Macbook pro late 2011 not starting after GPU failure...

[Nessdufrat]

Ok, everything is said. Or is it? You all know it, the 2011 MBP have GPU problems... But are you aware that in the EU, since 2018, you can start a "hidden defect" process and have your MBP replaced, for free, by the newest MBP 16"?
I called today and started the process myself.
I thought I might tell you since you've all been so helpful on the forum on numerous occasions. I'm not sure the program is valid for the US but it doesn't cost anything to try...

What I did was call Apple, speak to an employee, told her I wanted to open a "hidden defect" case about my macbook pro 2011 and it's GPU. After a little bit of pushing on my part (I didn't have to push that much, she realized pretty early I knew exactly what I was talking about), she said she was getting her N+1 since her supervisor had to handle such cases. I talked for a few minutes with the supervisor, he told me he needed a few things from me and I would need to write a letter (not a email) to Apple in Ireland, describing the case, to attach the invoice, and... a report from an Apple technician describing the fault. I have to send the letter signed-for, and if my case is accepted, they'll contact me, send for my macbook pro and order a new macbook pro 16" for me, that I will receive in the next days after they got my macbook pro back.

I might run into some troubles, since my mac doesn't start anymore (POST fail, so it doesn't chime and doesn't show anything on the screen, obviously), so no diagnostic is possible. I did the ASD myself when the GPU was starting to fail in 2017, before bringing it to the Apple store, where the technician flat out refused to run a diagnostic on the machine, saying it had the vintage status so he was not doing anything on it, and besides, as it wasn't booting, no diagnostic was possible.
I explained everything to the Apple employee. Also, I live on the border of France and Switzerland. The only Apple Store we have is the Swiss one. Switzerland isn't part of the EU and doesn't have the hidden defect program. They will not make the diagnostic on the mac even if I manage to make it boot again. The certified technicians in my area are also all in Switzerland, and there's another problem: with corona, the border is closed and well guarded. It's impossible to go through.
Since I have all the pictures from the ASD diagnostic I ran (with beautiful vertical lines all over my screen) and an exhaustive list of everything I did to make sure the failure was indeed the GPU and not something else, the employee said I should go ahead and take a chance.

I'll tell you how it goes, I'll try to call Apple Switzerland tomorrow anyway to get maybe a report from 2017. Since I had a genius bar appointment with my mac, maybe they at least put a note in the file or something and I can use that.

 

[Nessdufrat]

The signed for letter was sent on Friday to Apple Europe Headquarters and I was told it might take up to ten days because of corona.
I was able to start the Mac again by leaving it on for a really long time, and once it was hot enough, I restarted it and reset the SMC. Of course it didn’t get very far since I took my ssd out and put in a random HD with no system inside but at least now I have a possibility if I really need a diagnostic from a technician.
I called Apple care in Switzerland and was told they would do a diagnostic because the machine was “obsolete” and I should contact a certified repair center. I called two centers, they both told me they would do anything on the machine since it was “obsolete”. After that, I called in France and of course they are totally ok doing a diagnostic on the machine but after corona lock down. Maybe I can get Apple Care France to force the Genius Bar in the Swiss Apple store to run the diagnostic on the machine since we now have an open case and for my area, we sadly depend on the Swiss Apple store since the French one is almost 200km away.
Anyway, maybe they’ll access my case with my pictures and I won’t need all that.

one of you with a dying 2011 mbp because of the GPU should try to contact Apple and see if that’s valid in the US and argue that you know about the “hidden defect” replacement process in the EU. It’s not fair that you don’t get to have that one too. If Apple gives EU buyers brand new machines, they should give them to US buyers too (and also the rest of the world). Sadly enough, people in Switzerland have no right to that process because Switzerland has its own laws, but I don’t know, maybe something can be done in the US.

 

[Sanpete]

Interesting. The US would no doubt be like Switzerland and pretty much everywhere but the EU, I'm sure, but others in the EU might be able to benefit from this.

 

[Nessdufrat]

If the thread is gathering interest I can do a more detailed step by step on how to open the case and what to write in the signed for letter to Apple in Cork.

 

[jdiamond]

Any idea as to which configuration of 16" Macbook Pro they'd replace it with?

