Following a petition with thousands of signatures related to GPU complaints, Apple has been named a defendant in a new class-action lawsuit filed against the Cupertino-based company in the United States District Court for Northern California over system failures and graphical issues affecting 2011 MacBook Pros.
The class-action lawsuit was filed by Kentucky-based law firm Whitfield Bryson & Mason on behalf of plaintiffs Zachary Book, Donald Cowart, and John Manners, a trio of individuals that accuse Apple of failing to rectify the graphical issues that have affected both 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models released in 2011.
The lawsuit covers California and Florida residents that purchased an affected MacBook Pro model between approximately February 2011 and May 2012. According to court documents, the issue stems from a defective AMD GPU that did not function correctly because of lead-free soldering that caused short circuiting among other problems.
MacBook Pro models that were affected by this problem would often have visual banding or malfunctions on the screen, especially when users were performing highly intensive tasks like watching high-resolution videos or using multimedia programs like the Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Pro and similar software.

Apple did offer a free video card replacement on some mid-2011 iMacs exhibiting similar symptoms, though the cards in the MacBook Pro are different, and recalls as a whole are rare. The most recent was in August, when Apple offered free battery replacements for some iPhone 5 models that were deemed to have defective batteries.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple has failed to reimburse customers that were forced to pay for out-of-warranty repairs that could cost between $350 to $600 to fix the GPU issues. The legal filing also accuses Apple of largely ignoring customers that have complained, even those that attempted to reach out directly to CEO Tim Cook.
Apple has yet to comment on this lawsuit and, given that it generally remains tight lipped on matters such as these, it might not ever provide any official word regarding the case. Nevertheless, we’ve reached out to Apple for comment and we will update this post if we hear anything back.
Whitfield Bryson & Mason is examining this issue further and there is a possibility that legal action could extend beyond the jurisdictions of California and Florida.
Any of our readers with a 2011 MacBook Pro affected by this GPU issue?
I have that problem too, and not only once, but twice! When my Macbook first died of premature death, roughly a month before the end of my extended AppleCare. Luckily, Apple Repaired it, but it died again, of exactly the same problem, about 3 weeks ago.
What caused me to wonder at first was the fact that all my other Macbooks before that one have lasted more than 5 years, and in fact, that’s why I used to be happy to pay a premium to buy Apple gear. Although, I feel it might not be worth it anymore.
And then, just last week, one of my friend also lost a similar macbook from exactly the same problem. And since, like me, he’s now out of waranty, we both had to buy new computers.
How can we get in this class action ? Can we do so, even if we live in Canada?
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http://mbp2011.org/
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I Have this EXACT Problem! The pictures I see on this post its what my 2011 15” Macbook Pro is doing.
Thought it was toast so I bought a New MBP! If I could get this 2011 fixed I could sell it and apply it to my VISA Bill!
I live in Washington State, can I get in on this……Please
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I’ve the same exact problem. I hope Apple responds and fixes this issue. If not, this would be my last Apple product ever.
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Same here. My 2011 MacBook Pro died earlier this year. Screen is colored snow. I’ve gone back to using an old Dell laptop who’s screen is also fading away. I want this fixed or to be reimbursed. I might swear off of Mac and iPhone.
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P.S. I’m in Wisconsin.
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How do I find information on joining lawsuit? I just replaced my logic board and within a few months, I am starting to have screen abnormalities that led to having the part replaced. I live in NYS.
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Hi,
Is it possible to find an information about a result of this lawsuit?
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i have this Macbook pro,
“MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
Graphich :Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB”
i had Mavericks working very well, i upgraded it to Yosemite a few mins ago, and i saw the same crash, i restarted and started searching for the reason, and i’m here now.
I really need your advises about what should i do now?
will it happen again?
can i live with that? like it happens times to times but wont destroy my macbook?
what if i install mavericks again?
i’m scared i don’t want to lose my macbook and i don’t have access to any AppleStore cause i live in IRAN-tehran now.
Please kindly guid me if anyone know about this.
thank you
Arman Safaei
email : thefinag @ gmail .com
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Unbelievable, I had no idea, it cost me $534 to fix my macbook and downtime of one week. Now after repairing it in August I have similar issue since I switched to Yosemite. I was sure my Mac graphic card failed gain.
