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15" Early 2011 Hi Res Macbook pro doomed for GPU failure?

J

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Original poster
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
52
Hey guys,

I have a 2 and a half year old 15" 2011 Macbook Pro that has been flawless but by reading about the GPU failure, it seems that the 3 year mark is the magic number for these to fail.

Ever since hearing about this issue, I've forced the GPU to be on the HD3000 using the gfxCardStatus application.

I'm thinking about selling this on eBay before the risk of this laptop's GPU dying on me. I also do not have apple care extended warranty.

What do you guys think? Are there any 2011 Macbook Pro users still chugging along just fine? Or have you guys forced yourselves to use the HD3000 GPU just in case.
 
caseyfriday

caseyfriday

macrumors member
Apr 8, 2011
93
20
SAT
Mine died about a month ago. :( 17" 2.3 GHz anti glare. I was quite pissed, and I've already started parting it out on eBay. Freaking ridiculous that Apple's doing nothing about it.

If I were you, I'd probably feel bad about selling it if it already started falling, but if it hasn't started yet, I say offload that thing!
 
TechGod

TechGod

macrumors 68040
Feb 25, 2014
3,236
1,075
New Zealand
Sell it before it stops functioning. Then get a 2014 rMBP.

Warn the buyer there is a chance it may fail however because I certainly would want to know that as a buyer.
 
Y

yjchua95

macrumors 604
Apr 23, 2011
6,725
233
GVA, KUL, MEL (current), ZQN
jjahshik32 said:
Hey guys,

I have a 2 and a half year old 15" 2011 Macbook Pro that has been flawless but by reading about the GPU failure, it seems that the 3 year mark is the magic number for these to fail.

Ever since hearing about this issue, I've forced the GPU to be on the HD3000 using the gfxCardStatus application.

I'm thinking about selling this on eBay before the risk of this laptop's GPU dying on me. I also do not have apple care extended warranty.

What do you guys think? Are there any 2011 Macbook Pro users still chugging along just fine? Or have you guys forced yourselves to use the HD3000 GPU just in case.
Click to expand...

My early-2011 15" (2.3GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB 840 Pro, 1GB 6750M and matte screen) failed at the 3-year mark, and so I got myself two separate rMBPs (13" and 15" rMBPs) - one for everyday tasks and one for heavy tasks.

After my exams were done with, I sent my early-2011 baby to a third party for a reball and that resurrected it.
 
CaffeinatedNoms

CaffeinatedNoms

macrumors member
Jun 8, 2014
73
1
Northeast England
I've got an early 2011 MacBook Pro 15" and the only thing to go at all was the battery last week, which Apple replaced for free because it had managed to die so spectacularly (7000mAh to 400mAh capacity drop in 5 days).

I don't much see the point in deliberately nobbling my machine on the off-chance that it may preserve the graphics chip for a while longer - and as far as I remember the current version of GFXCardStatus doesn't actually let you force the machine to use one card or the other anyway. I bought this laptop so I could do graphics rendering, and if it dies while rendering then so be it, it died doing what it was bought to do rather than tip-toeing along being useless :p
 
The Unseen

The Unseen

macrumors member
Jun 24, 2012
94
27
Naples, Italy
I have a refurbished Late 2011 15' Macbook Pro with 2.2ghz CPU, 8gb of Ram and a Samsung 840 EVO ssd, Radeon 6750 512mb. I use It 80% of the time hooked to an external display with thunderbolt to VGA adapter (non Apple), mainly with Adobe Lightroom, Safari with 10-15 tabs open, Pages, iTunes, Mail, Transmit, Grab, and others (On Yosemite PB) and no problems so far.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,121
42,833
Mu vote is to sell it before you start incurring GPU problems. I don't know if 100% of the MBPs are doomed to fail but do you really want to take a chance?
 
Hustler1337

Hustler1337

macrumors 68000
Dec 23, 2010
1,838
1,593
London, UK
I'm in the exact same position as the OP. Using gfxCardStatus to run on integrated graphics and ensuring it runs cool.

