
MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues - lstamour
http://www.apple.com/ca/support/macbookpro-videoissues/
======
bpierre
I had this model, and the graphic issues started to appear during the last
summer. After having acknowledged the situation [1] (Apple doesn’t officially
admit there is a problem, and chances are that I will have to pay for a new
logic board since I am out of warranty), I went to an Apple Store in the UK
for a diagnostic.

I was about to pay for the new logic board, and the person confirmed to me
that in case of a recall happening in the future, I would be refunded by
Apple. Nice surprise when he asked me where I bought it: since I ordered it on
the Apple website, even if it was on the french Apple Store website, they
proposed me to replace it using the UK warranty, which is 6 years (!) instead
of 1 year in France [2] (I didn’t take the Apple Care).

A few hours after having my computer back, the exact same graphic issues
started again. I went back to the Apple Store, and they changed it again.
Everything was working fine…

Until two months later, when the sound chip just died: no errors in OS X, but
no sound at all (from speakers, microphone or jack plug). I went back to the
Apple Store, and they changed the logic board again (it wasn’t a problem
because all replacements are covered by warranty).

A few days later, the graphic issues started again. I went back to the Apple
Store. Since they changed the logic board three times already, they proposed
me to replace the MBP by a brand new one: the latest and high-end model (since
they have to replace it with an equivalent), and I even received an external
drive since the new models don’t have one, and despite having said that I
don’t need it.

I think I have been really lucky: I just wanted to repair it so I could sell
it and buy a new model. I ended up with the latest model without paying
anything except a few hours spent at the Apple Store.

Lessons learned:

\- Buy your Apple computer from Apple if you can.

\- You have a 6 years warranty in the UK.

[1] [http://www.mbp2011.com/](http://www.mbp2011.com/)

[2] [http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-
warranty/](http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/)

Edit: the legal warranty is 2 years in France, not 1 year.

~~~
IanCal
> \- You have a 6 years warranty in the UK.

It's worth remembering this, however it's not always 6 years. There's no fixed
time, but 6 years for electrical goods is a fairly good point.

This all comes down to the sales of goods act, which means good must be "fit
for purpose". If an expensive laptop breaks after 4 years, then you can argue
it wasn't fit for purpose and therefore must be fixed or replaced (or a _full_
refund issued). As long as you haven't caused the problem through misuse,
you're covered.

> since I ordered it on the Apple website, even if it was on the french Apple
> Store website, they proposed me to replace it using the UK warranty

If you'd ordered it through someone else, you would have to have gone through
them instead (it's up to the seller to sort out, not the manufacturer).

This is a very powerful piece of consumer law, and it's a shame it's not as
well known as it should be.

> \- Buy your Apple computer from Apple if you can.

Unless you'd bought it from another person rather than a business, you should
have received the same treatment. This isn't Apple being nice, this is them
fulfilling their legal obligations.

~~~
alasdairnicol
> If an expensive laptop breaks after 4 years, then you can argue it wasn't
> fit for purpose and therefore must be fixed or replaced (or a full refund
> issued). As long as you haven't caused the problem through misuse, you're
> covered.

My understanding is that under the Sale of Goods Act you are entitled to a
partial refund [1], which reflects the use that you got out of the product.
For example, if a laptop broke after 4 years, and 6 years was a reasonable
lifespan, that suggests a 1/3 refund.

I believe that the new EU directive entitles you for a full refund for the 2
years of the warranty. In this regard, it's a stronger protection than the UK
Sale of Goods act. In other regards, the Sale of Goods act is stronger (5
years to make a claim in Scotland, 6 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland).

> Unless you'd bought it from another person rather than a business, you
> should have received the same treatment. This isn't Apple being nice, this
> is them fulfilling their legal obligations.

Some retailers might be quicker to fulfil their obligations than others, so
that's worth considering when choosing where to buy the product. My recent
experience at the Apple store after buying from the Apple website was pretty
positive.

edit: re-reading your post, I realise that you already pointed out that your
rights are against the retailer, not the manufacturer.

