Logic board failure - really need advice

[unna]

I purchased a Macbook Pro for my son in 12/07. It "died" (his words) so he brought it to the Apple store today. After running diagnostics, the genius told him that it probably had "the issue" and the logic board had failed. They told him it is a $1200 repair. They also said that there was no evidence that anything he had done had caused the problem.
I'm not a computer pro and would appreciate advice. Will Apple stand behind this? The computer is less than 2yrs old. This is upsetting to say the least. Upon purchase the genius assured me that the laptop would take him at least 4yrs if not longer. Thanks for your help.

 

[rnauman821]

No Apple Care, No Solution.

Sorry but its life.

 

[Relznuk]

Yup. The unfortunate truth is that if you do not have AppleCare, Apple won't fix it without charging you.

The good news is that some 3rd party repair group might be able to do it cheaper than apple.

 

[J&JPolangin]

+3 for "did you have applecare"?

 

[heliuscc]

Have you got Applecare?

 

[unna]

good news

I really thought that I had purchased applecare, but the genius told my son "no". I did some searching and found the disc and collateral - 3yr protection was purchased. I plan to go back to the store. Hopefully all will be ok!

 

[Relznuk]

I'm glad you have AppleCare. They'll take care of this no problem.

 

[J&JPolangin]

I really thought that I had purchased applecare, but the genius told my son "no". I did some searching and found the disc and collateral - 3yr protection was purchased. I plan to go back to the store. Hopefully all will be ok!

...well if you purchased the applecare, hopefully you rego'd it before the first year was up... if not...

 

[SubaruNation555]

The good news is that some 3rd party repair group might be able to do it cheaper than apple.

Yeah, I would get a quote from another repair shop. Even sourcing a used part and having someone install it could be a cheaper solution. $1200 seems high and is well on your way to a new laptop. Good luck with the situation.

 

[Tarek]

I hope they'll replace it for you for free, or at least with a decent discount. From a nearly two-year experience of Macintosh, a Macintosh user never switches back to Windows .

 

[Vulcan]

I'm surprised no one mentioned that it might have been the video card. If it is, AppleCare should cover it for free, with or without a warranty.

 

[richart]

ATI Macbook Pro video failure

I'm surprised no one mentioned that it might have been the video card. If it is, AppleCare should cover it for free, with or without a warranty.

Apple will replace the Nvidia main board for free because they admit that the GPU should not fail on quality laptop.

If like me you have an early MacBook Pro with ATI GPU that has failed, Apple will ask you to pay the full cost of the main board + labour (aprox $800). ATI MBPs have similar video issues to the Nvidia MBPs but less were sold so we need to bring this to the attention of Apple. The problem is caused by not properly addressing heat dissipation at the GPU, Apple knew of the problem but rather than re-engineering the MacBook Pro they under clocked the ATI video card to reduce the risk of card failure. Had Apple not discovered the problem before they sold the first MacBook Pros why would they go to the trouble of under clocking the video card? After a short time Apple looked for a new video card, the Nvidia, which was actually worse as far as failure.

If you also have an ATI Macbook Pro with failed video please post a photo of the screen in the hope that Apple will do the right thing and recognize the problem in the same way as they do with Nvidia MacBook Pros.