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MagicBoy

macrumors 68040
May 28, 2006
3,947
1,025
Manchester, UK
Same here. Green tint, plus horizontal bright green lines. Passed the tests with flying colours. It was the same on an external display therefore not the panel so so they took it in. (That was before the repair extension and under consumer law.)

EDIT : Having read the other comments from last night.....

As above, you have to play the game. When it fails, take photos/video if you can.

Use the correct language if you get to the stage of needing to use consumer protection.
DO Politely express your dissatisfaction with the product prematurely failing given the price paid, an that you'd expect better from a premium Apple product. Keep calm and remember the genius of the other side of a desk is trying to help you.
DO NOT Kick off at the staff and say that everyone's logic boards on MacRumors are failing. That just gets their backs up.
 
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markhort

macrumors 68000
Aug 28, 2010
1,681
1,605
UK
When my father had his 2011 MBP repaired, it passed all the tests even though the screen was pink when it booted. The Genius took it in anyway though, as there was an obvious problem. It's a shame they didn't do that to yours, it seems pretty clear it's not working properly!

I had a feeling that it would pass their test, as it doesn't happen all the time, it's a little random. The pictures/video I took last night definitely helped though. The laptop cleared it's self within a 10 minutes of being on and I haven't see any other issues since then.

It'll be interesting hearing what the Apple tech says on Sunday morning.
 

markhort

macrumors 68000
Aug 28, 2010
1,681
1,605
UK
Same here. Green tint, plus horizontal bright green lines. Passed the tests with flying colours. It was the same on an external display therefore not the panel so so they took it in. (That was before the repair extension and under consumer law.)

EDIT : Having read the other comments from last night.....

As above, you have to play the game. When it fails, take photos/video if you can.

Use the correct language if you get to the stage of needing to use consumer protection.
DO Politely express your dissatisfaction with the product prematurely failing given the price paid, an that you'd expect better from a premium Apple product. Keep calm and remember the genius of the other side of a desk is trying to help you.
DO NOT Kick off at the staff and say that everyone's logic boards on MacRumors are failing. That just gets their backs up.

No I'm being firm but polite. Kicking off and being rude does not help. I'm never like that anyway. I've experienced rude people working in tech support desk when I was younger. So I know first hand being rude and shouting doesn't get you very far.

The Apple genius guy from the store wasn't all that helpful if I'm being honest. He was helping three other people at the same time, which I know wasn't his fault. I had to wait over a week for this appointment, thought they would've had enough people to look after me. I had to force him to have a look when the machine didn't boot in store. But at least he managed to get it working again.
 
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Queen6

macrumors G4
Same here. Green tint, plus horizontal bright green lines. Passed the tests with flying colours. It was the same on an external display therefore not the panel so so they took it in. (That was before the repair extension and under consumer law.)

EDIT : Having read the other comments from last night.....

As above, you have to play the game. When it fails, take photos/video if you can.

Use the correct language if you get to the stage of needing to use consumer protection.
DO Politely express your dissatisfaction with the product prematurely failing given the price paid, an that you'd expect better from a premium Apple product. Keep calm and remember the genius of the other side of a desk is trying to help you.
DO NOT Kick off at the staff and say that everyone's logic boards on MacRumors are failing. That just gets their backs up.

Sound advice, remaining clam & polite, yet firm will always win over being angry & blaming. Key is knowing your consumer rights and not backing down without an acceptable solution. In all fairness to Apple they do need to qualify if the Notebook does have dGPU issues, equally the test is very specific, nor clearly do all MPB`s with graphical issues fail the same.

Use pictures & video to back up your claim, document everything (vital should your MBP have cascading dGPU failure), elevate as necessary including online support, express disappointment, express concern of not being able to work/study, express how pleased you are barring this issue, reenforce the "premium product" ethos of Apple.

The Genius is simply doing his/her job and has to work within specific guidelines, frequently being at the front end of frustrated customers. A friendly open approach may well go a long way, do not vent your frustrations.

Q-6
 

MagicBoy

macrumors 68040
May 28, 2006
3,947
1,025
Manchester, UK
No I'm being firm but polite. Kicking off and being rude does not help. I'm never like that anyway. I've experienced rude people working in tech support desk when I was younger. So I know first hand being rude and shouting doesn't get you very far.

I know your pain - worked the customer service/technical services counter in a retail PC store for a couple of years when I was at Uni. It was certainly an education in people skills!
 

markhort

macrumors 68000
Aug 28, 2010
1,681
1,605
UK
I know your pain - worked the customer service/technical services counter in a retail PC store for a couple of years when I was at Uni. It was certainly an education in people skills!