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I have that same problem and it started when my Macbook automatically updated from 10.9.2 to 10.9.5. Omg my Macbook was working flawlessly before that update. Now I have to turn off automatic graphic switching as a temporary fix but just recently even with that my screen will turn black and freeze and restart. Sometimes it completely shutsdown. And it overheats so much that it is unbearable. I can’t wait until we get all the needed signatures. I hope we win this case because this is not fair that we receive a product that doesn’t function as advertised or “fails” as soon as the 3 year applecare runs out.
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A temporary fix for this problem is going to the top left corner and clicking on the Apple sign, click on System Preferences. Then click on Energy Saver. Then uncheck the option for Automatic Graphic Switching. Basically the major issue has been when switching from the on board graphics card to the Nvida Graphics card. Doing this will use your Nvidia card full time but it will over heat your Macbook and that is the down side at least when you are on photoshop or something graphic intensive. Even watching Youtube makes it get hot. Anyways, I hope this helps and I hope you can get some work done with this temporary fix.
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If i do this ..it will only be worse i assume my nvidia card on my late 2011 17inch MBP is bad……what shall i do?
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Hey guys-this is long so let me sum: TALK TO THE MANAGER AND MENTION THIS SUIT. I did and they fixed my graphic card for FREE.
I had the issue pictured above happen yesterday- i had just loaded and started using final draft- doing some light editing. i got a skype call and BAM bars everywhere… it was a mess. it worked haltingly after i restarted it, then wouldn’t start up at all. I took it in today and they said 500$ to fix on site, 350$ and several days wait to ship it out. i had a think. went on my cell and searched about the graphics card (that’s what they told me was the problem after about 2 seconds) and i found this lawsuit. i went back in and spoke to the manager. i was complaing also that i had to replace the top case, the hard drive, AND the battery in the 3 years i had the thing and now this? i was like seriously, forget this. go get me the print out on all my repairs. i know about this class action lawsuit, i know that mac is at fault, so if you want to feel happy about selling me a piece of garbage i have to make a major repair on every 8 months, then thank you very much. the manager went into the back for a long time and came back without my paperwork, and without the number he said i should call about the lawsuit… and tried to make some sort of deal. dude seemed very unhappy when i mentioned this case- APPLE MUST KNOW THEY ARE TO BLAME because i played hardball with the guy and they are FIXING MY LAPTOP FOR FREE. ahaha. that’s right. i got those evil trolls who never want to help to pay my 320$ (as it turned out) bill. don’t worry if you’ve already payed… i’m sure the company is paying you back one way or another. i am SO unhappy with my mac and iphone… maybe it was bad luck but i’m running away from apple. PS if anyone knows a better smallish machine for editing that isn’t 2000 bucks let me know!
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what store did you go to?
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I have the same problem. I got my 15″ MBP in Sep 2011.
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Same thing, i have a great Macbook Pro 2011 17″, for 2 years work really awesome, from i migrate to yosemite 1 week later, i have a Pink vertical lines, i have restart, disconnect battery, and everything is ok, i have downgrade to Mavericks, and same thing happened, disconnect battery i have restart, and works again fine, i have time for make my backups, but some days pass… and same thing happened, but now… the MBP is die… just pink lines… and not start the Apple icon… just gray….
I have follow all steps in next page for send my information to apple….http://www.mbp2011.com
I recommend, every people do the same…. maybe in next year… one replacemente program start.
One thing i m sure… this is a problem on 2011 MBP models… but is a born problem about GPU… if you fix that… the problem will occur again… in next week, month or year.
If some people not have the problem jet, i m sure… they are lucky for now… but take care about this situation… because they GPU in some moment, when they give hard work on display graphics… the problem start, without any software fix…. is about hardware!
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Yep, SAME ISSUE. Probably would of happened earlier then it did but I reformatted my hard drive and reset PRAM and it bought me a bit of a time. Looks like a logic board is just a temporary fix. Go support the lawsuit, sign the petition, report your problems to apple. http://mbp2011.org/
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Yep. Feb 2011 17-inch. First screen problems–video card. Then the hard disk died. About $450 to repair both.
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I have the same problem. When the login screen is supposed to kick in, it goes to a white screen. It’s the 2011 AMD model.
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Yeah! Same problem here. I live in Brussels and I paid over 600 euro for fixing the problem in October 2014. It just came back again. It will be my last Apple product if they don’t solve it.
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Dealing with this now. Graphical glitches then eventually the computer won’t boot. Just had a crash after playing a youtube video. In the 2 months, it has happened twice. Just spent this weekend dealing with this headache.
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A rotten apple.