Looking to sell mines on eBay very soon and get the 2014 rMBP, except I don't think I can afford it at this moment in time. :(
 
A

Ak907Freerider

macrumors 6502
Apr 19, 2012
281
0
I think you are being silly ditching a computer that is working fine to roll the dice on another computer that could have issues. Bottom line period is all electronics can fail at anytime. It could last 1 min or it could last 100 years. I wouldn't go running to the hills just because people had theirs fail. Remember people who have issues run to the internet to complain and vent. People who have perfectly fine ones don't because they are enjoying their machine. So even if lets say 1 million failed, now think how many apple sold. Thats a pretty small percentage. I was being told all over the forums to avoid buying a new iMac they all have "yellow screen" issue yadda yadda. Well guess what I ignored them and my iMac is flawless. I also ignored the people venting to not buy a 2011 macbook pro. Well it is running flawless. So don't be a dork take off the tin foil hat and realize it is a machine. It can break or work flawless. New or used they all can fail. Enjoy your computer and don't "chase gear" cause you are just wasting valuable time that is better spent creating rather than worrying.
 
J

jocamero

macrumors regular
Jul 11, 2008
158
99
My 15" early 2011 high res MBP failed initially at about the 1.5 year mark; after 12 months in, I had it primarily connected to a 27" TBD requiring use of the dedicated GPU, prior to that I only used the built in screen. So in my estimation 6 months of heavy usage will kill the GPU. The first logic board was then replaced under Apple Care. Then it failed again about 9 months later. Then again about 6 months later (about a month ago). At this point it was just out of the original Apple Care warranty but Apple Care support over the phone agreed to replace the logic board again for the third time. I went to my local Apple Store and explained the situation and they immediately offered to replace the logic board again or return my 2011 MBP for a new 15" rMBP. I'm using a new top of the line 15" rMBP. Beyond irritated with the 2011 model, but very happy with how the local manager ended up handling the situation.

Lots of users with this issue; more details here:
http://action.mbp2011.com
 
casperes1996

casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,163
5,119
Horsens, Denmark
caseyfriday said:
Mine died about a month ago. :( 17" 2.3 GHz anti glare. I was quite pissed, and I've already started parting it out on eBay. Freaking ridiculous that Apple's doing nothing about it.

If I were you, I'd probably feel bad about selling it if it already started falling, but if it hasn't started yet, I say offload that thing!
Click to expand...

Mine just bit the dust today :/
 
X

Xace

macrumors newbie
Nov 22, 2012
22
0
Mine was working fine until 2 days ago, and failed without warning. It lasted about 3 years.

Yes, I think the 2011 models have a design flaw that makes them all doomed to fail prematurely. There are an unusual number of reports, and I think that not all people take their time to report their problem on the forums.

I would say that most people simply take the MacBook to the apple store and are told that the computer has failed, that it's out of warranty and they just had bad luck.
 
ogremoustro

ogremoustro

macrumors 6502a
Aug 17, 2011
633
32
Los Angeles, CA
Xace said:
Mine was working fine until 2 days ago, and failed without warning. It lasted about 3 years.

Yes, I think the 2011 models have a design flaw that makes them all doomed to fail prematurely. There are an unusual number of reports, and I think that not all people take their time to report their problem on the forums.

I would say that most people simply take the MacBook to the apple store and are told that the computer has failed, that it's out of warranty and they just had bad luck.
Click to expand...

Dont know if you guys know this, but there's a class action lawsuit pertaining to this problem.
 
lionkin

lionkin

macrumors regular
Nov 8, 2014
167
19
West Hollywood
My previous mac was early 2011 15inch macbook pro. After 2.5 years without any issues my dgpu started fail I took it to apple store then I paid flat rate $310 and they gave me 90 days warranty. After the first repair I though the problem will not return but unfortunetely the problem continue and 5 repairs till apple store offer me brand new mid-2014 15inch macbook pro retina. I accepted the offer and I was happy with it.
 
N

nerowolfe

macrumors member
Oct 23, 2014
90
1
Just out of curiosity, are there reports of widespread failure of this ATI graphics chip in other laptops?

Either way, 2011 MBP owners affected by this dGPU problem are customers of Apple, not ATI.
 
mcapanelli

mcapanelli

macrumors regular
Aug 2, 2008
235
85
Ellijay, GA
Well my GPU has held up pretty well so far. Beside an occasional flicker or a screen from a bad acid trip its been wrong ok. I've had other issues related to this logic board though. My USB failed twice now, my headphone jack is blown, and now my battery is only holding a charge for 2 hours under no use other than being on. If I open safari it drops to 1 hour. These late 2011 MPB's are plagued and its really disgusting Apple has taken no action whatsoever to resolve the many issues these machines seem to have.
 
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