Comments on: Why Apple’s NVIDIA GPU Extended Service Program is Inadequate

By: Arnold

Arnold — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:15:04 +0000

I’ve had this problem too and I’m dismayed to find that the problem is being repaired by replacing the broken part with ANOTHER BROKEN PART!

What I don’t understand is your reaction. Instead of saying that this is wrong and apple do not deserve your business again because of this, you just say that you’ll change to a macbook or a later macbook pro model. You’re like rewarding their scandalous conduct by buying more of their products! WTF!

By: Apple Extends MacBook Pro NVIDIA GeForce Service Policy to Three Years

Apple Extends MacBook Pro NVIDIA GeForce Service Policy to Three Years — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:54:03 +0000

[...] January, I commended Apple and NVIDIA for stepping up and taking some responsibility for this defect, but contended that [...]

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:24:11 +0000

This is definitely a problem that exists, but from what I understand, only some of these chipsets were manufactured with poor packaging and the problem is remote. Initially NVIDIA claimed that they did not make it to MacBook Pros, but obviously some of them did. From my understanding, it is the minority of these particular MacBook Pros that have this problem, and for every one person that bloga about it, there are probably dozens that are not experiencing any problems.

That said, this problem is definitely effecting enough people for Apple to offer the extended warranty, and it’s good to see that they have done this because it is disappointing to see it occur at all. Apparently according to someone that I know in the industry, most of the effected MacBook Pros have the rom revision 2715 and not the rom revision 3212.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:08:08 +0000

“I’m wildly pessimistic that there will be very many May 2007 through September 2008 MacBook Pro’s that will still boot and run come the year 2022. People who purchased these machines deserve better.”

–Really??? That statement alone invalidates your entire article, sir. Anyone who expects any computer, let alone a laptop, to be a viable machine 14 years in the future is obviously delusional.

This article is entirely speculative, and isn’t even based on any real world knowledge — who expects their laptop to last them 14 years? Just to exemplify, Mac was just selling the “Macintosh SE” 14 years ago. It was revolutionary because it had a hard drive! See for yourself: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/01/the-evolution-of-apple-design-between-1977-2008/

To give another anchor for any readers, the “Apple IIc Plus” that was sold in 1988 was revolutionary for its use of 3.25″ floppy disks in lieu of 5.25″ floppy disks. There isn’t any software available that would run on this machine today… Also, excuse me author, but do you subscribe to science? If so, where are any real world numbers to back up these claims???

Apple Blog, please, really, why are you letting these people write articles for you? It’s an insult to anybody who has even mild IT experience. I love this blog, but you have some writers who don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. I hope you will be more selective in the future, I’m sure that many readers are tired of delving through the garbage to find real fact, statistics, and the like.

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:22:23 +0000

Alex and Charles,

Thanks for the info. I’m glad to hear that I can (hopefully) get a unibody without having to worry about it crashing. Thanks again!

Darren

By: Charles Moore

Charles Moore — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:32:51 +0000

Hi Darren;

As Alex says, the machines referenced in the article are the June 2007 and February 2008 revision MacBook Pros. The new Unibody MacBook Pros use a completely different Nvidia GPU (and have integrated graphics support as well which provides some comfortable redundancy). Hopefully, Nvidia nailed the issue that plagued the older GPU and the Unibodies won’t be likewise afflicted.

Personally being in the hunt for a system upgrade myself, If my budget would stand it I would probably go for a Unibidy MacBook Pro 15″, but it will more likely be a 13″ MacBook.

Charles

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:12:42 +0000

Darren,
Actually the MBP’s being discussed are the older MBP’s (not unibody ones). So stay away from the previous models.

Unless you need the extra 2″–and after this issue–I’d go for the new unibody macbook (not pro). It starts at $1300 and is basically just as powerful as the MBP. Oh–and if Apple finds out something is defective in those and something happens after 2 years you lose $700 less…

By: Clayton Lai

Clayton Lai — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:41:21 +0000

Thanks, Charles.

Vanni – You should be prepared. Apple’s advisory page for the NVIDIA problem clearly states that “These computers were manufactured between approximately May 2007 and September 2008″.

For what it’s worth, the specs of my repaired MacBook Pro are as follows:

Chipset Model: GeForce 8600M GT
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0×0407
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: 3175

By: Darren

Darren — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:36:05 +0000

I’m in the market to buy a new mac laptop. I currently have an ’03 iMac. I’ve just started graduate school so I really need the convenience of being able to take my computer from home to school…I was planning on getting a MBP, because they’ve got more memory and are faster than the regular macbooks. I basically will need it for writing papers, and among other things I’d like to be able to play around with garageband and manage my photo and music collection. Should I opt for the MB instead of the pro or are they affected by the NVIDIA bug as well? Is a refurbed older mpb a safer bet?

By: Chris Latko

Chris Latko — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:17:44 +0000

My late 2007 MBP had not one, but two Nvidia related failures over the course of four months. The second failure brought the HD down with it along with my optical drive. The burner no longer has enough power to burn DL DVDs. This has been a nightmare.