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1. Smurfman

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: May 2001

   +3
   08/08, 02:18pm | report spam | close reply

   My MacBook Pro did this

   I had these exact problems (and more) with my 1 year old MacBook Pro.
   
   I've used Apple products for about 15 years and have helped bring a number of individuals to the Mac platform. Of all the Macs I've used and owned, this Macbook Pro has given me the most trouble.
   
   I have already sent it to Apple service twice to replace logic board and hard drive components. Even this week the hard drive failed -AGAIN- and I installed a new one myself (since the warranty ran out in June).
   
   The Macbook Pro's, at least from this time period, seem to have a very high "lemon" percentage. It's a shame to pay $3000 and get lockups, black screens, "jumbled" screens, hard drive failures, etc., etc. for an entire year.
   
   With the new hard drive installation, it seems to be running smoothly. However, it's only been 2 days. ;-)

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1. sUNtiGEn

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Mar 2002

   0
   08/08, 02:22pm | report spam | close reply

   happened to me. :(

   My MacBook Pro which I purchased in June of last year died like this. I'm out of warrenty, and neglected to purchase AppleCare, so I took the laptop into The Apple Store, and was told that the logic board needed to be replaced due to a faulty NVIDIA graphics card... cost to me was going to be $317 tax.
   
   Since I bought a replacement when this happened, I opted instead to wait and see if Apple does the right thing. I posted a message on Apple's forums expressing my issues, and had my post deleted by a moderator... :(
   
   I hope Apple steps up here. This is obviously a hardware problem which should be covered by a recall or something like that.
   
   
   

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1. panjandrum

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Dec 2004

   -2
   08/08, 02:36pm | report spam | close reply

   Seeing this a lot

   We've been seeing overheating video chipsets in other Apple models as well. I think this is part of the result of the market demanding that Macs get less expensive. Unfortunately, it also means they get less reliable.

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1. Guest

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Nov 1999

   +9
   08/08, 02:48pm | report spam | close reply

   Me too

   My MacBook Pro is away at Apple having the logic board replaced as I type this. Luckily (if there is any luck in this situation), it happened just a week and a half before my warranty was set to expire. After reading up on the issue I decided to extend the Apple Care on my MacBook Pro since this will not be the first time the faulty Nvidia GPU goes bad. I'm hoping for an official recall from Nvidia but on the Windows side they've done nothing but suggest that the bios allow the fans to run more often to cool the chip. Failure is inevitable and they are just delaying it.

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1. Guest

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Nov 1999

   -1
   08/08, 03:01pm | report spam | close reply

   Not Me

   Purchased my new MB Pro last September (17" Santa Rosa). Been working perfectly ever since. Just thought I'd try to balance things out a bit.

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1. rtamesis

   Dedicated MacNNer

   Joined: Jan 2000

   +2
   08/08, 03:04pm | report spam | close reply

   Me three

   My Macbook Pro which I purchased in 2006 died last week. You could hear the fan running and see the light on front, but there was no startup sound and there was just a dark screen. I brought in into my local Apple Store, and they said that the logic board had failed and needed to be replaced.

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1. TheBum

   Mac Enthusiast

   Joined: Sep 2001

   +5
   08/08, 03:07pm | report spam | close reply

   Early adopter advantage

   I never thought I'd actually see an advantage to being an early adopter. I have a first-generation MacBook Pro with an ATI X1600 Mobile chipset and haven't had a bit of trouble with the graphics.

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1. Feathers

   Grizzled Veteran

   Joined: Oct 1999

   -11
   08/08, 03:25pm | report spam | close reply

   What, no zealots...

   ... rushing to the defence of Apple? To drag up some recent history, remember that the iBook logic board problem a few years back that Apple actually admitted to (eventually) was a graphics chip issue also and by coincidence, heat related. On that occasion the (ATI) chips mounted using BGA technology were becoming unseated as a consequence of either or both thermal and physical stress. I had an iBook fail four times under Applecare and, like Smurfman, the fifth (hard-disk) failure, out of warranty, I fixed myself. Where are the fanbois now?