[1] [http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/sale-of-
go...](http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/sale-of-goods-
act#link-4)

~~~
IanCal
> My understanding is that under the Sale of Goods Act you are entitled to a
> partial refund

You are entirely correct, I'd misunderstood things and possibly got confused
with a shorter timeframe (if it's very early on, you're entitled to a full
refund). Thanks for the correction, I'll update my post to point out the
error. (edit - oh, I'm now unable to edit the post :( )

> I believe that the new EU directive entitles you for a full refund for the 2
> years of the warranty. In this regard, it's a stronger protection than the
> UK Sale of Goods act.

Very interesting to know, thank you.

------
jgh
Well I had one of those 2011 MBPs that failed in this way...this was after my
warranty expired and clearly before this repair was issued. They told me it
would cost me like $350 or $400 or something to replace the motherboard on the
thing. Ended up buying a new MBP and selling the bricked one for $100.

There was an enormous thread spanning several years on the apple support
forums, so it's a good thing they waited until 4 years later to address this
problem...

~~~
prawn
My MBP had this fault and was out of warranty (I'd taken too long to take it
in). They replaced the logic board and screen free of charge. I think the
amount shown on the zeroed invoice was close to $1k.

Same Apple Store, my wife showed that her iPhone with cracked screen had dust
in the camera, assured them the dust predated the screen smashing and they
gave her a new phone.

I suspect newly opened Apple stores are granted a budget to go above and
beyond in order to build local reputation.

~~~
marvin
My local Apple store, however (Eplehuset in Bergen, Norway) flagrantly
violates Norwegian warranty law unless you show up multiple times, cite the
specific chapter of the law they are violating and then threaten legal action.
So it's clearly not a global policy.

~~~
jafingi
But Eplehuset are just authorized resellers, not Apple's stores. We also have
Humac and Eplehuset in Denmark (however, Humac just bought all Eplehuset's
stores), and that's the same story.

------
ronyeh
Unfortunately, I have a Mid 2010 MBP that is not covered under this warranty
extension.

It crashes/restarts all the time with a GPU panic that is caused by the nVidia
card, and triggered by the OS. It never crashed with Snow Leopard (the stock
OS for my model), but ever since I upgraded, it crashes consistently (Mountain
Lion & Mavericks).

I use gfxCardStatus to force the computer to use the intel graphics card. This
allows me to work without random restarts.

~~~
imeron
Same. It makes an otherwise totally fine computer worthless. There was a
recall for this problem too ([http://support.apple.com/en-
ca/HT203554](http://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT203554)), but it already ended.

~~~
ig1
Yes. I had the same problem and Apple did a free out-of-warranty logic board
replacement for me.

------
blinkingled
I have given up on buying laptops with dGPUs - Post Sandy Bridge Intel's GPU
is more than what a non-gaming machine needs and I certainly don't need the
battery loss and added heat.

(These dGPU related repair issues seems like the are an Apple only thing
though - my work laptop has a Nvidia GPU and it is running most of the times
due to sleep/wake issues - no other problems in the past 4 years. Haven't
heard of any other manufacturers having similar issues recently either.)

~~~
dmishe
I believe the root of the problem, lead-free soldering joints, was common to
all portables of that time

