MBP owners w/Flawed 8600M Failures (out of warranty) - did you have a problem getting (no cost) repairs?
I had a reply to the post (above) on Apple extending the Nvidia 8600M GPU warranty saying that although the doc sounds promising, in reality few (out of warranty) failures he has seen were actually covered - as a (required) diagnostic test used rarely flagged the failed MBPs that had all the classic symptoms (no video on either built-in LCD or ext. display) as qualifying for the GPU extended warranty repair. (In his experience he said only about 10% were flagged as qualifying by that test, which I found disturbing personally if his experience is common - and makes me wonder how complete its check/criteria is. Was it written by nvidia?) He said even if the test failed to flag it as qualifying they could still submit it for coverage, but rarely (in his experience) was it covered in those cases. If someone that had a GPU failure repair refused later had a real chip Failure Analysis done, the results would be interesting.
As mentioned in some financial reports last July, Nvidia took a (IIRC) $200M charge related to this so I assume they're paying for these flawed GPU related failures (unless there's something in their supply contacts that frees them of any liability for material/product defects).

I don't know how many readers with one of the affected models (see apple doc) has had an out-of-warranty failure but if you have let me know if you had any problems getting the repair covered (free) or not. Thanks.
I just can't see why Apple would be refusing these repairs when clearly they seem to be classic cases of the flawed GPU failing. (And Apple has been great about out-of-warranty G5 Coolant leak repairs over the last year or two although as I said before, IMHO that may be due to the potential safety issue/liability.)

June 2009 reports on GPU/Video Failures/Repairs: Here are replies to the June 1st, 2009 request for feedback on repairs (copy above) - some however were still under a standard or AppleCare extended warranty. (latest mails first)

(June 26, 2009)
"Mike, About three weeks ago, my mid-2007 MacBook Pro 15" started having video issues (video went off or had a "pinkish" color). On Tuesday I took it to an Apple Authorized Service Provider here, in Mexico City; the next day (Wednesday) they told me it qualified for logic board replace under extended warranty, and two days later (Friday) I had it with me already. It has been working fine these past weeks. The only "problem" I had, was to re-enable it to my router.
Obviously, I'm happy with Apple's customer support.
Best, Axel"

(June 26, 2009)
"I just had Phil's problem (ref: yesterday's posts) last week (colored stuff on screen, then the uniform pink/green pattern grid). I took my computer to the Apple Store, they ran the NVidia test, and it passed. In other words, the problem is NOT the one identified by the test, but there is clearly a second problem with the video in these laptops due to overheating not identified by this test. My machine was just nearing it's 2nd birthday.
Long story short, I had Applecare, so the repair was covered. But the list of replaced parts blew my mind, and the Apple tech who finished the paper work when I picked it up was just as baffled: main logic board, RAM, HD, both fans, all replaced! They replaced the logic board and fans first, but the machine would still not boot, so they replaced the HD, and it would still not pass the tests, so they replaced the RAM as well. I had tested the HD and RAM before I took it in and they were fine. And the heat inside was not out of range according to fan control and temp monitor software.
I am getting tired of the defective laptop designs Apple builds, where after about 12-24 months, a large number fail due to heat desoldering chips over time. (the Nvidia GPU pkg issue IIRC resulted in the GPU separating, not necessarily at the solder point to the motherboard) I've had an iBook G3 and 3 iBook G4s fail with graphics problems (my original and 2 replacements!), and now this MacBook Pro Santa Rosa 2.2.
(BTW - a common iBook G4 failure (due to board flex) was a cracked Voltage regulator chip solder joint - I've had several readers send thanks for the article here on iBook G4 Vreg Chip Solder Joint Repair Guide .-Mike)
If I hadn't bought Apple Care on each model, I'd have bought 7 machines now in 7 years or so. All from the same problem! That's unacceptable. If it's the price we pay for no fan noise, we need to suffer through some fan noise I guess.
-Mike K."

While on the subject of warranties, a reader (thanks Scott) sent a reminder that some credit cards may have an extended warranty feature for items purchased with it. (This came up years ago, where some cards doubled the std warranty on items purchased, although not sure how common that is now even with 'premium' class cards.)