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1. testudo

   Forum Regular

   Joined: Aug 2001

   -4
   08/08, 03:44pm | report spam | close reply

   Re: seeing this a lot

   I think this is part of the result of the market demanding that Macs get less expensive. Unfortunately, it also means they get less reliable.
   
   I'm sorry, my MBP cost $2500, add in $350 for AppleCare (which I feel is a no-brainer for any computer with built-in screen, esp. a laptop, regardless of maker). I'd hate to see what Apple would be charging for 'more reliable' components.

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1. testudo

   Forum Regular

   Joined: Aug 2001

   -2
   08/08, 03:52pm | report spam | close reply

   oh...

   and, like TheBum, I'm apparently a lucky one with a Radeon 1600 card.
   
   And just went to the 'genius' bar to get my battery replaced, since it was defective (despite there being an extended replacement plan or some such nonsense on it, I had to be given a lecture about how battery life diminishes over time and isn't normally covered, but he gave me a 'break' and replaced it anyway).

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1. MatildeMatilde

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Feb 2008

   0
   08/08, 03:59pm | report spam | close reply

   Blank screen when on?

   It "only displays a blank screen when powered on?"
   
   What does it do when it's turned off then?

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1. mike3k

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: May 1999

   +1
   08/08, 04:48pm | report spam | close reply

   It happened to me

   It happened to my LED backlit MBP a few months ago. Since it was just less than a year old, they replaced the motherboard under warrantee.
   
   When that happened, I was still able to access the MBP via screen sharing so I was able to back it up and deauthorize iTunes in preparation for the motherboard replacement.
   
   

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1. mike3k

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: May 1999

   -1
   08/08, 04:51pm | report spam | close reply

   It happened to me

   It happened to my LED backlit MBP a few months ago. Since it was just less than a year old, they replaced the motherboard under warrantee.
   
   When that happened, I was still able to access the MBP via screen sharing so I was able to back it up and deauthorize iTunes in preparation for the motherboard replacement.
   
   

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1. Guest

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Nov 1999

   +2
   08/08, 04:57pm | report spam | close reply

   It finally hits Apple

   Not surprised, this issue with 8600M/8700Ms is causing allot of problems for Dell too. I work for a contractor for warranty Dell hardware repairs and vast majority of the machines with diagnosis's like "Corrupted video" (such as it being fuzzy, having lines), freezing issues and BSOD issues, and especially no post issues are the boards with 8600Ms. Dell even released a BIOS update that makes the fan rev up more to try to "bandage" the issue abit.
   
   I was just wondering when it was going to hit Apple eventually with the MBP. Looks like Apple is going to have to make a similar workaround like Dell did and I am sure their repair centers are going to be uber busy with these MBP issues.
   
   In a strange way, I am slightly glad I don't have a MBP in this instance. I have a standard MacBook, reason was the only advantage to me was the GPU, and I have a desktop PC with a 8800GT (OCed) and three game consoles so I didn't really need my laptop to do games ^^;. Plus, $700 more was beyond what I could do at the time ^^;.

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1. tiger

   Forum Regular

   Joined: Jun 2007

   -9
   08/08, 07:27pm | report spam | close reply

   where are the fanboys?

   This happens to apple quite often, its just that due to their gigantic over hyped fanboy base, they just get away with it... double standard much?
   
   I had the one of the iBooks, and sent it in for a logic board replacement 5 times.. until it finally went out of warranty and they didn't do anything about it... it broke down again so i just let it die since it wasn't worth fixing it for $300 that apple charged... A friend also bought one of the aluminum imacs ($2000 mind you)... that just froze apparently for no reason... they returned it and bought a dell (for $1000) which works fine...
   
