Recent luck with 2008 MBP nvidia 8600GT repair?

[geenick]

I just inherited a broken Macbook Pro, and when I started troubleshooting the issues with it, I noticed it was one of the models with the plagued nvidia graphics chipset. It wouldn't do much at first, but once it warmed up I was able to use the computer with a known good HDD installed. I know that the repair timeline was extended to 4 years past the sale date, but I don't know the exact date of sale for this machine.

I'm going to at least bring it in to the Apple Store tomorrow to see what they say.

Has anybody on here had recent luck in getting one of these repaired?

 

[Sammio2]

Yeah, I got mine repaired about 2 months ago now at the Basingstoke, UK Apple Store. They were great about it, they have a little USB key with a test on it, that indicates clearly if the problem is with the Graphics Card. Once it's 'failed' this test, they replaced the logic board on the machine free of charge.

But here's the catch, when I took mine in, the Genius bar employee was pretty surprised, as he said they stopped selling those models only a matter of weeks (4 years ago) after i took it in. So i was right at the end of the free repair period, as i brought the machine JUST before they released the unibody MBPs.

So I guess, take it in and try your changes, but I think it depends on the Genius you get... Good luck!

 

[PerformaGuy]

I had one of the impacted models, take it in and have them run the test. If it passes, try booking another test. My fist test showed fine, but I had pictures taken showing the garbled graphics/tearing. At another store, the test confirmed a bad card. I think the app they run is a stress test. It might also help to run your machine before having it tested so it is "warmed up".

 

[geenick]

I brought it in and it initially passed the GPU test and was behaving quite well. The genius saw that I was technically past 4 years and said that if it gets bad again, we'll talk about options. He didn't flat out say that they wouldn't cover it.

I went home and was using the computer later and the video started to flake so I made another appointment from my phone and headed in with the machine still powered on. Second genius saw the issue, it failed the GPU test, and he just said "there is no way we can fix this due to the age"... I mentioned that in my mind Apple still considers this machine modern, due to the fact that they still support running their newest O/S on it. So they should fix it! Kind of a bummer. I was hoping they'd repair it under the quality campaign.

 

[12dylan34]

I brought it in and it initially passed the GPU test and was behaving quite well. The genius saw that I was technically past 4 years and said that if it gets bad again, we'll talk about options. He didn't flat out say that they wouldn't cover it.

I went home and was using the computer later and the video started to flake so I made another appointment from my phone and headed in with the machine still powered on. Second genius saw the issue, it failed the GPU test, and he just said "there is no way we can fix this due to the age"... I mentioned that in my mind Apple still considers this machine modern, due to the fact that they still support running their newest O/S on it. So they should fix it! Kind of a bummer. I was hoping they'd repair it under the quality campaign.

I had the exact same situation (2 trips and everything) except fortunately, I was like a week inside of 4 years. You'd think for a $2000+ machine they would last a good long while without faulty components, but no....

 

[T5BRICK]

Second genius saw the issue, it failed the GPU test, and he just said "there is no way we can fix this due to the age"... I mentioned that in my mind Apple still considers this machine modern, due to the fact that they still support running their newest O/S on it. So they should fix it! Kind of a bummer. I was hoping they'd repair it under the quality campaign.

Call AppleCare. Apple can still cover this even if you're outside the 4 year range(there are documented cases of them doing it). NVIDIA is responsible for the defective GPUs, Apple can take it up with them.

 

[CamSromur]

damn this MacBook Pro 2008

So, here is my story. I've had this my 17inch MacBook Pro since early 2008 and mid 2010 my screen went black. I did some research and found that it was probably the nvidia issue. So, I took it to these brilliant dudes at the Apple Store and he told me it was my logicboard and it was going to be $800 to fix. Then I gave it to one of my friends and he said nothing was wrong with it and when he gave it back.... it did indeed work for a week. It went out and I just boxed it up and put it aside until recently when I was trying to "clean house". I opened the box and the battery was completely exploded about 4inch thick. I started doing some research... first of all.... I didn't know you could power it up without the battery. So, I just did.. and YAY!!!! it actually powered up!!!! for about 10mins. I don't want to even attempt again yet... because I want to know... what you guys think it is? my nvidia? and if so... can I replace that myself? (bc I also saw that you only had 4years to get it fixed for free) BUMMER.. those idiots and the store. Anyway... I really would love to get it up and running.... but most importantly I would like to get ALL info off it.. what is the best way to do that? WHAT SHOULD I DO?!?! ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[MaxPower72]

We tried in several Apple stores and they all refused to run the test and said it was the LB to have failed and that to fix it would have cost almost $500, since it was old, I sold it for parts for $400 and bought a new one for me and one for my wife.

It just comes down to the Genius you get if they are sympathetic with you they will bend backwards.