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So are all MBP owners with the 8600m GT cards screwed?

brentonbrenton said:
This is troublesome as the machine is only a year old, just gone out of its 1yr warranty. Am I tanked with a machine that is going to cost me a tonne just to repair?
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Your screenshot shows a GPU failure in terminal stage. I have seen some. Early stages just show simple horizontal and vertical corruptions, later the colorful squares you have. Your machine could continue working for some time, but any heavy load could end the GPU's life from now on.

I would recommend getting it replaced ASAP. Try an experienced AASP before contacting Apple directly. If they have a good relationship to Apple's folks they may arrange a free repair for you, if it's just out of warranty. If they can't try Apple directly for a discounted repair.
 
This really annoys me. I'm now thinking my next computer will be a Dell XPS, since I'm affected by this issue. I understand this is not Apple's fault, but I wish they would at least acknoledge this, and actually release a new logic board that has this issue fixed. If you look on Dell's site, you'll see none of their notebooks have this GPU.
 
7031 said:
This really annoys me. I'm now thinking my next computer will be a Dell XPS, since I'm affected by this issue. I understand this is not Apple's fault, but I wish they would at least acknoledge this, and actually release a new logic board that has this issue fixed. If you look on Dell's site, you'll see none of their notebooks have this GPU.
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As said the current MBP models don't have this problem. Within warranty Apple replaces faulty logic boards without question. 1 year warranty is not much, but you can always buy Apple Care to extend it.

Acknowledging this would be way too expensive. Apple can't replace just the GPUs but only the logic boards. Nvidias 200 million $ accrual wouldn't even cover a fraction of the cost of replacing all those just because they could fail.

The best thing a user can do today. Make your MBP fail within warranty.
 
Or sell it and take a loss based on not having to spend the $349 cost of Applecare you could afford to take a resell hit and buy a newer one without the issue (if indeed the new ones have no issues). The secondary market for MBPs is still good.

Cheers,

rpp3po said:
As said the current MBP models don't have this problem. Within warranty Apple replaces faulty logic boards without question. 1 year warranty is not much, but you can always buy Apple Care to extend it.

Acknowledging this would be way too expensive. Apple can't replace just the GPUs but only the logic boards. Nvidias 200 million $ accrual wouldn't even cover a fraction of the cost of replacing all those just because they could fail.

The best thing a user can do today. Make your MBP fail within warranty.
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THX1139 said:
You're joking... right? 15-20 years for a laptop? Well, if you include the years as a door stop then maybe you'll get 10. Think about it. What kind of computers were we using 20 years ago? Hell, how about just 15? Apple was in the process of switching over to PPC in 1993 and practically all of those machines are totally obsolete. Especially if you want to run modern OS and software! Go back another 5 years and were getting into the era of this portable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Portable. Try to find a machine like this and you'll have to go to a museum. Serious.

The practical lifespan of a laptop is 5 years max. After that, your machine will start to suffer from software upgrade options and over-all slow down. However, if all you do is basic web and word processing then you might get another 3 to 4 years before you'll want to throw it into the recycle bin. Better yet, use it for 5-8 years and then donate it. But... 15-20 years? No way, unless you're a collector.
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I don't know about you, but the amount of money I spent on this computer warrants it lasting that long.

Just because it's a computer doesn't make it acceptable to throw out in 3-4 years. I expect it to last well into my first or second year of grad school. A computer that cost me 2,500$ shouldn't have this problem. This is inexcusable. I love Apple just like any other guy but I do NOT have that type of money to throw around when this thing fails a day after my warranty ends.

I think I'll purposely run it hot then put the computer to sleep. That'll be fun!
 
areusche said:
I don't know about you, but the amount of money I spent on this computer warrants it lasting that long.

Just because it's a computer doesn't make it acceptable to throw out in 3-4 years. I expect it to last well into my first or second year of grad school. A computer that cost me 2,500$ shouldn't have this problem. This is inexcusable. I love Apple just like any other guy but I do NOT have that type of money to throw around when this thing fails a day after my warranty ends.

I think I'll purposely run it hot then put the computer to sleep. That'll be fun!
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I'm with you there. I don't nkow about 20 years, but I think 10 isn't unreasonable, minus perhaps the hard drive. Not one single part has failed or gone bad in the 10 year old beige g3; Apple's old machines were pretty much built like tanks, especially in the Beige era. Not so much now (though they're not making their own hardware anymore).

I think a laptop should last a good eight years at least, assuming it's treated properly.
 
It's freezing again very frequently, this time I took pictures when trying to boot up after the freeze. After a few tries my MBP boots into OSX.


img0379gw5.jpg


img0380ac4.jpg


img0381pp1.jpg
 
rpp3po said:
As said the current MBP models don't have this problem. Within warranty Apple replaces faulty logic boards without question. 1 year warranty is not much, but you can always buy Apple Care to extend it.

