Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Macbook Pro. Going on 4th logic board.

P

psy-q

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 9, 2007
11
0
Vancouver, BC
Need some advice on my Macbook Pro.

Got it some time in April of 2006 and immediately noticed the CPU whine that was common with them at that time. After some fighting with Apple I had the logic board replaced under warranty just before the warranty was up (apr07). BIG MISTAKE, I should have left it alone. After a couple days I started getting video corruption. No big deal, it had a 90 day warranty on the new board, so I took it in again and had it replaced. Problems solved.

Today, 5 months later I popped the lid and woke it up from sleep to find diagonal squares all over my screen..... crap, video card. Took it to the local shop and they estimate a $1200 logic board.... AGAIN. That will be the 4th logic board in this thing in less then 2 years.

So here I am being held hostage by my logic board devouring macbook that is out of warranty. It's like a lemon car but worse.

Help me!! :(
 
well, if your location has lemon laws, then use it, look up the consumer rights in your area and go back to apple and say look, 4 logic boards, only a year and a half old, this qualifies for a lemon, i want it replaced...

might work

good luck

edit: you have proof right?
 
Didn't get the extended warranty. From previous experience when an electronic device goes wrong it does so well within the first year. Same was true with my macbook, the problem is the replacement parts have been garbage and fail within a year as well.... unfortunately they only have a 90 warranty on them. This logic board is only 5 months old.

I do have full documentation of all the repairs that have been done by a certified Apple repair shop.
 
psy-q said:
Didn't get the extended warranty. From previous experience when an electronic device goes wrong it does so well within the first year. Same was true with my macbook, the problem is the replacement parts have been garbage and fail within a year as well.... unfortunately they only have a 90 warranty on them. This logic board is only 5 months old.

I do have full documentation of all the repairs that have been done by a certified Apple repair shop.
Click to expand...

electronics not laptops, most of laptop problems ive had have been after the first three years...i dont have applecare though, mainly cause i replaced my HD and i dont know if anything will be covered...i should prolly get it though
 
squeeks said:
electronics not laptops, most of laptop problems ive had have been after the first three years...i dont have applecare though, mainly cause i replaced my HD and i dont know if anything will be covered...i should prolly get it though
Click to expand...

well i consider the logic board an electronic component. If a HD died out of warranty I wouldn't give it another thought and replace it. But this is 4 primary logic boards that cost an excess of $1200 each all failing before half of would be the basic 1 year warranty supplied if they were installed new OEM. That is a totally unacceptable level of quality.
 
psy-q said:
Didn't get the extended warranty. From previous experience when an electronic device goes wrong it does so well within the first year. Same was true with my macbook, the problem is the replacement parts have been garbage and fail within a year as well.... unfortunately they only have a 90 warranty on them. This logic board is only 5 months old.

I do have full documentation of all the repairs that have been done by a certified Apple repair shop.
Click to expand...

This is a very easy choice then. Buy a NEW Computer of your choice. A $1200 repair ona lemon or a new machine. no brainer if you ask me..
 
zepharus said:
This is a very easy choice then. Buy a NEW Computer of your choice. A $1200 repair ona lemon or a new machine. no brainer if you ask me..
Click to expand...

I totally agree. If Apple fails to help me with this it'll be my last Apple machine.

It's unfortunate because they are incredible machines, but I can't afford $1200 in repairs ever 5-6 months.
 
psy-q said:
I totally agree. If Apple fails to help me with this it'll be my last Apple machine.

It's unfortunate because they are incredible machines, but I can't afford $1200 in repairs ever 5-6 months.
Click to expand...


I would still buy an apple but word to the wise... while the vast majority of Apple care is pure profit for apple, like an extended car warrenty, ONE major issue and this just paid for itself. More issues past that means you are playing with house money..Purchase Apple care it is worth the cost, especially on a laptop which is mobile and more seseptible to falls, spills and the such
 
My luck with apple and logic boards:

A WORD TO THE WISE:

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER HAVE YOUR LOGIC BOARD REPLACED WITH A REFURB! The ones that applecare services and all service providers use are refurbs. I had a powermac that had its logic board replaced 3 times, and they were ALL defective within 30 days. Then I INSISTED that they put in a brand new logic board, and the computer hasn't had any problems.

If it is possible, never have your logic board replaced, unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary for it to be.

psy-q said:
I totally agree. If Apple fails to help me with this it'll be my last Apple machine.

It's unfortunate because they are incredible machines, but I can't afford $1200 in repairs ever 5-6 months.
Click to expand...

Mac's are expensive. It's like owning a Merc or a BMW, theyre great cars that usually last a while, but when there does need a repair, no matter how small it is...its gonna cost ya. The power window motor in my Merc broke after about 4 years of having the car, and for it to be replaced was nearly 2k. Something that would cost less than $150 on a toyota camry or ford focus...
 
CALL APPLE ...

Explain the situation, and how the machine is just out of warranty from the deceased part.

On a case by case basis they can and do repair products just out of warranty.

