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

[freediverx]

One would hope that, having publicly recognized the problem, Apple now knows the cause and the appropriate fix. At this point, what motive would they have to intentionally waste customer's time and Apple's time and money by performing useless repairs? Repairs are warranted for 90 days, so faulty repairs, although they do happen, are not in anyone's best interest.

Although I wouldn't necessarily expect Apple to do so, it would not be surprising for a company to replace a defective part under warranty with an equally defective part, with the expectation that the new part wouldn't fail until after the warranty period expired.

Car manufacturers do this quite regularly.

 

[2298754]

I've been having this issue for almost 3 years now. On my 3rd LCD screen and 3rd logic board. And I'm getting the glitching again. If it weren't for the pile of work I've had in the last few weeks and zero free time, I would have tried to contact Exec Apple Support, but it's just been ridiculous. There is no way in hell I'm sending it in AGAIN for another logic board/screen. That's just crazy.

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$1200? Hard to believe. Just today I had appointment with my Macbook Pro I bought 4 years ago. And they promised me to repair it for $310. After I knew that Apple started that repair program I called to the store and they told me that my repair will be free and thanked me that I let them know about that program #

When I got my first Retina screen replacement back in 2012, they didn't have a "flat rate" repair cost. It was around that $1,200 price. Thank god for the warranty.

 

[Twimfy]

That was nvidia, almost every laptop manufacturer had some kind of recall/repair programmefor 8600m, funded by nvidia as I recall.

Yup. The first run of Dell's XPS with an 8 series GPU were renowned for failing. Shame because at the time they were nice machines (and made for great Snow Leopard Hackintoshes).

I had a 24" 2008 iMac for a while, also with an 8 series GPU. Spent so much time worrying it was going to fail I got rid of it, sadly the ATI cards that could be swapped in were way too expensive, I'm guessing the issue made their demand soar. AFAIK Apple never acknowledged the issue or offered a free repair but don't quote me on that.

In the end it all came down to heat, somewhat similar to the Xbox RROD fiasco. Seems that even now manufacturers aren't learning from their mistakes.

It's likely this four year delay might have come about as the result of some research and development into the board composition. I'd be completely shocked if Apple just swaps in the same logic boards as before.

So pleased my mid 2012 is a 13". The HD4000 ins't the greatest GPU solution but I can't see it cooking itself any time soon.

 

[4God]

Has anybody actually been contacted by Apple yet for reimbursement? I sure could use that $300 right about now.

 

[venom600]

Possibly refurbs bought a couple of years later?

This. I bought my 17" last April. MicroCenter got a ton of refurbished 2011 15" and 17" Macbook Pros and sold them for over a year. In fact, if you search the Microcenter site right now you can still buy a refurb 15" model in some locations complete with one year warranty. My AppleCare runs out in 2017.

 

[2298754]

The laptop is too thin / too little volume to handle the cooling needed for the graphics chip. I have four of these with the video issues.

Two of my closest friends bought 15inch rMBPs after I got mine. Zero issues with theirs. However, they don't have a mid2012 model, like mine. They have late 2013 and 2014 models. I guess they fixed the problem... eventually

 

[HKZ/MST3K]

I want a refund on the repairs I've already done. That they've ignored it so long is unacceptable. Paying TWICE to have this fixed out of my pocket on a $3000 machine is a slap in the face. I bought a Macbook because they market them as a professional level machine with superior software and hardware and then it completely dies after only three years of use? This will probably be my last Macbook if that's the way they are going to treat customers that pay so much money.

 

[TMRJIJ]

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

I have a mid 2010 Macbook Pro. I am extremely lucky that to this day I never had video issues that made it unusable. I'm sure the repair program is over so if it does happen, I'm moving on to the current model with Apple Care

 

[dcwerx]

Also mid-2012 non-Retina?

I am most definitely having this issue on my laptop as well, although I am one of the few folks that picked up the non-Retina 15 incher the Summer of 2012. Good thing, too, since I hear all the hardware issues with the Retina during that first year.