~~~
pmjordan
Nvidia and AMD GPUs probably generate more heat than Intel chips and so have
likely been more badly affected. Has there been some breakthrough in the alloy
used for solder that makes this less of an issue now? Also interesting that
I've never heard of this issue with desktop GPUs, which get insanely hot. My
guess is the solder pads are bigger and more widely spaced?

~~~
rsfern
I'm not aware of any major breakthroughs in the past few years, but lead-free
solder alloys are an active research area right now. Here's a SANDIA report
from 2012 that has some context and some cool micrographs; you can find lots
more by searching the web for tin whisker growth in lead-free solders.

(edit: pdf warning) [http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-
control.cgi/2012/12051...](http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-
control.cgi/2012/120519.pdf)

------
fpgeek
Well, well. Just as with the iMessage switching from iPhone issues, it seems
that sometimes it takes a class action lawsuit to get results from Apple:
[http://9to5mac.com/2014/10/28/apple-class-action-
lawsuit-201...](http://9to5mac.com/2014/10/28/apple-class-action-
lawsuit-2011-macbook-pro-gpu-graphics-issues/)

Full disclosure: I'm pretty sure my wife is owed a reimbursement over this.

------
37prime
I have worked on 6 units of 2011 MacBook Pro that had this issues. Two of them
were repaired out-of-warranty, which cost $210+tax for parts and $100 for
labor.

I talked to AppleCare rep a few hours ago and Apple will refund me the repair
cost.

------
cswelin
Wonder if they will still reimburse me. They only noted "Computer will not
turn on and there are no signs of power" for the repair, since I didn't take
it in until the logic board died (did reboot randomly, and random colours on
the screen).

17 Days later I had another repair on the new part for "Mac shuts down
unexpectedly during use with battery".

Think my bill was around $600-$800 for the logic board replacement.

~~~
dmart
They keep a more extensive internal work log regarding your repair than what
is listed on your invoice, so if you call there's a good chance they can look
through your history and see whether they identified it as a graphics issue.

~~~
cswelin
sadly the senior support support guy told me since it doesn't clearly state
"graphic problems or random reboots" there's a good chance his request will be
denied.

Didn't take it in during those problem since it "worked" and was out of
warranty, but did when that last reboot wouldn't 'reboot'.

Lesson learned :S

------
ryan_j_naughton
Late 2011 Macbook Pro here, and I had to get my logic board replaced twice.
Thankfully, it was still under Apple Care, but had it not been I definitely
would not have paid for the repair TWICE and would have ended up selling the
bricked laptop like others did.

Given that virtually everyone would have taken their MBP to an Apple Store
(even those who decided to not get the repairs), Apple has a list of most
people who experienced this issue.

If they want to maintain their reputation for quality, it would be wise to
find a way to reimburse people who they can confirm (with said previous apple
store appointments for this issue). They don't need to reimburse everyone, but
they could definitely find a way to rebuild some trust here.

~~~
josu
I don't really think this damaged their reputation, even in the slightest way.
I had never heard of the problem, and it seems that even the people that
suffered it went ahead and bought another mac:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9079010](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9079010)

~~~
akent
I downvoted you because you simply can't draw that conclusion just based on
the evidence of one anecdotal account from an affected user and from your own
ignorance of the problem. Of _course_ this has damaged their reputation in the
minds of some affected users.

~~~
ryan_j_naughton
I absolutely agree. Having to bring my laptop in on a yearly basis to get it
fixed due to this issue definitely lowered my expectation of hardware quality
in Macs. I will absolutely still be buying another Mac, but that is primarily
because of the operating system and ergonomic design principles -- all of
which make me a much more productive developer.

Because Apple bundles everything (and refuses to unbundle the OS from the
hardware in any way), you are likely right that the effect will be minimal
because the benefits of all the goods (bundled together) outweighs the costs
(and consumers have no choice -- if they want any part of the bundle, they
must buy all of it).

------
JohnBooty
This is great news, even though it's frustrating that they took so long to "do
the right thing."

Last year my 2011 MBP failed literally the day before its extended AppleCare
expired. Had it failed a day later, I'd have been in some trouble.

~~~
ilyanep
Mine failed literally the day after the AppleCare expired and thankfully the
guy let me get it repaired as if it were under AppleCare. My understanding is
that the store managers actually get a fair amount of leeway on this. Were
that not the case, I would have had to think hard about spending $350 on a
repair for a computer that was no longer my primary.

~~~
JohnBooty
I'm glad they took care of you! I'm curious: had you bought the extended
AppleCare?

Reason I ask is because the general consensus seems to be that they cut you a
lot more slack if you've paid for the 3-year warranty, even if it's expired.

