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MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011) - GPU just died

T

tubeexperience

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 17, 2016
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I was just on YouTube watching videos. My laptop MBP (17-inch, Late 2011) suddenly froze.

I powered it off and power it on again. The whole screen is red. The progress bar goes halfway then the computer gets to a white screen then roboot. It's basically stuck in a loop.

I knew this day would come, but I am still so sad.

I am typing this on my Dell from 2008.
 
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If Apple is unable to help you, you can boot into recovery (if you can at all), open terminal and delete/move the AMD kexts, this causes the system to boot with a fallback driver with no graphic acceleration (you'd get something like 640x480 resolution with reduced colors, etc), not the best option but it comes in handy if you need to boot up and access something.

There's a guide somewhere for this, shouldn't be hard to find.
 
Your laptop worked for 5 years and I would say it served better than any windows laptop. If you can apple to fix the GPU then good, if not, cut your loses and move on...

There is no guarantee in life for anything and other laptops manufacturers will not give you any warranty beyond 1 yr period. Apple does better than most...
 
tubeexperience said:
Unfortunately, the replacement logic board that I receive will be a piece of **** that has been cheaply repaired and will fail after a couple of months.
Click to expand...
Mine is doing fine since the repair just over a year ago, and so are many others, but I guess you've convinced yourself to expect otherwise for your case.
 
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krishmk said:
Your laptop worked for 5 years and I would say it served better than any windows laptop. If you can apple to fix the GPU then good, if not, cut your loses and move on...

There is no guarantee in life for anything and other laptops manufacturers will not give you any warranty beyond 1 yr period. Apple does better than most...
Click to expand...

I am typing on my Dell laptop from 2008 running Windows 10.

Also, what makes you think that my laptop is 5 years old?

MetalCores said:
Take it in. See what Apple will do. This isn't a vintage machine yet so there are still parts made for it.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure that Apple ran out of any new parts to give. The one that Apple has are probably failed logic board that has been reballed.

ron1004 said:
Mine is doing fine since the repair just over a year ago, and so are many others, but I guess you've convinced yourself to expect otherwise for your case.
Click to expand...

You have to understand that there are only so many new replacement logic boards that were available.

Maybe you are one of the lucky ones that got a new logic board as replacement, but at this point, new replacement logic boards are probably gone. The ones available are most likely failed logic boards that has been reballed.
[doublepost=1460780862][/doublepost]I was watching this video when my MBP died. Oh, the irony!

 
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OP, how about instead of being so negative you actually go to an Apple Store and see what can be done?

Your complaints and assumptions are doing absolutely nothing to fix your problem, so since belligerence and cynicism aren't working, why not try a new strategy? Like going to the Apple Store, being polite, and getting it fixed for free?
 
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Tend to agree with others take it to Apple and see what they say, equally I also agree that Apple pushes the thermal envelope far too much solely for the sake of being thinner, which in no means helps the situation.

The rapid heating & cooling of high power components such as the dGPU is a recipe for failure. The only solution is improved cooling, Apple opted for thinner, for many there will be no issue as their usage/workflow does not stress the hardware, for those that do, the event of premature failure is elevated.

As for the argument of Apple over Windows OEM`s, Apple simply has better support thx to it`s physical presence, and helpful after-sales, nor are all Windows systems poorly designed with many running for year upon year without issue, however the Windows OEM`s could learn a great deal from Apple as in general their customer support is tragic at best.

Q-6
 
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tubeexperience said:
Maybe you are one of the lucky ones that got a new logic board as replacement, but at this point, new replacement logic boards are probably gone. The ones available are most likely failed logic boards that has been reballed.
Click to expand...
Because my repair was done before the announcement of the extended warranty, I paid for it and it was NOT a new board, ....but that just doesn't support your agenda.

A reballed unit using lead based solder has the potential of outlasting a new one that would be assembled with lead-free solder.
Douchebag video snipped.
Click to expand...
 
ron1004 said:
Mine is doing fine since the repair just over a year ago, and so are many others, ...
Click to expand...


Than read this: Mine (late-2011 MBP 15") lasted a year: Was pretty amazed that I could throw any kind of GPU-test-SW onto it without any hiccup and thus believed that Apple has found a way to repair/replace in a durable way - it was my third LB replacement that appeared to last, finally.

Wrong and worse: Now, after about one year, I get a kernel panic whenever the MBP switches from the dGPU back to the integrated one. Console states: "AGC GPU REGISTER RESTORE FAILED ". But Apple's tool to detect whether the dGPU is at fault fails to acknowledge that a faulty dGPU/-connection is the problem - what else should it be if only and reproducible happening under these circumstances ... :(

If I force using the iGPU (by GfxCardStatus) no problem, if I force staying on the dGPU (since using an external display 90% of the time I need it frequently) also no problem - albeit a quickly emptying battery once at home.

Seems I need to find and pay for reballing, on my own. Thus, for me the repair-program and its extension is just a joke - the 'bad guy' decided for 'bad' rules.
 
Three hours trip to the Apple Store later and...

FML!

2qlx44z.jpg
 
Admittedly, I had to go Google what the hell FML meant. I must be getting old.

Fix my lighthouse?

Anyway, I've completely given up on laptops with a dGPU, partly because the gaming performance will always suck compared to a PC (and I'm all about maximum quality at acceptable frame rates,) but also because of my experiences with dGPU portables of any vendor. Next portable system I get will have integrated GPU, regardless of whether it's an Apple system or not.

For now, I casually give my mid2012 MBP a paranoid sidelong glance once in a while ... Silently counting the days until it has a similar problem (and I do the same with my work ThinkPad W540,) and that's not what a customer of any vendor should have to be worrying about.

F**k my life.
 
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I politely asked the Apple Genius if I might encountered the same issue again after the repair has been completed. He assured me that that "rarely" ever happened and that most people are " completely satisfied" with the repairs.

I wonder how it feels to have to repeat the same lies over and over again.
 
OP:

You've got what sounds like "RadeonGate".

Apple has a motherboard replacement program for this.
It's FREE.

Take it to an Apple Store right away.

That's really your only option, short of buying something new.

That is all...
 
Estimated Turn Around Time: We'll call you in 3 - 5 days
Click to expand...

Does that means that it will be back at the Apple Store for pick up in about 3 - 5 days or does that means the repair will be done in about 3 - 5 days?
 
I take it to mean that they will call in 3-5 days to let you know either way: 1. It's in the store ready for pick-up, or, 2. It's not ready yet, we'll call you again in 3-5 days.
 
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