After updating 2011 late 17″ with Intel HD Graphics 3000 macbook pro to os 10.10 seams to act up and kernel errors flying left and right. A quick shift all the way back to lion saved it for a while. But it looks like the error is a hardware issue by whats written. Not software. So my next computer would not be a mac in the near future since they seam to ignore, there costumers. I guess this computer together with a lot others will be repaired by apple. Sold on 2 hand and we will move on from this lemon of a fruit company.
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Yes. First in October 2014 — I didn’t have AppleCare, so the Apple Store replaced the logic board for a price. The new board failed in November and was replaced for free, since it was still under their three-month warranty. I’m still waiting to see how long the third board holds out.
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Yes, I had periods that the screen would freeze, appear like zebra stripe bands and or weird color striping (sometimes it almost looked like a US flag)! It seemed to occur if I had several programs open when I attempted to ‘switch users’.
I made several calls to Apple support and they were tight and counter-accustory, particularly as I made the way up the chain of support “command”. They started by complaining I had programs from as old as eight or nine years (transferred by apple store/data transfer when I migrated stuff from the ol’ Powerbook G4…
They also started inisting I send my entire OS to an external drive, and kept harping on me for the fact it didn’t happen all the time.
They were particularly snooty when I started making noise about how they should replace the computer. Absolute human firewalls against that issue!
I finally worked around it by changing the “automatic” switching from high intensity graphics to just the continual high intensity. Even though it said it might use more “power”, I have rarely had freeze ups since, so I guess I was lucky.
Thing is, mine is the 17″, and I’ve had failed logic boards from a2008 Macbook..for whatever reason. I can’t tell if these machines are any better these days, but it really annoys me there’s no mirroring available on an early 2011, except by 3rd party like AirParrot.
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My MBP has been fine up to the last update, however, like all the others with same issue you can’t ignore the pink lines over a 17″ white screen. I have 10.10.1 installed and a AMD video card; it’s the late 2011 model MBP. Not a happy camper at the moment on how to proceed? I restart and perhaps get a short lived relief, but regardless it always returns. Not ready to drop another $2,700.
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I had de issue for the first time more than a year ago. I had to replace my mainboard for $353 at an apple store. Almost a year later the problem returned. The computer just freezes in a gray screen during boot. I will not buy anything Apple until they fix this. It is serious manufacturing problem that put Apple brand at stake. They sell a very expensive laptop because they are supposed to be good quality and long standing. Why should I pay $1999,00 for a $500 hardware only for running OS X?
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what if you dont live in either california or miami?
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I live in Virginia and am having this problem. Is there a class action suit in my state that I can join?
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And I live in Rio de Janeiro and had the problem.
Carlos A. Quintella.
>
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Mine died 2 months ago. I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1333 MHz. Apple should deliver better products. A 3 year old computer of €2000 shouldn’t crap out randomly and in need of a €500 repair. And when it does Apple should just replace whatever parts necessary free of charge, but seems replacement of New Logic board will unfortunatly not be enough on this model?? Take action now Apple!!!!
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From Italy in hope for a solution from Apple.
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I am having issues with my logic board again. I had it replaced 6 months ago at the apple store for $299…… Now what??
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I have a 15″ 2011 Macbook Pro and this just happened to it 2 days ago. I have an appointment on Monday at 1:30 with the local Apple store. I hope they are able to help.
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Just expericened this too on my early 2011 Macbook Pro —> made an appointment @genius bar… trying to talk them into some extended warranty obligation.
Long time Apple User (last macbook pro, logic board also needed to be replaced, luckily not at my costs — 2 models before this one, I had my cover + logic board to be replaced on a white macbook)
SO GUESS this will be my last Mac, most definitely !
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I just can’t believe this mine has died over this issue…. so riddiculous !
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I had a MBP 2011 with an ATI video card with this problem😦 the OS Yosemite just doesnt start, and i got a blue screen when i traying to restore the OS😦 Apple support told me is the GPU ATI and i have to change the whole mother board😥
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I just got mine fixed. Apple charged me $310. I’ve had 3 of my friends tell me their laptops have had the same problem since my gcu went out. That’s 3 more in a week in a half.
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Mac Pro “15” I’m having a similar problem after doing a os x yosemite update. I’m thinking maybe if I uninstall os x yosemite it might fix the problem I’m going to try when I get home from work today. Australia
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I was affected. My computer has had the Gray Screen Freeze 4 times, and each time they have a new reason why it’s happening. First I paid to replace the Logic Board, then (because all of the following occurred within 90 days of the previous issue, the costs we absorbed by Apple’s “90 days of complimentary support” policy) they said it was a video card error, then a wiring glitch causing the keyboard to be unresponsive, now it’s a gray screen again, and again they said they had to send it to the production factory, who again would disassemble it and re-check everything to find the issue.