 

[Nessdufrat]

No, I tried to go through the thread on the French forum but appart from the fact that it seems to be the entry level MBP 16" with a storage capacity that matches what you used to have and that you can choose the color, I couldn’t get more info.
(For example, I had the special 2.5ghz quad core, I don’t know whether I would be getting a better config if my case is accepted since I paid a lot more to have a better processor at that time or if I get the same thing as somebody with a 2.4, or a 2.2. I don’t really think it matters, obviously people with 15" MbP are also getting 16" replacements)

people have to wait about one month for an answer. I don’t expect to get anything anytime soon, especially now. Also, I’m missing the diagnostic from a certified repair center, which might be hard to get for me since the closest repair centers are 200km away and some people had to go to a couple of them before getting something they could use. I can’t really barge in without an appointment and it’s not like it’s so close I can go every weekend... if the first one doesn’t give any result, it will be hard to get something else quickly.

But I’m pretty sure now my case won’t be accepted as it is, even with the pictures full of stripes showing the defect and the diagnostic showing everything is ok (the ASD on these machines doesn’t test the dedicated GPU).

 

[Jerry Maguire]

Very interesting thread. Thank you for giving us this information
Do you know if Apple would replace also with another “hidden defect”?
I am also from EU.
Thanks! Hope they help you soon

 

[Nessdufrat]

From what I know, it’s specifically about the 2011 MBP GPU but there are laws in the EU about the hidden defects so maybe you could try your luck and contact Apple care.

 

[Davewithak]

Please keep us updated. I’m an owner of a late-2011 MBP that won’t start due to GPU and/or logic board issues. I took it into the Apple Store a few months ago and was told there was nothing they could do because they don’t manufacture parts for them anymore. They then offered to help me look at new computers.

 

[Nessdufrat]

Yes of course! As soon as I have news I’ll post with updates.

 

[quaccOS]

I have a MacBook Pro (Late 2011, 17-inch), and live in Dublin, Ireland. It was working fine until it failed to boot up one morning. I have no way of diagnosing it, but it sounds like what you describe [GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1024MB].
All the authorised retailers here in Ireland say it has vintage status too, so I'm not sure what to do.

 

[Queen6]

I have a MacBook Pro (Late 2011, 17-inch), and live in Dublin, Ireland. It was working fine until it failed to boot up one morning. I have no way of diagnosing it, but it sounds like what you describe [GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1024MB].
All the authorised retailers here in Ireland say it has vintage status too, so I'm not sure what to do.

Difference being your MBP has significant physical damage, which Apple will all too readily point out. The Radeon dGPU can be bypassed, equally it's not straight forwarded. The failure of the dGPU is a valid case as it was a manufacturing flaw on AMD's behalf and exasperated by Apple's poor cooling solution, however the Notebook being disassembled by the user very likely breaches Apple's T&C.

Force 2011 MacBook Pro 8,2 with failed AMD GPU to ALWAYS use Intel integrated GPU (EFI variable fix)

If you don't have time to read my story (which also describes some interesting technical approaches) just scroll down this thread until a "100% WORKING SOLUTION" text Discrete AMD GPU of my 2011 MacBook Pro 8,2 has finally failed because of the reasons mentioned here (...

forums.macrumors.com

The AMD Radeon HD 6770M is indeed problematic and you may get lucky and have an MBP with a more tolerant chip, equally if pushed hard they tend to fail in time...

My own 2011 15" likely was one of the better ones as it hard used by myself professionally, them passed onto several family members, used for everything & anything including gaming. Retuned DOA last year, thx to endless abuse. After cleaning up the SW image and the internals it's back on form. That said I have few expectations as the dGPU could let go at anytime and all being said at close to years old it's more than paid for itself.

A cheap battery is about as far as I'd go with it stock RAM & HDD can remain. These days the 15" is just used for light browsing or video consumption and it will as long as it does.

Q-6

 

[quaccOS]

Difference being your MBP has significant physical damage, which Apple will all too readily point out. The Radeon dGPU can be bypassed, equally it's not straight forwarded. The failure of the dGPU is a valid case as it was a manufacturing flaw on AMD's behalf and exasperated by Apple's poor cooling solution, however the Notebook being disassembled by the user very likely breaches Apple's T&C.

Force 2011 MacBook Pro 8,2 with failed AMD GPU to ALWAYS use Intel integrated GPU (EFI variable fix)

If you don't have time to read my story (which also describes some interesting technical approaches) just scroll down this thread until a "100% WORKING SOLUTION" text Discrete AMD GPU of my 2011 MacBook Pro 8,2 has finally failed because of the reasons mentioned here (...

forums.macrumors.com

The AMD Radeon HD 6770M is indeed problematic and you may get lucky and have an MBP with a more tolerant chip, equally if pushed hard they tend to fail in time...

