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Apple says some MacBook Pros affected by faulty Nvidia chips

Stridder44 said:
Exactly. If something goes wrong with a car, the entire affected product line gets recalled whether or not there's been a problem. They don't replace it as the problem comes.
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No, you are wrong. If a significant SAFETY issue due to defects is noted, or the defect affects something required by law (i.e. smog equipment), then they do a recall. There are plenty of cases where cars start to fall apart after X years in predictable fashions, with NO recall. I should know, I own a Ford Explorer (grin).
 
clickclickw00t said:
Well I'm a DJ and I use my MBP exclusively for DJ and Video DJing and pretty much my whole career depends on keeping the computer running as sharp as a knife.

If it crashes during a performance, I'm ****ed. I'm contacting apple and demanding a full new replacement.
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So you have a backup computer, right? Because if your "whole career" is at risk due to a single computer, you have justified owning a backup computer.
 
macffooky said:
What do you think the resale value of a year-old MBP from within the covered range is compared to what it would be if there had never been this issue ?
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I would never buy a notebook with an affected nVidia GPU! :eek:

ATI's chips aren't any better. I saw a lot of dying ATI GPUs in recent years. No chip will last forever, they are all dying sooner or later.
 
would this have anything to do with the issue regarding no display after awaking from sleep? or is that some other non-related obscure mystery fault..
 
tbae12 said:
well i noticed that the failing gpus don't include the macbook pros that have a 512 MB video card. the article apple gives says it only affects the 15 in macbook pros that are 2.4 GHz or 2.2GHz which has only a 256MB video card.
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what about, say, the 2.6 santa rosa bto 17" machines? they're not on "the list", yet have the same GPU. what's the deal? what to make of this?
 
Well my MBP died yesterday! right after a security update. It was horrible :( It has all the symtops of the bad Video Card :(

Nice Security Update apple, break my MBP so I have to buy a new one on Tuesday :D cuz Im gonna.... Looks like I get this one fixed for free now tho! w00t w00t
 
Is this...?

is this what they are talking about?
 

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On second thought.

You've got to hand it Apple at least they fessed up to it.


I'm a little bit loving them right now.

sorry. :D
 
The way I see it, Apple would NEVER recall the "affected" MBP's since that would literally mean MILLIONS of MILLIONS in losses. THey probably have figured it's "CHEAPER" to just replace the broken ones and that's it.

I'm sure the "majority" of MBP's users, just use the laptop casually (no hard GPU stressing/games/etc..). Apple is probably banking on the fact and "MOST" users won't be affected by a broken "GPU" and thus to replace all of them is crazy from a business stand-point.

Also users are bitchin about Apple replacing broken logic boards, with potentially still-affected GPUs. I think if Apple has finally acknowledge the problem, now when you get a replacement logic board it will have an updated GPU. I heard another member speak of a "Rev 2" logic board...

Honestly it is a ****** situation, but you should be happy that they did something and not just say, f*ck you you're out of your warranty.
 
iMac with the Nvidia 8800 GS

Does anybody know if the Nvidia cards in the current iMacs are safe? After all, they use the mobile version of the chips?

I really hate how Nvidia is handling these issues: Being in denial-mode all the time - until hard evidence forces them to admit. This does not inspire confidence in their other products... (upcoming MacBooks, etc.)
 
bmwpowere36m3 said:
The way I see it, Apple would NEVER recall the "affected" MBP's since that would literally mean MILLIONS of MILLIONS in losses. THey probably have figured it's "CHEAPER" to just replace the broken ones and that's it.

I'm sure the "majority" of MBP's users, just use the laptop casually (no hard GPU stressing/games/etc..). Apple is probably banking on the fact and "MOST" users won't be affected by a broken "GPU" and thus to replace all of them is crazy from a business stand-point.

Also users are bitchin about Apple replacing broken logic boards, with potentially still-affected GPUs. I think if Apple has finally acknowledge the problem, now when you get a replacement logic board it will have an updated GPU. I heard another member speak of a "Rev 2" logic board...

Honestly it is a ****** situation, but you should be happy that they did something and not just say, f*ck you you're out of your warranty.
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While its a good attempt(barely), I still feel like my hard earned money was spent on an inherently "defective" product(it is Nvidia's fault in reality) with a half assed attempt to make themselves look good.My vid card runs hot daily and I always worry that one unlucky reboot will finish it off.Yes, my MBP is on the list:mad:
 
MidiMonk said:
While its a good attempt(barely), I still feel like my hard earned money was spent on an inherently "defective" product(it is Nvidia's fault in reality) with a half assed attempt to make themselves look good.My vid card runs hot daily and I always worry that one unlucky reboot will finish it off.Yes, my MBP is on the list:mad:
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don't feel like you spent money on inherently defective anything. No one knew it was defective at the time, not nvidia, not apple, not you.

It does suck that it happened, but you're covered for 2 years if the GPU should fail, regardless of whether or not you have applecare. The best course of action is to use it like you would normally, and hope that if it dies, it dies within 2 years. Most things you buy aren't even warrantied for 2 years (not even the other parts in your mac), so that's pretty good.
 
