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Is apple replacing the defective Nvidia GPU's?
- Thread starter Storm9
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Replace what? The whole board? The GPU is not on a card, it isn't even socketed. It's soldered to the Logic Board. You can't just pop it out and put in a new one.
According to Steve Jobs, the chips are fine. Apple won't do squat until nVidia admits that there is a defect.
I see...but obviously a lot of people are having defects, and it is apple's responsibility to fix the defects.
But I assume they don't have a fix yet. I was just wondering if anyone here has gotten a replacement macbook pro?
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/08/nvidia.html
But I thought they have admitted, just not the number?????.....4th paragraph down.
But I thought they have admitted, just not the number?????.....4th paragraph down.
I hope someone beats the crap out of Steve Jobs one day. A price he should pay for his arrogance.
They wont give you a new MBP... my GPU fried 2 weeks out of warranty... Apple replace the board for free. True the GPU is not user swappable, that does not mean that it is not swappable at all... I was told by the apple rep that if apple chose not to do my repair under warranty that there was a flat $330 fee to swap the logic board. What this says to me is that my logic board is then refurbished with a new GPU somewhere, somehow.
New GPU, except they are all supposedly defective, so may fail again.
And I hope someone beats the crap out of you for your ignorance as well.
Not really, that's just bad
Very quick. If they had the part in stock, would have been 1 day... I dropped it off July 4, got it back the morning of July 7.
I think for now, apple is not replacing any nvidia gpu out of warranty officially.
But I did read a post from a few people that didnt buy the 3 year apple care still getting their logic boards replaced just out of the 1 year warranty. So at least their aware of the issue.
But I did read a post from a few people that didnt buy the 3 year apple care still getting their logic boards replaced just out of the 1 year warranty. So at least their aware of the issue.
I am finnally able to go in tommorow to the Apple store. This is the second time it will be going in for repair. I am going to bring up the defective GPU chips and see what they say. I can see them just giving me some bull, and then replacing the logic board again!
I'll report back.
I'll report back.
We shouldn't have to rely on Apple's good will to get these fixed out of warranty. They need to have an official policy so that when you call/visit Apple they immediately tell you that it's covered and will be fixed quickly AND permanently. it's not good enough to just put in another defective GPU - they need to assure us that whatever they're using is not defective.
Apple needs to provide clear and accurate information immediately. If it did that, most of us would be satisfied. If I knew that Apple will handle problems in the future, I would be fine now. Regrettably, Apple chooses to be silent and cause its customers a lot of unnecessary concern.
Well what, exactly, can Apple do?
Every MacBook Pro logic board has an nVidia GPU and if every nVidia GPU is defective, giving you a new MacBook Pro with a logic board with a defective GPU is the same as swapping one logic board with a defective GPU with another logic board with a defective GPU in your old MacBook Pro.
HP had so many zd7000s with defective nVidia GeForce FX5700 logic boards that they eventually had to make a new board with the ATI x600 GPU, so that might eventually be Apple's solution - moving to an ATI GPU logic board.
Every MacBook Pro logic board has an nVidia GPU and if every nVidia GPU is defective, giving you a new MacBook Pro with a logic board with a defective GPU is the same as swapping one logic board with a defective GPU with another logic board with a defective GPU in your old MacBook Pro.
HP had so many zd7000s with defective nVidia GeForce FX5700 logic boards that they eventually had to make a new board with the ATI x600 GPU, so that might eventually be Apple's solution - moving to an ATI GPU logic board.
Just wait for your computer to burn up and bring it back in. There is no way in hell apple would replace that many computers. If anything they will probably just send out a patch to kick the fans on sooner.
They might not have a choice but to replace them if the GPUs are proven to be part of the defective batch that nvidia cooked up. Those parts are guaranteed to fail before the end of their 'natural' life span. They're defective.
And the patch that's been touted by other vendors doesn't do anything to fix the problem, it just tries to avoid situations that bring the failure on quickly, meaning that the product will still fail, but if nvidia & the laptop vendor of choice are lucky, outside of the warranty period.
If I had one of the HP or Dell laptops that were known to be defective, I wouldn't be happy with that as a solution at all. If I were a MBP owner I'd be gravely concerned while things are up in air with Apple's line up.
I'm not so sure this is as big a problem as its being made out online...alot of people talk about "facts" that they've read on other boards, online articles etc
If this is indeed true and Apple knows about it then they could be in deep **** for continuing to sell the product. Otherwise it may just be that certain batches of those cards were defective and the majority are fine.
I was in the Apple store and one of the girls who was offering to help me didn't even know what a GPU was. Wtf?!? The genius who I went to next knew a bit abo the Nvidia thing & watched their 'online conference call' where they admitted there was an issue....but naturally he didn't seem to know of any problems w/ MBPs & the video cards. I suppose they're not allowed to discuss any possible solutions until Apple comes out w/ an announcement.
If this is indeed true and Apple knows about it then they could be in deep **** for continuing to sell the product. Otherwise it may just be that certain batches of those cards were defective and the majority are fine.
