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Some 2011 MacBook Pros Experiencing GPU Glitches, System Crashes

Ditto

magbarn said:
2008 MBP Nvidia'gate' redux :mad:
I wonder if it's from 'lead-free solder'...
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Apple replaced my motherboard, oops, I mean, logicboard TWICE on my 2008 MBP that had the infamous NVIDIA GPU 8600 that failed on many systems.

The upside was that the 2008 MPBs ran SO HOT that Apple no longer called them LAPTOPS, but rather, a PORTABLE because it can, literally, burn your lap if left there too long.
 
i remember from years ago that the application of the thermal paste in the factory, both on the cpu and the gpu chips were atrocious. waaaaaay too much was put on, such that there was a significant amount being pushed out to the side. i guess they felt, "thermal paste. more is good, right?" wrong. it actually does the opposite when too much is put on.

before i sold my 2009 MBP, i contemplated "repasting." taking it apart, cleaning it, and applying high-end thermal paste the way it should be applied.

i'm willing to bet that a good proportion of the initial problem is too much thermal paste in the factory.
 
Max(IT) said:
Hardly seen on notebooks ...
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It seems many workstations have replaceable gpu, along with gaming machines. My ~2010 hp elite book 8740w has a replaceable card, seems status quo from what I'm seeing. It's the ultra books you cant touch. My last laptop with no removable gpu was my college dell xps with mobility Radeon 9700 in 2004.
 
I had a work-issued 2011 Macbook Pro that exhibited the problem: graphics would corrupt and the system UI would freeze. (Could ssh in, IIRC, but not fix anything.) Eventually, someone opened it up and found an enormous amount of thermal paste, basically making a heat-containing tent over the CPU and/or GPU. Once that was fixed, the problem never happened again.

My new job issued me a 2012 MBP, nearly identical except Ivy Bridge instead of Sandy Bridge and an Nvidia graphics card rather than a Radeon. I don't know why, but this new laptop runs MUCH cooler, and the fans are almost never audible. My only guess is that switching away from the Cinema Display to a run-of-the-mill Dell allows the machine to use the integrated graphics, since the Cinema Displays forces the MBP to switch to the discrete card.
 
spoonie1972 said:
I wonder if we'll be reading about the 2012 machines doing this a year from now.

I always run my fan high when gfx switcher turns to 'N'. It's ridiculous how hot the machine runs if left to default fan setting.
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Yeah, I've always whacked up the fans via smcfancontrol prior to doing something I know will raise the heat levels. My old late 08 mbp was chronic for this, I saw temps of 105C when the 9600m was in use and the fans had yet to kick in much beyond 3000rpm. Pre-emptively cranking up the fans to max, I never saw it go over 95C.

I just hope this topics issue doesn't eventually arise with my new 2013 rMBP with dGPU. It's rare I use the 750m tbh, but I wanted 16gb ram and 512gb so it was uneconomic to plump just for the Iris Pro model.

So far, this new mbp has been a brilliant experience, far and away the nicest comp I've ever owned since my Sinclair ZX81, just hope it stays that way!
 
Early 2011 6490M

Even though I'm looking at replacing my MBP with a rMBP, I leave it running for days either rendering or converting video with the fans in high gear most of the time and so far no issues. Not even a reboot. No internal hard drives though, just SSDs. Maybe that helps keep the heat down.
 
I've had the black screen problem a couple of times in Windows 7 Boot Camp. Not encountered any problems yet in OS X where it's rock solid.

It's a HR-AG screen if it makes any difference?

/hurriedly touches wood!
 
MagicBoy said:
I've had the black screen problem a couple of times in Windows 7 Boot Camp. Not encountered any problems yet in OS X where it's rock solid.

It's a HR-AG screen if it makes any difference?

/hurriedly touches wood!
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Install gfxcardstatus and force it to run on dGPU. Bootcamp=dGPU all the time
 
it got me

Mine is one affected. I jumped early when they were announced in 2011.

I have not seen it happen when using integrated graphics, but with any kind of graphics load on the discrete, it's only a matter of time before the screen goes blue. My current "solution" is to put the computer to sleep then wake it back up, which fixes the problem. But I'm sure it'll get worse and worse.

