Early '11 MacBook Pro, Video issues.

[danjalh]

HI everyone.

I own a MacBook pro 15inch, early 2011. Over the last years, I have experienced some issues with the laptop, these have been worsening and increasing over time, the issues have been:

-Problems with a black screen when opening the laptop.

-Intermediate graphic distortions, this has only happened twice.



Then one week ago, I experienced the same graphic distortions as earlier, except this time the graphics did not resolve itself and after 10 seconds the MacBook shut down. Now every time I start it, there are the same graphics distortions, and then the login screen comes followed by a grey screen.
I believe that the problem with my MacBook Pro is this one:
http://www.apple.com/uk/support/macbookpro-videoissues/



I have handed my computer in to the Apple certified retailer: Humac. They ran a test on it, which found a problem with the Graphics part of the MacBook, and said that the Logic board needed to be changed to fix this problem.
When I asked if the “Repair extension program” would cover my MacBook they said no, because they had found a single chip on the Logic board, which was missing its cover and apparently had some rust on it, See Attached Picture, the chip is in the lover left corner Next to the fan.

Now my question is this:
Are they right in that the Program does not cover as the MacBook has the “defect” chip? Or is this chip just some random finding they have found and claim is the problem?
Even though I am not mad, I do feel like my MacBook has a known issues which fits very well with its current problem, and that they just found some random “defect” which they blame it on to avoid a free repair.



Hope this understandable, I will appreciate every little bit of help.

Sincerely Danjal.

 

[keysofanxiety]

HI everyone.

I own a MacBook pro 15inch, early 2011. Over the last years, I have experienced some issues with the laptop, these have been worsening and increasing over time, the issues have been:

-Problems with a black screen when opening the laptop.

-Intermediate graphic distortions, this has only happened twice.



Then one week ago, I experienced the same graphic distortions as earlier, except this time the graphics did not resolve itself and after 10 seconds the MacBook shut down. Now every time I start it, there are the same graphics distortions, and then the login screen comes followed by a grey screen.
I believe that the problem with my MacBook Pro is this one:
http://www.apple.com/uk/support/macbookpro-videoissues/



I have handed my computer in to the Apple certified retailer: Humac. They ran a test on it, which found a problem with the Graphics part of the MacBook, and said that the Logic board needed to be changed to fix this problem.
When I asked if the “Repair extension program” would cover my MacBook they said no, because they had found a single chip on the Logic board, which was missing its cover and apparently had some rust on it, See Attached Picture, the chip is in the lover left corner Next to the fan.

Now my question is this:
Are they right in that the Program does not cover as the MacBook has the “defect” chip? Or is this chip just some random finding they have found and claim is the problem?
Even though I am not mad, I do feel like my MacBook has a known issues which fits very well with its current problem, and that they just found some random “defect” which they blame it on to avoid a free repair.



Hope this understandable, I will appreciate every little bit of help.

Sincerely Danjal.

Definitely the graphics failure. It's covered free of charge until the end of this year: https://www.apple.com/uk/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

EDIT: It may be worth taking to an official Apple Store to see if you'd have more luck there. Sometimes third-party repair centres don't have as much weight with getting it sorted.

 

[tubeexperience]

Yes, it should be covered under the repair extension program.

Take it to Apple Store.

 

[danjalh]

Thanks for the replies.

But how can I convince them that the chip does not play a part in the current problem that my macbook is experiencing.
Or is just easier to take the macbook back from Humac, and find a different retailer? I am living in Denmark with the nearest Apple store four hours away.

Thanks

 

[Willo34]

A good repairshop will be able to claim this free repair program for you at Apple.....

 

[mojolicious]

Does a ten week gap in posts count as necromancy?

*****

Friend has a Late 2011 2.2GHz 15" MBP running 10.9.5. Will boot as far as the Apple logo, then logo disappears and he's left with a grey screen. Also claims to have seen 'blue with black lines' screen while trying to instigate a network recovery, but didn't encounter it myself.

I forced it to start up from external monitor; restarted from external disk; reseated the RAM; replaced with known good RAM; replaced SSD with known good SSD. Startup disk selection screen works normally, but once the Apple logo disappears it's all over. Meanwhile his SSD is fine in my Mid 2010 MacBook.

None of this seems to fit with the wording of the repair program, which is...

• Distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen
• No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on
• Computer restarts unexpectedly

So, does it sound like a problem outside the scope of the repair program? I don't want to get his hopes up.