I was in the Apple store and one of the girls who was offering to help me didn't even know what a GPU was. Wtf?!? The genius who I went to next knew a bit abo the Nvidia thing & watched their 'online conference call' where they admitted there was an issue....but naturally he didn't seem to know of any problems w/ MBPs & the video cards. I suppose they're not allowed to discuss any possible solutions until Apple comes out w/ an announcement.
I honestly don't believe there will be a recall. Most likely Apple will have an internal process to replace defective GPU's as longs as within warranty and/or applecare. They will cross their fingers that most of the GPU's will hold until warranty runs out. It would for both NVidia and Apple be a financial and operational disaster to do a recall.
Remember, this is not an exploding power supply or broken kids chair which need to be recalled. The worst thing that can happen is that your screen goes blank, so noone is essentially harmed physically as in the other two examples.
This is a problem that they will most likely take on quietly without issuing a recall and alerting incestors etc.. You can bet that there are internal memorandums flying around Apple HQ and Apple stores with detailed descriptions of how to handle GPU failures.
Remember, this is not an exploding power supply or broken kids chair which need to be recalled. The worst thing that can happen is that your screen goes blank, so noone is essentially harmed physically as in the other two examples.
This is a problem that they will most likely take on quietly without issuing a recall and alerting incestors etc.. You can bet that there are internal memorandums flying around Apple HQ and Apple stores with detailed descriptions of how to handle GPU failures.
Ask for a refund... I'll ask, but I doubt they'll give!
As for the white flickering issue (storm9) I had this 3 months in... it turns out it was a loose connection with the monitor and some chip. Apple replaced the complete top cover, and the issue was resolved.
As for the white flickering issue (storm9) I had this 3 months in... it turns out it was a loose connection with the monitor and some chip. Apple replaced the complete top cover, and the issue was resolved.
that is also what I belive, I don't think they'll make a recall, hello, do you know how much money they would be losing in doing that!
that's why I can advise everyone to buy Apple Care, I told my brother the same thing already since he has a MBP 2.2 with a 8600gt Nvidia
oh good, i had this odd white flickering too see here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH46ZHF4JMM
bout 20 sec in , the fun starts
not long after that the screen went completely grey and then got stuck on just 2/3's solid grey and it wont go away
they could just have a plan to replace the MB of units that fail with a different GPU instead of a recall, as many have pointed out already.
that is probably all we can expect and I would be perfectly happy with that.
They already did this with the defective power brick (a very serious defect, where the cord shorted out).
It's not the best plan for the consumer but it'll do......I guess
that is probably all we can expect and I would be perfectly happy with that.
They already did this with the defective power brick (a very serious defect, where the cord shorted out).
It's not the best plan for the consumer but it'll do......I guess
that's why I can advise everyone to buy Apple Care, I told my brother the same thing already since he has a MBP 2.2 with a 8600gt Nvidia
One shouldn't be forced into purchasing Apple Care, and it feels like a lot of people put out there as an obligation. Like you can only expect the product to last a year so you better insure yourself.
Also what about those of us, whose warranty expired before this problem was identified? Perhaps the Apple Care entry period should be extended for us.
Credit Card And Extended Warranty!
I keep repeating this, and I've asked the mods to put this as a permanent notice:
If you bought your MBP with a credit card,which I assume many people do, there is a good chance that you have a free second year of warranty through the CC company - MC, VISA and Amex all have this feature. YOu don't need to have registered the product before the first year is up - it's automatic and you're eligible as long as you keep the receipt and a copy of the credit card slip or statement. After the second year, VISA (not MC or AMex though) allows you to purchase an extended warranty for a good price and that service contract has a no lemon clause and free battery replacement for laptops. If your computer fails three time, the fourth time it needs repair, they will replace it automatically with a new one. So, if the GPU fails repeatedly because Apple keeps replacing with faulty ones, chances are you'll get a new model from VISA. Unfortunately, it doesn't cover the HASSLE though, but at least you won't have to shell out for the repair if Apple decided to abandon its customers.
that's my plan of action anyway!
I keep repeating this, and I've asked the mods to put this as a permanent notice:
If you bought your MBP with a credit card,which I assume many people do, there is a good chance that you have a free second year of warranty through the CC company - MC, VISA and Amex all have this feature. YOu don't need to have registered the product before the first year is up - it's automatic and you're eligible as long as you keep the receipt and a copy of the credit card slip or statement. After the second year, VISA (not MC or AMex though) allows you to purchase an extended warranty for a good price and that service contract has a no lemon clause and free battery replacement for laptops. If your computer fails three time, the fourth time it needs repair, they will replace it automatically with a new one. So, if the GPU fails repeatedly because Apple keeps replacing with faulty ones, chances are you'll get a new model from VISA. Unfortunately, it doesn't cover the HASSLE though, but at least you won't have to shell out for the repair if Apple decided to abandon its customers.
that's my plan of action anyway!