Dead MacBook Pro Displays: An Update
Posted by Paul Lefebvre in Macintosh Sep 14th, 2009 | 4 responsesFor those of you in the same boat, here is an update regarding the dead displays on my MacBook Pro.
I arrived at my noontime Genius appointment a few minutes early and they were able to take me right away. The Genius was aware of the NVIDIA issue and after a quick test to confirm the displays were dead, took it out back to do a “specific test for the NVIDIA issue”. He came back a few minutes later and confirmed that this was the NVIDIA chip failure.
Unfortunately for me, they don’t do repairs in the store so my MacBook Pro had to be sent out (with an estimated 5-7 business days turnaround). I asked, but Apple doesn’t offer loaner Macs (I would have paid!), so I’m stuck working on an old, slow (only 2GB RAM and 2.0Ghz) iMac Core Duo (the original Intel iMac). At least it was able to boot from my cloned drive (with Snow Leopard) so I didn’t have to set anything up. When the MacBook Pro returns, I’ll just clone this drive back onto the MacBook Pro’s drive and I’ll be back in business.
Alas, I’m also in the dark about the MacBook Pro’s repair status. The systems were down at the Apple Store while I was there so I don’t have a repair number (I wasn’t able to call on Sunday to get the number). And the store is now closed until Friday for “remodeling”! What are the odds?
But, I’m happy that this was confirmed to be the NVIDIA chip problem and that Apple is repairing it for free, especially since I don’t have AppleCare on my MacBook Pro!
I’ll report back again when it returns.
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4 Responses to “Dead MacBook Pro Displays: An Update”
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Paul, I feel for you. I’m going through the exact same thing. After installing 10.6.1 my video went completely dark. I’d experienced something similar about 6 months ago, but the machine righted itself after “resting” overnight. No such luck this time. I took my machine in on the 7th and haven’t heard anything since. I’m running my wife’s white MacBook from an external USB drive.
A couple points:
1) I’d done some “unauthorized” modifications to my MacBook Pro – namely instlling a bigger (500gb) HD. Fortunately, I’d turned the existing 120gb drive into an external USB drive, so it was a matter of putting everything back the way it was before taking the machine in.
2) I’d always found my laptop to run insanely hot, to the point where using it on my lap for longer than 15 minutes would leave red marks on my thighs. My usage patterns haven’t changed, but my wife’s laptop has no such issues. Note that this was the case for the 12 months I had the laptop before I upgraded the drive, while it was in the stock configuration. Given the root cause of the NVidia card issue ( http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1004378/why-nvidia-chips-defective – long but worth a read ) and coupled with the fact that Snow Leopard uses the GPU for general-purpose computing in addition to straight graphics, I have to wonder if Snow Leopard isn’t stressing these cards to their breaking point.
In any case, I’m hoping that the Apple repair will go off without an issue…and without a cost to me. I’ve bought Apple Laptops since the Lombard Powerbook days, and it seems as though every other model has some issue, be it bad memory slots, weak hinges, bad displays or terrible airport reception.
I look forward to the day when Apple Laptop’s interior design can match their exterior.
I had the same issue. I went to the Apple Store in my hometown, and they quoted 5-7 days. However, my laptop arrived via UPS 3 days later, and Apple also repaired the DVD drive and a small dent in the case for free as well.
Wow. I was very impressed. My DVD drive had always been a little flaky from when it was new–it would usually take 2-3 insert-eject cycles to get a disc to mount. However, as I used the DVD maybe 10 times since I purchased the computer, I never thought to follow up on it.
@dsf260: I wish mine had been fixed in 3 days. I’m on day 7 and my MacBook Pro is sitting at the repair center “on hold – part on order”. I have no idea when I’ll get it back.
Wow Paul, sorry to hear about that. My 17″ MBP’s video has died twice due to the NVidia issue. So far so good with this latest mobo. I think I’ve 1 more year for the 3-year extended replacement.
For the record, the Apple store I took mine to only took about 3 days each time. The first time they had the part and the 2nd time they had to order it. (I tried to get them to just give me a faster CPU but they wouldn’t do it.) Hope you get your machine back soon!