I could try get the hinge fixed, fit the display back on, re-install the optical drive and find some Toshiba 750GB HDD (because I threw out the original when it failed), and then put it back to 10.13 (High Sierra). I had the display connected before and could see the desktop if I shone a light on the screen.
The shell is also scratched so much – it's not my Notebook, it's my brothers. I said "I'll fix it for you!"…then I didn't know where to start.
I was going to try open a hidden defect case, if I made it look "presentable". I had a lot of luck with my butterfly keyboard case from last year.

Edit: found the original HDD & fitted the optical drive back in…still won't boot however. If I get the display back working, I would look into writing a letter to Apple (the hinge is broken & backlight has problems – that's why I can still see the screen with a bright light on it)


EDIT:
I got it started with a sh*tton of heat and dragged gfxCardStatus on there to disable the dGPU…it legit started like a terrible car. It revved. And revved. And with more & more heat, it started in Safe Mode…with the display lying flat with no backlight (I used my iPhone light to see the screen).

Apple I'm coming for you haha…once I get the hinges on eBay and fix the backlight.
THEN…then we'll talk. Maybe. Apple might laugh, I'm not sure

 

[Queen6]

I wish you both luck as may be entirely possible, and in some individual instances Apple can be gracious. As ever the words that you write will count. From my experience Apple generally ignores, at worse rebukes such manufacturing defects unless their is a legal precedent, just take a look at Apple's history of the 15" MBP alone...

As for my 2011 it will run as long as it does as it was purchased outside the EU, equally it owes me nothing at this point in time.

Q-6

 

[Nessdufrat]

I was also able to start mine after leaving it to « run » forever on black screen at start up and then restart it with a smc reset. Right now I took out both of my drives and I put a blank one instead so I would need to put at least the SSD back in. I will consider doing the bypass if Apple doesn’t want to replace the computer. I’ll wait for an answer and I’m going to Lyon, big French city, after lock down is over, so I’ll take the computer with me and try my luck with an authorized repair center to get a diagnostic so that I have one in case Apple gets back to me and asks for it.
If there’s nothing to do, I’ll bypass the card and use the other one and do a sh*tstorm on the internet, using my superpower as a writer with about three followers on Instagram. I can already hear them shaking in their boots from here, ahaha. 😈
no, seriously, if I don’t have any news from them by the end of June, I’ll send them a new, improved letter quoting articles of laws and attaching the diagnostic and we’ll see.

 

[Queen6]

Yeah a little warmth can sometimes kick the dGPU back into life again, if not a deliberate attack with a heat gun 😆 I've considered bypassing the Radeon dGPU, equally my 2011 has been ok on that side. Display invertor didn't play well for a short spell. Since I brought it back into use after doing the rounds with the family since 2013 and around a year abandoned in the corner it's been fine. Set gSwitch to integrated only and so far have eliminated majority of applications that absolutely demand the dGPU.

Had to fight a little with OS X 10.13.6 after cleaning up & upgrading as the Store broke & system refused to hibernate, or was already broken? Sorted now, although I switched the default 70 minutes to hibernate to 4 hours again to lessen any impact to the dGPU. If the Radeon dies, I'll look at bypassing it or the MBP can make for a nice doorstop.

Once I got it all up and running I did stress test the notebook and it holds up remarkedly well, Hits full Turbo at 3.5GHz, holding a clean 3.1GHz across all cores at a relatively cool 95+ centigrade, fans don't even reach max RPM, Apple's cooling at it's worst Overall isn't too bad given it's still completely stock. Last it saw a clean install was at the factory, equally not wanting to push luck, so don't throw too much at it these days.

If anything the MBP is running better than it did than when I first took it out the box in 2011, equally no illusions about the Radeon dGPU and it's fragility.

Q-6

 

[quaccOS]

I was also able to start mine after leaving it to « run » forever on black screen at start up and then restart it with a smc reset. Right now I took out both of my drives and I put a blank one instead so I would need to put at least the SSD back in. I will consider doing the bypass if Apple doesn’t want to replace the computer. I’ll wait for an answer and I’m going to Lyon, big French city, after lock down is over, so I’ll take the computer with me and try my luck with an authorized repair center to get a diagnostic so that I have one in case Apple gets back to me and asks for it.
If there’s nothing to do, I’ll bypass the card and use the other one and do a sh*tstorm on the internet, using my superpower as a writer with about three followers on Instagram. I can already hear them shaking in their boots from here, ahaha. 😈
no, seriously, if I don’t have any news from them by the end of June, I’ll send them a new, improved letter quoting articles of laws and attaching the diagnostic and we’ll see.