Please Apple, fix this.

Thanks,
Me
 
magbarn said:
Install gfxcardstatus and force it to run on dGPU. Bootcamp=dGPU all the time
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gfxCardStatus has been installed since day 1, and yes I'm aware Windows only uses the AMD chip. The machine is often used with a external monitor which also forces the AMD chip in OS X. Again no issues.
 
Lead-free solder + AMD / NVIDIA graphics card + Apple = Bad.

Squeezing those powerful (and heating) chips which are connected by non-optimal solder (as for durability) into smaller and smaller space ("look how thin this is") is bound to bring troubles. Intel Gfx are slower but more reliable and for a while have been built into CPU (like some slower AMD cards).
 
Two years ago my hard drive was going bad in my Early 2011 so I took it to the store for a replacement. Hard drive wasn't acting up under their tests so they replaced the logic board. A week later the hard drive started acting up again and then they finally replaced it. The next week, as soon as the graphics card would warm up the screen would go blue and had to be restarted. At that point they gave me a Late 2011 model and haven't had any problems besides a cheap USB hub making things screwy. I also have another year of AppleCare should anything go wrong.
 
Whoa!

Whoa! o_O My Early 2011 MBP 17" had this three months ago! After graphical glitches computer stopped booting... I paid $1k to get the logic board replaced, and the computer crashed two weeks later... Then it was replaced again (at no additional cost) and it crashed again... Then it went for a third replacement, but they only reseted PRAM and sent it back non-working, so it went back for the fourth time... After the third replacement it seems to be working fine...

Should I be spending more time keeping my finger crossed???
 
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Aleco said:
My 2010 model did this, Apple replaced it with the 2011 edition free of charge and it's doing the same thing.
(13")
I remember when the genius bar guy told me it was a RAM issue... smh
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I didn't think the 13" would be affected by it... I mean it doesnt have an AMD GPU.
 
Early 15" hi resolution 2011 macbook pro owner here and no issues whatsoever. I only had my battery die on me completely but replaced it with a brand new one that I snagged off of eBay for $58. :)
 
avanpelt said:
I doubt this correlates since it's likely a graphics card/logic board issue and not a display issue; but I noticed that all the pictures in the article show glossy 2011 MBPs. I have a matte screen and have not noticed any issues so far with my early-2011 AMD 6750M with 1 GB of RAM. Fingers crossed.
Are there any folks out there with 2011 MBPs with matte displays that have had this problem?
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Early 2011 17" BTO matte screen, AMD 6750M with 1 GB of RAM, and never had any issue. Exclusively on discrete graphics card since day 1.
Different production lines maybe?
 
I have really been wanting a macbook pro and new iMac. This and a few other things I have read is actually making me reconsider.
 
cashville2400 said:
I have really been wanting a macbook pro and new iMac. This and a few other things I have read is actually making me reconsider.
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Just get the base 21" iMac and avoid the rMBP 15 and you'll be fine :cool:

(Hint: Those don't have any dGPU's)
 
rosujin said:
I'm glad it's not just me. I started having this exact problem with my early 2011 MBP a couple of months ago. Last time it happened I shot a video with my iPhone just in case I had to show it to an Apple "genius."

The funny thing is this laptop was a free replacement given to me after Apple tried (and failed) 3 times to resolve a screen flicker issue on my '09 MBP!

Apple store...here I come!
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I have the exact same story - Apply tried to replace my 2008 MBP two times because of graphic glitches and eventually gave me a new 2011 MBP a couple years ago. Two months ago they replaced my logic board in the 2011 machine due to the issues pointed out in this article
 
kalsta said:
Indeed. My first thought upon reading this article was 'here we go again'. I had my old MBP logic board replaced under the old scheme at least, but this is becoming too regular an occurrence.
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Someone brought it to my attention recently that 2010 models were also problematic.
 
I was looking at getting the late 2011 version. Sigh! :(

Are there any MBP's that are not problematic? And don't say the Retinas because I don't think they have been around long enough. Though I will say that they are probably the best of the bunch as long as one doesn't miss user upgradeability.
 
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