That's been my experience, but... I'm not rich enough to buy two identical
MBPs (one without extended coverage) and use one as a proper control sample.
:)

------
ryen
I have a 2010 MBP that experienced system restarts from a Apple-known video
issue and they fixed it out of warranty (required complete motherboard
replacement). They should extend this to the 2010 models as well.

~~~
ryen
EDIT: (this was 2 years ago)

------
felipc
I'm curious to know why is this a hardware fix. The problems on my mid-2012
mbp only started after the upgrade to Yosemite, and this seems to be the case
from many reports on forums out there.

~~~
slantyyz
Apparently the MBP runs super hot, weakening the solder links to the discrete
GPU.

The problem is that there seems to be a design defect either in the chassis,
logic board or both. Replacing the logic board basically just resets you to
day one. If you're a heavy user, you'll soon encounter the same issue, which
is why a lot of people -- myself included -- have had the problem recur.

While I'll be taking advantage of the fix (I can't even boot my Macbook Pro,
even the post screen is messed up), I'm hoping they've actually made a fix to
the logic board design as opposed to giving me a replacement logic board with
the same problematic design.

~~~
colomon
Ah, that would explain why it happened twice to me! To be fair, the replaced
logic board lasted about a year.

This is doubly good news for me, because it makes it sound like my early 2011
MBP is likely to be covered, and I can reasonably hope the fix will last
longer than a year, as my main development work has been moved to a mid-2014
MBPR.

------
zachberger
I have never seen the visual glitches, however I have had my computer restart
spontaneously and upon reboot would state "A graphics problem has been
detected". I called Apple Care several times about this, and filed tickets on
bugreporter.apple.com but made no progress. Glad they're finally getting
around to fixing this.

My model is: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013)

------
hiphopyo
Great news! Been struggling with this for a long time and thought I was the
only one!

[https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/709328/geforce-
driv...](https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/709328/geforce-
drivers/nvidia-windows-kernel-mode-driver-335-23-stopped-responding-and-was-
recovered-successfully/post/4211491/#4211491)

------
frade33
Just last month I finally sold my 15" MBP (early 2011) for $500 after whining
on reddit, and having no chance of repair, except the apple auth. guy said, I
need to change motherboard.

[http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/2ka0h0/yosemite_cripp...](http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/2ka0h0/yosemite_crippled_my_mbp_2011_early_switched_back/)

Also I voted this. [http://www.change.org/p/timothy-d-cook-replace-or-fix-
all-20...](http://www.change.org/p/timothy-d-cook-replace-or-fix-
all-2011-macbook-pro-with-graphics-failure)

I wish I had not sold it. :/ because for $500 I could only get the HP pavilion
:/ as a replacement., you know that alone is the most terrible fact about this
whole episode. that Had to use a HP lappy. :/

If I were apple CEO, I would be sending a personally signed, apologizing note
to each of these customers, with a bag carrying a new MBP.

In my case it took 45% of my fortune to buy that machine. :/

~~~
wcfields
I had the same exact model, except I bought mine Refurb'd from Apple with
Applecare so it was going to run out this March. Rather than risk having a
brick I sold it on Craigslist for $850. This is after having the logic board
and hard-drive replaced twice by Apple a few years earlier.

~~~
lstamour
If you paid Apple, maybe ask for a refund anyway. They have a record of your
service/transaction, and it's not like the computer is required, just ID and
perhaps a credit card statement or the like.

------
RankingMember
As someone who's owned a lot of cheap but reliable laptops, are those of you
with MacBook Pros commonly needing to return to an Apple Store after
purchasing for service? In my mind I've been on the verge of giving a MBP a
shot a few times because my associates are always going on about how great the
hardware and build quality is, but then I read about an issue like this and
see what feels like a billion people chiming in about how "yeah mine does that
too" and change my mind.

Perhaps this is a case of brand loyalty (e.g. "I'd rather push a Chevy than
drive a Ford"). I acknowledge that of course the horror stories will come out
in the comments for a thread about a common failure, and that a very popular
brand is likely to have more people to comment, positively or negatively. I
guess I'm just concerned I'll splurge on a top-end MBP and end up with
something less reliable than a $450 Toshiba that refused to die.