   I just think... you know paying $3000 for a computer would mean you got some quality product, and at least good support... not just have a 'genius' tell you to reinstall the OS when the problem still persists.. seems like that's the answer to everything in the universe... reinstall

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1. JuanGuapo

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Jan 2008

   +1
   08/08, 07:58pm | report spam | close reply

   Apple & Quality

   Apple, for the most part, does have excellent product quality--what so-called standard are these ppl holding them to that they are not holding Sony, Dell, HP to as well?
   
   Here's another thing; the MBP is their premier flagship notebook, and I have yet to hear of any "widespread" issue w/ the Nvidia chipset, esp. in comparison to Dell.
   
   Lastly, I don't understand how anyone would pay $2000 for a notebook and NOT BUY THE EXT. WARRANTY??? That just kills me... they'll drop 2-3k on a computer, and then wine/b****/moan if it goes out 2yrs down the line. I always buy an ext. warranty and I'm always throwing money away b/c my computers seem to outlast the 3yr warranty period. However, when the latch on my 12" PB decided to fall out after 2.5yrs of use, the Applecare paid for everything....it was the very first time i ever used AppleCare despite having bought it on all my Macs.. Go figure.

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1. Rod Hagen

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: May 2005

   +1
   08/09, 06:05pm | report spam | close reply

   Be wary of "hype" on this

   For what its worth I'm doing a quick and dirty survey of MBP owners who I know. Over 50 MBPs are accounted for in it so far. Not one of them has had any problem with its graphics card.
   
   The same supposedly "doomed" card is also fitted in many Thinkpads, Sony Varios, Acers, Asus, Toshiba, etc etc computers. Strangely, though, the "hype" all seems to be directed at Apple.
   
   Some of those reporting problems in the Apple forums are no doubt genuine, but it is also rather strange that there has been a sudden flood of "first time" posters there, all of whom seem to have "suffered" the problem within a couple of days of the original Inquirer story appearing. Oddly, the "long time users there don't seem to have the experience.
   
   The Inquirer article that started it all was written by a man whose dislike of NVidia is legendary in the computer blogsphere.
   
   Some people, as always, will, of course suffer genuine graphics card failures in MBPs (as they do with all cards in all computers). The evidence of any real broad issue here at present though, other than with Dells and HPs (and maybe ASUS) which run the chips at higher temps than Macs, is very scanty indeed.

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1. Rod Hagen

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: May 2005

   -3
   08/09, 06:06pm | report spam | close reply

   Be wary of "hype" on this

   For what its worth I'm doing a quick and dirty survey of MBP owners who I know. Over 50 MBPs are accounted for in it so far. Not one of them has had any problem with its graphics card.
   
   The same supposedly "doomed" card is also fitted in many Thinkpads, Sony Varios, Acers, Asus, Toshiba, etc etc computers. Strangely, though, the "hype" all seems to be directed at Apple.
   
   Some of those reporting problems in the Apple forums are no doubt genuine, but it is also rather strange that there has been a sudden flood of "first time" posters there, all of whom seem to have "suffered" the problem within a couple of days of the original Inquirer story appearing. Oddly, the "long time users there don't seem to have the same experience.
   
   The Inquirer article that started it all was written by a man whose dislike of NVidia is legendary in the computer blogsphere.
   
   Some people, as always, will, of course suffer genuine graphics card failures in MBPs (as they do with all cards in all computers). The evidence of any real broad issue here at present though, other than with Dells and HPs (and maybe ASUS) which run the chips at higher temps than Macs, is very scanty indeed.

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1. Rod Hagen

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: May 2005

   -2
   08/09, 06:07pm | report spam | close reply

   Be wary of "hype" on this

   For what its worth I'm doing a quick and dirty survey of MBP owners who I know. Over 50 MBPs are accounted for in it so far. Not one of them has had any problem with its graphics card.
   