It was a good education, it's helped me a lot in my adult years.
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,151
18,885
Generalising I don't say don't buy a 15", what I do say is know what you are getting yourself into, as to be frank there is an awful lot of them that have failed in the past, and the future is unknown. The 13" rMBP is the opposite offering extremely solid reliability for the most part.
Q-6

Sorry, I don't buy this. Computers fail, that is a well known fact. It might be that on a 2011 MBP, the GPU is the weak part, so when it fails, the GPU is likely to go first. But it does not necessarily mean that the GPU makes the laptop inherently less reliable or that all dGPU models are defective. There is no statistical data about MBP failures to conclude this. The 40k signatures in over two years is nothing, there are millions of these machines around and they are approaching their expected lifespan now (or maybe have even surpassed it). Don't forget, based on statistics around 10% of Mac laptops fail within two years from the purchase. I haven't seen any evidence that the 2011 model fails more often then any other Mac.

BTW, as far as I know the class action lawsuit against Apple in this regard was dismissed by the court. As to the question why Apple offered extended warranty on these machines, is because they have smart people working there and they know that this is the right thing to do.
 

sarge

macrumors 6502a
Jul 20, 2003
597
136
Brooklyn
I think the suit is either pending or on appeal. As far as statistical data goes, that is still being gathered - mine didn't fail until last week. I can't telepathically communicate w/my laptop yet so unfortunately I'm still in need of a GPU to interact w/my laptop.

I can't find any breakdown of number of units sold w/AMD GPUs but Apple sold a total of 12 million laptops in 2011. The financial reporting doesn't get that granular so no telling how many of these were 13" w/Intel HD graphics so lets say they sold 8 million 15" machines (VS the 72 MILLION phones they sold in the same year), How many would have to fail to make it statistically significant?

As for a computer's lifespan, I guess we just have different expectations. I still have a powerbook 540c that I bought in 1996 that still boots last time I checked a couple of years ago. I'll blame Apple for setting my expectations higher than yours.
 

Tovenaar

macrumors regular
Oct 21, 2008
118
286
That being said if your MBP repeatedly fails due to Logic Board dGPU failure ultimately Apple will replace it with a new model, a point worth considering...

I dropped of my machine yesterday and specifically asked about the potential failure of the replacement board, mentioning that I had read about customers experiencing multiple GPU failures. I was assured that the problem had been addressed after the class action and that I would experience no further issues.

I've experienced the failure twice and took my MBP in for repairs yesterday, which apple accepted to do.

My concern is that I'm getting close to the extension deadline of February 27, 2016. So if this thing fails again (given that it's likely a refurbished logic board with the same problem), I'm worried Apple won't do anything about it. As someone mentioned early in the thread, I'm just kicking the can down the road.

Any advice?
 

markhort

macrumors 68000
Aug 28, 2010
1,681
1,605
UK
Spoken to Apple this morning, all she made me do was delete some temp files and app cache. Which I told her that it wouldn't help as I've only just reinstalled OS X a few days ago and the GPU issue happened both before and after the reinstall.

Basically she told me that it's a checking off system, she confirmed that they have to go through a certain amount of steps. So I need to report any issues via the open case number now. Next step is escalation apparently.

I'm trying to use the MBP as much as I can, to try and get the GPU to produce the issue. It hasn't been my main machine for a while.
 

bizzle

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2008
940
40
Not only are these boards poorly "fixed" for the GPU issue, they are poorly refurbished in general. I've replaced a few for other issues on the MLB shortly after replacing them for the GPU issue and I've seen the same people come back over and over for continued GPU failure after repair. You should see how ****** the vast majority of these boards look when they come from the warehouse.
 
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markhort

macrumors 68000
Aug 28, 2010
1,681
1,605
UK
So this happened this morning. Wasn't doing anything other than editing an excel document. Just going to call Apple again.

2015-11-29 11.57.19.jpg
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,419
43,306
Not only are these boards poorly "fixed" for the GPU issue, they are poorly refurbished in general.

The issue is Apple isn't making the logic boards any more and so they're just repairing the bad ones and sending them back out. That may be as simple as reballing the logic boards, but the basic issue is the repair program consists in replacing a bad logic board with a previously bad (but repaired) logic. I can't really seeing this being an ideal long term solution.
 
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Queen6

macrumors G4
The issue is Apple isn't making the logic boards any more and so they're just repairing the bad ones and sending them back out. That may be as simple as reballing the logic boards, but the basic issue is the repair program consists in replacing a bad logic board with a previously bad (but repaired) logic. I can't really seeing this being an ideal long term solution.