~~~
dangson
I don't know how much a few anecdotes matter, but to answer your question, no.
My MacBook from 2009 is running perfectly fine today. I used it quite heavily
throughout college and always keep it on sleep mode so it's been running
pretty much continuously for years. I did replace the hard-drive with an SSD,
but I still use the original as a small portable drive.

After giving that MacBook to my dad, I upgraded to a 13" Retina MacBook Pro,
which is amazing. I used it for a few months before selling it to my brother
and switching to the late 2013 15" one. Both laptops are running great and
there are no screen issues.

And for what it's worth, I had a positive experience when I needed to bring
the 15" into the Apple store. I had stupidly used a cheap wireless mouse with
a plastic USB connector and a piece of plastic got stuck in the USB port.
Apple removed it free of charge.

------
car
I had a similar problem with a Macbook from around 2009. The graphics became
defective right after the 3 year Apple Care expired. This was a known
motherboard issue with extended coverage, but I didn't know, so I went out and
bought a new Macbook.

What I would like to know is, why doesn't Apple inform the owners of affected
hardware? It's not like they don't know, since they have everything they'd
need for that in their customer database (Apple ID and contact info, Macbook
serial numbers).

I suspect they happily leave the onus on the consumer to discover that their
out of warranty hardware has a serial defect who's repair is covered. I've
seen this behavior with other manufacturers (Onkyo). I think that we need
better laws to force the manufacturers to contact their customers, similar to
safety recalls in the automobile space.

~~~
umsm
Personally I go to the Apple Store even if I know I am out of warranty because
they will lay out all of the options you have. Sometimes they offer free
services because of recalls

------
caseyf
I have a late 2011 MacBook Pro that has this problem.

I called Apple this morning and they told me that I'd have to bring it in to
an Apple store. The page on Apple.com offers a postage paid "Mail In Service"
option if you are in the US but the customer service rep didn't know anything
about that.

------
jogloran
I have an early 2011 and have had this problem twice. The latest time I was
working in SF and didn't think they would replace the logic board again for
free, it being three years out of warranty. They did, which suggests to me
that internally Apple has been aware of this problem for quite some time. This
program gives me relief because I can see the problem happening again.

If I remember correctly the store said it was due to loose connections between
the logic board and the discrete graphics. It originally manifested as lockups
as soon as the discrete GPU kicked in. For anyone else seeing this problem, I
was able to manage that using a tool called gfxCardStatus which disables the
discrete GPU.

I'm pleased that Apple is doing the right thing by their customers and
offering to reimburse historical repairs.

~~~
X-Istence
I had a 2007 MacBook Pro, it had the original round of Nvidia issues. I got
one from a friend in 2013. Originally I was going to use it as a parts machine
because I wanted the CD drive, but instead I realised it may have the Nvidia
issues. I brought it into Apple and it popped for the issue, so they sent it
off, I got it back and it was fully functional again. No charge.

To this day it still works without issues :-)

------
fwaddle
I have an Early 2011 Mac Book Pro which has had the motherboard replaced twice
because of this issue. The first one was 3 years out of warranty so I had to
pay $700 (Aus). The second time it happened only 6 months after the first
motherboard replacement. I'm currently on the phone with their support to get
my money back hopefully. Although it has been 28 minutes waiting so far...
Perhaps I'm not the only one calling Apple tonight.

Edit: ok all sorted out. Refund is in the mail ;) Turns out I was the first
one to call them apparently so they weren't sure how to process it. I ended up
getting transferred to someone that sounded UK'ish with a nice 80's phone time
delay. Woohoo Nice present for the weekend me thinks!!

------
Eleopteryx
They are way too late with this.

I imagine that most people who experienced this failure have gotten their
device repaired out of pocket or moved on to a different laptop. I got mine
repaired by some dude on eBay and it only worked for about a month after that,
that $150 is gone. But at least I can finally have a usable MacBook Pro to
possibly sell, as opposed to just a really expensive paperweight.

However, I would like to know if they've actually fixed the fundamental design
flaw that caused this problem to begin with. If they're merely going to
replace the faulty parts for free with the exact same part, then it won't do
much but give you an extension on the life of your advice until the same thing
happens again.

