MacBook Pro 15" late 2011 graphics issues

[curlydog]

My MacBook Pro 15" 2.5 GHz (late 2011), purchased in October 2012 at an Apple authorised reseller, has started to do random reboots and demonstrate odd video behaviour which is the classic symptoms of the known graphics card failure of these particular macs...broken up video and offset screen display, stripey lines etc, I've had them all recently.
I learned about the extended program of repair, but then also learned that it had just ended in Dec 2016. I took it into the Apple Store last week and they had it in for tests. Yesterday they phoned and said the fault was not the graphics card and so they would not cover the repair. They said the logic board needed replacement and it would cost me £525 to repair. When I asked what they had done in tests, they said under and EFI test the issue had manifested itself and this did not use the graphics card, hence I was not covered under the extended plan.
They blamed the issue on the fact that the authorised reseller had fitted 16Gb of ram when the machine only officially supports 8Gb. Therefore it was not their fault.
Why do I feel as though I am being fobbed off here? The chap reporting all this to me gave me a pretty garbled account of the tests and I feel they are conveniently blaming the re-seller to get out of paying for the repair.
Should I believe Apple?

Thanks for your help.

Curlydog

 

[Mammut]

What kind of help are you looking for exactly? Yes, on one hand I join your opinion, that their justification to deny the free repair is ******. But on the other hand the repair program is over for more than two months now. So I think the best (or only) way to deal with it, is to get over your 2011 MacBook, which is already more than 6 years old, and go for a recent one!

 

[curlydog]

What kind of help are you looking for exactly? Yes, on one hand I join your opinion, that their justification to deny the free repair is ******. But on the other hand the repair program is over for more than two months now. So I think the best (or only) way to deal with it, is to get over your 2011 MacBook, which is already more than 6 years old, and go for a recent one!

Well actually it isn't that old. I only bought it in October 2012 and it went wrong in mid February. So it's lasted only 4 years and 4 months. In my opinion and consumer law, this is not enough. At 6 weeks out of the end of the repair programme Apple were contemplating repairing it under the programme. However they can't get it to go wrong under the VST test but only the EFI test. They claim this means that the graphics card is not to blame and so they won't cover the repair. Instead they are blaming the authorised reseller for selling the machine with 16Gb of Ram. This all seems rather dubious to me and so I have my doubts.

In my line of work we are all trying to keep our 2011-12 machines going because they are the ones with the connectivity we need to do our work. Fw800, Ethernet etc etc ( and a lock slot too!). I don't want a gimmicky, overpriced touch bar one, that means I have to purchase docks and dongles. Apple seem to have forgotten that Pro users like to connect to devices and are not bothered about the pursuit of slimness.
So please don't tell me to get over my old machine. I was about to pimp it up with a 2Tb flash and it would have been perfect for a good few years.

I guess I was just wondering whether anyone thought this sounded dubious or for real...to answer your question.

 

[Mammut]

Well actually it isn't that old. I only bought it in October 2012 and it went wrong in mid February. So it's lasted only 4 years and 4 months. In my opinion and consumer law, this is not enough. At 6 weeks out of the end of the repair programme Apple were contemplating repairing it under the programme. However they can't get it to go wrong under the VST test but only the EFI test. They claim this means that the graphics card is not to blame and so they won't cover the repair. Instead they are blaming the authorised reseller for selling the machine with 16Gb of Ram. This all seems rather dubious to me and so I have my doubts.

In my line of work we are all trying to keep our 2011-12 machines going because they are the ones with the connectivity we need to do our work. Fw800, Ethernet etc etc ( and a lock slot too!). I don't want a gimmicky, overpriced touch bar one, that means I have to purchase docks and dongles. Apple seem to have forgotten that Pro users like to connect to devices and are not bothered about the pursuit of slimness.
So please don't tell me to get over my old machine. I was about to pimp it up with a 2Tb flash and it would have been perfect for a good few years.

I guess I was just wondering whether anyone thought this sounded dubious or for real...to answer your question.

I understand your feelings about this, but I think there isn't much you can do. Apple is (at least in Germany) clearly excluding defects caused by third party parts or changes which do not comply with Apples specifications for the specific device. So you have obviously third party RAM in your MacBook which exceeds Apples specifications (Apple says max. 8GB - you have 16 GB built in your devices). And since its a logic board and not a dGPU failure, it seems that their behavior is reasonable from a legal perspective.

 

[Fishrrman]

What you might try:
… Secure 8gb of factory-compliant RAM and put that into it yourself. And then...
… Take it to A DIFFERENT Apple Store (even if that means traveling some way) and let them have a look at it.

If that doesn't work, perhaps the best thing for you to do is start shopping for a newer MacBook (sorry).

 

[Mammut]

What you might try:
… Secure 8gb of factory-compliant RAM and put that into it yourself. And then...
… Take it to A DIFFERENT Apple Store (even if that means traveling some way) and let them have a look at it.

If that doesn't work, perhaps the best thing for you to do is start shopping for a newer MacBook (sorry).

Might work - but I wonder if Apple is storing earlier service 'findings' for a specific device or serial number?!

 

[jerryk]

Might work - but I wonder if Apple is storing earlier service 'findings' for a specific device or serial number?!

I would think the Serial number and model would be something they track on any inspection or repair work.

 

[Calby]

Might work - but I wonder if Apple is storing earlier service 'findings' for a specific device or serial number?!

Yes apple open a case on the serial number.

But, in this case as his logicboard crashed in Efi test I do agree with apple the issue are infact not the dGPU that are failing.
As in the Efi the dGPU are not even testing.

There test program are disconnecting everything else beside what's are under test.


And a logicboard can break without it need to bee the dGPU