Apple Initiates Repair Program for 2011-2013 MacBook Pros With Video Issues

[DoFoT9]

Good guy, Apple , going further than most other computer manufacturers. Although it should have done this before the lawsuit.

Having dealt with the same Config of HP machines Witt similar symptoms, they more or less honored the faults. It is only right that Apple do the same, regardless of who is to blame (GPU developer, manufacturer, etc)..

 

[Max(IT)]

Wasn't the X360 the most defective consumer product ever? Every X360 owner went through like 3 replacements.

Day one (almost) adopter here, 2 replacements.
But I'm still satisfied by the X360 .... Even now that I have a PS4.

 

[zortoflaven]

This is amazing news. My Late 2011 just died on Sunday with GPU issues. I was super bummed out. Have an appointment tonight with the apple store to get the repair process started. I am beyond happy right now

 

[FuNGi]

For the 2011, wasn't the GPU and CPU all on the 1 fan and heat-sync? I think overall it was just a bad design. Poor TP applications (aka, it was loaded on), poor heat dissipation design, and the graphics cards weren't particularly the best either. HP has also had similar problems with those models from memory..

This recall effects the 15" MBP's which always had 2 fans . But yes, the heat sink covered both the GPU and CPU. Here's an ifixit.com image of the 2011:
https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/QUw4HRGXWMOwZaOZ.huge

Still, the cooling system was updated significantly on the rMBP's which made many of us think we wouldn't succumb to such GPU problems. The fact that the first gen rMBP is also part of this problem makes me nervous (I have a second gen) and gives credence to the idea that one should get the base model with no GPU if one is worried first and foremost about longevity over performance.

 

[MH01]

Great to know that its a question of when my Retina will fail. Also this should drop the resale prices of the given models.

 

[kelon111]

Good guy, Apple , going further than most other computer manufacturers. Although it should have done this before the lawsuit.

Well , given the price of an Apple laptop I would expect top tier service.

Even though Apple laptops are prosumer notebooks , they are comparable in cost to a professional class machine.

 

[terraphantm]

My 2012 rMBP for a while had a distorted screen when waking it up from sleep, and recently started locking up semi randomly; seems more frequent whenever the GOU switched. I do have Apple care, but it's always tough to get them to replace a laptop over an issue that presents itself intermittently. Glad Apple is acknowledging the issue.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

So has anyone else realized that every year that Apple has made the Macbook Pro since 2006, they have had to issue a recall or repair program?

2006- Battery
2007/2008-Nvidia Graphics
2009-Video Issues
2010-Video issues
2011-2013- Video Issues

My late 2008 with Radeon 9600 wasn't affected with GPU issues. My son uses it daily to play Minecraft and I've set the OS to lock to the GPU. Guess I picked the one model not affected by this stuff.

 

[b0fh666]

2012 CMBPs seem to be free of that also *knowcks on wood*

 

[sixteen12]

My early 2011 15" MBP falls under this. About every week or so the computer will randomly reboot or glitch. If I watch any flash videos or play any games its guarentteed to happen that day. Hope this will show on the diagnostics tool.

I replaced the drive with a SSD, wonder if they will still do the repair or if I should put the disk drive back in? Anybody know?

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I'm on thin ice right now but I hope to god you're kidding.

Apple left this way too long to deserve that praise.

Read up on how well Microsoft handled the red ring thing and get back to me. They shipped everyone new ones, no questions asked, and paid the shipping both ways, and this was right as it was happening. They didn't wait 4 years to act.

You're blinded by Apple.

I had the RROD on my original 360. MS replaced it with the same model that RROD'ed on me another 2 years later. MS did not replace that one though. I can see Apple trying the same thing, giving out bugged replacements that'll kick this can another 2 years down the road.

 

[maflynn]

2012 CMBPs seem to be free of that also *knowcks on wood*

I thought my 2012 rMBP is, but apple's track record for dGPUs are horrid, so I'm not so sure.

 

[RoboCop001]

I hope they truly fix it, instead of just replacing it with the same board. My MBP started glitching up a few months ago so I got an iMac and didn't bother with repairs. I read that others repaired theirs by means of replacing the board with the exact same one, only to have the problem come back and ended up needing multiple replacement boards.

 

[RDStrong]

My early 2011 15" MBP falls under this. About every week or so the computer will randomly reboot or glitch. If I watch any flash videos or play any games its guarentteed to happen that day. Hope this will show on the diagnostics tool.

I replaced the drive with a SSD, wonder if they will still do the repair or if I should put the disk drive back in? Anybody know?

I wouldn't take it in for repairs with any third party components inside if I were you.

 

[marcr1230]

Refund in progress

I did not receive any notification for this program - I was following the subject since my Early 2011 MBP melted down in November 2014.

I just got off the phone with Apple - my $310 repair from November is being refunded to me...

Yea!

but why they didn't couldn't accept this evidence of this issue earlier and deal with it before irritating there best customers...

 

[GuitarDTO]

I did not receive any notification for this program - I was following the subject since my Early 2011 MBP melted down in November 2014.

