Mikey Campbell
Apple on Thursday announced a new repair program for certain previous-generation MacBook Pro laptops suffering from distorted video, unexpected restarts and other issues, saying these faulty units will be repaired for free.
The repair initiative, officially titled "MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues," applies to MacBook Pro computers sold between February 2011 and December 2013 that exhibit distorted video, no video, or unexpected system restarts, Apple said.
AppleInsider first reported on the long-running graphics issue in October 2013, when a number of early-2011 MacBook Pro owners documented visual anomalies and system crashes similar to those described by Apple today. At the time, some users attributed the malfunctions to the MacBook Pro's discrete AMD GPU.
Sources familiar with Apple's internal repair network told AppleInsider in August that the company had no immediate plans to initiate a replacement program for MacBook Pros suffering from systematic crashes and graphics failures. It appears, however, that the company has since changed course.
Last October, Apple was slapped with a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of owners of the 2011 series MacBook Pro lineup. The complaint cited numerous counts of video and system issues possibly linked to failed graphics cards.
Affected models:
- MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2011)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch Late 2011)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, Early 2013)
MacBook Pro owners can use Apple's "Check Your Coverage" tool to find out if their model is eligible for repair and either carry in or mail the device to Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
Apple notes repairs starts today in the U.S. and Canada, while international support will become available on Feb. 27.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Sponsored Content
75 Comments
Anything for MBPr owners experiencing image ghosting?
Why did they take so long to address this?
I've got a mid-2012 MBPr 15 that isn't exhibiting any of these problems. However, I think I'm going to apply a little preventive grease and get it "fixed" nonetheless. Though, I must say that I'm a bit leery of having the work done in-store.
So, apparently Apple has a bad issue with graphics cards. My late 2012 27in iMac has the same issue.
I have an early 2013 retina, don't get issues much but do have "graphical issue" once every couple of months, and do get misplacement of volume and brightness switches(actually got it 5 minutes ago turning computer on the computer), so probably will get it repaired. Edit:Do have a tiny crack in screen(like 1/2 cm), so do notice that might get a charge to replace as well.