Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Well, my graphic card died a month ago, 2 weeks out of warranty, but they replaced the logic board- which took a month. I played quake wars on a regular basis. I am now stuck with my over $3000 timebomb and a 90 day logic board warranty. I've had my share of problems with apple hw in the past and frankly I'm quite pissed right now, knowing that this particular failure is not an apple issue per se, but with no solution in sight and an apple statement it's equally bad. Hopefully they acknowledge the problem in the next weeks/months and come up with an acceptable solution.
just my 2cents.
 
Ouch! While I don't own a MBP, I did own quite the lemon of a G3 iBook that needed 4 mobo replacements. Luckily enough for me, Apple covered all 4, with one being 2 weeks out of warranty. It's a shame that nothing has been done about this. :(
 
Well I run my MBP as a workstation anyway...but...I guess its time to nuke the internal and run my OS on an external drive, so if it does die, I won't have to worry about it.

(sigh)
 
mine just started to artifact ... how pissed am i? very! .. this is the 4th MBP that ive had changed ...
 
mine just started to artifact ... how pissed am i? very! .. this is the 4th MBP that ive had changed ...
Do you mind if I ask what you're using it for? My MBP hasn't had this issue at all, but then I never use it for anything other than work so the GPU never really gets a workover. Do you game on yours? Also what model is it? Mine's the Penryn 2.4.
 
Man they just don't make hardware like they used to. Have 10 year old + computers still kicking, yet people can hardly expect a three year life span out of current models... pathetic.
 
This just happened to me starting yesterday. Extremely frustrated since Warhammer Preview just started this morning. The open beta starts Sunday.

I have the June 2007 MBP, which I bought the morning they came out(June 5th, 2007). Regrettably, I did not get applecare and paid with a Check card(no extended warranty). Surely, there are others in my boat.

Any suggestions as to what I should do? I don't think it is fair that I have to pay for something that nVidia as admitted to being faulty.
 
I don't think it is fair that I have to pay for something that nVidia as admitted to being faulty.

Yes, but in the same token, some can say that its not fair that you expect them to fix it even after the warrenty period, when many purchase the extended options (not I however, since I know its more or less a verified issue. Verified by everyone except Apple and nVidia)

Try to take it in anyway. If they won't budge, I think they are doing a $350 replacement thing, even though I see logic board repairs go for upwards of $1300+ (but that may be for full blown repair/replace of something other than the GPU)
 
Yes, but in the same token, some can say that its not fair that you expect them to fix it even after the warrenty period, when many purchase the extended options (not I however, since I know its more or less a verified issue. Verified by everyone except Apple and nVidia)

Try to take it in anyway. If they won't budge, I think they are doing a $350 replacement thing, even though I see logic board repairs go for upwards of $1300+ (but that may be for full blown repair/replace of something other than the GPU)

The real problem is that even if they do fix it, chances are they'll use another defective part. Since their repair warranty is only 90 days (crazy), that means you could be screwed again in 90 days if your luck is bad. There is only ONE solution: Apple needs to admit to the problem and then extend the warranty for anybody who has issues related to the GPU. Simple really, but it doesn't look like they're about to do it.
 
The real problem is that even if they do fix it, chances are they'll either another defective part. Since their repair warranty is only 90 days (crazy), that means you could be screwed again in 90 days if your luck is bad. There is only ONE solution: Apple needs to admit to the problem and then extend the warranty for anybody who has issues related to the GPU. Simple really, but it doesn't look like they're about to do it.

I agree, I'm generally one to accept the consequences of not buying the extended warranty. However, Dell is offering an extended 1 year warranty for anyone with this problem. There's no possible way that Apple is not using the bad chips, as proven by the countless threads and my own experience.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind paying the $310 or whatever it is, if I had a way of knowing it wouldn't crap out in a year or less, causing me to pay another $310. Maybe I'll try calling Customer Relations, they've helped me out before when the call centers were trying to screw me out of a rebate.
 