Especially if the machine has had soo many problems.
 
pianodude123 said:
My luck with apple and logic boards:

A WORD TO THE WISE:

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER HAVE YOUR LOGIC BOARD REPLACED WITH A REFURB! The ones that applecare services and all service providers use are refurbs. I had a powermac that had its logic board replaced 3 times, and they were ALL defective within 30 days. Then I INSISTED that they put in a brand new logic board, and the computer hasn't had any problems.

If it is possible, never have your logic board replaced, unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary for it to be.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree with this guy more. Although I DO have Applecare, I had my logic board replaced. It was a refurb, and it had more problems than the one it replaced. After that, it had been 4-5 repairs total on the laptop, so I demanded that they replace it. I went from a 1.83 MBP to a 2.2 Santa Rosa MBP, so you could say I'm a happy customer for the time being :)
 
A good lesson in why Apple Care is such a good idea on new portables. I am pretty sure with Apple care they would have finally provided you with a new machine. It's starting to look like it is not necessarily a logic board problem. Maybe if the second logic board totally fixed all issues, but it might be something else that is corrupting something on the logic board. Something that is effecting the GPU.

You could try calling Apple, and maybe you can get some one that will be willing to do something for you. Sometimes they will go out of their way if it shows a real issue as this seems to be.

Hope something works out.

If not try ifixit.com for your logic board.
 
I have a similar story. Just call apple and explain your situation in detail and calmly say that you are disappointed . You'll need to get transfered to customer relations. They usually want to keep you as a customer, so they'll try to make something work.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. You're definitely giving me the impression that it's probably not hopeless and I don't have a brand new MacBrick Pro.

I've got a friend that works at a local repair shop that has supplied me with a couple customer rep names. Should go a long way.
 
psy-q said:
I totally agree. If Apple fails to help me with this it'll be my last Apple machine.

It's unfortunate because they are incredible machines, but I can't afford $1200 in repairs ever 5-6 months.
Click to expand...

Which is why you spend the 200 bucks on applecare and have free repairs for 3 years.
 
zioxide said:
Which is why you spend the 200 bucks on applecare and have free repairs for 3 years.
Click to expand...

Hindsight is 20-20. Better to look ahead and deal with the issue as it is now rather then dwell on what if :rolleyes:

Can we stop with the "You should have bought Applecare". I didn't and there is nothing I can do about it now.
 
psy-q said:
Can we stop with the "You should have bought Applecare". I didn't and there is nothing I can do about it now.
Click to expand...

I agree. The fact that psy-q has Applecare or not is irrelevant. It seems as though his MBP is atypical and as such, Apple may do him a solid and replace it with a new one. This is his 4th logic board .... even if it's out of warranty, that's ridiculous.

However, if Apple doesn't offer to fix/replace it for free, you might want to see if your Credit Card company will back it ... assuming you paid with a credit card.

Good Luck!
 
pianodude123 said:
My luck with apple and logic boards:

A WORD TO THE WISE:

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER HAVE YOUR LOGIC BOARD REPLACED WITH A REFURB! The ones that applecare services and all service providers use are refurbs. I had a powermac that had its logic board replaced 3 times, and they were ALL defective within 30 days. Then I INSISTED that they put in a brand new logic board, and the computer hasn't had any problems.
Click to expand...


I had a refurb logic board replacement in a 12 inch PB G4 that lasted 2 hours !!!!

I 100% agree !!!
 
Just got off the phone with Apple in Sacramento.

they will NOT be helping me out with this issue. Their tech guy Woody explained that to help me with this computer, that he agreed was faulty, would not be fair to AppleCare customers. Despite the fact this is a logic board that is less then 6 months old and the original board is warrantied for a year. He also dodged the question about why replacement boards only have a 90 day warranty and ignored the fact that I will never buy another Apple product.

Thats some pretty crappy tech support and customer loyalty. Time to bump this up to Customer Relations at Apple Canada.
 
If it wasn't for OS X, I would stay far far away from Apple hardware. I have had plenty of issues with MacBook Pros and iMacs in the past except for the newest MBP which happened to be perfect. The thing I hated the most was when I brought it into the Genius bar they always tried to downplay what I say and act like it's a non-issue.

The good moments I had was when I called them up and had an issue with my iPhone and they overnighted me a replacement with no questions asked. I wish it was this easy with computer issues!
 
psy-q said:
Just got off the phone with Apple in Sacramento.

they will NOT be helping me out with this issue. Their tech guy Woody explained that to help me with this computer, that he agreed was faulty, would not be fair to AppleCare customers. Despite the fact this is a logic board that is less then 6 months old and the original board is warrantied for a year. He also dodged the question about why replacement boards only have a 90 day warranty and ignored the fact that I will never buy another Apple product.

Thats some pretty crappy tech support and customer loyalty. Time to bump this up to Customer Relations at Apple Canada.
Click to expand...

Almost all manfacturer's only warranty replacement parts for 90 days (or for the remainder of the manufacturer's warranty, whichever is greater).

They are not obligated to help you. You didn't buy AppleCare, that is why they sell it, so that your computer will be covered if it breaks beyond the manufacturer's warranty period.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back