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Apple won't repair my Mid-2007 Macbook Pro
- Thread starter theaudioguy
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So my new question is this.....Should I trying sending in my Macbook Pro to NVIDIA for them to do the repair and risk the chance of them saying something else is wrong and I need to pay them to fix it?
This is from the NVIDIA litigation website:
"Once you send your computer in, please note that you may be contacted by the manufacturer if your computer is in need of further repairs that are not covered by the settlement. You will be responsible for any associated charges to complete repairs that are not covered by the settlement."
This is from the NVIDIA litigation website:
"Once you send your computer in, please note that you may be contacted by the manufacturer if your computer is in need of further repairs that are not covered by the settlement. You will be responsible for any associated charges to complete repairs that are not covered by the settlement."
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If the genius boots the machine and looks ONLY at the lack of video as a symptom of a greater logic board issue without any other troubleshooting steps then they are NOT DOING THEIR JOB. The next step after lack of video is to ensure that the machine still functions in some other way i.e. the startup chime/bong hit or being able to turn on/off caps lock or some other function on the machine.
End of story.
OP: Did you try any of the steps I outlined before? Did you/have you reset the PRAM on your machine (doesn't require any OS interaction)?
Do this and see if your machine chimes.
I tried it before I even took it to the Genius Bar. I also tried resetting the SMC. But neither of those worked. I do believe it is a complete Logic Board failure, but I think it failed because of the NVIDIA GPU. I have not been experiencing any problems with it at all until my computer went to sleep with a very low battery. I know the genius was just following company policy and I can't blame him for that. I just wanted Apple to step up because I don't have a computer anymore (except my 8 yr. old tortoise aka Compaq). And I can't resell the MBP because it won't boot.
I love Apple but I hate them for putting money over customer satisfaction.
Try another store or find an Authorized Service Center. Many are much more flexible and willing to do what it takes to get your systems repaired under warranty.
Cheers,
The machine not being able to boot is certainly not the end of the story. There seem to be huge numbers of logic board failures on these MBPs that seem to split into two general categories by symptom
1) Machine boots but no video
2) machine won't boot at all.
Right now Apple is covering only condition (1) but it is not known if all the other logic board failures are also a result of the Nvidia issue or not. They could very well be. The logic boards are an integrated part so who knows if damage on one part could bring the entire board down or not. Just because Apple won't say so one way or the other does not mean that isn't the case.
When the board(s) failed on my iMac G5 the failure was isolated to the graphics portion of the board yet this prevented the machine from booting .
1) Machine boots but no video
2) machine won't boot at all.
Right now Apple is covering only condition (1) but it is not known if all the other logic board failures are also a result of the Nvidia issue or not. They could very well be. The logic boards are an integrated part so who knows if damage on one part could bring the entire board down or not. Just because Apple won't say so one way or the other does not mean that isn't the case.
When the board(s) failed on my iMac G5 the failure was isolated to the graphics portion of the board yet this prevented the machine from booting .
OP, what happens when you hit the power button?
Does the sleep indicator light at the front flash in any certain way?
Does the sleep indicator light at the front flash in any certain way?
vant on my iMac G5 the Apple tech diagnosed the failure in the GPU portion of the logic board. The machine would not boot as a result. It was not simply a matter of the display not coming on.
After reading up on this more, I still think Apple should replace it and I think that the OP should feel, and is, entitled to either a full repair or replacement with a comparable system. The odds of sporadic reports of issues can often be chalked to user error, but in this instance, sufficient evidence shows a long track-record of sub quality control. Furthermore, it could be argued that beyond the standard issues, those issues may be the cause or a contributing factor to other problems.
Apple is a good company, prides themselves in quality and service, and IMO will work for a satisfactory outcome. I would not go back to the 'Genius' or even to a retail store. Call customer relations and ask to speak to someone who "has the authority to solve the issue at hand".
Apple is a good company, prides themselves in quality and service, and IMO will work for a satisfactory outcome. I would not go back to the 'Genius' or even to a retail store. Call customer relations and ask to speak to someone who "has the authority to solve the issue at hand".
Apple's behavior regarding their sales of laptops with defective GPUs has been in bad faith.
A good company doesn't subject people to lottery-style games where if someone takes a lot of their time up with multiple replacements of defective parts with defective parts and then has multiple failures within Apple's arbitrary window of time -- then they'll finally get resolution.
A good company doesn't make people keep time bomb defective units that can fail at any moment -- units that therefore have a much lower resale value because of the known defect -- units that I wouldn't even be comfortable giving to relatives because of all the stress/inefficiency in dealing with sudden failure.
And the lottery isn't even as bad as refusing to rectify the problem if the computer won't boot. I am not an engineer, but as far as I know, it is certainly possible for a computer to refuse to boot if its video chip is fried.
A good company would have solved this defect by replacing the defective GPU with a non-defective GPU for every owner. A recall should have been issued, and it should have been issued quickly.
This is bad business. We're the ones paying for the defect because of this "good company's" behavior. In time (time is money), stress, and potentially data.
In any case, the it should function is like a recall. If it's defective, it should be replaced.
People shouldn't have to play games.
