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Apple Initiates Repair Program for 2011-2013 MacBook Pros With Video Issues
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Will the replacement parts have the same issues?
Finally!
Just took two 15" MBP out of my storage room and they are elegible!
I always knew this video problem will end up in an extended repair program so I kept them all this time instead of recycling or salvaging the components.
The question is if Apple will replace the logic boards using "new old stock" parts which potentially have the same issues... so eventually they will fail too. This is what everyone fears.
So as an engineer I see a few options for Apple:
1 - Identifying the boards with issues. Either by serial numbers or fabrication lots. If the problem was caused on a particular factory or within an specific fabrication period or by identifying a particular component you can tell which replacement boards are free from this issue.
2 - Apple can "repair" the boards before using them to fix a customer MBP. Apparently many of the issues with GPUs are related to bad soldering that fail over time due to the heat. I have been lucky reballing a few ones so Apple can take those potentially affected parts and just fix them to prevent the issue.
3 - Using a different board. Most of Apple's logic boards are not interchangeable, sometimes, even a single speed bump on a model changes the internal connectors which impedes you from using a different board so I wouldn't bet on this one, however, sometimes other boards fit.
4 - New boards. If Apple can't fix the NOS boards, they, by law, can't give you a replacement part knowingly that it comes with a defect. So they would have to make new boards for the affected models. This is not cheap so it would be Apple's last resource. Still cheaper than exchanging the whole computer depending on how many computers where affected. I've had at least ten in my hands so there are quite a few out there.
So I personally think that Apple won't use "bad" boards when repairing our computers. They will try to identify the good ones and "fix" the affected parts before. I'm glad they will correct the problem even when it is a little late.
Finally!
Just took two 15" MBP out of my storage room and they are elegible!
I always knew this video problem will end up in an extended repair program so I kept them all this time instead of recycling or salvaging the components.
The question is if Apple will replace the logic boards using "new old stock" parts which potentially have the same issues... so eventually they will fail too. This is what everyone fears.
So as an engineer I see a few options for Apple:
1 - Identifying the boards with issues. Either by serial numbers or fabrication lots. If the problem was caused on a particular factory or within an specific fabrication period or by identifying a particular component you can tell which replacement boards are free from this issue.
2 - Apple can "repair" the boards before using them to fix a customer MBP. Apparently many of the issues with GPUs are related to bad soldering that fail over time due to the heat. I have been lucky reballing a few ones so Apple can take those potentially affected parts and just fix them to prevent the issue.
3 - Using a different board. Most of Apple's logic boards are not interchangeable, sometimes, even a single speed bump on a model changes the internal connectors which impedes you from using a different board so I wouldn't bet on this one, however, sometimes other boards fit.
4 - New boards. If Apple can't fix the NOS boards, they, by law, can't give you a replacement part knowingly that it comes with a defect. So they would have to make new boards for the affected models. This is not cheap so it would be Apple's last resource. Still cheaper than exchanging the whole computer depending on how many computers where affected. I've had at least ten in my hands so there are quite a few out there.
So I personally think that Apple won't use "bad" boards when repairing our computers. They will try to identify the good ones and "fix" the affected parts before. I'm glad they will correct the problem even when it is a little late.
Previous programs Apple released offered reimbursements for repairs customers already paid out of pocket for.
So I'd say it's a pretty decent chance:
https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/
"Apple is contacting customers who paid for a repair either though Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider to arrange reimbursement. If you have not been contacted, but paid for a repair that you think was due to this issue, please contact Apple."
All you had to do was look. All you had to do was click on a link and read about it, instead of making a knee jerk reaction on the forums.
Now go and get PAID!
No company in the US can sell you a faulty product when they know it has a factory defect (at least not when they were publicly exposed!
). So Apple will have to either use a good board or take all the affected NOS replacement boards in stock through a refurbishment process to correct the issue.At this point and at the edge of a lawsuit they won't do that. And those are good news for us all with dead computers!
I don't care if they use a NOS board as long as they fix the soldering issues on the GPUs well.
My 15 inch 2011 MBP machine would randomly start getting graphical glitches and slowly over time they would become more pronounced to the extent that Apple Geniuses couldn't deny anymore that there was a problem. This continued over 3 logic board/motherboards and a replaced screen. That is all the replacements would exhibit the same behavior of slowly deteriorating. All under Apple Care over a 3 year period and with Apple Geniuses during this time telling me they had never heard of a problem with the 2011 MBPs. Its very frustrating in the middle of work for my machine to just go all blue or when it was dying to get freezes. Its even more frustrating to put in my MBP serial number and see that I'm not getting the extended warranty support.
Its disappointing to see Apple state that it "..has determined that a small percentage of MacBook Pro systems may exhibit distorted video, no video, or unexpected system restarts." They are not being very transparent by withholding numbers. In fact it seems most likely that they are deciding to limit support to a "small percentage" of the affected users to limit their costs. Unfortunately, my machine doesn't seem to fall into their small percentage, which leaves me stuck with this slowly dying lemon of a laptop. Not the first time that Apple has screwed me over with my serial number not being one of the affected pieces of hardware, but this may very well be the last since I'm seriously considering not buying another mac again.
Its disappointing to see Apple state that it "..has determined that a small percentage of MacBook Pro systems may exhibit distorted video, no video, or unexpected system restarts." They are not being very transparent by withholding numbers. In fact it seems most likely that they are deciding to limit support to a "small percentage" of the affected users to limit their costs. Unfortunately, my machine doesn't seem to fall into their small percentage, which leaves me stuck with this slowly dying lemon of a laptop. Not the first time that Apple has screwed me over with my serial number not being one of the affected pieces of hardware, but this may very well be the last since I'm seriously considering not buying another mac again.
