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Users Find Some New MacBook Pros Suffer From Major Graphics Issues

I had graphics issues with the 2015 27" iMac with the highest configuration graphic card which was returned and I then dialed way down to a 2013 model.

I hope everyone who has these issues gets replacement models that work promptly.

I think all the bad press, class action law suits and legitimate complaints from customers may finally be sinking in over at Cupertino. It just sucks that :apple: skimps on everything for the almighty dollar rather than taking their time releasing software and hardware that "just works." Cutting corners is really starting to backfire on them in spades.

I had an extensive look at the new MBPs tonight and they are beautiful machines on the outside, I just hope Apple does lovely things with the insides again.
 
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AMD - Apple's Mighty Disaster

That's pretty much the state of Apple's GPU of choice maker.

Of course if they didn't make this new MacBook Pro so darn thin - it might actually stand a chance of not cooking all its internals too.
 
I have the new 13" 4-port with the display problems and the LG 4k display. I'm a developer myself and the only thing I can conclude is that this product was rushed to release. QA seems to have been sacrificed. It's just sloppy. The case isn't lined up right, the graphics drivers are total ****—maybe gpu memory/cache issues or something—but...

Systems are too complex for one individual to know what's causing a given behavior. Some people thing it's X or Y, but the reality is that the stack is very deep and complex these days: hardware is highly configurable, software gets more and more sophisticated, and anybody thinking they know what's up is fooling themselves. If it were trivial, it would be fixed. The folks at Apple surely worked really hard to make these, and hopefully they can come through with a software update soon.

...with that in mind, taking a macro-view of the whole product, it's ambitions, but the lack of polish is pretty evident even to the casual observer. Sadly I think this was just a matter of trying to hit a deadline for investors, KPI's, or some corporate ******** that has nothing to do with a good product, which they should have had the courage to wait and release when it was ready, because this is half-baked.

Someone is wrong in on the internet time:
Also, as for what "Pro" means: professionals get things done. Tools are incidental as professionals get things done. Professionals always find a way and they don't whine. Pro's are not here complaining about their machines. (At work I use a 2015 mbp because it's a battle-tested tool and we have mini-displayport and usb-a everywhere.) I'm here kvetching purely as a hobby.

"Pro" is a term used for product marketing. It tells consumers this one is the better one. Why get upset about this term? Just be an educated consumer and consider the offering by it's abilities, price etc. and proceed.
 
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farewelwilliams said:
never said razer was great.
but with that said: I've had 4 friends all with a MacBook Pro 2011 each with a Geforce chip. they all had graphics failures and Apple bar told them that they essentially have to replace the entire logic board at a cost. and this is a few weeks AFTER apple care ended. no joke, all 4 of them experienced the same issue, and no recall was ever done by Apple.
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The 2010's had NVIDIA chips, 2011 had AMD. Both years had Quality Programs to replace the logic boards for free. The 2011 program is still active in fact.
 
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farewelwilliams said:
should have used the Geforce 1080 GTX
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Sure, lets put a 180w chip in a 76-watt-hour capacity machine designed to last a full work day with battery to spare. You couldn't even cool that chip in the first thick Unibody MacBook's enclosure. I wish there was some riddle which had to be solved before posting on MacRumors. I'm tired of seeing comments as dumb as YouTube's on here.
 
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I had one issue on my 15' TB with 450. Red blocks and artefacting while the system was basically idling.

My girlfriend uses a nTB 13' base model and had Power Point completely go berserk on her. Intense flicker and artifacting like I've never seen before.
 
The sad thing is that there is the possibility that it affects many more people. Only the heavy duty users have noticed so far. I talked to a random guy in a coffee shop with the new MBP and he said there are graphics glitches but he was too busy to tell Apple yet. There will be more complaints. How did this happen?
I'm praying for a software solution.
[doublepost=1480743145][/doublepost]
happyhippo1337 said:
I had one issue on my 15' TB with 450. Red blocks and artefacting while the system was basically idling.

My girlfriend uses a nTB 13' base model and had Power Point completely go berserk on her. Intense flicker and artifacting like I've never seen before.
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OMG does EVERY MBP has this issue?
 
hajime said:
Probably. Too thin for powerful GPU. Problem with heat dissipation?
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That means the only way to "fix" this in software would be to cap the performance at a lower level so it doesn't get too hot, or increase the fan profile to improve cooling (more noise).

dohspc said:
Another website said "The issue, however, is related to overzealous third-party software and is not indicative of a critical hardware flaw. "
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  1. "Overzealous third-party software"? Gimmie a f'n break! It's Adobe creative apps. These aren't slapped-together programs by <random new developer using a Gmail address for contact>, they are programs that date back older than OSX in some cases.
  2. It is the job of the operating system to manage the hardware resources of the machine, and applications' interactions with them. If third party software can cause overuse of the physical components on the computer, my question is "why is the macOS allowing that?".
 