So where does it stop?
"My laptop is 10 years old! Not working anymore, I want a new one! It should be guaranteed! Rabblerabblerabblerabble"
"My laptop is 10 years old! Not working anymore, I want a new one! It should be guaranteed! Rabblerabblerabblerabble"
I agree that issues caused by shoddy products should be replaced at no cost to their owner(s), but at a certain point, parts start to break not due to shoddy design but due to normal wear and tear. The one thing all electronics have in common is they will all eventually fail. Where should we draw the line to differentiate design flaw versus standard 'wear-n-tear'?
i think you're confused about the order in which a mac boots and how it pertains to this particular issue. check out:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2674?locale=en_US
if the machine fails the POST (for whatever reason) it will not produce a chime or video and the LED light will come on steady. you may hear fan noise, you may hear drive noise, but the machine has not actually booted. this is very different to a "no video" or "distorted video" condition, which is what the REP covers. the chime comes before video, not the other way around.
imagine "video" as being kind of like point b, and "boot" as being like point a, and assume you have to drive through point a to get to point b. if the road is closed at point a you can't get to point b, period. when the machine fails to chime and the LED stays on, that is essentially the road being closed at point a.
the genius could then go on to troubleshoot the "no boot" issue, but anything falling under that category would not be covered under the REP. bottom line is if the machine doesn't chime (assuming PRAM has been reset etc) and the diagnostic tool can't be run to produce a failure code, then the REP doesn't cover the repair.
I agree that all electronics will all eventually fail. I'm not trying to get my laptop repaired because of normal wear and tear or misuse. My computer has a 'shoddy product' and hundreds of others like mine. Apple will repair the logic board if they can tell that the GPU is bad but because my computer wouldn't even post, they couldn't claim that it was the GPU. I see their reasoning but how do they know that the faulty GPU didn't mess up other components on the logic board? I feel that they should assume the GPU is bad no matter what until further evidence is shown otherwise.
So I feel that the problem with my computer is not standard 'wear-n-tear' it is a design flaw. One that Apple acknowledges.
I agree with you 100%. In your particular case, you deserve to have anything replaced free of charge that may be related to the shoddy design. I was just pointing out how in some cases, it isn't as clear cut.
No one is talking about "10" year old computers here. They are only about 3 years old give or take a bit.
It is in no way acceptable that 3 year old $2000+ products are failing at this rate.
It is in no way acceptable that 3 year old $2000+ products are failing at this rate.
Actually we are and it's a big issue, especially pertaining to the topic. I agree with you saying that it is not acceptable for 3 year old high end products to fail as they have and as of now, Apple should replace them at their expense and possibly even compensate users for the stress it generates.
But what about a few more years from now? When do you stop saying it was faulty and say it is wear? Obviously, now it is faulty, but where do you draw the line? It's a really gray area and given we know this problem exists, it will result in a major future issue.
The future is now Nick. There is nothing grey about this issue.
If these failures were a one-off thing then we could mark it down to bad luck. However this issue is widespread.
Apple, by declaring 4 year warranties on the Nvidia issue, is already putting a time frame on it (the 4 year time frame can also be a matter of debate). Problem is not everyone is being covered by the 4 year offer.
Realistically past about 5 years is the time when many people will look to move onto another machine anyway.
Problem is these expensive machines are not even lasting close to that long.
If these failures were a one-off thing then we could mark it down to bad luck. However this issue is widespread.
Apple, by declaring 4 year warranties on the Nvidia issue, is already putting a time frame on it (the 4 year time frame can also be a matter of debate). Problem is not everyone is being covered by the 4 year offer.
Realistically past about 5 years is the time when many people will look to move onto another machine anyway.
Problem is these expensive machines are not even lasting close to that long.
You just agreed with me that is a gray area in saying: "the 4 year time frame can also be a matter of debate". I am not questioning if Apple should or should not cover it now as I firmly believe they should. My argument has no relation to that and Apple currently denying repair on any of these machines is IMO wrong.
Apple had originally said that all machines are eligible for three years from date of purchase.
I believe it was in may of the third year (2010) when Apple extended it to four years.
All machines with the 8600M GT are covered. The first MBP with the 8600M GT was released on June 5th 2007. Since the last gen non unibody Macbook Pro (Penryn) was available until October 14th 2008 , all machines that were bought around that time and extended with Applecare will be in full warranty until October of this year, with the GPU covered until october of next year.
At that point in time (October 2012) is when I could expect that individuals with 2007 machines could expect to see other issues crop up i.e. fan issues or display issues. individuals to move on. However I do expect Apple to extended the gpu warranty, as long as nVidia is paying for it.
well,seeing as you appear to have a no boot condition, which is NOT covered by the REP then it would be logical to assume that once nvidia has determined that your machine is not suffering from the known issue (again, your machine is not booting, as opposed to not displaying video or displaying distorted video, which is what the REP covers) then it would be safe to assume they would then send the machine to apple, who would contact you and offer you exchange pricing on the logic board, which would probably be somewhere around $800 or so US dollars (I am not in the states so i dont know for sure) plus labour
if you decline the repair i would assume they would send the machine back to you on your dime.