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Apple Extends MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues Until December 31, 2016
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You may want to actually thank ZACHARY BOOK, DONALD COWART, and JOHN MANNERS
You got a £700 repair cause they won a lawsuit on behalf of us all that have these units. Without this win, Apple would not have done the repair.
I'm glad I'm covered, till the end if this year. Though worried it will die down the track from this issue
My Late 2012 Macbook Pro Retina's screen starts tearing all the time due to some kind of wifi interference. If I turn off wifi the problem goes away. I took my macbook to Apple back in July and they could not replicate the problem with their suite of video tests. I even brought a video on my phone of my macbook's screen getting all messed up. It wasn't enough for them. They needed a positive on their stress test to be eligible for this repair program. They then told me if I wanted the screen fix I would have to pay out of pocked (approx $500) to have the screen exchanged. Obviously I walked away and still have a buggy machine. Not sure what to do, but I'm not going to pay anything extra to fix this $2000+ macbook.
Good to see the program extended. My MacBook Pro 2011 was running fine until last month, when the video glitches started appearing and it would no longer arrive at the login screen after a reboot. I was quite concerned at first because I bought my MacBook Pro in Canada and am now living in Muscat, Oman (a distant corner of the Middle East). Fortunately there is one authorized Apple service centre in the country and they approved the repair under the warranty program. Two and a half weeks later (decent turnaround considering my location) I picked up my repaired MacBook Pro and it is running fine again - though it will be interesting to see for how long. If problems arise once more it is reassuring to see the repair program extended.
My 2011 died and Apple asked close to 1000$ to replace the logic board in my country. It didn't make sense to repair, so I invested in a 2014 rMBP. I trusted Apple on the integrated GPUs and it was a complete fail for anything other than browsing and lightweight office work.
A year later the repair program came, and it was useless for me. Nobody wanted to buy the repaired 2011 model unless it was a ridiculous low price. To be honest, I would have preferred Apple to take my 2011 and give me back 60% of its value in store credit so that I could sell the 2014 rMBP and buy the high end model with a discrete GPU.
Mine (Mid 2010, NVIDIA 330M) affected too. After a lot of googling, it seems that the sudden gpu-panic-crash is due to the new underlying graphics-card software processor, 'Metal' which was introduced in Yosemite. Not sure if Apple would be keen to replace that if rolling back to older OS X (Mavericks and earlier) fixes the problem. It is a shame considering I spent a fortune on mine with ridiculously expensive 512 SSD.
Actually, AMD cards were used in 2011, then Nvidia in 2012, and then AMD in 2013.
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Yeah, it’s the same crappy lead-free solder.
4 logic boards replaced under this scheme. Same MacBook Pro.
I recently had my 17" repaired for free. I specifically asked about that and I was told that they are having new boards manufactured to replace the faulty ones.
There are also companies what will redo the solder for ones that have gone if Apple are not forthcoming.
But all in all it was an easy process and the laptop actually runs a bit cooler than it did, which is nice.
I had no video issues at all and then one day whilst using it I actually heard a ping, it much have been one of the connections going, then the screen just died.
Yup. Same logic boards. Same crappy lead-free solder.
My Macbook early 2011 starts up, I log in, but after the progress bar loads, the screen turns blue with lines. Or it just goes to a grey screen. Apple Hardware Test (hold down opt D on startup) says everything is ok (holding down just D didn't work) Is this a graphics card problem?
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This affected MacBook Pros prior to 2010. I've got an early 2008 MBP with the same issue (NVidia) that I have baked twice now to repair. BTW, it works like new after baking.
My 2010 MBP was repaired for free out of warranty, but it took a couple of trips to the Apple store. It depends on the person you talk to. The first time they promised to take a look, but did nothing more than running disk utility, which had nothing to do with the issue. The second time I got lucky, the Genius acknowledged the video problem, and they fixed it for free. This was years ago.
That’s awesome! How long, and at what temperature did you bake it? I thought the issue was that solder melted, moved across the board, and shorted it out. I didn’t think it was something that could be fixed by baking, especially since Intel CPUs have a thermal limit of 100˚ C.
Just had mine fixed last week after it had a "white screen of death". Just walked in dumped it to a desk clerk at an authorized repair shop and could pick it up 1.5 days later. Even though they had to source a replacement mainboard. No questions asked.
Exactly why i have been buying macbook pro's for the last ten years.
For comparison: a friend of mine sent in his asus notebook for an on warranty repair and waited six months(!) for it.
Exactly why i have been buying macbook pro's for the last ten years.
For comparison: a friend of mine sent in his asus notebook for an on warranty repair and waited six months(!) for it.
I baked the motherboard at 375F for 7.5 minutes. It's a bit of a tricky process but I didn't mind the risk given it was totally useless (and long out of warrantee) otherwise.
I'm having the same thing. But my kernel crashes are 5 times a day!
I took it into the genius bar a few weeks ago, and they said it wasn't a GPU issue but rather the CPU panicking and they wanted to replace the logic board. Out of warranty, so id have to send it off under the $310 "fix everything" program. But from my research, i've read it appears that this issue can be disguised or appear as a CPU / logic board problem, when in fact it's the GPU that's causing the constant crashes.
I actually have another genius bar appointment in a few hours, (now that i have time to be without my computer), but how can i convince them that it should be repaired under this program?
rMBP mid 2012
I took my MBP early 2011 in last month. Had the video issue. Replaced the logic board, hard drive, cd-rom, and battery. The battery was even a cheap third-party replacement from Amazon! I was amazed they replaced all that. More than happy with the service I got - above and beyond what they needed to replace!
Apple has extended its MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues until December 31, 2016, or four years from its original date of sale, according to a recently updated support document on its website. The program was previously set to expire next week, on February 27, 2016, or three years from the original date of sale.
Apple launched the repair program exactly one year ago today to address select 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models, sold between February 2011 and February 2013, that have problems with distorted video, no video, or unexpected system restarts. Customers can check if their model is affected using Apple's "Check Coverage" online tool.
Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will continue to repair affected MacBook Pro models at no charge, and customers who already paid for an authorized repair can contact Apple to arrange reimbursement. Customers can bring their MacBook Pro to an Apple Store or AASP, or mail the notebook to a local Apple Repair Center.
MacBook Pro video issues impacted a significant number of customers, prompting a class-action lawsuit against Apple and an online petition with over 40,000 signatures. Affected MacBook Pro models often have visual banding or malfunctions on the screen, particularly when users are watching HD videos or using CPU-intensive software like the Adobe Creative Suite or Final Cut Pro.
The issues stem from defective Nvidia and AMD GPUs that do not function correctly because of lead-free soldering that causes short circuiting and other problems, according to legal documents. Apple has since launched a similar repair program for late 2013 Mac Pro video issues, which are also related to AMD GPUs. The symptoms are nearly identical, including distorted video and system instability.
Article Link: Apple Extends MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues Until December 31, 2016