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I have a late 2011 MacBook Pro (bought in California) that was fine until an Apple “Genius” offered me an upgrade to Yosemite on February 18, 2015. (I was at the Genius Bar to clean up some stuff that was causing a slower performance than usual.) After the Yosemite install I started getting these crazy bars across my display, once a day or so at first, then twice, then a complete freeze to white, unable to start up my computer. Luckily I still have AppleCare (just barely), so my MacBook Pro is in the “hospital” without cost to me for a new video card (or so says Genius #2). Not sure what I’ll do if it happens again after my AppleCare runs out. In the meantime, I’ve lost time and hundreds of dollars of income since my business has come to a crashing halt. (By the way, when I expressed my dismay at having no computer for up to a week, I was told I could pay $500 to join “Joint Ventures” for the year so I could get a “free” loaner. Thanks, Apple, but no thanks!) How do I sign up for the class-action lawsuit?
Will report back if problems persist after I get my computer back. Oh, and any feedback on whether I should roll back to Lion OS from Yosemit when I go to get my computer?
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Hey everyone, here’s the latest updates on these specific models. Apple is now issuing refunds!! I called and got mine, so if you fit the description, definitely follow up and see if they’ll do the same!! very happy with how Apple took care of it, took some time, but it all worked out in the end.
http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/
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Thank you, Dani! I actually have AppleCare coverage for another month and a half, so didn’t pay anything . . . this time. Hope it doesn’t happen again, but if it does before the cutoff date, I can rest easy. Glad they’re finally acknowledging the problem. (Would have been nice if someone at the Apple Store had acknowledged it and seen fit to loan me a computer until the repair was done. Instead they wanted me to pay $500 (for the year) for a loaner. Makes a dent in one’s business to lose computer access for a few days!)
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Hey everyone, here’s the latest update – Apple is now issuing refunds!! I called and got mine, so if you fit the description, definitely follow up and see if they’ll do the same!! very happy with how Apple took care of it, took some time, but it all worked out in the end.
http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/
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THANK YOU! I could kiss you! I have had months of misery, refusing to pay bc I’ve read so much about having to repair multiple times. I went ROUNDS with the Apple guy on the phone who claimed total ignorance just last month and acted like I was an idiot!!! I just called and I am dropping it off today!!
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mine has crashed three times the first year!! I’ll never buy another one.
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I just got my 15′ early-2011 Mac Book Pro fixed for free by the Apple Store in Cerritos California. I just got it back about an hour ago. They were very helpful. I took it in for run of diagnostic tests 4 days ago, and found out that it was experiencing a video chip issue which qualified the machine for “extended warranty coverage”. I thought it was just a fancy way of taking care of the issue without naming the problem a “recall.” However, I was wrong, Apple not only replaced the logic board, but they also replaced the whole keyboard assembly, the right speaker, the Magsafe charging board, and the Clutch barrel joint, which holds the screen and body together. I guess when Apple decides to extend coverage (even for a specific issue) it qualifies the machine for the same coverage that fully warrantied computers receive. Big thanks to the Cerritos Apple Store for its fine/fast work. Without this coverage, I would not have been able to fix this machine at this time. And maybe I would not have. (3/15/15)
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8 months without using my Apple files, all production, a thousand of photos in iPhoto untouchable…
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Worked for me – thank you all https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/
Thank you Victor DeejayRid Gutierrez for the temporary fix of unchecking switching the graphic card in System Preferences / Energy Saver – had also reset the PRAM and my own fix of starting up holding the option key – even without peripherals attached or a findable Recovery disk (even holding command R).
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We are one of the law firms that is involved in the class action lawsuit against Apple. Many people experience problems like those posted here and we have a depository of additional information that may help consumers who have a defective unit. We also have a website for further investigation. Please contact us at JLD@kbklawyers.com for more instructions.
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Yes . This is the 3rd time , last repair less then a year ago. Not just graphic card . Logic board and. Power button. They did the repair for free after my upsetting stressful time. That was in Malaysia after getting a quote from mac. Asking for 3500 rm 600 $ now in less then 7 months it’s happen again on the graphics cup over heating. I’m on job seekers in the uk, just spent out advertising for wedding photography www . bridgerphotographer@gmail.com just offered a job back in Borneo if I can master final cut pro. Now I’m stuck need urgent repair. Here in the uk. HELP,!
