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

[MrZebra]

As I surmised earlier, nobody is really "safe" with the fixes for these computers with these video cards. Electronista has an article at http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/05/11/nvidia.sued.over.graphics/ where they point out that Apple and others are suing nVidia and seeking class action status. It acknowledges that owners may get an extra year of warranty from Apple but at the end of that extra year you STILL may have a failure from these bad cards and then (my comment, not theirs) you are screwed.
I know some comments have been made that would imply that only certain cards from a certain date were bad but I don't recall anything that says so definitively. The "solution" for this may be an extra year of Applecare but that would be crap for whatever owner has one of these computers three years down the road. If Apple stated clearly and definitively that current motherboards/cards are all "good" I'd appreciate a reference to that comment as I have a good friend with one of these computers and I need to make recommendations to him to sell it off if current cards are still bad or to keep it if a repaired computer is really and fully fixed. The comments below don't imply that the problem is permanently fixed when a repair is done.

from Electonista we learn....

Although Apple, Dell and HP also tried to find a solution, Apple by promising to repair any defective MacBook Pro for two years after the purchase date and Dell and HP released an update (designed by Nvidia) to increase fan speed to prevent chip failures, the plaintiffs still claim that this is an improper “remedy” for the problem. The five plaintiffs also believe that the faulty processor can lead to further problems such as degraded battery life, slower system performance, and increased noise. In addition, the fix only ensures that the computer will not fail during the OEM’s express warranty period, leaving the longer-term effects to reveal themselves after the warranty.

Currently the lawsuit requests the case be granted class-action status, which could involve millions of laptop computer owners and result in Nvidia having to replace the faulty chips and pay unspecified damages.

That seems to be good news, let's keep our fingers crossed

 

[JasonR]

contact apple. they will have you send it in. they may ask you to describe the symptoms over the phone but essentially you just have to call apple and tell them what's going on and they'll create a "case" (be sure to get the case number) and then send it to them. Of course if you have an Apple store locally you can take it to them. If not, call Apple and they'll walk you through the process. Don't wait for the board to go out. Be sure you make a bootable mirror of your hard drive. Don't expect your data to be safe.

I have an Apple Store that's local, but this is my only PC as of now and I run my business off of it. Any idea how long they'll have it?

Is it fixed for good once I get the MBP back?

Should I send it to Apple or take it to the Apple Store?
What's the best way to create a bootable mirror? Time Machine?

 

[sclough]

I have a MBP purchased in November 2008 which, if I am reading this thread correctly means I am NOT affected by this video card issue? I have also had the logic board replaced in my laptop - so even if I was affected, does that mean the new logic board put in a few months ago has taken care of the issue?

Read through the thread. The summary:

1. Consensus is that there is no solid proof a "fixed" 8600 was every produced.
2. If you have the 8600, which I believe you do, you ARE affected.

 

[///alpinepower]

I bought 4 of the SR macbook pros last July/August and have not had a problem or failure yet. I will let you know what happens.

OK - I am quoting myself from last July 2008; 3 of the 4 laptops (SR, July 2007) have had screen and logic board replacements under warranty, and one had two logic boards replaced. So, I would say the 8600 failures are pretty frequent. I will join the class action when it is certified.

 

[sclough]

I assume Apple will have to contact us in case of the lawsuit, correct? Generally in class action lawsuits it seems like you don't have to pro-actively join but rather are contacted with the proposed settlement. I am glad to see a class-action suite since I prefer my matte Penryn MBP to the new units but also hate having a ticking time bomb.

 

[hajime]

I bought the SR MBP 17" in the summer of 2007. Apple exchanged a new one for me the next day due to graphics problem. In Fall 2007, they replaced the LCD for me due to dust behind the screen. Then, the infamous GPU problem appeared in Sept, 2008. They exchanged the motherboard for me. Since then, I have video issues a few times (blueish screen washed out color all over the screen, etc). I emailed the service provider yesterday about my problems. I asked them for the manufacturer date of the replacement motherboard. They said that they cannot find such information. Isn't all the information about the repairing parts logged? Now, I have problem with the computer shutting down by itself at 97% charge level (recycle number 194). I certainly will join the class action.

 

[Riverbird]

I got my 15inch Macbook Pro on February 09. Do you think the batch of bad chipsets are gone by now? I think my computer was manufactured in october of 08 but I'm not sure.

