Those who have had the 2011-2012 MBP graphics issue and logic board replacement...how did it turn ou

[ptdeneb]

I have been unable to get Apple to commit to a clear statement as to whether the logic boards they are using are simply refurbished or redesigned. I have had people at several levels of Apple make contradictory statements as to the condition of the replacement boards with one even claiming it was a new production with a different setup. Clearly a redesigned board with a new model of GPU would inspire more confidence in the repair but there is no evidence other than a few people claiming so. Searching reveals a lot of people who have had multiple logic board replacements and repeat failures with these supposedly "known good" boards. If anyone knows for sure if the boards are old stock, refurbs or redesigned please comment. Also if you have had the repair please give your experience and if the issue re-emerged with a new board.

*I know there is a massive thread about the issue but it's not very current and I have read the handful of responses about this precise question so was hoping to get more eyes on the post and more current updates.

 

[nudoru]

Starting in late 2013 and over the course of a year, I went through 4 logic boards before finally getting the computer replaced with a new retina 15" by the store.

The boards lasted from a few months to 5 minutes. The techs replaced them as long as I could show the defect to them at the Genius bar.

This was before the official recall.

 

[Queen6]

Given that these models are no longer produced the boards will be refurbished unless the store has old stock, which is unlikely given the failure rate. Best you can hope for is the same longevity as original, chances are with a refurbished board is longevity will be significantly compromised.

As long as Apple continue to run notebooks with dGPU`s at the very limit of the components thermal envelope this issue will continue, especially if your usage/workflow pushes the dGPU hard.

Q-6

 

[hammo123]

I had the logic board on my late 2011 17" MBP replaced in late December under AppleCare but was reluctant to do so as all the Genius Bar guys gave me cryptic or vague answers when asked about the replacement boards components or source.. It's as if they are briefed to confuse you or avoid the topic.

Anyway so far so good & my MBP is maxed out with a 1TB Samsung 850Pro & 16GB of ram & it is in daily use on CPU & Graphics intensive tasks so if it's going to fail it should be sooner than later..
It still runs quite hot [70 - 80C]

What I can report so far is that the graphics seem a little better & overall performance is the same if not slightly snappier..

Also mine retains the same Serial Number but was returned with revision Boot ROM Version: MBP81.0047.B29
This has now been updated to :MBP81.0047.B2C

 

[bbrks]

Year and a half ago....logic board replaced on early 2011 MBP....since then, no issues whatsoever. Works perfectly....

 

[jorgk]

Already commented to the same/similar point with my experience before (here):

... I got my late-2011 15" MBP logic board repaired three times (!) always b/c of dGPU failure (Radeongate). Which shows that firing dGPU tests at those logic boards works well

The one LB placed in last, however, did withstand all my brute force attempts and seems to be stable. At least up to now. Thus, apple may indeed have changed something when repairing and exchanging those boards.

Update: Was OK for a year. Now frequent Kernel panic when switching graphics cards (particularly when switching back to iGPU (!)). But the Apple test software reports no problem - thus not covered under extended repair program
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