------
lowbloodsugar
Damn it, I just new it was the GPU! So glad I held on to it! Its been in a
couple of time and they offered to change the MB for too much money. I've
tried different RAM, different SSDs. Its an old 2011 17" with the AMD GPU.
Made my appointment already!

------
lancefisher
Oh nice. My 2001 anti-glare MBP has been flickering when trying to display
purple for some reason. Visiting getbootstrap.com puts scan lines across the
screen. I was thinking it might be the display, but now I'm thinking it's the
GPU.

------
arthurfm
Where do you stand if you have an Early 2011 15" MacBook Pro that has a faulty
GPU but is long out of warranty?

Even with this extension program, you aren't any better off since you would
still have to pay for the repair according to Apple's website?

I guess this is where your statutory rights come into play if you live in the
UK (like I am) since these entitle you to the free repair or replacement of
the defective goods up to six years after purchase.

[http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-
warranty/](http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/)

~~~
nandhp
The second paragraph says "Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will
repair affected MacBook Pro systems, free of charge."

~~~
arthurfm
Thanks! I misread the text at the bottom of the page (due to tiredness).
You're right though, the repair would be free of charge.

"This worldwide Apple program does not extend the standard warranty coverage
of the MacBook Pro."

------
amikula
In the last 6 months, I've had my 15" late 2011 model MBP repaired three times
for this exact problem. After the first failure, they haven't charged again
for the subsequent motherboard replacements. I guess so many are failing all
at once that they couldn't ignore the problem anymore.

Interestingly, the first time I had it repaired, I was charged $550 by a
third-party "repair" shop who told me up front that it the motherboard needed
to be replaced, then took it to Apple and payed them $330 to fix it. Caveat
emptor.

~~~
kenrikm
Yeah the standard flat rate fee for motherboard related issues from Apple is
just about $300. With this in mind it's usually a better idea to take them to
Apple then use third party shops. I've had the exact same issue happen to me
on Apple laptops all the way back to my 2008 Macbook Pro and eventually Apple
made the same extension for that model as they are with these newer models.
After a few years the video chipset seems to have connection issues that may
or may not be solved with a reflow attempt (baking the logic board in the
oven)

------
daviddoran
I'm delighted they're finally doing this. I've a 2011 Macbook Pro sitting on a
shelf for the last year because the graphics went haywire and eventually it
wouldn't start at all.

------
Dorian-Marie
Yep, happens to me too, random freezing is especially annoying.

Also, random weird black screen flickering, and grey/old-TV-like screen
glitches are just ugly but not really a problem.

------
psp
The occasional screen freeze with Macbook Pro late 2013 model here. Too bad
its not covered by this program. Oh well, have to restart it manually here and
there.

~~~
stevenh
It would be nice of Apple to disclose exactly what has been causing the
problem on older models, and to explain in detail what lucky accidental change
they made to their manufacturing process in late 2013 which supposedly fixed a
problem they implicitly claim they were unaware existed until now.

------
lucaspiller
Has anyone else had issues with Macbook Air having marks on the screen which
won't come off? These look like tiny scratches, but are in a line and roughly
where the screen touches the top of the trackpad when closed.

I've had it with both the 11" and 13" models of the current design. Apple
replaced the screen on both, but the same happened and then my warranty
expired.

~~~
zk00006
Yes, same issue on retina Macbook Pro 15, bought 2013. Apple refused to repair
the screen. It is clearly that the scratches match the structure of the
keyboard. Previous model does not have this issue and is used identically. I
bought the laptop in Japan and requested repair in Czech Republic. Apple
refused my claims because "international" warranty is only for 1 year (I asked
for repair after 2 years). The result? Screen is not repaired and difficult to
use unless completely dark. This issue is quite common and It would be nice if
Apple change its policy in this case as well.

------
rob
This happened to my early 2011 15" MacBook Pro sometime mid-2013. Apple
repaired it for a $300 flat-fee via their "Repair Depot" option and luckily I
haven't had the issue happen again yet (but it did come back with some extra
scratches and a 3 month warranty, I think? - can't remember now.)

Hopefully the refund process isn't too difficult.

