Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How long should an MBP logic board last for?
- Thread starter jmjeffrey
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Virtually forever, unless something happens to it.
There isn’t a shelf life on the logic board, afaik.
I have logic boards in Macs that are 30 years old that still work.
Not sure if that answers your question or not, you might need to provide some context to what you are asking.
Apple precision-engineers every part of a product to last forever.
You must have done something wrong, surely? Everyone always says they've never banged it, dropped it, or spilled liquid in their devices.
The authorised repair shops are unfortunately not always the best.
Some Macs have known issues, like the MBPs around 2010-2011. The GPUs had high failure rates. I have a Late 2011 17” MBP that had a failed logic board two times, both times it was replaced for free with an extended repair program from Apple.
List what Mac you are having issues with, along with the specs. Also, list what you typically do with it.
Also, do you know what on the logic board failed?
I suspect that logic board failures on Macs may increase now that there are so many things soldered on it.
List what Mac you are having issues with, along with the specs. Also, list what you typically do with it.
Also, do you know what on the logic board failed?
I suspect that logic board failures on Macs may increase now that there are so many things soldered on it.
Better than my local Apple Store on all accounts. They failed to diagnose anything. Twice. 🤨
Apple Store geniuses are generally best-in-class experts. What did the authorised repair shop diagnose as the problem?
If you're in the UK (says you're in London), take it back to the retailer with your receipt or proof of purchase, any paperwork you've received from repairs companies, and make a claim under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. They have to offer a solution provided the product is faulty due to no fault of your own and within 6 years of purchase. You may get a free repair or some contribution towards a replacement.
Just a quick thought.
After 35 years as a senior level biomedical engineering tech I applied for an in-store Genius and online support tech position. Apple interviewed me but they didn't take me. I often wondered why. I thought it might be the NIH (not invented here) syndrome where they want people they can train instead of experienced people. Any thoughts?
I'd honestly lean towards your conclusion being broadly right. I don't think NIH applies, but Apple wants people who have a willingness to learn and quickly adapt to Apple's best practices that heighten customer experience. Perhaps you signalled something in your application (or interview, if you got one?) that didn't align with exacting requirements and standards.
Yeah, I went over it for a while. And then dropped it. I understand Apple's side but I figured getting someone who had demonstrated technical abilities would be a no brainer. I went for the in-store position first (Apple Genius) and it's possible my physical qualities weren't in line with the "image" they were looking for. OK by me. I understood. They did send me a rejection email so I credit them for that. But the online one was the one I couldn't figure. The process of solving a technical problem is pretty much universal so there wasn't much question about my being qualified. Never heard back.
Anyway, I mostly wanted the business card.
I use an old one to keep my jeep from rolling down the driveway. I suspect it'll hold that Jeep for 10 years, at least.
Most often it is over heating. Placing flat on couch, bed linen, that blocks the vents and slowly kills it.
Or under-compliant. I've dealt with Apple Geniuses and while they were competent (they solved my problem) the "genius" vibe wasn't there. Online, it's mostly the rep doing decision trees and escalations. I didn't get the impression that they were particularly well versed in the technical aspects of Apple products. I often knew more than they did. That's partly what made me hope Apple would take me on.
When I was working at the hospital it was the same thing. I would call manufacturer's tech service and would have to explain theory of operation to them. Sometimes it was just "do I cut the blue wire or the red wire" kind of thing but if it got complicated we had to find the "old" tech.
Things happen and individual components may fail in any piece of technology. I have a 2003 PowerBook that is still going strong but my last Intel MacBook Pro, a 2020 model, suffered a logic board failure after only two years. I suspect that it was something with the charging circuitry as it ran well until it suddenly would not accept a charge. It finally quit when the battery was depleted, never to start again.
Other than the mentioned GPU failures I can’t think of any widespread flaws plaguing these systems.
Other than the mentioned GPU failures I can’t think of any widespread flaws plaguing these systems.
Power supplies sometimes do not age well. That's why I always preferred devices with a discrete PS. My oldest piece of electronics is my Heathkit digital clock. It's going to be 52 next year. Running pretty much continuously. With circuit traces a whole lot wider than they are now, older chips last virtually forever.
Lol. No. However, with good cooling, quality voltage regulation, and quality chips, capacitors, etc it shouldn’t have a specific expiration date. I assume you said that tongue in cheek, because electronic parts do in fact wear out
I’ve had some failures over the years. Early AMD GPU failures were common in the unibody models, with some getting so hot they’d desolder themselves and float off the board & fry things in the process, Nvidia had a couple self-destructing chips as well, there were underspec‘d capacitors that wrecked the ‘09’s, sensitive & unserviceable voltage control units that’d overheat and zap the life out of the SSD’s on the 2017-2019 boards, and a problem with monterey where it really didnt like dual booting with other versions on externals and would corrupt firmware & trash pricey imac boards, etc. Those are just the issues our office computers have encountered that required replacement. Practically every generation has some finicky little gremlins in it somewhere. When you‘re essentially designing an entire functioning city of thousands of active components squeezed together tightly on a board, some long-term issues that arise a few years down the road are inevitable. I’ve still got an ’09 i3 iMac thats been on non-stop for 14 straight years and it‘s still fine. You just never know.
Last edited: