14 DAY TRIAL // Numerous negative reports are cropping up over at Apple Support Communities regarding a widespread issue involving 2011 MacBook Pro models with discrete graphics cards.
The reports started in February of 2013, but escalated to greater numbers more recently, in what would be an indication that users could be dealing with a hardware design flaw.
The forum thread, titled “2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card,” has amassed over 200K views and includes 2,487 Replies spanning over 170 pages, at the time of this writing,
Thread starter abelliveau wrote, “I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory) running OS 10.8.2.”
“It has two graphics components: an AMD Radeon HD 6750M and a built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000. Since I've had the computer, the screen would get a blue tint when the computer switched between them.”
“However, as of two days ago, the problem has become substantially more severe. The computer was working fine, when all of a suddent the screen when completely blue. I had to force restart the computer. Since then, the screen has gone awry on numerous occassions - each time necessitating a hard reset.”
Hundreds others quickly flooded Apple Support Communities with similar, if not identical reports.
Many users offer screenshots to convey their woes into graphics, while Apple remains mum on the matter.
It appears that most of the complaints are recent, suggesting that a design flaw is eating away at the integrity (longevity) of the computer’s graphics card. Many believe the problem is tied to the computer’s cooling mechanism.
The issue is now officially widespread, meaning Apple should step in to try and address it one way or another. However, the only way to save customers from having to replace the costly logic board would be for the company to instate a recall program.