So my question is, any other non-Retina users during that time period having this issue? My serial shows up as not supported, but I am certainly having the problem.

 

[Mascots]

I want a refund on the repairs I've already done. That they've ignored it so long is unacceptable. Paying TWICE to have this fixed out of my pocket on a $3000 machine is a slap in the face. I bought a Macbook because they market them as a professional level machine with superior software and hardware and then it completely dies after only three years of use? This will probably be my last Macbook if that's the way they are going to treat customers that pay so much money.

Did you do the repairs through Apple? Just take a breath and give them a call and you'll be surprised.

(Hint: Just did it)

 

[freediverx]

How am I being slanted? Apple is standing behind their products NOW, that's not the argument. The issue is with them waiting until 2015 to acknowledge and assist users that had problems in 2014.

You make a good point, this IS entirely voluntary, and I'm not basing my opinion solely on numbers because I can't get those numbers. There is an implied subjectivity or principle at work here. Apple is under no obligation to help users who's systems died after the warranty expired, but there IS a principle that they should stand by their products which are implied to be (and priced accordingly) among the highest quality in the industry.

sualpine, I am big enough to admit that you win this argument. I cannot argue in a completely logical sense with hard numbers that Apple has done anything wrong. Only an implied principle, but not everything in life is determined by hard numbers. There are non-quantifiable factors (such as user satisfaction and customer perception) that can be affected.

I think Apple waited to long. That is my opinion and (like my signature states) doesn't matter to you or anyone else. I cannot back up my belief with any numbers for you. I'm sorry.

---
EDIT: that is also why much of the law (which I am studying, but am by no means an expert) includes clauses that account for reasonableness tests on a case by case basis, because not everything can be quantified neatly.

I have a question that might help frame this differently. Hypothetically, if a company produces a product that it sells in the US with a one year warranty, and 80% of them fail within 2-3 years, is the company under any legal obligation to compensate their customers for what might be described as a clearly defective product?

 

[macduke]

How did you get them to replace the LG panel with a Samsung?

I showed the guys at the Genius Bar how much it sucked (I do design and photography work for a living) and how when I'm working on a high-contract image or graphic—or even working in finder for a while—and move on to something else, then you could still see faint shapes and outlines of what used to be on the screen. It was very annoying. They were replacing them with panels that didn't have the issue at the time, and the only ones that didn't have it were Samsung. There was a thread about it and you can test the model number to see. Everyone who had a panel that was fine had Samsung part numbers. Not sure if that's still true with current models. They didn't repalce my system, just the panel. I could tell, and my data was still there. Most beautiful display I had ever used until I got my 6 Plus. Although I can calibrate the Mac to be much more accurate.

 

[Traverse]

I showed the guys at the Genius Bar how much it sucked (I do design and photography work for a living) and how when I'm working on a high-contract image or graphic—or even working in finder for a while—and move on to something else, then you could still see faint shapes and outlines of what used to be on the screen. It was very annoying. They were replacing them with panels that didn't have the issue at the time, and the only ones that didn't have it were Samsung. There was a thread about it and you can test the model number to see. Everyone who had a panel that was fine had Samsung part numbers. Not sure if that's still true with current models. They didn't repalce my system, just the panel. I could tell, and my data was still there. Most beautiful display I had ever used until I got my 6 Plus. Although I can calibrate the Mac to be much more accurate.

Is there a way to check your panel type without downloading xCode?

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I have a question that might help frame this differently. Hypothetically, if a company produces a product that it sells in the US with a one year warranty, and 80% of them fail within 2-3 years, is the company under any legal obligation to compensate their customers for what might be described as a clearly defective product?

I do get the point your making, but it depends on the product.

An average consumer product in the middle to low price range? No. A high end product at the top of a market with a very large premium? Yes.

Despite the warranty Apple offers, I don't feel their systems should have died this soon or that they should have all died in the same way. That is too coincidental. Still, this is just my opinion.

