2011 17" MBP: Help talk me out of this!

[daedbird]

I say do it....
From my own experience, the GPPU failure is more prone to the 15 inch models (I have two 15 inch models and they both have suffered the GPU failure, whereas I have the 17 inch and its fine).

One thing - whenever you install the OS, install SMC Fan Control, and always have the fans run a minimum of 5k. The problem with older Macs is that the fan control never seems to keep up with the rising temps, and whatever failures I have seen is because of that.

If you don't want to buy it for $200, I do, so send the info.

When running Sierra or High Sierra, you know that Safari will have issues with websites, but you can get the newest builds of Firefox and Chrome, so web browsing is fine. The App Store seems to be getting flaky at installing past versions of certain programs, so that may be an issue.

I had a 2008 15" and never had any problems. In fact, I sold the machine to a friend (cheap) and he uses it to this day. I wanted that machine back as it was the perfect machine to work on legacy machines.

Sure, the 2012 is the best for the 15s, and 2015 was the best for the retinas....

 

[Alpha Centauri]

I have a recollection that the Unibody 15" MBP was still available in early 2013, but is too vague to be certain.

I like my 2011 15" that said the dGPU issue is ever present and luck could runout on the next restart or cold boot. I ceased using it professionally over half a decade ago and have an M1 MPB for serious work now. Yet I still use the 2011 15" most days, serves up media and still gets the occasional heavy workout . It's rarely shutdown, remains same as it left the factory. It's never even been clean installed LOL.

Q-6

I thought my dGPU's fried, or power supply, turns out patched SW increasingly mimicking HW faults. Unfortunately become a HW guru of all things able to and having failed, often multiple times (more often due to only used parts available). After many thousands $ spent the repairer/ insurer forewarning writing it off if/ when much more occurs. So maintenance and data retention have unfortunately become the focal point.

Sadder part is pausing the Photog hobby due to the unrealistic display output really.

Hopefully next year finally catapults me into a replacement after 13 yrs of use. As only machine it have to be a 16". Even M2 MBA be enough processing wise but dropping 1" screen size appears much greater than increasing by 1". For longevity 2TB internal and RAM+++ be perfect...just dreaming out aloud.

 

[Juicy Box]

I have a 17" Late 2011 MBP, and it is fully working, but the battery needs to be replaced.

Originally, it was my brother's, and he had the logic board replace two or three times under the AC warranty (and maybe a service program?), as the GPU kept failing.

It stopped booting for him, and he figured it was the GPU again, but no coverage anymore. He gave it to me to mess around with, and he got himself a 2017 MBP when they launched.

As for his (now mine) 17" Late 2011 MBP, it ended up being a failed HDD which cause booting issues, so I replaced it with a SATA SSD. Such an easy swap.

It works great, but started having the "Replace Battery Now" message a few years back. I might replace the battery, not sure yet.

It is a beautiful Mac, and a nice, big display on it.

 

[Queen6]

I say do it....
From my own experience, the GPPU failure is more prone to the 15 inch models (I have two 15 inch models and they both have suffered the GPU failure, whereas I have the 17 inch and its fine).

One thing - whenever you install the OS, install SMC Fan Control, and always have the fans run a minimum of 5k. The problem with older Macs is that the fan control never seems to keep up with the rising temps, and whatever failures I have seen is because of that.

If you don't want to buy it for $200, I do, so send the info.

When running Sierra or High Sierra, you know that Safari will have issues with websites, but you can get the newest builds of Firefox and Chrome, so web browsing is fine. The App Store seems to be getting flaky at installing past versions of certain programs, so that may be an issue.

I had a 2008 15" and never had any problems. In fact, I sold the machine to a friend (cheap) and he uses it to this day. I wanted that machine back as it was the perfect machine to work on legacy machines.

Sure, the 2012 is the best for the 15s, and 2015 was the best for the retinas....

17" has more thermal headroom, yet suffers exactly the same issue and similar to my own 15" luck of the draw. 2022 your just rolling the dice, could be OK, could be DOA and 11 years old anything can let go in a heartbeat.

SMC is DOA, look to MacsFan Control is far more refined. I spent a lot of time with the 2011 15" connected to a secondary display. Worked at it to keep the fans below 4K as past this the noise is overly intrusive. Dig deep plenty of posts on the subject of 15" MBP and temp control.

My 2011 15" MBP fan curve is on default setting, if the dGPU was going to fail it would have done years ago.

Q-6

 

[Bodhitree]

It looks like there are more bad years than good years… Apple has a reputation for long-lasting, good quality hardware but I have to say, most bog standard HP or Lenovo PCs tend to last just as well.

 

[Queen6]

It looks like there are more bad years than good years… Apple has a reputation for long-lasting, good quality hardware but I have to say, most bog standard HP or Lenovo PCs tend to last just as well.

The 13" MBP's and Air's seem to fair well. Think the 15" & 16" Apple just pushed the limit a little too much and the Likes of the 2011 Radeon dGPU manufacturing issue tipped the balance. Admittedly the Butterfly Keyboard was a disaster across all the portable line up and Apple should have acted far sooner than it did.

Q-6

 

[elmarjazz]

I had a 2010 MBP 17” with the dual core and max 8GB RAM, but when the 2011 came out with quad core and 16GB the next year I thought of it like the holy grail that would last for years and got one. Well, of course the graphics went out on it, and APPLE repaired it, then again, and APPLE repaired it, and then again, but it was 1 month after APPLE cancelled the free service, or any service, and it was retired. Funny thing is, I had planned to sell the 2010 and never got around to it. My son used it for awhile. I just got it out, and reinstalled High Sierra on the SSD. Still a monster, but that big screen looks nice on a desk, and fine for basic work. One thing going for the 2010, it didn’t have the GPU problems of the 2011 quad core, maybe it ran a bit cooler. I’m seeing there is some interest in these museum pieces ;-), so maybe it is time finally to sell it.