?

[Cave Man]

Originally Posted by areusche

I want a guarantee this will last me into grad school. 6 years no exceptions.

Six years for grad school? Are you a slow learner?

[Phrasikleia]

Maybe if we bring in our ailing 6-month-old MBPs on Tuesday, Apple will just replace them all with the new models.

[DDar]

Awww, I just got my 17'' widescreen MBP last week. =(
... I wonder if they'll give me a new model if I raise up enough fuss on launch date.

[SandynJosh]

Originally Posted by areusche

So now what?

I want a guarantee this will last me into grad school. 6 years no exceptions.

I'm going to give them a call and ask what's going on. I've been getting some graphical glitching when I use Frontrow during the fad.

I'll guarantee that it will last the full six years . . . as a foot warmer.

[snberk103]

Originally Posted by Cave Man

Wow, that's amazing. It only took them six months to admit. Apple is such a fast-moving, nimble company.

Give Apple some credit here.... Nvidia said that the products they sold to Apple were fine. Therefore Apple had to prove to Nvidia - and with enough evidence that they could credibly threaten to take Nvidia to court - that the chips were faulty. Apple would have had to do this without Nvidia's cooperation and access to information from Nvidia. That takes time.

Not only did they have to prove it was an Nvidia issue, they also had to prove it was not a fault of the assembly, or anything else to do with Apple once the chips were in Apple's hands. If they had accused Nvidia of faulty chips early on it would have negatively affected Nvidia's stock price. Then, if Apple could not prove it was an Nvidia issue, Nvidia would have sued Apple.

Apple was being prudent, and protecting itself. The fact is that they didn't believe Nvidia, and acted to overturn Nvidia's declarations. Six months is not a lot of time, really, in this case. It wasn't just engineers involved, there would have been some serious lawyer time too.

And just to prove I'm not mindlessly supporting Apple here.... I have one of the affected units. I bought it knowing that there was a potential issue. I think Apple is being cheap by not extending the warranty to 3 years, same as AppleCare.