Please keep us updated on this. I was trying to negotiate with Apple Support but they clearly said that my Irish consumer law rights expire 6 years after the delivery of goods…and it has been over 8 years.
I can't find any laws on hidden or latent defects, or how to even prove them. My friend has the same Mac with dosdude1's GPU disable fix and his Mac passes the Apple Hardware Test despite the glitching/failing GPU.
Nobody will diagnose it either because it's a vintage product, and the COVID-19 pandemic, so I am giving up. I'm not a lawyer, so the stress is unfortunately not worth the price of a 2019 16" MacBook Pro.
Apple covered up a GPU issue, yet they couldn't stop a "sticky key" issue from blowing up.
I really hope you win the case, and tell us how it goes anyway

Edit: I hit 30 posts! I got rid of my noob status! YES!…

 

[Queen6]

Please keep us updated on this. I was trying to negotiate with Apple Support but they clearly said that my Irish consumer law rights expire 6 years after the delivery of goods…and it has been over 8 years.
I can't find any laws on hidden or latent defects, or how to even prove them. My friend has the same Mac with dosdude1's GPU disable fix and his Mac passes the Apple Hardware Test despite the glitching/failing GPU.
Nobody will diagnose it either because it's a vintage product, and the COVID-19 pandemic, so I am giving up. I'm not a lawyer, so the stress is unfortunately not worth the price of a 2019 16" MacBook Pro.
Apple covered up a GPU issue, yet they couldn't stop a "sticky key" issue from blowing up.
I really hope you win the case, and tell us how it goes anyway

Edit: I hit 30 posts! I got rid of my noob status! YES!…

Never give up, never surrender...

Q-6

 

[Nessdufrat]

Right now because of Covid they haven’t even received the signed-for letter I sent two weeks ago to start the process :/ I don’t know where this will go. Also, lockdown is going to « slowly lift » in France in ten days but people won’t be able to travel more than 100km from home and the certified Apple repair centers in Lyon who would / might be able to do the diagnostic are outside that perimeter so I can’t go there anyway.

For your Mac, did they go they advanced GPU test? There’s a special test they have to run to test the dedicated GPU, that’s not the ASD diagnostic. Both Apple genius and a certified repair center told me about that test but I’m sorry, I can’t remember its name. It’s a special one for that computer. ASD only tests the integrated GPU. My ASD was marked as « passed », I ran it myself because I managed to get my hand on the ASD for all the computers I owned, I found them a few years ago on a Russian forum (I speak a little bit of Russian, it helps). It was also very funny getting all the green flags on the ASD while also featuring a frozen computer with messed up screen with stripes. I sent that picture to Apple along with my letter, as a proof that all components were ok (ASD tests everything excepts for the dedicated GPU) and that the GPU was still defective.
Anyway, as soon as something happens, I’ll keep you posted. Still waiting for that stupid letter to reach them :/
[automerge]1588406539[/automerge]
But please don’t despair, they HAVE to do something, there are laws in the EU and Ireland belongs to the EU. Don’t let them win.

 

[Nessdufrat]

According to french post, my signed for letter « just left France ». Ok, this **** letter for which I paid $10 was supposed to be delivered in about 7 days (I was supposed to get the signed for slip in about 10 days). It’s been 15 days. That **** letter is not even in Ireland yet.
And it’s not like I can ask for money back or something because of covid :/

 

[Queen6]

My 2011 is still rocking, like I said I'm conscious of the hardware's vulnerabilities and keep the dGPU forced off as far as possible. As ever if you don't ask you don't get.

Stock 15" MacBook Pro 8.2 on OS X 10.13.6

1. MBP is elevated
2. gSwitch - literally switches the Radeon dGPU back to the Intel iGPU as fast as is possible
3. reset hibernation to 4 hours (wake up & restart triggers the Radeon dGPU)
4. Have considered to isolate the Radeon dGPU via Terminal cmd's, equally the notebook has yet to glitch out and has been heavily use. so tend to think if the Radeon dGPU was going to fail it would have already done

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

According to french post, my signed for letter « just left France ». Ok, this **** letter for which I paid $10 was supposed to be delivered in about 7 days (I was supposed to get the signed for slip in about 10 days). It’s been 15 days. That **** letter is not even in Ireland yet.
And it’s not like I can ask for money back or something because of covid :/

Is utter chaos now, I sent documents to the UK via secured courier took over ten days and the recipient has no clue, although the courier has signed conformation and that cost over $60, is the 2nd time, 1st consignment lost in space and time...

IMO COVID-19 is without any doubts a very serious issue, equally those excusing poor service due to the pandemic is despicable at best. Sadly in my case said documents were sent to a government agency who seemingly have an extensive book of excuses why they can't, or don't remotely care...