Thanks ^^

 

[daneoni]

I got my 15inch Macbook Pro on February 09. Do you think the batch of bad chipsets are gone by now? I think my computer was manufactured in october of 08 but I'm not sure.

Thanks ^^

If its a 9600GT then those seem fine for now. If its an 8600GT then whether you bought it in 2007 or tomorrow morning it doesn't matter. It WILL fail

 

[Riverbird]

Gah, I'm such a n00b. Yes, my card is a 9600M GT. I guess that's newer then the ones that had the problems. I use it atleast a little heavy every day or every other day or so. CoD4 (all settings on HIGH and 1400 x 900 display) get my fans up to 5000 or a little over RPM but the video card is fine. I am assuming that the computer is just doings its job at keeping my computer cool. When I first got it I was panicked when I heard the fans running at 6411 rpms well playing WoW (all settings on high with 1400 x 900 display) but it never crashed or anything. The computer on the left above my keyboard was super hot but I guess that is normal?

 

[daneoni]

Gah, I'm such a n00b. Yes, my card is a 9600M GT. I guess that's newer then the ones that had the problems. I use it atleast a little heavy every day or every other day or so. CoD4 (all settings on HIGH and 1400 x 900 display) get my fans up to 5000 or a little over RPM but the video card is fine. I am assuming that the computer is just doings its job at keeping my computer cool. When I first got it I was panicked when I heard the fans running at 6411 rpms well playing WoW (all settings on high with 1400 x 900 display) but it never crashed or anything. The computer on the left above my keyboard was super hot but I guess that is normal?

yup

 

[Teej guy]

If its a 9600GT then those seem fine for now. If its an 8600GT then whether you bought it in 2007 or tomorrow morning it doesn't matter. It WILL fail

Wait, back up. Apple's website says that the problem is with chips manufactured before September 2008. I'm as sceptical about that as the next guy but don't remember having read anything to the contrary yet.

Have we had any cases of replaced chips that we are certain were manufactured after September 2008 that have failed?

This is of particular interest to me since my last replacement was in December 2008 and could have been an "okay" chip.

 

[sclough]

Wait, back up. Apple's website says that the problem is with chips manufactured before September 2008. I'm as sceptical about that as the next guy but don't remember having read anything to the contrary yet.

Have we had any cases of replaced chips that we are certain were manufactured after September 2008 that have failed?

This is of particular interest to me since my last replacement was in December 2008 and could have been an "okay" chip.

This has been debated numerous times. There's nothing substantial that confirms any 8600's are good, but perhaps later ones had a little more solder. Only Nvidia knows for sure.

 

[daneoni]

Wait, back up. Apple's website says that the problem is with chips manufactured before September 2008. I'm as sceptical about that as the next guy but don't remember having read anything to the contrary yet.

Have we had any cases of replaced chips that we are certain were manufactured after September 2008 that have failed?

This is of particular interest to me since my last replacement was in December 2008 and could have been an "okay" chip.

This has been debated numerous times. There's nothing substantial that confirms any 8600's are good, but perhaps later ones had a little more solder. Only Nvidia knows for sure.

There's no definite answer but one can draw from the fact that people that have had their MLB replaced after Sept 08 have had their cards fail. Granted there's no certainty that these boards were refurbished with the proper soldering methods Nvidia claims boards after sept 08 were manufactured with

However i personally think Nvidia/Apple are just rehashing boards since its unlikely Nvidia is still making new 8600 chips

 

[///alpinepower]

I assume Apple will have to contact us in case of the lawsuit, correct? Generally in class action lawsuits it seems like you don't have to pro-actively join but rather are contacted with the proposed settlement. I am glad to see a class-action suite since I prefer my matte Penryn MBP to the new units but also hate having a ticking time bomb.

i'm not keeping mine.

 

[Teej guy]

There's no definite answer but one can draw from the fact that people that have had their MLB replaced after Sept 08 have had their cards fail. Granted there's no certainty that these boards were refurbished with the proper soldering methods Nvidia claims boards after sept 08 were manufactured with

However i personally think Nvidia/Apple are just rehashing boards rehashing boards since its unlike Nvidia is still making new 8600 chips

Sounds like what I expected. Now that school is over I do game pretty regularly in Windows with this thing. I'll post here if anything happens...