Acknowledging this would be way too expensive. Apple can't replace just the GPUs but only the logic boards. Nvidias 200 million $ accrual wouldn't even cover a fraction of the cost of replacing all those just because they could fail.

The best thing a user can do today. Make your MBP fail within warranty.
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The MBP that you say are already with 512 megabytes of video memory?

P.D.: Sorry for my English
 
rpp3po said:
While holding back more information than everybody here would like, Nvidia did say one thing for sure: all "currently" manufactured products "have a different and more robust material set". (Nvidia's 8K filing).

So if you MBP is more than 6 months old, try to get it replaced in any case. With those "more robust" GPUs your MBP should last for years as one should expect.
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Have you a link for this? Is my MBP, bought in May safe? How can I tell?
 
Should i do any thing or just wait for solution?

Hey, was thinking to post separately but it seems proper to post here :)

So i have the new version of the MBP (bought in april this year), and even before the news from Nvidia i new something is wrong.
From time to time i will get some thing like this
photo


The thing is this happens only on rare occasions.

I really dont know what to do. Since i live in Israel all the replacements may take some time, and the thing is, as far as i understand there is no hope at the moment. Every replacement will be with the faulty GPU wouldnt it ? no way for me to make sure i am getting new non faulty GPU.

What i was thinking to do is to buy the apple care so when the new gpu will be out i would be able to get a repair/replacement.

I was wondering if this is the best way to handle this, since i suffer from the effects only on rare occasions.

Cheers
Roee.
 
r0ee said:
Every replacement will be with the faulty GPU wouldnt it ? no way for me to make sure i am getting new non faulty GPU.
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No after they found that the chips had issues, they ones they manufacture will not have this issue; when these new chips are put on the motherboards then the replacements will be problem free.

And if it only happens on rare occasions, it could just be overheating, bad drivers, etc. Does not always mean the video card is defective.

And Apple will not replace your motherboard without first being able to reproduce the error themselves---it's really a crapshoot. The only way they will replace it, not questions asked, is if they issue a recall.
 
As much as I hate to say it those screen shots are beautiful :( I'm sorry for your problem. I hope Apple fixes it.
 
As with everyone else in this topic, the same thing has happened to me. Three weeks out of warranty, the graphics chip fault arises. I went to the Apple Store way out on the east side of my county and at first the Genius said I shouldn't rely on the Apple Forums, a lot of people post things that aren't true very often. I kind of laughed and told him how interesting it was that this topic has recieved a lot of attention lately. He also said he has seen like 1-2 cases before mine as well.

Unfortunately he was not nice enough to grant the replacement for free or anything, so I have to spend $350 to send it out. Much like everyone else has. Now let's see, is this going to be another ticking time bomb. How long do I have before this one goes? Apple is really having issues recognizing this problem. Wake up and help the customers and products you're supposed to stand behind.

Anyways the Genius also told me that if I had it done at the store, it would cost me $1,200. But, if I sent it out it would only be $350. Which baffles me.

He said it looked in "pretty good" shape. It's actually in great shape, I barely bring it anywhere and I clean it once a week. And I told him as soon as I got there that I thought it was the graphics card. And he said he "highly doubted" it would be that because I was relying on the forums.

Interestingly enough, he later said I was right and that it is the graphics card.

They really irritate me there, they like to dumb down there customers when we actually know what the issue is.

Well we'll see how many times I get to replace a graphics card now. I can't wait.
 
I have to say that this issue is completely prohibiting me from buying a new MBP, I just cannot justify spending $2000 for something I know is a ticking time bomb
 
Is the vertical striping error a symptom of a failing video card? And how do I find out when my mbp was made so I know if it is defective.
 
rolex54 said:
I am pretty convinced all of the chips are faulty, it just depends when its gonna fail. It will probably happen to your $3000 investment also, its just a matter of time...
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I felt that way too, but after more research I'm not convinced.
That said, I need a laptop now so I went ahead and picked one up. With AppleCare I have no worries. If my GPU goes Apple will fix or replace it. If there's a recall then sobeit. Thats worse case and there's enough people out there who have not had any problems with them that I was willing to take the chance. I'm not into buying used comps and can't wait around for an update that MIGHT happen in September...or could happen in January. Even then, you don't know what problems there will be with the updated laptop.

Better the devil you know...
 
alphaod said:
It's only a bomb for some people.
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I think that's the point, no one knows for sure when/if it will affect their MBP.

I personally have not had any issues with mine and I play games all the time under bootcamp, however, its barely a year old.

Cheers,
 
My MBP's GPU finally bit the dust so it seems. It won't even let me boot up into OSX anymore. Every time I turn it on it shows a bunch of particles and vertical lines. It's a shame that I'm only 2 months past my warranty expiration date.

I'm extremely disappointed with Apple at the moment as I spent $2,500 on this machine and it's in excellent condition.

Looks like I will be calling Apple support later on the day.
 
After about 30 tries I was able to boot into Apple Hardware Test. I ran the test and I received the following error message:

4VDC/1/40000003:VideoController
 
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