NVIDIA GPU Litigation Claims Phase Has Opened

[Hexley]

I received an email from "Settlement Administrator for NVIDIA GPU Litigation" and I was wondering if other MBP owners also received a notice.

This is in connection to the NVIDIA GPU problem that caused "Distorted or scrambled video on the notebook computer screen" and "No video on the computer screen even when the notebook computer is on"

Macs that are affected by this are the following

"Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch & 17-inch)" bought from "May 2007 – September 2008"

Now my MBP is not exhibiting these problems of late but I am experiencing a pixel-thick vertical red line running from the top until the bottom of my screen. Would this be covered by the claims?

URL of the claims site is at http://www.nvidiasettlement.com/index.html

 

[mulo]

nope, but i bet if you ask nicely apple will replace it for free anyway

 

[bobsbarricades]

I was just going to post and see if this was legit or not. Been tracking it for a while, so.

Anymore thoughts?

 

[WardC]

I got the same e-mail this morning actually...

"Hello,

This email is to inform you that the claims phase of the NVIDIA GPU class action settlement begins on January 13, 2011.

On December 20, 2010, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, approved the NVIDIA GPU Litigation class action settlement. If you are eligible, you may now file a claim. To file a claim or obtain other details about the settlement, visit www.NVIDIASettlement.com, or call toll-free 1-877-440-7557."

 

[Ledgem]

I received this email, as did a co-worker. Seems legitimate.

I'm not really sure what to do. My MBP ("early 2008") is coming upon being three years old, and I haven't had any issues despite some pretty heavy usage and high temperatures. If it were a matter of bringing it to a local Apple store and waiting for a few hours (or even a day or two) while they swapped things out, I'd take up the offer right away. The settlement claims that repairs from Apple could take 4-6 weeks, though - and there's already a risk of damage or theft by shipping the system off. I don't have a second computer that I could shift over to while the repairs are in progress.

What are the rest of you thinking? Ride it out and hope that your graphics chip won't fail, or file a claim?

 

[WardC]

I purchased a Santa Rosa MacBook Pro 15" 2.4GHz with the 8600M in 2007, but sold it last year (2010) on eBay. That is what I believe this class-action suit is related to, the 8600M.

 

[blairwillis]

Just logged in to report this as well. Plus, here's a thought that might be of critical value to the community, and why I think this story needs front page attention:

This NVIDIA GPU litigation has already reached a court approved settlement.

It is too late for class members to exclude themselves from the class. This means that if you are a class member, you are bound to the decision. This means that if you have a problem with your Mac, you need to submit it as part of the settlement for repair. (There is no "replacement" option for Apple products under this settlement!) Deadline for filing a claim is March 14, 2011.

It seems to me that if you fail to submit your product by this deadline, you lose any further opportunity for repair.

Now, I have one of these products and did indeed have a gpu failure a few months ago. The mbp is far out of warranty, however after researching the symptoms online I realized this was a gpu defect that Apple was fixing even outside of warranty. They made official announcements that they would continue to repair this defect out of warranty until a specified date. They extended the repairs beyond that date to a new date. It seemed at the time that they would continue to handle repairs of the defect.

The problem is that the repair of the defect is to replace the gpu with the SAME MODEL, which is also defective. It will prematurely fail. The replacement will suffer the same fate. This is only a temporary fix.

Question: Will Apple continue to replace the defective gpu's beyond the deadline created by the settlement? Or is this Apple's way to permanently rid themselves of the endless defective repair cycle. If that's the case, I think this is entirely unfair. Had they found a way to repair the product by substituting a non-defective part, I would consider it a "permanent" remedy. But replacing the part with the same equally prone-to-failure part is not a reasonable remedy.

My MBP is working right now, but will it continue to do so? I'm not asking for a permanent laptop, just a gpu that can be expected to live a normal lifetime. As with any other Apple product I've ever owned, I expect it to function properly until the hardware is outdated by matter of *CPU* or OS obsolescence at the worst. But if the gpu craps out after March 14...

Are we screwed?

 

[blairwillis]

I'm not really sure what to do. My MBP ("early 2008") is coming upon being three years old, and I haven't had any issues despite some pretty heavy usage and high temperatures.

If your machine is not experiencing symptoms, nothing will be done.

The settlement claims that repairs from Apple could take 4-6 weeks

When I had this repair performed a few months ago, it took literally two days. They overnighted a pickup box, I sent it out the same day. They received, repaired and shipped out the next day, and it arrived back to me the following day.

If they see a massive influx of repairs due to the settlement announcement, it may take longer to turn around, but I think that's just "CYA" talk saying it could take 4-6 weeks.

What are the rest of you thinking? Ride it out and hope that your graphics chip won't fail, or file a claim?

See my post above: What happens if it fails after March 14?

One possible answer to my own question: Perhaps if we don't have a failure now or between now and March 14, then we are not officially part of the "class." Failures after March 14 would constitute a new class? Any lawyerly types care to elaborate? Thanks.

 

[Ledgem]

If your machine is not experiencing symptoms, nothing will be done.

That was what I initially thought. However, in reading over the terms of the settlement, eligibility is not based on performance issues, but on the parts. That contrasts with what Apple was originally offering (which was that they would swap out the parts, but only if problems started to occur). I may have missed a key sentence, though, and will re-read it more carefully later on.

 

[WildCowboy]

The settlement was proposed in late September.

Apple is offering free repairs for four years from the date of purchase.

 

[lhsa]

i also raised the question here on MR whether to send in my properly functioning SR MBP, but received few responses. As Ledgum points out, this settlement is for anyone with a GPU covered by the settlement and does not require that the GPU be malfunctioning.

additionally, to blairwillis' question, the settlement fully resolves all claims against nvidia in connection with the MBPs within the serial number range containing the defective GPUs. the timing for damage doesn't matter and if your GPU craps out after march 14 you have no legal claim against nvidia with respect to the GPU. in other words, your SOL if you don't avail yourself of the settlement remedy before the deadline.

apple could continue to repair GPUs, but it would be at their discretion and dime independent of nvidia.

 

[blairwillis]

Thanks for the input on this, Ihsa.

Probably time to upgrade my MBP anyway and might as well sell it while it's got a fresh GPU and is in great condition.

 

[Sparky9292]

The settlement was proposed in late September.

Apple is offering free repairs for four years from the date of purchase.

I sorta feel like an ass for paying for the 3 year extended warranty then.

It seems like Nvidia should pay me back my $250 that I spent extra when I bought my 2007 Santa Rosa MBP. My GPU did fail. It threw up a checkerboard one day and a few months later the screen was dead. Apple did fix it, but I was without a computer for a week while Apple fixed it.