Filed under: Troubleshooting, Macbook Pro
Newer MBPs may contain faulty NVIDIA chips
Not a surprise for those who have suffered from the issue, but a welcome admission nonetheless: Apple has now acknowledged that some recent MacBook Pro models contain faulty GeForce 8600M GT chips that cause video display problems. Dell and HP have already told customers similar stories.
In a support document posted yesterday, Apple testily admitted that while NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers were not affected, an internal investigation revealed three models of MacBook Pro indeed had problems.
Our own Cory Bohon wrote about his experience with (what he now believes to be) the same issue back in August.
The models affected were all manufactured between May 2007 and September 2008:
- MacBook Pro (17-Inch, 2.4GHz)
- MacBook Pro (15-Inch, 2.4/2.2GHz)
- MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
If your MacBook Pro is displaying distorted or scrambled video on the screen, or no video at all, you can take your computer to an Apple Authorized Service provider to have it repaired, free of charge. If you've already had your computer serviced for this issue, Apple may issue you a refund for the cost of the service. Free service is available to owners who bought their computer less than two years ago, even if the computer is out of warranty.
The problem is likely to cost NVIDIA up to $200 million to fix; this does not include the likely fallout from shareholder lawsuits alleging that the video-card manufacturer deliberately withheld information on the scope of the chip flaws.
[Via AppleInsider.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
fuzzylogic said 9:31PM on 10-10-2008
This issue happened to me twice within a month and apple took 5 days each time to fix it. I was forces to buy a MacBook in the meantime so that I could continue working and apple assured me that I could return it free of charge within 14 days. When I tried to do so, they promptly charged me a 10% restocking fee. Shame on you apple!
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XIV said 12:46PM on 10-10-2008
I own a MacBook Pro since February of this year, but haven't experience problems with the video card. Let's hope it stays that way.
*knocks on wood*
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Matt said 1:50PM on 10-11-2008
Yeah, I got mine right after March and its been fine.
Mark said 12:58PM on 10-10-2008
My MBP (August '07) had this problem and was repaired for it two weeks ago, I got it back a few days ago. Apple repaired it although it was three weeks out of warranty, so we might've seen this one coming. Unfortunately some people report that repaired MBP's also suffer from this issue, but I think Apple will also cover a repeated repair.
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Jason said 1:03PM on 10-10-2008
My MBP (2.4GHz) lost all video (dead vid card) about 3-4 months ago. It was still under warranty, so they repaired it for free. So far, my MBP has lost video two more times (until forced reboot) and my color settings keep changing to a super washed-out, excessively blue-hued look. I have to either reboot or click on the Displays icon in System Properties for the color to return to normal.
I guess I'll bring it in and see if Apple will replace the vid card.
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Huy said 2:56PM on 10-10-2008
My color settings get changed when the screen saver turns on/off. I manually turn it on and off to fix the issue.
I've also lost video 2 times since I got my mbp. Can you please keep me updated to how apple responds to your issue?
Thanks!
RS said 3:01PM on 10-10-2008
I'm not sure if this is the same issue I have but sometimes when I open my lid from my 15" macbook pro, I get garbled blocks of screen data and I have to do a hard reset. Not sure why it happens but it might be this issue.
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Chris Brummel said 1:32PM on 10-10-2008
I'm not sure that I'd call them "new" MBPs. I bought mine on May Day of '07, so it's going on 2.5yrs and I'm running into problems now exactly as described. I hope I can convince them to take mine in even though it's over 2 years; I fit the description perfectly.
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Miss Krisha said 1:54PM on 10-10-2008
are you sure the dates are adding up?
may day of '07 would only make it almost 1.5 years old, not 2.5
Chris Brummel said 10:10PM on 10-10-2008
Whoops! Yep, I'm off by a year. I've been having the exact problems described, so I jumped the gun after reading this.
collie said 1:46PM on 10-10-2008
My MBP's video card just bit the dust a couple weeks ago... free repairs.
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fredrik said 1:59PM on 10-10-2008
I have a MBP 15" 2.2GHz, bought sep. 2007, with the nVidia 8600M GT. I experienced that the display was "scrambled", sort of like this: http://img.skitch.com/20080507-84gr77isy1cnr82w6fnhxwjfxm.png
A forced restart fixed the issue, though. This happened about two months ago, twice. It never happened before and has never happed since. Is this the same problem, or what?
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Tim said 2:03PM on 10-10-2008
So, do you think they'd care about my problem, which isn't exactly a display problem? My video card in my MacBook Pro has started seriously overheating in any room that isn't extremely cold. When it overheats, it throttles down and the graphics in games look terrible and the framerates get really choppy. It's the same situation in OSX and Boot Camp (Both Vista and XP).
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Tim said 2:05PM on 10-10-2008
I should clarify that this is something that started about two months ago. And by cold, I don't mean "air conditioned." I mean windows wide open on a cold night (say, 50-64 degrees out). I'd probably bother Apple about it sooner if I lived closer to an Apple store. As it stands, it's an hour's drive from my college campus.
Richard. said 2:13PM on 10-10-2008
I'm in the exact same situation here. Please reply if you find out any information. Thank you.
jp said 4:09PM on 10-10-2008
I have the overheat thing constantly. All temps on istat are over 140 degrees F with upto 180!
Snap said 2:11PM on 10-10-2008
Another MBP owner that had this failure. Was repaired in the first 11 months so it was under warranty. I have AppleCare now but I'm glad Apple has finally come clean on this issue. If you own a MBP that is one of the effected models, you will have this problem. It's only a matter of time.
The replacement motherboard I got experienced graphic defect symptoms within 3 days of the replacement. I'm sure it will fail as well at some point.
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Rick A said 2:26PM on 10-10-2008
I have two 2.6 GHz 15" MBPs with nVidia cards that I bought in July. While they don't exhibit any of the above problems, they don't run PPT files with heavy animations on XP in BootCamp as fast as older, slower MBPs with ATI cards. In fact an older, less powerful Dell will run a PPT file with auto-transitions faster than the MBP.
I really regret buying them, but now I'm stuck with them and basically they're second-rate machines compared to Windoze PCs. That sucks.
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Bryan Veloso said 2:44PM on 10-10-2008
My god, I hope this is it. I've been looking for a solution for the past six months and it seems like this is exactly what the problem is. After two visits to the Genius Bar and about 15 days without my MBP, I was literally on the verge of giving up. But I'm going to try bringing this into an Apple Store next time I get the chance. I want this thing fixed once and for all.
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Michael S said 3:38PM on 10-10-2008
My MacBook Pro GPU died yesterday. I took it to the Apple Store, and initially they were going to bill me for a logic board replacement. Quite literally as I was standing there the news came in that Apple would now be replacing faulty chips free of charge. Hooray!
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