Apple Says 2011 MacBook Pro No Longer Eligible For 'Video Issues' Repair Program

[newtonentropy]

This is quite upsetting that this program is no longer available for Macbook Pro 2011 late models as this just happened to my macbook. Is there anything else we can do for those of us that have one of these defective macbooks but are now just getting the "gray screen" of GPU failure death?

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

This is quite upsetting that this program is no longer available for Macbook Pro 2011 late models as this just happened to my macbook. Is there anything else we can do for those of us that have one of these defective macbooks but are now just getting the "gray screen" of GPU failure death?

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...fi-variable-fix.2037591/page-35#post-24956091

Post 875 on this page. It should go to it automatically. On the next page he elaborates on a few parts.

 

[davidnayzar]

After Apple refused to replace the graphics card on my 2011 macbook pro for a second time (second issue happened 30 days after the Dec. 31, 2016, deadline), I decided to try the reflow process with a hot air gun and replacing thermal paste. It worked for about 6 months. Did it again and it is still going strong. Definitely best to replace, but this did bring mine back to life.

That fix is temporary and not going to make much longer for the device. The Kernel panic is caused by the voltage drop in the power supply to the GPU and it can be fixed with replacing a few components.
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Most of the time, since the 2008 models, the problem is not the GPU.
They get way hot, and temperature cycling will damage the silicon over time, but the issue that caused the problems with these machines was not the chip itself but a tantalum capacitor in the power supply for the GPU, which was incorrectly specified and never designed to operate for so long in such a hot environment. Eventually it becomes leaky, causing the power supply to become unstable.
Since Apple don’t do component level repairs, they replaced the entire logic board. The real fix if you find someone who can do it costs 1p in parts.

What you said is for the Kernel panic issue devices. When the GPU failed, it is not the same issue. The capacitor C9560 and C9562 both need to replace at the same time to get the kernel panic clear.
The GPU failure is not going to help with the capacitor replacement and it is the AMD 216-081005 chip that need to be replaced. But the design issue of Apple cause such failure but apple played the game with the early obsolete to avoid more lost. The devices are supposed to have 7 years support and apple ended with less than 6 years is ridiculous. I am wondering why no lawsuit for such mess and people put up with it.