http://appleinsider.com/articles/14...ix-2011-macbook-pro-failures-as-problem-grows
Pretty much says it all.
Mine was resurrected after a reball.
Pretty much says it all.
Mine was resurrected after a reball.
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Radeongate - all hope is lost.
- Thread starter yjchua95
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I have an April 2011 Macbook Pro 15 that is still OK. I've just upgrade it with 16GB ram and a 1TB Samsung EVO SSD. I will be very very angry if it will die after this investment...
Mine is still functioning, but i've had to force the system to use the integrated graphics and am avoiding using applications which rely on the dedicated GPU. Also, I'm constantly adjusting the fan speeds slightly above average to keep my MBP cooler.
I doubt Apple are going to do anything and their lack of response makes me angry having spent years saving up for my MBP and hoping that it would last longer than 3 years.
I doubt Apple are going to do anything and their lack of response makes me angry having spent years saving up for my MBP and hoping that it would last longer than 3 years.
I just did the exact same but considering returning that stuff and just getting a loaded up MacBook Air.
There's another problem with 2010 MBP's with the i5 or i7 (mine was a 2.66GHz model) with the first ever graphics switching without restart technology on Mac... I have a friend who works at Apple and he had a phone conversation with another guy who works at corporate, talking about the problem I was experiencing and the other guy didn't know he was on speaker so he spilled the details about this major issue!!!
The part that handles the graphics switching wasn't ready for mass production when it was released. It is the component on those machines that goes out the most frequently (Mine did! and another friend's same gen laptop had the same exact issue) He said it was a huge blunder on behalf of Apple and that those were some of the worst gen laptops made by them. He said something along the line of anybody who bought one should have frisbeed it into the garbage and that its unlikely that any of them are still around because of how poorly made they were.
Here's how it goes down: The logic board fries after awhile because of the graphics switching component... whenever an application is opened that causes the board to switch to the dGPU, a kernel panic happens. The machine can also kernel panic while just using the iGPU like on my friend's. It was interesting to hear from an insider that that model laptop was essentially garbage and was a terrible design not ready for mass production when it was released. Just so you know!
The part that handles the graphics switching wasn't ready for mass production when it was released. It is the component on those machines that goes out the most frequently (Mine did! and another friend's same gen laptop had the same exact issue) He said it was a huge blunder on behalf of Apple and that those were some of the worst gen laptops made by them. He said something along the line of anybody who bought one should have frisbeed it into the garbage and that its unlikely that any of them are still around because of how poorly made they were.
Here's how it goes down: The logic board fries after awhile because of the graphics switching component... whenever an application is opened that causes the board to switch to the dGPU, a kernel panic happens. The machine can also kernel panic while just using the iGPU like on my friend's. It was interesting to hear from an insider that that model laptop was essentially garbage and was a terrible design not ready for mass production when it was released. Just so you know!
That doesn't sound right because if 2010 machines were failing like you're claiming they are, we'd be able to clearly see the trend. There still are a lot of those machines in use, so machines being in question being taken out of use before failing isn't going to cover for it.
Are you absolutely sure you got the model right and aren't talking about the 2007 model that suffered from pretty epidemic of GPU failures? Then there's also the point about Apple employees generally being under pretty hefty NDA's relating to things like this and if it became known that he'd have slipped like this to someone who isn't an Apple employee, he'd probably lose his job.
Then again your friend could just be pulling your leg for laughs...
Help
I have a MacBook Pro, 2011 Intel based 13in., and the screen went black on me. I was able to get the screen functional again with a temporary fix I found from googling this problem. I'm writing this to see if anyone on here knows of this problem or has encountered it before. I'm sure that it is a hardware problem and will need repaired, but I would like to know is how much will it cost? The temporary fix I found was pressing F1 to dim the screen and then tapping F2 gradually until it came back on.
I have a MacBook Pro, 2011 Intel based 13in., and the screen went black on me. I was able to get the screen functional again with a temporary fix I found from googling this problem. I'm writing this to see if anyone on here knows of this problem or has encountered it before. I'm sure that it is a hardware problem and will need repaired, but I would like to know is how much will it cost? The temporary fix I found was pressing F1 to dim the screen and then tapping F2 gradually until it came back on.
Yeah, not related to this. 15" and 17" use the troublesome Radeon GPU. 13" uses integrated graphics and is unaffected.
The stuff I said was information passed on from an Apple employee... my friend was calling him because I was having ACD issues and the laptop issue was brought up in the conversation.
And yes I'm talking about the 2010 i7 model with graphics switching. I've had a 2007 to play around with and it didn't have such issues... the guy on the line also mentioned that it was a very good generation MBP.