 

[charlieroberts]

i wanna believe

I have had my screen go black a couple of weeks ago. Fixed it with a reboot, and haven't had anymore of tha BS.

I didnt't know about this problem, so it now got me thinking ?
SHould I make a big fuss and try to get it replaced even though its still working.

I'm torn between "you may get out of this alive, if you replace it the new one may fail even faster" and " DO IT before the extended warranty provided by apple ends"

What do you think ?

 

[amorican]

I have had my screen go black a couple of weeks ago. Fixed it with a reboot, and haven't had anymore of tha BS.

I didnt't know about this problem, so it now got me thinking ?
SHould I make a big fuss and try to get it replaced even though its still working.

I'm torn between "you may get out of this alive, if you replace it the new one may fail even faster" and " DO IT before the extended warranty provided by apple ends"

What do you think ?

Take it in to the store if you have a local one and have them run the Nvidia test.

 

[Tomasmekean]

As a previous owner of an 8600GT macbook pro, I can tell you that if you game at all on the notebook the card will fail. I had my macbook pro for 1yr & 10 mnths and it was replaced twice. Also if you get the notebook replaced by apple you will have to sign a release... So no lawsuit for you...

 

[orangeillini14]

I've had my 15" MBP for almost a year now but never bought AppleCare.

Do I need to have AppleCare in order to get anything fixed if my GPU fails?

 

[sclough]

I've had my 15" MBP for almost a year now but never bought AppleCare.

Do I need to have AppleCare in order to get anything fixed if my GPU fails?

Apple extended the warranty to two years on the GPU. AppleCare extends it to 3 years from date of purchase. Given how readily available it is on Ebay, I bought AppleCare for the extra insurance.

 

[smiddlehurst]

As I surmised earlier, nobody is really "safe" with the fixes for these computers with these video cards. Electronista has an article at http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/05/11/nvidia.sued.over.graphics/ where they point out that Apple and others are suing nVidia and seeking class action status. It acknowledges that owners may get an extra year of warranty from Apple but at the end of that extra year you STILL may have a failure from these bad cards and then (my comment, not theirs) you are screwed.

Uh, re-read the link you supplied, it's NOT Apple that's suing but the OWNERS of apple, dell and HP laptops. Nothing to see here, move along etc.

 

[SolRayz]

I have had my screen go black a couple of weeks ago. Fixed it with a reboot, and haven't had anymore of tha BS.

I didnt't know about this problem, so it now got me thinking ?
SHould I make a big fuss and try to get it replaced even though its still working.

I'm torn between "you may get out of this alive, if you replace it the new one may fail even faster" and " DO IT before the extended warranty provided by apple ends"

What do you think ?

Thats how it all started for me. It progressively occurred more and more and then the artifacts came along as a bonus.

 

[jbrenn]

As a previous owner of an 8600GT macbook pro, I can tell you that if you game at all on the notebook the card will fail. I had my macbook pro for 1yr & 10 mnths and it was replaced twice. Also if you get the notebook replaced by apple you will have to sign a release... So no lawsuit for you...

I got my notebook replaced by apple and did not have to sign a release.

 

[g3signal]

I bought my MacBook Pro 15" with the 8600M 128mb in July 2007 and the video has failed on me 4 times. The symptoms were the same for the first 3 times. You would close the lid and upon opening it again would be presented with a black screen. The 4th time it did the same thing, strangely enough after 2 reboots it came back only to die completely a day later.

I've checked the hardware revision on all 4 replacements and they had the same information.

The 8600m is the problem and from my experience there has been no hardware fix, or newer revisions. Because of this, I sold it cheap and bit the bullet on a new MacBook Pro 17" since I didn't want to go through a 5th repair of the same problem.

My typical use was mainly programming with the occasional World of Warcraft. It seemed to die between 3-5 months each time.

 

[Sneakz]

As a previous owner of an 8600GT macbook pro, I can tell you that if you game at all on the notebook the card will fail. I had my macbook pro for 1yr & 10 mnths and it was replaced twice. Also if you get the notebook replaced by apple you will have to sign a release... So no lawsuit for you...

What release? I never signed one.I just signed the paper authorizing the repair and the other verifying that I picked up the laptop.