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Yes, I was refunded for my repair earlier this month… the issue persisted and they fixed the computer for free this time around. The consultants that I dealt with on behalf of Apple were pretty rude and spoke to me as if I were an idiot (which I could be in some folks opinions, but I spotted the GPU issue before the “brainiacs” ever admitted to it).
I hope that it runs the way it is expected considering my power PC original mac mini blows it out the water as far as reliability goes. Peace.
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I have this problem, but it is usually when I open the screen up from being closed. It either is completely black with only the mouse showing for about 15-20 seconds or half of it is a green/blue color. It goes away once I unlock my computer. Is this something I should be concerned about? Is this happening from my GPU or something different? (I got my MacBook in April 2011)
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why buy a mac anywhere!!??
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I began having these problems a month or so before my applecare expired which must have been Nov of 2014. Here it is May 2015 and my screen has the horizontal lines and gives me the white screen and nothing after. Apple Please REPLACE all users of the 2011 laptop that seem to have this problem. I have a 2008 MBP which has been a work horse.The 2011 has been the WORST!! A LEMON!!!!!
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Yes i just took my 2011 macbook pro in 3 months ago because yosemite fried my logic board and now its also fried my hard drive… 5 appointments, a whole week wasted on this crap and they want to overcharge me for parts that are just going to fry again after a couple months. they keep telling me they’re not liable… the hell you’re not.
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I have just had the same issue. Had the vertical blue and white stripes while using Adobe CS and a couple other graphics programs. Now the computer gets stuck in a reboot loop if I try to turn it on. 2011 15″ MBP with Yosemite. Massachusetts here.
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I’m experiencing an issue like this. Some pink lines keeps on coming on screen where there is white color. & It always happens when I open ‘Photos’ app. As soon as I close it, they’re gone. So some Graphic card issue? I’m using Macbook Pro 15″ Early 2011, updated to El Capitan today only. But problem started coming in yosemite also. Also occurs always whenever I use Windows using Bootcamp. Please help!
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Take your MBP to an Apple store, have them test it… I did and they sent it off to repair and I got it back in just 4 days! Cost to repair over $350.00. Cost to me $000.00!! do it now your running out of time! (just did mine in late sept 2015)
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Tom seems to think Apple’s offer to repair this 2011 & 2012 MBP problem will expire. If so, when? This problem could occur anytime during the lifetime of your MBP.
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I have that too. I purchased mine at year’s end 2011. ran fine for a while. 2 yrs in, it starts to freeze up in Photos (before upgrade) and automatically reboots no matter what i did. i bought the warranty, took it in to a local shop they replaced the motherboard, that problem (apple care did walk me thru fix but it didn’t work) fixed. in the last months (since using Yosemite, I get the same weird flashing screen with visual banding or malfunctions on the screen as it says here. I just restart and its good. Also, along with this icloud asks me to give my gmail password TWO times when I start up after ‘sleep’ and my code never works. I hit cancel twice and am fine. too much work!!! I too will have to buy a new one at some point when errors start to pile up.
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We are in Bangkok, Thailand & need to replace the graphic card in our 2011 macbook pro, purchased in summer of 2011. The cost of replacement & labor here is roughly $150.00 U.S. dollars.
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If anyone checks this post, READ THIS http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/
You have until Feb 27, 2016 to take advantage of this FREE repair provided by apple for affected macbook pros. Good luck everyone!
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In addition to changing settings on the GPU chooser (Preferences >> Energy Saver) I found I was able to get my MacBook Pro to a more stable configuration by also disabling the “put hard disks to sleep when possible” check box (Preferences >> Energy Saver >> Battery and Preferences >> Energy Saver >> Power Adapter). If you are having trouble getting a restart to reset the preferences try 1) clearing the NVRAM/PRAM (restart > Hold CMD+P+R) or 2) start in safe mode (restart > Hold shift key) or 3) Start using the Restore Image (restart > Hold option key then select restore image or 4) Restart using Single User Mode (restart > CMD S) or Restart using CMD R. If you end up reinstalling your OS be sure to recheck your Energy Saver preferences to disable the hard disk sleep modes. Not a fix but it may get you to a happier place.
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Same problem and I live in Georgia. I have called customer service and emailed Apple but have not gotten any recall or help. Using another computer to write this since mine is down. I am a student and it is highly inconvenient because the video card is associated with Word and other essential applications.
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