~~~
iimpact
I had the same issue happen to me about a month ago, and also paid the flat
$300 fee. I called Apple Support yesterday, and explained to them my situation
and their current program. The employee that was helping me put me on hold a
few times and eventually had me talk to his 'Senior Supervisor'. I then had to
re-explain what was going on, and to my surprise, this was the first time the
'Senior Supervisor' heard of the Video Card warranty/program. He asked for my
serial number and called my back to 'look into it'. About 25 minutes later, he
explained the refund process to me. It will take about 4 weeks total, and you
will have the option to get refunded via check or bank deposit (you'll need to
give them routing number etc. if you choose this route).

------
tsenkov
I am experiencing some similar issues with my 15" mid2012 rMBP.

Whenever I work on some canvas/webgl game, after some refreshing in the
browser (reproducible with Safari and Chrome) the entire screen freezes,
without any chance for recover and I have to power it down, manually.

Has anyone had this problem and do you know if it qualifies for the Repair
Extension Program?

~~~
kevinbluer
I've definitely experienced (and still do) this. After a bit of digging I
found this thread:
[https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6602046?start=105&tstar...](https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6602046?start=105&tstart=0)
which points to "discrete GPU and/or the switching to and from it".

Not sure if it's the same issue, but worth inquiring for sure :)

------
thom
Hoping this covers my issues with an early 2013 retina - the system crashes
whenever I let it use the discrete graphics, and it's got to the point that I
can't let it sleep or power down or it's touch and go whether it comes back. I
currently use a combination of NoSleep, gfxCardStatus and blind hope to keep
it going.

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blowback
Just taken my 15" 2011 MBP in - as luck would have it I had a 0930
appointment. Even tho the replacement programme doesn't start here in the UK
until the 27th Feb, they were happy to do a gratis repair "under consumer
law". Without me having to shout at all. "You'll beat the rush!" said the guy.

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quackerhacker
I have applecare for my 15 MBP w/retina (THANKFULLY), and I can attest that
I've had to have Apple replaced the logic board twice. Both times, the
screen's backlight would just go out.

Great to hear Apple is doing this, but then disappointing that it's even an
issue for a $2k+ laptop.

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tsax
I don't have a 'video issue' as explained here, but I do have a problem with
my my 'iSight' camera frequently not being recognized by Facetime (or anywhere
else). The issue goes away upon rebooting.

Any ideas? It's a 2012 edition MacBook Pro with Retina Display 15"

~~~
aareet
I have that with my MacBook Air - instead of rebooting, try running this in
your terminal:

sudo killall VDCAssistant

Works for me every time.

~~~
tsax
Thanks, will try it out!

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the_gipsy
Great, my girlfriend just sold hers last week for 100€ after enduring a year
of the video card crashing.

~~~
w4
Same thing basically happened to me - I _just_ bought a new rMBP in lieu of
throwing good money after bad on a logic board repair. Literally, I'm days out
of the return period.

Thankfully I still have the bricked 2011 MBP, so I'll get it fixed and keep it
as a backup machine I guess.

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goshx
Nice. This problem started happening more than a year ago on my early 2011. I
just had it sitting collecting dust as I got the 2013 version. Last week I
decided to take it to get repaired... and now they announce this. Hopefully
this will save me the $300 repair.

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Nate75Sanders
I have a mid-2010 13" MBP (wrong year, wrong size) that's doing stuff that
sounds like their listed symptoms. Not sure if it's just randomly going bad or
if they haven't determined for certain that other models are affected as well.

~~~
flomo
Have the same model with the NV graphics, and have had occasional video
glitching since I bought it refurbished. Crashes were rare until Yosemite, and
perhaps my DP port is getting funky. I've wondered if these are also semi-
defective, but it hasn't been well publicized. In any case I've gotten a ton
of mileage out of it.