The NDA stuff is true, that's why he was conveying it to my friend who is also an Apple corporate employee. The guy dissing Apple's own products was unaware that other people were listening in on the conversation. And your point about how common this issue is is true, but I've only dealt with two of these computers that I can remember and they've both had the same failure.
There was talk about replacing the thermal paste helping with this, is there any current word on whether it's heat related/thermal paste related? My 15" had a couple of glitches last year but seems OK at the moment
Thermal paste - total red herring.
Heat is probably a contributory factor - the BGA solder is failing between the GPU and the logic board. That said the Intel CPUs that share the same cooling system and are next to the GPU are not failing, so it's likely an engineering issue with the GPU.
The best fix appears to be GPU replacement from an independent repairer. The Apple refurbished logic boards around at the moment fail after a few weeks in my experience.
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Cheers for the reply, do these independent repairers solder a new GPU to the exsiting logic board if I send it to them? I'm in NZ so not sure if possible here. And if I get the failure is it guaranteed I can still use the Intel 3000 graphics? It seems mileage on those varies for some reason too? Just don't want to be screwed with work if it drops on me all of a sudden.
Depends - some do, some just clean up and reball the existing GPU. From information I found on the Facebook group one repairer stated the GPU costs around $30 in quantity now so it's worth replacing for peace of mind.
When the GPU fails the Mac won't load OS X. It sticks at a grey screen when it can't initialise the AMD GPU and the fans start screaming.
This was logic board number three failing on mine : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4bpFu9AHdA
Crap, if only you could do some kind of hack to make it think it was there and functioning. I only really use the discrete for an external monitor.
I've seen discussion that some people have deleted the kernel extensions for the AMD card and got it to load OS X. Whether OS X is stable after doing that I don't know...
Reball the GPU and you'll likely get another couple of years out of what is still a capable Mac. In the long term replacement is the best option.
I got lucky in that I was helped out by UK consumer law. It's not an option for most.
Reball the GPU and you'll likely get another couple of years out of what is still a capable Mac. In the long term replacement is the best option.
I got lucky in that I was helped out by UK consumer law. It's not an option for most.
Can you share what steps you took about the UK consumer laws, how you presented your argument (and to whom)?
I have a 2011 15" MBP and am worried about the radeongate issue.
Thanks
No steps required. Booked an appointment at the Apple Store, got them to diagnose the fault and was polite but firm that a £1600 laptop should last more than 2.5 years. Apple covered the cost of replacing the logic board. No point screaming and shouting at the store staff, it's not their fault. Treat them as you would like to be treated yourself.
Unfortunately the replacement parts kept failing in the same way after a few weeks so the Mac was eventually replaced after the third occurrence.
The guy didn't know what he was talking about. The mid/late 2007 MBP had pretty serious issues with the NVIDIA 8600M GT GPU. Apple even offered a repair extension giving owners of those models 4 years of coverage for issues related to the GPU.
As for the 2010 model, it had the same issue: a defective NVIDIA GPU. They offered a 3 year repair extension on defects related to the GPU.
If you ask nicely they'll still honour that. A work colleagues 2010 MBP started kernel panicking a couple of weeks ago. The machine was out of AppleCare and was repaired at no-cost after he pointed the Apple Store in the direction of the TS article and a GPU fault was confirmed.
Got mine back from Apple Depot Repair for Radeongate 4 or so weeks ago. Been pushing the crap out of it trying to see if I can get it to fail within weeks as many have said but so far so good. I've considered selling it and purchasing a refurb rMBP but the only reason for me to do that is because I'm afraid of another GPU failure. If I could buy AppleCare for my newly repaired machine that would also satisfy that problem.
Contrary to belief the late models seem just as prone as the early ones for 2011.
Ah well. I guess I'll enjoy it while I can.
Contrary to belief the late models seem just as prone as the early ones for 2011.
Ah well. I guess I'll enjoy it while I can.
I hate to say it, but I think the only thing that will now get apple to respond is a class action suit. Generally I'm skeptical of those, as only the lawyers seem to get rich but in cases such as these, its really the only tool to get apple to respond.
The reball works, but I think that's just kicking the can down the road. Perhaps selling it now before the problems crop up again. One thing is for sure in my situation, I'll not be buying a MBP with a dGPU again and I'm rather nervious about my 2012 rMBP.
Apple's track record is horrendous, 2008, 2010, 2011, I can't help but think that 2012 could easily be on the list as well
Out of interest, was your MacBook Pro in warranty when you asked Apple to repair your machine? Just trying to find out whether they repaired it under AppleCare or under UK consumer law.
Thanks!
One wonders why the '09 models didn't experience any widespread form of NVIDIAgate.