You know what, I ordered the current MBP....but due to some shipping delays from Apple & then UPS (a flight was canceled)...the laptop arrived after I had to leave the country....now it will cost me $300+insurance to send it to me. I'm even told I may have to pay duty in my new country even though the product was bought & cleared in my former country. @%@$#%$@

...anyways, the only logical solution is to return the laptop which I'm having a relative due on monday and then re-order the laptop from my new home when I get the refund.

In light of all this GPU bs this might turn out to be a blessing if I can land the new updated MBPs.....if they come out anytime soon that is. I must admit I am getting a tad freaked out about shelling out 2.5g's for a laptop that so many people are having issues w/....although I'm not yet convinced they're all defective.

I dunno, as frustrating as its been to be w/o a computer I've already paid for I do feel mixed blessings here....and am somehow ok w/ this going down the way its gone down. I don't know how this is going to affect my iPod rebate yet though.....the people at customer service have been great though & assure me that this will all work out. They've been very cool so far.
 
My MBP 2.2 failed about month ago (blank screen, Intel GPU detected... "classic" symptoms). After Logic Board replacement it failed again (the same problems: total loss of display). I'm really pissed off and I know I'm not the only one. We should persuade Apple to do something, maybe giving this case more media coverage would help?

To all people waiting for buying freshly updated Apple hardware: beware. This story and hundreds more are REAL and TRUE.
 
My MBP 2.2 failed about month ago (blank screen, Intel GPU detected... "classic" symptoms). After Logic Board replacement it failed again (the same problems: total loss of display). I'm really pissed off and I know I'm not the only one. We should persuade Apple to do something, maybe giving this case more media coverage would help?

To all people waiting for buying freshly updated Apple hardware: beware. This story and hundreds more are REAL and TRUE.

Until there is massive failure of the very same Media's macbook pros, they probably won't listen to us :(.

I will be quick to remind everyone that the Mean Time between failures (if one exists) will vary from user to user greatly. Some of us have already experienced massive failures, while others (like myself) are computing along happily.

Perhaps if someone comes up with a stress test that can create massive failures across the board, which Apple will have to fix.

lets just wait until after the new models are released, so we can get upgrades :apple:
 
"others (like myself)"

- you have newer MBP. from the spreadsheet

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pV-CKzYqbB6dLQRx8wpC2aw

and this thread (massive one!)

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=7044372

you can see the pattern: the "blank screen of death" meaning total loss of display occurs while MBP is hibernated, closed or switched off and it affects "early" SantaRosa models, less or more a year after purchase, then, some of them ("fixed" by changing Logic Board) fail after a few weeks (mine last less than month).

there are other display issues (like problems with firmware, possibly unrelated and problems with display not resulting in total lack of any display, possibly related), but this single one "blank screen" issue is apparent and could be easily isolated from other display problems. if only Apple has a good will to do it.

the most strange thing is that replacing a logic board gives weeks of normal life (not months). some people (not single person, quite a few of them) replaced LB 3 or even 4 times! for the same reason!
 
I have a 15" MBP 2.4Ghz purchased in February this year. I have recently started to notice some graphical artifacts like screwed up text when scrolling in Safari and Mail. I also get white boxes flashing when I mouse-over events in iPhoto and ITMS. Watching any flash movie on the net gives me these random white box flashes too.

Is this an indication that my logic board is on the way out? I've not had any blank screens after reboot/sleep yet, although sometimes it takes up to 3-4 mins to wake the MBP from sleep. One time after waking from sleep, the whole screen was garbled like static on a TV only multi-coloured.

Any advice welcome... Cheers.
 
I have a 15" MBP 2.4Ghz purchased in February this year. I have recently started to notice some graphical artifacts like screwed up text when scrolling in Safari and Mail. I also get white boxes flashing when I mouse-over events in iPhoto and ITMS. Watching any flash movie on the net gives me these random white box flashes too.