   The same supposedly "doomed" card is also fitted in many Thinkpads, Sony Varios, Acers, Asus, Toshiba, etc etc computers. Strangely, though, the "hype" all seems to be directed at Apple.
   
   Some of those reporting problems in the Apple forums are no doubt genuine, but it is also rather strange that there has been a sudden flood of "first time" posters there, all of whom seem to have "suffered" the problem within a couple of days of the original Inquirer story appearing. Oddly, the "long time" users there don't seem to have the same experience.
   
   The Inquirer article that started it all was written by a man whose dislike of NVidia is legendary in the computer blogsphere.
   
   Some people, as always, will, of course suffer genuine graphics card failures in MBPs (as they do with all cards in all computers). The evidence of any real broad issue here at present though, other than with Dells and HPs (and maybe ASUS) which run the chips at higher temps than Macs, is very scanty indeed.

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1. unother

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Feb 2004

   -1
   08/09, 10:36pm | report spam | close reply

   Fluky Hardware

   I've seen issues with three different Macs I purchased and returned this year.
   
   Quality is gone. I think I'll be suffering along with a lot of others...

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1. Tanker10a

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Jan 2003

   +2
   08/10, 05:45am | report spam | close reply

   Hey Over Here

   I have experienced a lot of overheat from my first MB Pro 15" edition. It took two trips before the Apple Store acknowledged that there was a problem. So when the screen was damaged which resulted from Apple Repairs Depot Level and when I escalated the problem because I was well beyond two weeks, AppleCare took care of the problem by replacing my MB Pro 15 with a brand new one overnight. No question asked!

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1. CobraNT

   Dedicated MacNNer

   Joined: Aug 2003

   -2
   08/10, 10:55am | report spam | close reply

   Sooo....

   I have random video issues with my Macbook Pro and I guess this would explain it.....the only question I have is what is Apple going to do about it? My guess is nothing.....

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1. rtbarry

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Aug 2001

   +2
   08/10, 01:36pm | report spam | close reply

   how much does apple....

   ...pay these "fanboys"? they certainly must be paid quite well. no one could be so supportive of a soulless corporate giant... for no reason... right?
   
   maybe you don't see many "fanboys" in this thread because the so-called fanobys actually realize that apple does sometimes have issues with their products. and when they experience these problems, they are open about them. apple is run by human beings, like every other entity in the world. when you see most of the fanboy behavior is in response to heavy trolling. imagine that!
   
   although rare, i'm quick to point out any issues or concerns i have with an apple, or a dell or . i guess i've been lucky overall, but i've had very few failures with any hardware by any manufacturer in over 15 years of heavy professional usage across most platforms/makers. software is a whole 'nother issue.

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1. arng1

   Forum Regular

   Joined: Oct 2006

   +1
   08/10, 07:22pm | report spam | close reply

   just bought a new mbp....

   damn, i just bought a mbp a few days ago, any1 think i should bring it back and get the older model with the ati gpu?

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1. Guest

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Nov 1999

   +2
   08/11, 12:47am | report spam | close reply

   MacBook Pro Tale of Woe

   I purchased a 2.33Ghz 17" MBP over a year ago. That was actually an "open box" unit that i got from the Apple Store at Roosevelt Field. Within a couple of weeks, the unit failed. The Genius at the store was nice and allowed me to upgrade to the then-brand-new 2.4 model. (I paid the difference in cost) I have since had THREE new logic boards, and have been unable to do any substantial work on it.
   (With this track record, you better believe that I purchased Applecare.)
   Finally, in the last go around, I went to the store at Walt Whitman Mall. After holding the machine for over a week, they finally said they'd just give me a new one. (2.6 model) So far this unit has been trouble-free.
   Am I happy? Well it's kind of cool to have a new MBP. But I upgrade anyway every couple of years, and I'd have been happier if I had a year of trouble-free use.
   I do have to add that Apple's staff was uniformly polite and helpful, which was nice to see.
   
   Danny