Apple Says 2011 MacBook Pro No Longer Eligible For 'Video Issues' Repair Program

Apple says the following models are no longer eligible for its MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues:

• 15-inch, Early 2011
• 15-inch, Late 2011
• 17-inch, Early 2011
• 17-inch, Late 2011

The following MacBook Pro models remain eligible, so long as they were purchased less than four years ago:

• Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012
• Retina, 15 inch, Early 2013

Apple launched the repair program in February 2015 to address a "small percentage" of MacBook Pro models that "may exhibit distorted video, no video, or unexpected system restarts," allegedly due to faulty GPUs.

The program expired on December 31, 2016, but it's still in effect for eligible models up to four years from their original date of sale.

A support document on Apple's website says the affected models were sold between February 2011 and December 2013. Use the "Check Your Coverage" tool on Apple's website to determine if a particular model is eligible.

The video issues impacted many customers, prompting a class-action lawsuit against Apple and an online petition with over 40,000 signatures. Affected users often experience visual banding or malfunctions on the screen, particularly when watching HD videos or using pro apps such as Final Cut Pro X.

Apple will continue to repair Mid 2012 or Early 2013 models, free of charge. Affected customers can call an Apple Store to schedule a Genius Bar appointment, visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or call Apple Support and request a postage paid box to mail in the MacBook Pro to a local Apple Repair Center.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Tags: repair program, Apple Support
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Caution)

Top Rated Comments

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digitalrampage

1 week ago

yes, yes it did. these machines are going on 7 years old. If any of my customers have one that still works, I'm sure to tell them about the ticking time bomb in the GPU. After letting them vent some verbal frustrations i remind them that the car they pulled up in is less than 3 years old and they traded up from one that was hardly 5 years old at the time of the trade.

"what do you mean you don't service a 2006 MacBook pro any more?" ......."here have a chrome book, it'll be an upgrade"

I'm not sure what your role is, but if you work at Apple or an Authorised Dealership, you are awful at your job.

Rating: 13 Votes

Ries

1 week ago

FYI
This problem is also happening on PC laptops.

I have a bunch of HP elitebook 8560s at work that are failing with the Radeon GPU in them, and have been failing for a while.

HP extended 3 yr warranty is well and truly up, HP haven't done anything to offer extended warranty.

All the vendors use the same GPUs and all will have similar issues when there is a GPU fault.

Apple did far more for their customers than any PC vendor here, so your decision to not buy a macbook (if based on this failure) is flawed...

The reason it is so prevalent on the MBP is because all the 15s had the AMD GPU in them. The HPs in question could have been ordered with integrated only, Nvidia, or AMD; only the AMD ones in this case are failing.

Nvidia had problems a couple of years earlier - similar problem, Apple did a similar extended repair program. Don't believe any of the PC vendors did.

Apple did nothing until they were sued.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/15/2011-macbook-pro-graphics-class-action-suit-expands-accuses-apple-of-concealing-defects

Rating: 9 Votes

iamMacPerson

1 week ago

Did they ever really fix the issue? Last I recall they were just replacing the logic boards with no real fix, meaning all these machines are doomed to die the same death they did last time.

Rating: 9 Votes

Bako-MacAddict

1 week ago

I have a 2011 MacBook pro and hasn't gave me no issues since I got it. The only thing I've done to it is upgraded to solid state drive and the ram. Runs like a champ!

Rating: 4 Votes

fastasleep

1 week ago

Did they ever really fix the issue? Last I recall they were just replacing the logic boards with no real fix, meaning all these machines are doomed to die the same death they did last time.

They were replacing them with identical logic boards, nothing changed on them. I am on my fourth(?) logic board, last one I had replaced back in December before the program ended. Crossing my fingers this one lasts until I get motivated to upgrade.

Rating: 4 Votes

Mr_Brightside_@

1 week ago

I'm not sure what your role is, but if you work at Apple or an Authorised Dealership, you are awful at your job.

Yeah I hear the Apple store sells a lot of chrome books.

Rating: 3 Votes

robeddie

1 week ago

All HELL is about to break loose below me!

I sold mine earlier this year for $1900.

How on earth did you find such a spectacular idiot that would pay $1900 in 2017 on used 2011 laptop?!?
In perfect condition that thing is worth $500 tops

Rating: 3 Votes

ryguy92000

1 week ago

This is nuts, they said this ended December 31, 2016.

Rating: 3 Votes

weckart

1 week ago

I don't actually agree that they should have been liable for anything beyond the warranty period (and I'm one of the affected users). This is what warranties are for - and the failure was in a third party component.

The failure is in Apple's woeful thermal dissipation. A problem it has had because of its pursuit of thinner, lighter and quieter before the technology was really there to meet its specific design limitations.

AMD and nVidia published the specs for their specific GPU parts. It was up to Apple to incorporate those in a design that would not lead to such thermal loads that solder joints would perish as swiftly as they did.

Third parties have no control over Apple's inadequate ventilation designs in its notebooks nor for the fact that Apple throttles the internal fans via its own firmware for the sake of quietness at the expense of reliability.

You might want to consider why OSX fan utility applications exist, even going back to PowerBook days, if users were in any way convinced that Apple knew what it was doing.
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This is not the case in Europe as there is protection for consumers upto 6 years(?) I learnt this from an apple employee based in Ireland who's job it is to train the Euro Apple Stores about their obligations. This worked for me. Now the 6 years period has come to end.

Six years is specific to England and Wales. Possibly also N. Ireland. However it is dependant upon a reasonable estimation of the useful expected life of a purchase. For buildings, this can exceed six years. For computers, you are doing well over two years. With stuff like this YMMV.

Rating: 2 Votes

logicstudiouser

1 week ago

How on earth did you find such a spectacular idiot that would pay $1900 in 2017 on used 2011 laptop?!?
In perfect condition that thing is worth $500 tops

How did you sell a 6 year old computer for $1900?

I was surprise when it happened, I was going to lower the price a bit further. It took 2 months to sell, but I switched from making it a 1 week listing to a good till sold on ebay and that is when the watcher count really built up on it.
It was primarily a stationary computer and it was protected, so it did look like new.
It was a late 2011 17" 2.5GHz model that I had bumped up to the 16gb ram, with a 2tb ssd and swapped the superdrive for blu-ray and the logic board was replaced recently at Apple.
Used the money to pay off the 2015 macbook pro I just purchased.

Rating: 2 Votes

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