Some mid-2011 iMacs Feature Faulty GPUs, Apple Announces Replacement Program

[btarunr]

Apple announced a GPU Replacement Program along the lines of its HDD Replacement Program, dating back to 2011, for mid-2011 iMacs, which had its run at the markets from May 2011 to October 2012, more specifically, iMacs equipped with AMD Radeon HD 6970M. Apple says that both the 1 GB and 2 GB variants of the graphics boards inside these iMacs could fail. Telltale signs include artifacts on the screen, including white or blue vertical lines or a solid black display. Apple is offering free repair and replacement for affected iMacs, and refunds to people to paid to get the issue fixed, prior to this announcement.



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[Deadlyraver]

I smell crappy QC tests.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Apple quality, fanboys love it, but is it that good?

 

[Mussels]

i'd hazard a guess its another piss-poor cooling job - not faulty per se, but overheating based on the 'symptoms' they listed

 

[WaroDaBeast]

What I like about Apple — and there's not much I like about them — is their systematic replacement programs. Of course, they're not the only one out there to have replacement programs like these, so it's not like it makes them stand out among the crowd, but still... that's a good thing in my book.

That said, I have to agree with the above comments — the quality simply isn't what fanboys make it out to be.

 

[Wile E]

Eh. OEMs release bad shit sometimes. It happens. At least they're remedying the problem.

 

[NC37]

Likely not Apple's fault but the fault of cheap solder by whoever is making the boards for it in China. Not the first time they've had this issue with GPUs. ATI/NV...both from time to time suffer from this.

 

[Octavean]

Yeah,....

I think one of the few things that Apple does well (besides making some people think they are different in some way when they really aren't) is they often address things that go wrong with their products even if the given product is well out of warranty. Not in every case mind you but if it seems to effect a line of products then it is very likely.

Ive seen this with outdated iPods of some considerable vintage and so on.

In contrast, I had an N3250w HDTV from Viewsonic that failed and is now notorious for being part of a line of their products that used cheap failure prone capacitors in the power supply subsystem. They know of the problem and don't really seem to care. The most practical cost effective way to fix such an issue with the N3250w is to simply replace the bad capacitors,.....yourself. It helps to be good with a soldering iron,....

So no Apple might not fix everything "gratis" but when it has the potential to effect a lot of their customers its in their best interest to make them happy.

Viesonic didn't make me happy and as a result I'll probably never buy one of their products again.

 

[Prima.Vera]

Apple will just cook in the oven the video cards and re-sell them again as refurbished...

 

[Frick]

Apple will just cook in the oven the video cards and re-sell them again as refurbished...

Which they would be.

 

[Octavean]

Apple will just cook in the oven the video cards and re-sell them again as refurbished...

Do the iMac's use MXM video cards,.....?

Not sure they are even removable,...maybe they are integrated into the motherboard.

***edit***

Yeah they use some kind of MXM card for graphics and have a temp probe connected to the heat spreader.

 

[Pickles Von Brine]

Do the iMac's use MXM video cards,.....?

Not sure they are even removable,...maybe they are integrated into the motherboard.

***edit***

Yeah they use some kind of MXM card for graphics and have a temp probe connected to the heat spreader.

They use MXM boards and they are separate parts within the units. The way the machines are cooled is actually quite well. I am an ACMT at a local Apple Authorized Service Provide (I DO NOT WORK FOR APPLE!!!!), so I should know. The cards, from what I can tell, have suffered from a solder joint failure of some kind with how the cards are behaving.

EDIT: As far as temp probes go, they have a probe on the heat spreaders, but also through sensors within the GPU itself. The sensor on the heat spreader is for the GPU proximity sensor.