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thekev said:
10 bit color makes absolutely no difference unless you have support in both other software and whatever display you use. Apple ignored it forever, so it was hardly a reasonable consideration for you unless you were willing to go the Windows box route (including an appropriate display). Did the 750m fare any better? Keep in mind the macbook pros with discrete graphics rely on switching, so they may not be enabled when system animations run.
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True. 10-bit is just something that's off the table and not an option for me at all. I can't keep up with the P3 displays they are now using in iMacs, even if I plug an external 10-bit monitor in, which miffs me a little bit since I did purchase the near top-end model < 3 years ago.

The 4k thing kills me though. From what I remember, the Late 2013 rMBP models with the discrete cards in them do support 4k, so I'd say that the 750m did fare better. Also, my understanding is that you can change a setting to keep the machine using the discrete GPU full-time.
 
Mr. Dee said:
Could we stop putting the blame on Tim Cook for GPU issues? Remember, the hockey puck mouse was released under Steve Jobs, so were the following:

- G4 Cube - amazing design, but fatally flawed.
- iTunes for Mac OS 10 that could delete your files
- Mac OS 10.0 did not support DVD Playback.
- Mac OS X releases, 10.0 - 10.2 were basically slugs and performance truly didn't get better until 10.3 with QuickDraw 3D.
- Titanium PowerBooks that had faulty hinges and prone to shedding of the titanium material and trimmings
- G4 Aluminum PowerBooks also had there faults, check the Internet for a history lesson
- Thumb drive size iPod Shuffle, they immediately switched to the old design a year later
- Moving files between partitions in Leopard GM cause you to lose files.
- iTunes Ping
- iPhone 4 antenna issues

We could also go back 3 decades earlier with the Apple III. So, things weren't perfect under Jobs and I don't expect them to be any better under Tim Cook. Steve always said, they make stuff they like, they just charge you for the privilege of wanting one of what they like. This is Jony Ive's Mac, if you don't like it, don't buy it.
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And don't forget the first MacBook Air, the one Steve Jobs introduced in 2008 for $1,799 with 2 GB of RAM, a single USB port, an 80 GB spinning hard disk, and an underpowered CPU that still managed to cause the laptop to overheat.
 
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That's why I never buy 15 inch computers without the extended warranty and I always have secondary machine for my work ready to takeover if anything happens

I usually get rid of them just before the three year mark as are all dedicated GPUs in MacBook Pros since 2008 usually fail within just over three years

If I was getting a a single Computer it would be 13 macbook pro without dedicated gpu
 
PizzaBoxStyle said:
True. 10-bit is just something that's off the table and not an option for me at all. I can't keep up with the P3 displays they are now using in iMacs, even if I plug an external 10-bit monitor in, which miffs me a little bit since I did purchase the near top-end model < 3 years ago.

The 4k thing kills me though. From what I remember, the Late 2013 rMBP models with the discrete cards in them do support 4k, so I'd say that the 750m did fare better. Also, my understanding is that you can change a setting to keep the machine using the discrete GPU full-time.
Click to expand...

You can do that. It's in system preferences. You disable dynamic switching. My own issue hasn't been limited to generations with gpu problems. The refurbished boards don't last anywhere near as long, which is what really irritates me.

OUsooner08 said:
Seems to be 3rd party software issues according to this report.

https://www.google.com/amp/appleins...ed-by-third-party-software/amp/?client=safari
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Third party software can't do that under normal circumstances, no matter what clueless acolyte journalists report. It should merely inform you on their lack of credibility. OSX doesn't yield that much low level control to avoid this kind of thing. It can however reveal issues that were there, yet didn't show up under Apple's internal testing.
 
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MacRumors said:

…evidence remains anecdotal.
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Well, those videos look like real evidence of a problem( or several problems ) to me. Maybe the exact hardware issue(s) hasn't been found but that doesn't make it anecdotal. Chances this is a software issue is unlikely. This looks like a graphic card failure. I'd like to be wrong.
 
I bought the lower end 15" a couple of weeks ago and I haven't encountered such issues (knock on wood). This my first Mac in over 8 years - went through 3 PCs in that timeframe - and I'm loving it. It's an amazing laptop. It's too bad some users are having issues. Hopefully, Apple will get to the bottom of it soon.
 
I'd gladly return my 15' base-model in the extended return-period until Jan. 8th. I am already 100% certain I'll run into GPU issues if I use this machine for a few years. That's a really nice feeling after just having spent 2699€.

However: Razer and Dell XPS seem to be absolutely no alternative. :(
 
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WTF Apple. I mean sure, QA is a cost center, but it's pretty common knowledge that finding issues in QA is an order of magnitude cheaper than doing a field recall.

Did Ive's design team just think all of this stuff magically just works and didn't need QA? Did they think that people only used Safari, Mail, Calendar, and Photos?
 
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