They should have acknowledged this issue long ago.
Now they do it because they are being forced to do it, not in the goodness of their heart.
Now they do it because they are being forced to do it, not in the goodness of their heart.
hi, i'm getting the same screen too when i checked - on a mid 2012 15 inch retina macbook pro. In the USA too.
Can anybody help?
No company in the US can sell you a faulty product when they know it has a factory defect (at least not when they were publicly exposed!
At this point and at the edge of a lawsuit they won't do that. And those are good news for us all with dead computers!
I don't care if they use a NOS board as long as they fix the soldering issues on the GPUs well.
What are you talking about, they can't sell you a known faulty component? Literally every replacement was a refurbished unit with a defect that they are just now admitting due to the threat of a lawsuit. You seriously say that when the solution to the problem is a like for like replacement of the board? A "good" board is what Apple says is good, there's no other entity that determines what a good board is. I can't believe that you're seriously saying they have to give you a "good" board when you know damn well the decision on what a good board is involved no law determination, only what Apple says is good.
They won't fix the soldering issues either, they aren't allowed to use lead solder and no one can be bothered enough to make solder that worked as well as the old lead kind. Apple will be just dumping the same flawed design back into these computers and they'll continue to fail. Nothing will change at all.
The Logic boards I had replaced always took about 5 days at the Apple store, so it probably shouldn't be more than a week. Unless they are running short and need to bring some in from China.
Hate the player.
That America' thing again eh?
You sell in my country you are selling under my laws regardless of how your native legal team choose to operate or how many graphics hardware issues they choose to ignore. I dont care how badly the American legal system operates.
Corporate entities are made up of people, who are the ones that choose to act.
First page of the article, As of February 20 in the United States and Canada (February 27 in other countries), which I assume means 27 countires that America does not own/control?
Probably the day that my long discarded iMac G5 gets its screen replaced.
It had image retention, GPU issues, bad capacitors, and power supply problems.
And it loved to overheat.
While Apple eventually finally acknowledged some of the problems and offered repair programs, the machine had been long dead and dumpstered by the time they finally offered any repair options.
And, yes, it was dumpstered before the warranty expired. Why? Because Apple refused to acknowledge the problems or repair problems that they insisted didn't exist.
Expensive paper weight. It always takes a class action suit to get service from Apple on manufacturing / design defects. Definitely not a leader in customer service.
Except these problems didn't start happening until about 18-24 months after the 2011 MBPs came out.
What is even being repaired? the crappy screen with the massive persistent image issues, and dead pixels? the NVIDIA 650m that no longer shows up in About this Mac?
the battery that's crap?
The fact that my sister's refurbished HP laptop that cost $300 works better than my $2300 laptop is nothing short of disgusting.
Honestly, I don't know if I'll buy a MacBook again after this ****** retina one.
the battery that's crap?
The fact that my sister's refurbished HP laptop that cost $300 works better than my $2300 laptop is nothing short of disgusting.
Honestly, I don't know if I'll buy a MacBook again after this ****** retina one.
1080p incapability of Macbook Pro Mid-2012
I wonder if this includes my Mac's inability to render 1080p on my Sony Bravia.
Everytime I do so via a mini port to HDMI to my Sony TV, it blinks every so often that I fall back to 720p.
Could anyone help?
Thanks in advance!
I wonder if this includes my Mac's inability to render 1080p on my Sony Bravia.
Everytime I do so via a mini port to HDMI to my Sony TV, it blinks every so often that I fall back to 720p.
Could anyone help?
Thanks in advance!
Apple did this with 2008 Mac Pro GPU's, replaced known faulty cards with further faulty ones. What made it worse was that they replacement cards were "reconditioned", so they knew they were faulty from the get go.
My 2007 MBP did experience that problem as well. In the Netherlands no recall nor refund program existed afaik. So, I took the MBP apart two times now to give the graphics card a special reflow treatment in the oven - worked every time. That old MBP is still fully functional and not even that bad with an SSD installed. Of course I have already a new MBP, gladly a late 2010 one without any problems (yet).
As I understand the issues, it has all to do with the soldering stuff which cannot contain lead (Pb) anymore due to environmental issues. I do care about the environment but I also do care about the materials I need to use to make a living: they should be utterly reliable, that's why I've chosen Apple and not any other brand. Apple should have given the finger to the environmental lobby until a perfect replacement for the lead was found.
Besides that, why does the OS allow some processes to go bezerk, like the cloudd process on Yosemite? I have to use AppPolice to throttle it down in order to prevent my MBP to run hot on a daily base. Apple can do a lot more to prevent laptops from running hot.
Pity Apple doesn't have real competition, otherwise issues like these would never remain as competitors fight to have the best performing product, not just speedwise but also reliability-wise. I fear the lack of real competition is the main danger for Apple.
Great, nothing for the 2010.
The mid-2010's have exactly the same problem (aka TS4088). The difference with the 2010 is that Apple did acknowledge it and offer a three year repair program - which was no use for me when mine only started to display symptoms shortly after becoming three years old.
The mid-2010's have exactly the same problem (aka TS4088). The difference with the 2010 is that Apple did acknowledge it and offer a three year repair program - which was no use for me when mine only started to display symptoms shortly after becoming three years old.
That's an interesting way to put it. They took a very long time to acknowledge any problem. Mine had Applecare for 3 years. Applecare had expired, but they hadn't instituted a repair program at that point. I was out of pocket on it, but it was only a month and a half ago. I'm going to ask if they'll credit back the repair cost (done by Apple via depot repair).