Ironically the country we reside in stepped in and avoided fracturing the family, while the UK representatives remain to have absolutely no clue whatsoever. One seriously needs to question how countries are run and for who's benefit. Sadly far too many politicians only serve themselves and companies first and foremost, if anything COVID-19 has extensively illustrated just how incompetent some really are....

Apologies for the rant, just sick and tired of excuses by the ineffectual who DGAF...3 months in...

Q-6

 

[Nessdufrat]

Ahaha, adding to the COVID rant, I live 6km away from my boyfriend, but he’s in Switzerland and I’m in France, we haven’t seen each other for two months now because they closed the borders. He’s Swiss and doesn’t have a EU citizenship, I’m Swiss and French but for some obscure and complicated reason I own a car with Swiss licence plates (it’s borrowed from a friend). If I go to Switzerland they won’t let me come back home, so I can’t risk it :/ he can’t come to France because he’s not allowed to enter the country. Seeing his girlfriend is, of course, not a valid reason and those who have tried ended up with huge fines.
My sister lives in France and has a baby with her boyfriend who lives in Switzerland. The boyfriend has shared custody of his two sons from a previous union. He is normally living with her in France every other week, when he doesn’t have his kids. He has Swiss plates on the car. Every single time he has to talk his way through the border to get to see his baby girl, and every single time they give him some nasty comments about how he should choose one place to stay and not move around.
Borders will stay closed till « at least September », according to french government.
This situation is hard on everybody. But I would say it’s especially hard for people who have family across two countries.

Right now I would say my MacBook is not the first of my problems but if I could solve this, at least I would have a new computer to have fun with and to take my mind of things.
And, yeah, sorry about the rant too ^^

 

[Queen6]

Sadly COVID-19 is a perfect excuse for bureaucracies to excuse their sheer incompetence. The UK has excelled in this matter, ignoring a natural boundary being an island and allowing COVID-19 to escalate...

Thankfully the host country we currently reside in is run by adults who understand that children are both valuable vulnerable and in need of both parents. Meanwhile only took 3 months to get a very much automated email response from UK regarding passport renewal with absolutely no solution offered, only asking the same repetitive questions...

I'm happy that the 2011 has returned to me reminds me of when Apple was adventurous and wanted to produce the best possibly could, not just scalp the customer to the max, something called integrity...

Mod's do as needed

Q-6

 

[quaccOS]

For your Mac, did they go they advanced GPU test? There’s a special test they have to run to test the dedicated GPU, that’s not the ASD diagnostic. Both Apple genius and a certified repair center told me about that test but I’m sorry, I can’t remember its name. It’s a special one for that computer. ASD only tests the integrated GPU. My ASD was marked as « passed », I ran it myself because I managed to get my hand on the ASD for all the computers I owned, I found them a few years ago on a Russian forum (I speak a little bit of Russian, it helps). It was also very funny getting all the green flags on the ASD while also featuring a frozen computer with messed up screen with stripes. I sent that picture to Apple along with my letter, as a proof that all components were ok (ASD tests everything excepts for the dedicated GPU) and that the GPU was still defective.
Anyway, as soon as something happens, I’ll keep you posted. Still waiting for that stupid letter to reach them :/
[automerge]1588406539[/automerge]
But please don’t despair, they HAVE to do something, there are laws in the EU and Ireland belongs to the EU. Don’t let them win.

 Un consommateur doit informer immédiatement le vendeur du défaut ou de la non-conformité, bien qu’il puisse bénéficier d’un délai plus important selon les circonstances.

Il ne semble pas y avoir d'expiration claire des droits des consommateurs en vertu du droit suisse, mais en Irlande, tout expire 6 ans après la livraison.

https://www.apple.com/ie/legal/statutory-warranty/

Peut être…on pourrait prendre le TGV pour Lyon, mais on s'inquiéterait de la présence policière.

Les examens Leaving Cert (équivalent au Bac) sont reportés indéfiniment ici, et tout le monde sont fous (ras-le-bol des merdes). Nous n'avons pas assez d'évaluation pour donner aux étudiants un certificat sans examen final. Je n'aime pas la langue française autant que moi à cause des examens, en plus d'on la parle rarement.

Un mec a mis tous les tests matériels Apple sur GitHub pour que quiconque puisse créer une clé USB amorçable ici: https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardwareTest
Um es zusammenzufassen, ich bin immer noch "screwed". Danke für nous tenir informés about this…

Back to English before I get a headache…I did the Apple Hardware Test myself, and it said "No trouble found". I will ask about an advanced GPU test, specially made for discrete GPUs.
I will find a repair centre once restrictions are lifted, but I'll have to wait now.
Keep us updated. I hope the letter reaches Apple in Cork