~~~
72deluxe
It would be interesting to see what Yosemite is doing with the GPU. If you
could download and install Quartz Debug, you can get it to flash areas that
are drawn with accelerated graphics in comparison to CPU drawn graphics. It
would make an interesting comparison with Mavericks and previous.

Interestingly, the one change they did make in Xcode 6 was that the build
progress bar at the top of the screen is now drawn in software - it used to be
the only thing in the entire IDE that was GPU accelerated!

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shadeslayer
I've had this for quite a while now, went through 2 motherboard replacements
one after the other for this exact defect. It's good to know that they'll
still change it for another couple of years in case things go sideways.

------
jwcooper
Consider me another Macbook Pro owner (late 2011) that had this issue. I've
now gone through two logic boards. Luckily, the second was covered under the
warranty of the first replacement.

Has anyone here been contacted by Apple for Reimbursement yet?

~~~
iimpact
The program 'officially' started today. I called them yesterday for my
reimbursement, check my other reply explaining the process.

------
milos_cohagen
I'm on my 3rd logic board with my early-2011 15". To Apple's credit they
covered it every time. I'm confused though.. does this news mean if it happens
again, they'll cover it? And if so, for how much longer?

~~~
Alex3917
> And if so, for how much longer?

Apple stores stop stocking parts and offering any support 5 years after the
model date. After that the only thing they will do is offer to clean your
screen. If they have parts you can still mail it into Apple, or else you can
look for parts at a third-party supplier, but that's about it. Not entirely
clear what will happen in this case.

------
gburt
Nice, as of this morning, I couldn't get video out of my mid-2012 rMBP after
about 20 GPU Panics I've reported over the last week. I imagine they must have
thousands of them coming in as they start to fail.

------
mcv
I've got a 2011 Macbook Pro, and sometimes video refuses to play, but I always
assume it's because I've got way too much stuff open, and it's low on memory.

~~~
akent
If you have this problem, you definitely know about it. Complete system
lockups, glitches all over the screen, you name it. It's not just a simple
software error.

------
feelix
Does anyone have a link on how to diagnose whether your machine exhibits this
crash? everything that I can find that was available has been removed by Apple
or expired.

------
o0-0o
My rMBP has had choppy, crap video the whole time I've had it. Had one
replaced for free, and going to get this one replaced as well (or try).

------
donatj
Huh, I was having all these issues after upgrading to Yosemite but 10.10.2
seems to have fixed it. Wonder if this is still worth looking into?

~~~
lstamour
Well, at least now you have until early 2016 if anything does come up...

------
evanm
THANKS FOR POSTING THIS.

I was affected and had a repair done. Looks like they're reimbursing customers
for past repairs for this issue. Woop!

------
jerogarcia
i got a retina mbp 13" , i'm having all sort of problems , random logouts ..
black screens with the computer on etc. started to happen 2 months after
upgrading to yosemite. I'm seriously considering buying a normal laptop and
install linux on it .. i love macs but it is affecting my productivity.

~~~
cerberusss
It's a lemon... Apple is somewhat better quality-wise, but not perfect.
Personally, if you have the funds, I'd get another one and bring in the old
one for diagnosis. System logs (accessible via the Console app) often show
kernel panics and other stuff.

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msoad
My Late 2013 rMBP restarts randomly all the time. Should I go to Apple and ask
for a replacement?

~~~
buttonsmasher
You should. I have the late 2013 model that I got in Jan'14 and I ran into the
random restarts, freeze ups. This happened last week and I was out of
warranty, they made me pay for the repair and I just picked it up yesterday.
This is good news for me but I think regardless, this issue does show up
sometime during the lifetime of the product. I would recommend getting it
checked out.

~~~
buttonsmasher
Well...looks like I missed the fine details, my model is not covered. wth

------
chenster
Just checked, mine is late 2013, shewww...

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binoyxj
This is why I like Apple. Issues are inevitable, but to stay put with
customers in tough times and provide free service shows their class!

~~~
mehrdada
Note that this has been a "known issue" for a long time for a bunch of high
end $2000+ products and they have only announced this after _years_ since the
incident happened. Not so classy.

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yuletide666
Support fail.

