Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Soulstorm

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 1, 2005
1,887
1
Hello everyone,

I would like to post my experiences using two identical macbook pros 2012 (non-retina, with nVidia GT650M 512MB) who presented the same graphics cards glitches and problems, and hopefully to obtain some information.

Exhibit 1: My own macbook pro

Bought from France, in November 2012. Used mainly for professional non-graphics programming, it's clean, no bloated software, and only necessary professional tools are installed. 16Gbytes of memory, by Crucial.

At some point during July, when the machine was relatively cold and I was watching a youtube video, this happened (see attached pics). The mouse was moving, and the computer was fully operational, but with this "glitchy graphics overlay". I logged out, and logged back in. Problem disappeared and appeared again at random times, 4 times during an hour. All those times, a log-out and log-in would fix the problem. After that, I could not reproduce it. Apple changed the motherboard, claiming that it could be a faulty nVidia card.

Exhibit 2: My brother's macbook pro

Bought from Greece, in february 2013. Same model as my own, same RAM, same specs. Used for professional video editing, no bloated software, mostly using Final Cut Pro X. He noticed various malfunctions with FCPX, like freezing when applying a visual effect, and graphics tearing when rendering (that's when the nVidia card kicks in, normally). Yesterday, same symptoms as my macbook pro appeared, graphics tearing, etc.

EDIT: videos of the problem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGBijGMO9NE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnEXtVWgKKM

Both machines are in a completely different environment (I live in France, my brother in Greece), non-smoking areas, and have worked in completely different ways. Both with OS X 10.8.4.

That's two out of two. Given nVidia's background, I am starting to feel that my purchase is not so reliable as I originally thought, and I am thinking that this problem is more generic than originally seemed.

Does anyone have any relevant information on this matter?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20130707_145156.jpg
    IMG_20130707_145156.jpg
    105.2 KB · Views: 168
  • IMG_20130707_145337.jpg
    IMG_20130707_145337.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 365
Last edited:

sofianito

macrumors 65816
Jan 14, 2011
1,207
2
Spain
Ça doit être des MBPs jumeaux... Ya de la télépathie dans la souffrance aussi... :D

[MOD NOTE]
Translation from translate.google.com:
It must be twins MBPs ... Telepathy are in pain too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Soulstorm

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 1, 2005
1,887
1
Ça doit être des MBPs jumeaux... Ya de la télépathie dans la souffrance aussi... :D

Difficult for this to happen since they were manufactured in different months.

BTW, it would be helpful for everyone in this forum if we could stick to english ;)
 

TechZeke

macrumors 68020
Jul 29, 2012
2,454
2,285
Dallas, TX
Interesting. No issues here.

However, this is why tomorrow I'm buying applecare for my MBP.

The only thing in common are that these MBPs were purchased in Europe.
 

squeeks

macrumors 68040
Jun 19, 2007
3,393
15
Florida
i bought one of the first ones in june of 2012 so its 15 months old, i have not ever had this happen.
 

bonbon20

macrumors newbie
Aug 6, 2017
6
3
Sofia, Bulgaria
I am pretty sure the problem was OS related. I've had issues in the past where the latest mac os updates are somehow not optimized at their best, which is really likely to be giving you these glitches.
This particular model (mid 2012 non retina) isn't affected by this: https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/.
It can't be the video chip. Let alone the fact that 2 out of 2 machines in your life have failed in the same way.. Im guessing that the mac os version wasn't right at the time, plus.. both laptops were on 10.8.4.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.