 

[Brammy]

Yep.

Mine only got about halfway through the boot screen before crapping out/

 

[macTW]

Does a ten week gap in posts count as necromancy?

*****

Friend has a Late 2011 2.2GHz 15" MBP running 10.9.5. Will boot as far as the Apple logo, then logo disappears and he's left with a grey screen. Also claims to have seen 'blue with black lines' screen while trying to instigate a network recovery, but didn't encounter it myself.

I forced it to start up from external monitor; restarted from external disk; reseated the RAM; replaced with known good RAM; replaced SSD with known good SSD. Startup disk selection screen works normally, but once the Apple logo disappears it's all over. Meanwhile his SSD is fine in my Mid 2010 MacBook.

None of this seems to fit with the wording of the repair program, which is...

• Distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen
• No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on
• Computer restarts unexpectedly

So, does it sound like a problem outside the scope of the repair program? I don't want to get his hopes up.

Sounds exactly what I experienced, and I got it fixed through Apple's program. I didn't have any unexpected restarts.

 

[mojolicious]

Sounds exactly what I experienced

Thanks macTW, that's encouraging.

Will Apple reformat the disk just for the hell of it? There's a Boot Camp partition on the SSD; will check if it's actually used (the MBP was bought second hand and I suspect it's a legacy of the first owner). Do you know the best cloning tool to use if he *does* want/need the Boot Camp partition?

 

[macTW]

Thanks macTW, that's encouraging.

Will Apple reformat the disk just for the hell of it? There's a Boot Camp partition on the SSD; will check if it's actually used (the MBP was bought second hand and I suspect it's a legacy of the first owner). Do you know the best cloning tool to use if he *does* want/need the Boot Camp partition?

What Apple did for me was replace I think the motherboard, because it was the integrated GPU. They didn't do anything with my SSD, but they always ask if I have it backed up and my current OS just in case. They replaced my disk drive for free - it was broken so I guess they needed it for the fix?

 

[Feashman]

What Apple did for me was replace I think the motherboard, because it was the integrated GPU. They didn't do anything with my SSD, but they always ask if I have it backed up and my current OS just in case. They replaced my disk drive for free - it was broken so I guess they needed it for the fix?

This is a well known issue as referenced above. If you are near an Apple Store, you will simply need to bring your MBP to them. They will run a diagnostic which will likely show a failure of the graphics display system. If confirmed, they will fix the issue at no charge. Takes 24 hours. This will NOT require replacing or erasing your hard disk.

 

[macTW]

This is a well known issue as referenced above. If you are near an Apple Store, you will simply need to bring your MBP to them. They will run a diagnostic which will likely show a failure of the graphics display system. If confirmed, they will fix the issue at no charge. Takes 24 hours. This will NOT require replacing or erasing your hard disk.

Nowadays it takes 5-7 business days. They ship your laptop too a third party who does it, but they give you a 60-day warranty for any issues related to it. My fix didn't work, so I just sent my laptop back, free of charge. They also might have scratched my screen the first time (it either happened without my knowledge the day before, or they did), but Apple said they would have the third party put a new screen in and, if they didn't or it wasn't good, they'd replace the screen in store.

 

[dollystereo]

Do the repaired machine work well?

 

[Feashman]

Do the repaired machine work well?

The machine works. Nothing to see - or not see. They replaced the logic board and everything was back to normal. When I brought my MacBook Pro in 12-18 months ago, they did the repair at the Apple store and it took just 24 hours.

BTW, the video failure doesn't always hard fail in the beginning. In my case, the first visit to the Apple store did not show a failure according to Apple's diagnostics. Two months later, though, the video chain hard failed and passed the failure diagnostic run by Apple.

 

[mojolicious]

A somewhat belated conclusion to the story I started in November, with information gleaned third-hand...

The owner was charged £179 by an AppleStore for the replacement of motherboard, battery, and trackpad. Apparently the battery had swollen and 'broken the mouse', which isn't something I'd noticed (not that I was looking for it).

Not sure how Apple arrived at the pricing: the motherboard replacement would have been free under the (now closed) programme, and here in the UK a 15" MBP 'battery service' is £129. So effectively it was £50 to provide and install a new trackpad, which seems very generous. Does £179 correspond to a flat rate repair tier?

Anyway... everyone appears to be living happily ever after.