Really.... really bad news

[Firefly2002]

This was just posted in the Mac Pro forums, and it definitely applies to MBPs.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/12/nvidia-g92s-g94-reportedly

It says that pretty much all nVidia cards are affected, including the 9600 GT, which is most likely going to be in the new MacBook Pros.

Not good.

 

[TEG]

Yea, this has been thrown around for several weeks. It may get so bad that NVIDIA has to issue a wide spread recall, meaning recalling all Mac Systems using these particular GPUs.

TEG

 

[Abhorred]

Yikes. Well, we'll see how this goes over time.

Charlie at The Inquirer sure hates nVidia, doesn't he?

 

[Insulin Junkie]

I know. One of the reasons why I'm still going to be suspicious of nVIDIA chipsets for a long while. That's also the reason I exchanged my MBP for this Macbook.

 

[hawk1226]

is this somewhat good news now? it appears the issue is getting alot more publicityand maybe something will be done for all of us who have potentially defective chips.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Nvidia won't survive this. Intel will pick them up for a song.

 

[gr8bob]

I've had it with this issue. 6 months of random graphic corruption, system freezes.. I can't live with a computer that crashes everytime I try to use it.. even if it has the 'magical' Mac OS in it..

If Apple or nVIDIA isn't going to step up their claims, I'm going to get rid of my Mac and get something that doesn't break whenever it wants to.

 

[nick9191]

ATI in the next MBP I hope.

 

[minik]

My MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.4/2.2GHz) with a 256mb GeForce 8600M GT works fine here.

 

[7031]

I've had it with this issue. 6 months of random graphic corruption, system freezes.. I can't live with a computer that crashes everytime I try to use it.. even if it has the 'magical' Mac OS in it..

If Apple or nVIDIA isn't going to step up their claims, I'm going to get rid of my Mac and get something that doesn't break whenever it wants to.

I just did. Went back to PC. That way, if a component breaks I can replace it.

With a Mac, when it's time you upgrade you just pick it up, throw it away and put even more money into Steve's wallet.

Nothing against the Mac pros though.

Seriously though, I could get a comparable Dell for half the price of a Mac. Not that I like Dell, but still.

 

[nick9191]

Seriously though, I could get a comparable Dell for half the price of a Mac. Not that I like Dell, but still.

Would you like to substantiate that claim.

 

[FuuFuu]

I just did. Went back to PC. That way, if a component breaks I can replace it.

With a Mac, when it's time you upgrade you just pick it up, throw it away and put even more money into Steve's wallet.

Nothing against the Mac pros though.

Seriously though, I could get a comparable Dell for half the price of a Mac. Not that I like Dell, but still.

the only reason people assume that macs are way more expensive than PCs are is that macs don't have such low end laptops/desktops as the others. they start high. Another thing is they rip you off on upgrades(i admit). but even if so, you don't have to upgrade it at the apple store, 3rd party upgrades are just as good.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Oh, wow... this is terrible news. Fortunately, my MBP has ATI graphics, and is therefore unaffected. I was concerned for a minute...

 

[noodle654]

Wow...this is really bad news and I think nVidia is going to be stuck in a never ending hole for the next couple years. This chip problem is huge. I dont think there has ever been such a big problem. Apple will need to say something and with all the constant failures going on, Apple just cant ignore that their MBPs are dying. IF there is a recall, Apple and nVidia are going to loose a lot of money, but think of it this way...if they issue the recall in the next year, we can get new machines with QUAD CORE!!!

 

[Insulin Junkie]

...if they issue the recall in the next year, we can get new machines with QUAD CORE!!!

Haha.. I wouldn't hold my breath on that, though I'd be swell.

 

[buyusfear]

I've said this before, but i'll say it again...

As long as they own up to it, and fix it, i'm fine. Mistakes happen.

Interested to see what happens...

 

[kingshrubb]

With a Mac, when it's time you upgrade you just pick it up, throw it away and put even more money into Steve's wallet.

I know what your saying, but btw, the money doesn't exactly go in Steve's wallet. His salary is only $1

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1733748_1733758_1736089,00.html

 

[jjahshik32]

Oops I didnt know someone else posted the same as I did, sorry.

Anyway, I am SO glad that I sold my mbp with the defective nvidia card. I had a gut feeling to hurry and get rid of it asap.

also:
"To make matters more laughable, the fix that NV is forcing on Dell, HP and everyone else does not fix the problem, it simply makes it less likely to occur during the warranty period."

This is exactly why I got rid of it. Good thing I only lost a couple to few hundred on it and got most of my money back on the 17" 2.6ghz hi res model.

 

[digitalpencil]

this really makes me think I should start pushing my GPU hard before my applecare runs out.. but if they replace it with another defective chip?? wtf are we supposed to do then?!?
I realise that this is hardy Apple's or Nvidia's fault, mistakes happen but we as customers need some assurances that our products aren't going to start dropping like flies and, that in the event that they do, sufficient measures have been taken to ensure that we can get replacement machines that aren't going to suffer the same issues further down the line!

 

[Yixian]

Wohoo! Now Apple have no choice but to give us value for money and go with the 3850!

 

[jjahshik32]

Wohoo! Now Apple have no choice but to give us value for money and go with the 3850!

Yea I hope the next mbp revision thats coming in the next month will have an ATI card in it.

 

[Yixian]

Yea I hope the next mbp revision thats coming in the next month will have an ATI card in it.

Meaning there are two choices:

The 3650 or the 3850.

This could either be good or bad news depending on which card Apple goes for. The 3850 is a card actually worthy of being in a 2.5k laptop, the 3650.. um.. *cough*

 

[jjahshik32]

Meaning there are two choices:

The 3650 or the 3850.

This could either be good or bad news depending on which card Apple goes for. The 3850 is a card actually worthy of being in a 2.5k laptop, the 3650.. um.. *cough*

Either way any one of those cards will be MUCH better than the nvidia 8xxx series especially knowing that you bought a 2.5k-3k notebook that'll last you more than 3+ years.

As for me, I dont game hardly at all so as long as those ati cards handles pro apps/corewell then I'm good.

 

[danny_w]

I know what your saying, but btw, the money doesn't exactly go in Steve's wallet. His salary is only $1

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1733748_1733758_1736089,00.html

That's his SALARY, not his BONUSES. He probably gets millions in bonuses and other compensation, which makes the $1 salary kind of moot. This was as of 5/3/2007:

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/12/lead_07ceos_Steven-P-Jobs_HEDB.html

 

[Yixian]

Either way any one of those cards will be MUCH better than the nvidia 8xxx series especially knowing that you bought a 2.5k-3k notebook that'll last you more than 3+ years.

As for me, I dont game hardly at all so as long as those ati cards handles pro apps/corewell then I'm good.

The 3860 is not an upgrade at all, you won't notice any performance increase over the 8600M GT. The benefit would be that it isn't doomed to explode at some point, but as far as performance goes, it'd be probably the most embarrassing GPU update in Apple's history, and that's saying something.