 

[APPLENEWBIE]

Bummer.... my 2011 MacBook Pro 13 inch is starting to get some wonky graphics problems. Apparently the 13 inch with integrated graphics is not covered.

 

[GuitarDTO]

Has anybody actually been contacted by Apple yet for reimbursement? I sure could use that $300 right about now.

Yes, see previous page. Just call them. People are kidding themselves if they think Apple is going to go out of their way to quickly contact everyone. I had to submit a receipt, and the service advisor had to submit a refund request.

 

[dumastudetto]

Are you delusional? They denied it for years and only just now did it after being hit with multiple class action lawsuits. That's not first class service, it's a move to avoid getting a huge settlement thrown at them in court.

The foundation of Apple is built on giving customers the best possible experience. It's why they rank first in every customer sat survey you ever see. Apple goes out of their way to make each and every one of their customers happy. Just because it's taken Apple this long to conclude they needed to extend coverage for some customers, it doesn't meant they haven't been silently taking care of those who needed help and support FOR YEARS already.

 

[Mascots]

I have a question that might help frame this differently. Hypothetically, if a company produces a product that it sells in the US with a one year warranty, and 80% of them fail within 2-3 years, is the company under any legal obligation to compensate their customers for what might be described as a clearly defective product?

Thus the class action lawsuit to determine if they would have been accountable. Most of time, it is cases where products cause harm but companies can be held liable in court for defective products occasionally.

However, even not having statistics I can firmly say it was no where near 80% for these model of MacBooks. However, there are threads containing thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of posts about this issue. It probably ranges in the high 3-5% just from an online presence of individual posters, which would be incredible but is a wild guesstimate.

 

[4God]

Yes, see previous page. Just call them. People are kidding themselves if they think Apple is going to go out of their way to quickly contact everyone. I had to submit a receipt, and the service advisor had to submit a refund request.

Sounds good, calling them first thing in the morning. Thanks.

 

[ricardobeat]

I have the exact issues described - glitches, blank screen, random restarts - on a 13" MBPR, early 2013.

 

[miimario]

Once again...

Once again Apple demonstrates why they are the leader of the pack when it comes to taking care of their customers. This is why we love Apple. This is what the Sony's of the world just don't get selling high-end devices but providing lousy support and aftercare.

Once again someone that obviously did not have this problem tries to convince us that Apple is the greatest company on earth. They waited for YEARS to admit this defect which began presenting itself immediately after the laptops were put on the market. It's nice that they will now replace our faulty boards with faulty boards for free instead of making us pay, but you won't catch me praising Apple for this "let's try to silence everyone because they won't stop bugging us" gift.

 

[taran420]

no!!!! my 2010 macbook has the same issues but its not included! ****

 

[Mascots]

Once again someone that obviously did not have this problem tries to convince us that Apple is the greatest company on earth. They waited for YEARS to admit this defect which began presenting itself immediately after the laptops were put on the market. It's nice that they will now replace our faulty boards with faulty boards for free instead of making us pay, but you won't catch me praising Apple for this "let's try to silence everyone because they won't stop bugging us" gift.

Eh.
They could have not done it, though there was a lawsuit in tow. I appreciate it as well.

 

[johnnnw]

Once again Apple demonstrates why they are the leader of the pack when it comes to taking care of their customers. This is why we love Apple. This is what the Sony's of the world just don't get selling high-end devices but providing lousy support and aftercare.

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.

 

[fineaddme]

hi guys I have a late 2011 mbp 15".
I have had for a while now random restarts, heat issues and graphics glitches on screen. I got it about a month after it's release so I know for sure I am not within the 3 year AppleCare warranty.
what are the chances I can have my mbp repaired?
it's kinda hard to get the issues to show up exactly when a apple genius is inspecting it.

 

[theBostonian]

Only until 2016? Is there any sort of guarantee that the replacement logic board will fix this problem permanently? Do they, for example, use a different and more durable solder? (The solder was a theory as to what was causing the high failure rate)

I don't have any screen issues but I do have random reboots so I'll be looking into this.