That`s pretty much it. The very best you can expect from a refurbished Logic Board is comparable longevity to a new unit. The worst a matter of a few weeks. Ultimately the fault lies with the design of the hardware, Apple have long had a poor history of reliability and portable Mac`s with dGPU`s. As long as they are solely focused on thinner, lighter & quiet the issue will likely remain to some extents.

Q-6
 

markhort

macrumors 68000
Aug 28, 2010
1,681
1,605
UK
Spoken to a senior Apple technical advisor who has told me to take the laptop to a Premium Apple service provider for a 2nd opinion, they have wavered the £99 diagnostic fee. I'll take it in next weekend.

Spent 30 minutes convincing them at it wasn't a software issue.
 

chevychase

macrumors member
Oct 26, 2008
42
3
I just dropped off my 2011 15" MacBook Pro to the Genius Bar for the related GPU issues and am waiting the 3-5 days to get my Mac back under the repair extension program.

After reading all the posts in this thread, I am a little concerned that I will A) be getting a "refurbished board" and B) the repair program ends in Feb. 2016.

I certainly don't want the issue to show it's ugly head after the repair program ends in a few months!!!!! What should I be doing when I get it back to really test the replacement board?
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,241
12,388
Queen6 wrote:
"Ultimately the fault lies with the design of the hardware, Apple have long had a poor history of reliability and portable Mac`s with dGPU`s. As long as they are solely focused on thinner, lighter & quiet the issue will likely remain to some extents."

That's why -- when it comes to buying MBPros -- I think I'll stick to the 13" "entry level" models WITHOUT a discrete GPU.

Seems like their "low-end" and midrange stuff lasts longer with fewer problems.
 
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Loismustdie1

macrumors regular
Jun 6, 2015
117
451
Queen6 wrote:
"Ultimately the fault lies with the design of the hardware, Apple have long had a poor history of reliability and portable Mac`s with dGPU`s. As long as they are solely focused on thinner, lighter & quiet the issue will likely remain to some extents."

That's why -- when it comes to buying MBPros -- I think I'll stick to the 13" "entry level" models WITHOUT a discrete GPU.

Seems like their "low-end" and midrange stuff lasts longer with fewer problems.

That may very well work for you, but some of us have jobs that require us to do intense video editing on sight and we NEED that extra graphic power
 
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Queen6

macrumors G4
Queen6 wrote:
"Ultimately the fault lies with the design of the hardware, Apple have long had a poor history of reliability and portable Mac`s with dGPU`s. As long as they are solely focused on thinner, lighter & quiet the issue will likely remain to some extents."

That's why -- when it comes to buying MBPros -- I think I'll stick to the 13" "entry level" models WITHOUT a discrete GPU.

Seems like their "low-end" and midrange stuff lasts longer with fewer problems.

It`s a good solution if you don't need the dGPU, with now both 13" & 15" rMBP`s offering only integrated graphics, however some absolutely require a gGPU for work and or study purpose. Personally I am "tired" of babying Apple`s finest due to the poor thermal design, and subsequent high potential for failure after only 2-3 years of use.

If I require a portable with a dGPU, I won't be looking for a solution from Apple, given their tragic track record...

Q-6
 

Queen6

macrumors G4
I just dropped off my 2011 15" MacBook Pro to the Genius Bar for the related GPU issues and am waiting the 3-5 days to get my Mac back under the repair extension program.

After reading all the posts in this thread, I am a little concerned that I will A) be getting a "refurbished board" and B) the repair program ends in Feb. 2016.

I certainly don't want the issue to show it's ugly head after the repair program ends in a few months!!!!! What should I be doing when I get it back to really test the replacement board?

As Apple no longer produce this model, it`s highly likely the replacement Logic Board will be refurbished. As for it`s longevity anyone`s guess; at best same as the original, at worst a matter of weeks...

Q-6
 

sarge

macrumors 6502a
Jul 20, 2003
597
136
Brooklyn
image.jpg
Ever since I got my machine back a couple of weeks ago after getting the replacement board, the bottom has been super hot even when I'm not editing photo/video. If I'm just using the browser the fans will kick on high and my battery will give out within 45min. Today I got the blue screen so it looks like I'll be heading back to the Genius bar myself. Not happy.
 

chevychase

macrumors member
Oct 26, 2008
42
3
View attachment 603219
Ever since I got my machine back a couple of weeks ago after getting the replacement board, the bottom has been super hot even when I'm not editing photo/video. If I'm just using the browser the fans will kick on high and my battery will give out within 45min. Today I got the blue screen so it looks like I'll be heading back to the Genius bar myself. Not happy.

Wow, I wouldn't be very happy either. I'll be picking up my Late 2011 15" tonight from Apple with a replacement board under the repair program. Really not feeling all that confident with all the posts here.
 
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