Smart Move by Apple!

With the pending release of the new Macbook Pro's, they admit faulty old ones so that people who complain will now only get a fix and not a replacement.

I spent hours of my time in store arguing with the manager of the apple store who claimed my problem was a program I had once used. It took three repairs (but still having the problem) and then another 1.5 hours in store complaining, before the manager said he'd had enough, and ordered me a replacement MBP.

By admiting the fault now, all faulty MBP's will not be replaced with the new MBPs saving apple millions!
 
Email to Steve

I had the same problem with my MBP. I spent a good $1200 getting it fixed. My dad paid for it, so he wasn't best pleased... :mad:

If you check the attachment you can see an email that I wrote to Steve. He replies, saying that Apple never bought the faulty NVidia chips. Clearly he's just proven himself wrong. The rest of the email from me continues thus:

---------------------------------

If this was a one-off problem that doesn't happen often, I would not
be writing to you now. However, it has been brought to my attention
that many people have had problems with this particular model of
graphics card. Here are some, not all, of the sites and documents I've
found that concern this particular problem:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pV-CKzYqbB6dLQRx8wpC2aw

http://news.softpedia.com/news/NVIDIA-Faulty-Chips-Reported-on-MacBook-Pros-As-Well-91707.shtml

This link shows that Dell has acknowledged the problem with the GPU
from NVidia:
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/arch...rranty*************to-all-affected-customers-
worldwide.aspx

http://www.pcworld.com/article/149055/dell_takes_heat_for_faulty_nvidia_chips.html

http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/06/27/macbook.pro.video.glitches/

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/02/nvidia-says-significant-quantities-of-laptop-gpus-are-defectiv/

http://www.hortont.com/blog/2008/06/macbook-pro-santa-rosa-a-fatal-flaw/

-------

Of course these sites do not necessarily have all the information at
all, but it seems that although Dell has admitted the fault occurring
with the faulty NVidia GPUs, Apple has not. When I spend £1600 (GBP)
on a notebook which I expect to keep for at least 5 years, should I
really expect a fault that could be resolved to linger and hamper not
only my experience with the computer itself but moreover my ability to
use it at all? This is I'm sure what the other people who have had the
same problem (not just those whose warranties have expired) feel.

Is there a reason that Apple hasn't tackled this relatively small, yet
hugely important problem? Or is the company choosing to divert most of
its horsepower to developing new products? For a problem which is most
certainly not the fault of the customer of for time's toll, perhaps
some sort of permanent solution for all those affected is a
appropriate.

I hope that I can once again rely on your great computers without
having to worry about hardware problems in the future and that this
issue can be cleared up swiftly and efficiently à la Apple.

Sincerely,

-Hugh ********

Tel: +44********
Email: ****************
MacBook Pro Serial No: ***********
Repair No: **********

---------------------------------

What do you think I should do? I think I should email Steve or one of the esteemed Exec Customer Support people telling them what he said and saying that he misled me, on the basis that I wouldn't have minded if he said he didn't know and was investigating it. What do you think?

I have had similar screen "artefacts" as in the second image attached since the logic board repair. I will be taking my MBP back to my local Apple Store to have it looked at and to get the logic board replaced for free. And my refund, thank God. If it happens *again* then low and behold I will have a new laptop from the new range due to be announced this Tuesday. Joy! :)

Also: does anyone here with their MBP have the problem of leaving their computer on with brightness fully down, then coming back and finding the colour settings have changed, similar to the blueish tint that the setting Apple RGB gives :confused:?

Cheers,

-Hugh
 

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I just got a MBP 17" at work about a month ago, and the second week I used it I was noticing video card issues. The laptop screen sort of looked like a picture tube was going out in an old TV, and the video wouldn't show up at all on the external monitor I was using for a second screen. I also experienced no picture at all with the machine on. This hasn't happened since that second week, but I presume I definitely have a faulty GPU.

I guess I'll have to keep my eye on this.
 
bplein said:
So you have a backup computer, right? Because if your "whole career" is at risk due to a single computer, you have justified owning a backup computer.
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Bplein you'd be amazed at how many people rely on hi tech laptops for their careers without actually earning enough to be able to have two of them.
As you appear to think money's no object perhaps you can sub ME to a new top spec MacBook Pro next week?
 
tbae12 said:
well i noticed that the failing gpus don't include the macbook pros that have a 512 MB video card. the article apple gives says it only affects the 15 in macbook pros that are 2.4 GHz or 2.2GHz which has only a 256MB video card.
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Yes it does. Mine has 515 MB VC and it's been displaying problems since the first month I had it.
 
hughcanbefound said:
Also: does anyone here with their MBP have the problem of leaving their computer on with brightness fully down, then coming back and finding the colour settings have changed, similar to the blueish tint that the setting Apple RGB gives :confused:?

Cheers,

-Hugh
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You know, it's funny you should mention that. It happened to me for the first time ever in the life of this computer yesterday. It went away when I opened the colour control panel...weird stuff.
 
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