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Hi, my 15" 2011 MacBook Pro (out of warranty) started acting up in May this year. There were a few crashes, then boot problems including stuck on grey screen, the BSOD, then it wouldn't boot. Apple Store first said it was a software config, and got it working, but the problem recurred within the week. Then they said they would have to replace the main logic board, costing me £416. I had a discussion at that point as to whether I should better spend the money towards a new machine, but they were confident it would be OK. Next week it failed again, and this time they replaced the MLB again, free. After that it was fine until 3 weeks or so ago, when the whole problem started up again, when I was browsing through old photo folders on Aperture. Rapid deterioration, eventually impossible to boot (initial screen in light green). Luckily on a couple of the occasions when it would boot I managed to get Time Machine backups.
At about this time, I discovered it was a well known problem, apparently related to the GPU running hot, and to the use of leadless solder. It is fairly well described in Zach Clawson's page at Cornell. He suggested sending feedback to Apple, emailing Tim Cook, signing the petition, and posting to the thread on Apple Support Community. I did all of those while I was waiting for my "Genius"
rolleyes:!) appointment. There are over 650 pages on that support community thread, and over 2 million views, but it seemed obvious that Apple was not officially acknowledging the issue, and also that the MLB replacement was with refurbished boards which in most cases failed again quite soon.
On the evening before my Apple Store appointment I got an email from someone in Apple Support asking for phone contact details so they could talk to me rather than email. I gave them, printed off all 3 emails and went to the store ready for disappointment. The guy did not seem to know about the particular problem, but said they had seen quite a few 2011 MacBook Pros recently. I showed him the correspondence, and off his own back he took it away to show his managers. I was rather surprised, and very pleased, when he came back and said they had decided to replace the machine with a new one of equivalent spec. I've only heard of this happening in a couple of the cases on the support thread.
So I came home a pretty happy bunny, expecting a call about my ne machine with a week or so. It's now more than 2 weeks and it's still not turned up. They say it's a custom build (not sure why), and they keep checking but have no ETA. I'm still optimistic but worried there might be some Head Office holdup...
There are several people turning up every day on the support thread, and one or two 2012 models turning up as well. I'm guessing that the denial of the problem can't last with the sorts of numbers building up, and the lack of any permanent fix (although some folk have got good results using outside specialists to reball the MLB with leaded solder). I'm hoping that Apple are working behind the scenes to find a more affordable fix, as it seems unlikely they will agree to replace 2011 machines with 2014 equivalents for everyone. But I just wish they'd get their act together and sort it!
Anyway, I didn't know what the issue was when it first happened to me, so I thought it might be worth a mention here.
At about this time, I discovered it was a well known problem, apparently related to the GPU running hot, and to the use of leadless solder. It is fairly well described in Zach Clawson's page at Cornell. He suggested sending feedback to Apple, emailing Tim Cook, signing the petition, and posting to the thread on Apple Support Community. I did all of those while I was waiting for my "Genius"
rolleyes:!) appointment. There are over 650 pages on that support community thread, and over 2 million views, but it seemed obvious that Apple was not officially acknowledging the issue, and also that the MLB replacement was with refurbished boards which in most cases failed again quite soon.On the evening before my Apple Store appointment I got an email from someone in Apple Support asking for phone contact details so they could talk to me rather than email. I gave them, printed off all 3 emails and went to the store ready for disappointment. The guy did not seem to know about the particular problem, but said they had seen quite a few 2011 MacBook Pros recently. I showed him the correspondence, and off his own back he took it away to show his managers. I was rather surprised, and very pleased, when he came back and said they had decided to replace the machine with a new one of equivalent spec. I've only heard of this happening in a couple of the cases on the support thread.
So I came home a pretty happy bunny, expecting a call about my ne machine with a week or so. It's now more than 2 weeks and it's still not turned up. They say it's a custom build (not sure why), and they keep checking but have no ETA. I'm still optimistic but worried there might be some Head Office holdup...
There are several people turning up every day on the support thread, and one or two 2012 models turning up as well. I'm guessing that the denial of the problem can't last with the sorts of numbers building up, and the lack of any permanent fix (although some folk have got good results using outside specialists to reball the MLB with leaded solder). I'm hoping that Apple are working behind the scenes to find a more affordable fix, as it seems unlikely they will agree to replace 2011 machines with 2014 equivalents for everyone. But I just wish they'd get their act together and sort it!
Anyway, I didn't know what the issue was when it first happened to me, so I thought it might be worth a mention here.
