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2010 MBP Dying Logic board - Need advice

S

secretbox89

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 8, 2013
3
0
I got my 2010 MBP new from my school and recently graduated. Now I notice that my motherboard is dying. The Computer will go into this state where the screen turns off and the sound stops, but the front light stays on. so I need to force power off. This is becoming more and more frequent and at very unexpected times. sometimes I'll have numerous programs running and really stressing it out but it does not have any problems, while other times no programs will be open and I go to make a new folder and it just shuts off.

My problem is that computer has very expensive software on it (from school). If I just get a new laptop, There is no way I can get that software onto it. Is there any way to fix it (affordably) without losing all my software? or possibly get a new laptop and replace the harddrive with my current harddrive?

I'm open to any affordable solution.
 
I just had the logic board in my 2010 15" MBP replaced by Applecare out of warranty (and therefore out of pocket). It cost $320.50 and they had my machine 3 days.

I initially made a genius bar appointment and they diagnosed a failing logic board- left the machine at the store on Wednesday night with instructions to ship it directly to me at home (I live an hour from the store), and I received it back Saturday afternoon.

Two bonuses here- one, the machine is spotless (they gave the exterior a thorough cleaning- looks new), and i somehow scored an upgraded processor (from the 2.66GHz i7 to the 2.8GHz) when the machine came back.

I don't know if $320 is an affordable option for your situation, but it apparently is the standard flat service fee for out-of-warranty 2010 MBPs.

Good luck!
 
Wow, thanks! My MBP is 15" too.

I thought it would be a lot more expensive to replace out of warranty. I have read online that replacing the Logic board could almost out cost getting a new laptop. I'm glad to hear it was not that way with someone else.
I'll try to make an appointment with the genius bar then.

When you got yours back, was any of the software reset or gone?
 
secretbox89 said:
When you got yours back, was any of the software reset or gone?
Click to expand...

It appeared that the OS was totally untouched. I can't be totally sure, though- I did a clean install on the stock drive before taking it to the store. I had an SSD and second HDD in the optical drive slot so I put all the stock hardware back in first- I recommend you do the same.

My guess is they took the drive out, replaced the logic board, put the drive back in, confirmed the machine would boot and shipped it out. Make sure you back up everything on the machine before you go to the store, though.
 
Brian Y said:
Sounds like http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4088?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Check in Console for any logs just before it died. If it's flooded with "Channel Exception!!" then that's the culprit, and it's a free OOW repair :).
Click to expand...

Definitely check this support document and mention it when you go to your Genius Appointment- they will have it in their system as a known issue for 2010 15" MBPs and have a specific diagnostic test to check for the issue.

However, don't get your hopes up- I thought my machine had the issue and would get free service but didn't. It's worth a shot though!
 
Thanks guys,

I took it to the genius bar yesterday and they ran a test and told me the graphics card was in very bad shape. so they are replacing the logic board and it will take 3-5 days.

Luckily they surprised me and told me that my school got the extended warranty on it so it was covered! And the warranty ends in 70 days so I really lucked out there. But it would have cost me $526 to replace without the warranty.

thanks for the help!
 
When you get it back, make sure and make a Time Machine backup- especially if you have irreplaceable software! Saved my bacon a couple of times.
 
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