Is this an indication that my logic board is on the way out? I've not had any blank screens after reboot/sleep yet, although sometimes it takes up to 3-4 mins to wake the MBP from sleep. One time after waking from sleep, the whole screen was garbled like static on a TV only multi-coloured.

Any advice welcome... Cheers.
Your graphics card/chip is screwed. I believe that will require a logic board replacement, yes. See a genius or call Apple asap :)
 
as i type this on my old windows machine, ill add my sr mbp to the list of machines whos computer went to sleep and never woke up. i can hear the apple "bong" sound on start-up, but the monitor stays a sad shade of black.
:(

fortunately i opted for the applecare (bought it in july of last year, im at 13+ months now), but im hoping someone can give me some advice on if i should service it now or not. if i get it serviced now, it will probably be replaced with the same parts that are quite possibly defective, yes? would waiting for the refreshes be a better idea? is it possible they will upgrade/change the gpu/logic board to the revised ones once they are released? i think i can live with my old clunker for few more weeks if there is a chance i might get a refreshed gpu.
:p
 
If you have Applecare, why WOULDN'T you replace it? It's not like you can use it. Just send it in and get it fixed, it's free afterall.

A little refresher on my situation. I bought the SR MBP the day they came out (june 5th, 2007) and did not get the applecare. My MBP crapped out over the weekend, although it wasn't the black screen, it was the random artifact crashes(even during bootup).

So, I decided to call applecare at their regular number(800-275-2273) and see what's up. I routed to the "Technical Support" department. I explained the situation to the person and he had never heard of it, of course. He said he'll go talk to a product specialist and put me on hold for a good 15 minutes or so. The product specialist then came on the phone, and asked about the problem. The first guy had explained it to him pretty well, but I just added a couple things. He was particularly interested in the HP/Dell extensions, as he said he could not find any information on this. He couldn't find the threads or anything, so he gave me his email and told me he'd call me back within an hour, as he needed to talk to some people. I emailed him all the links, and he called me back. He said that he was going to forward the issue to engineering, and that they would go ahead and repair my MBP for free! Needless to say, I was quite happy.

I will not give out the guys name or email, but if you are having the same issues that I had, I suggest calling applecare and being very nice, honest, and upfront about the situation. I never asked to talk to a supervisor, but it may be neccessary. If enough of us call, they WILL see the problem and will address it. Nvidia was supposed to allocate $250milllion for this problem, so it shouldn't really cost Apple anything.
 
Just saw a link to this from the official Apple MBP forum:
http://www.macworld.com/article/135465/2008/09/nvidia.html?lsrc=rss_main

Basic summary: Nvidia has been hit with a class-action lawsuit. NOT by affected computer owners, but by stockholders who believe that Nvidia concealed information about the GPU defect and it's probable impact on the company's financial prospects for at least 8 months.

PDF of the complaint: http://www.lawssb.com/docs/NVDA_Complaint.pdf

What's interesting is that they have a quote from Michael Hara, Nvidia's VP of Investor Relations and Communications, where he admits that they've been troubleshooting this issue with major computer manufacturers beginning in August of 2007.
 
Macworld is a 3rd party site, but it's pretty easy to see how you'd make that mistake :p

When and if the lawsuit goes anywhere, it should answer a lot of questions to rest.
 
Macworld is a 3rd party site, but it's pretty easy to see how you'd make that mistake :p
Sorry, I wasn't exactly clear in what I typed. I got the link to the Macworld article from a post on the official Apple MBP forum (specifically, that long-ass thread about people with the Blank Screen issue).

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1478474&tstart=45

As the situation continues to get more negative for Nvidia, I think eventually Apple will have to come around and, at a minimum, offer similar extended warranties as HP and Dell. While I can understand why they would wait to see how things go before deciding on a course of action, I do feel like they should already have a consistent response to those currently affected. As things are now, it seems like some people are told their logic board will be replaced for free, others have been charged $300-ish, while others are quoted $1000+.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.