I just got off the phone with Apple - my $310 repair from November is being refunded to me...

Yea!

but why they didn't couldn't accept this evidence of this issue earlier and deal with it before irritating there best customers...

Not defending them....but people always lose sight of the fact that they are still a business with the intent to make money. I see a lot of comparisons being made to Microsoft and how they handled the RROD. The RROD was so widespread, so soon after release and so publically damaging that MS had no choice to deal with it in the manner they did (which was fantastic by the way). If it was a little more under the radar like this problem, the response might have been different.

Apple on the other hand, while I'm sure was well aware of issues early on, were probably still unsure of exactly how widespread vs. time the issue would become and it certainly was under the shadow of their iPhone business, so they were able to get away with not doing anything much longer. Ultimately though they are dealing with it and for that I am happy. They could have easily fought the class action suit and delayed things, but they didn't.

 

[phpmaven]

This is great. My early 2001 17" has been crashing every time I play a Quicktime video for years. I will awesome to finally get this resolved.

 

[Pentad]

So has anyone else realized that every year that Apple has made the Macbook Pro since 2006, they have had to issue a recall or repair program?

2006- Battery
2007/2008-Nvidia Graphics
2009-Video Issues
2010-Video issues
2011-2013- Video Issues

It doesn't stop there:

How many Powerbooks had problems? (Remember the fire problems, hinge problems, overheating issues, memory sockets cracking, wifi antenna problems, etc...)
How many desktops had problems? (boy could I list them here)

 

[rimcrazy]

Day late and a dollar short for me. I bought a 2011 MBP in July of that year. Warranty ran out in July 2014.... screen started to die around September. Was my work machine so I had to replace it. Got a 15" MBP Ret. I like it but I miss my 17" screen and my 2011 MBP had two SSD's which was a really sweet setup. What a CF.

 

[sangoova]

Coverage doesn't show up.

Anyone else got below and still having problem with the computer?

 

[mtfbwy]

Got my refund this morning

Called Apple and was able to get my repair from the beginning of the year refunded. It's a good consolation considering the horrible customer service I received for this problem. I still have the MacBook but have kind of already moved everything onto a new Asus and am satisfied.

Apple definitely lost me as a Mac customer with this fiasco.

 

[576316]

I had the same response, maybe we'll have to wait 'til 27th before UK goes live.

My 2012 15" rMBP didn't show those issues YET but the fans were spinning like crazy upto 6000 rpm when doing anything remotely taxing, even playing youtube videos, SMC Fan Control app showed internal temps upto 105 CENTIGRADE, I went back 3 times, had a new fan, then a new logic board, still no improvement, It got so I wouldn't use it, eventually tested a 2013 model which ran many degrees cooler running the same apps from a cloned ssd of my drive and that was enough to convince me to replace my machine myself.

I now have a later spec 2013 version of the same machine and it's 40-50 degrees cooler. Tell me that was not a problem!

I'm out of pocket by £100s on this not to mention al the time I spent on it.
Not Happy

Tell me about it! My rMBP gets really hot and the fans spin up even on screensaver! I have two monitors so I thought maybe I was just stressing it out, but a screensaver really shouldn't be that taxing for my rMBP! If Apple are willing to give me a repair, I'm more than up for that. I'll just be very angry if they say I can't have one just because I'm out of warranty, for something which is their fault.

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Anyone else got below and still having problem with the computer?Image

This is exactly what I got here in the UK. I'm really hoping Apple aren't gonna be sly and deny me a repair because I'm no longer covered or under warranty - that's not fair. But someone on here mentioned the program isn't opening in the UK until 27th so I'll wait and see if they'll offer me a repair at that point.

 

[wct097]

Would you mind letting me know how it goes?

The initial support guy I talked to transferred me to someone a higher level up that confirmed I'm covered and said it looks like I'll be eligible for a reimbursement. I'm tasked with chasing down the proof of purchase because my repair center apparently didn't report that info to Apple. Once I provide that to Apple they'll push it up the line to a team that will make a final determination.

 

[bennibeef]

Anyone else got below and still having problem with the computer?Image

Tell me about it! My rMBP gets really hot and the fans spin up even on screensaver! I have two monitors so I thought maybe I was just stressing it out, but a screensaver really shouldn't be that taxing for my rMBP! If Apple are willing to give me a repair, I'm more than up for that. I'll just be very angry if they say I can't have one just because I'm out of warranty, for something which is their fault.

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This is exactly what I got here in the UK. I'm really hoping Apple aren't gonna be sly and deny me a repair because I'm no longer covered or under warranty - that's not fair. But someone on here mentioned the program isn't opening in the UK until 27th so I'll wait and see if they'll offer me a repair at that point.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/20732629/

 

[Timeset]

Apple still not fixing problem!

My top of line early 2011 MBP 17", which has the symptoms described in the threads, just 'passed' the test at the Apple authorized service provider ...so it will NOT -in fact- be fixed for free. Keep the lawsuit going I say!