(June 26, 2009)
"Just read your website now. I have a Macbook Pro 15" which booted up fine, but with no graphics display. The classic GPU problem. The laptop is only 18 months old. Apple (South Africa) quoted me R15,000 to repair (the laptop cost R22, 000). They said the main logic board needed to be replaced, and the laptop had failed the generic test for the GPU failure. (Apple's doc on MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues notes an extended GPU related warranty (3 years from date of purchase for affected models) but I had a tech last month say in his experience many failures were not flagged as qualifying for the free repair by the special test they use.-Mike)
There was no way I could afford this quote, I'm still paying off the original purchase price! Apple SA offered no help, very disappointing service.
In desperation I took my laptop to a generic computer shop, and they repaired my Macbook Pro for only R1,000. The technician explained that the because of overheating, the graphics chip had separated from the logic board, and he was able to re-seat it. (rebonded? or resoldered?) The interesting thing was that he had a pile of Macbook Pro's in his shop, all awaiting repair, all with the same symptoms.
Isn't it disgraceful how loyal customers are being forced to pay for a genuine documented manufacturing fault. Apple US needs to be made aware of this terrible situation and the negative marketing that goes with it. Anyway, that is my story. ;-) Let me know if you need more detailed information.
Regards, Shawn
Cape Town, South Africa"

(June 26, 2009)
"I have a Macbook Pro that had the graphics card failure. One day, the video just stopped working. I brought it by the Apple Store and they confirmed a graphics card failure, but my Mac (purchased in 2008) didn't qualify for the free repair because the serial number was not on the list. They told me it would cost $1,300 to fix, so I left the store with a new 13 inch Macbook Pro and this time I bought Apple Care. At least if this one fries within 3 years, they'll fix it (I hope).
-Dave"

(June 26, 2009)
"Bad news here - my Macbook Pro 2.4Ghz Model No: A1226, may have suffered the Nvidia Graphics Card meltdown. My serial number matched the range Apple put on their website. (in this doc) First thing this morning, I had white/pink pixels all over the screen, restarted same thing, then the machine froze, did a hard reset. Things seemed ok for 10-15mins then the pixels returned, machine froze again. On restart I had green and pink squares running in horizontal and vertical lines, got as far the Apple icon, then the black screen of death - 'Hold down the Power button' etc. Tried this twice same result.
Phone Apple Support UK, explained the problem, mentioned the Return program due to faulty Nvidia chips. I now have to take the machine to an Apple Store for confirmation, my appointment is next week in West London.
I'll keep you posted, as far as I'm concerned it's the graphics issue - here's hoping Apple see it that way and repair it free of charge. At present using my old G4 12" iBook - man this screen is small!! I keep a clone backup on an external Lacie FW drive (APM format), so that's my boot drive for now.
(Update 6/29/2009:)
A follow up on my Nvidia meltdown. Just taken my MacBook Pro to the Apple Store, they hooked up a test HD - labeled like 'Nvidia Macbook Pro test'. 2mins later I'm told the good news, it qualifies under the repair extension programme - should take 5-7 days.
I was a tad worried about having the pink/ green squares and some people not being so lucky with a free repair. I asked what gets 'done' - a new logic board. (The GPU is soldered on the mainboard.)
Regards, Phil"

(added June 2, 2009)
"have a MacBook Pro a year out of factory warranty, that was just inside the original 2-year (flawed GPU) extension; no Applecare. I was having problems with the machine locking up when the GPU got hot, always dying in the Windowserver code. However, it was not the "classic" failure of the permanent black screen/no video.

Took the machine in on a very busy Sat. at the Apple Deer Park Illinois store (the main suburban Woodfield store is closed for renovation and they were extremely busy the day before Mother's Day). My appointment was handled on-time and the Genius on-hand booted the box off of a diagnostic USB drive. This started to write patterns on the screen but in my case failed almost immediately with an error message I couldn't read. The Genius wrote it up, and told me they happened to have the "part" on hand, and told me they would try and get the laptop back to me the next day, which surprised me.

About two hours later I got a call that it was ready. I have to say I was impressed. The "part" in question is a full main logic board swap, (as shown in photos, the GPU is on the mainboard which also had the CPU and other components-Mike) which the Genius cheerfully informed me would normally be a $1300 'repair' (might as well just buy another MBP).

When I went in, I made it clear I knew about the Nvidia GPU issue, but I wasn't asked about my warranty date or even whether I had Applecare. The Genius went through some procedure online for the repair, and I assume from the serial # they knew the machine build date, but the net of it for me was that I received absolutely no static about the issue - it failed the test disk, they took the machine, I had it back in three hours. I know mileage varies, but Apple got an A+ from me on the customer service side.

This may have been covered before, but let me mention two side effects of the fix that are less-appealing Apple issues.

Time Machine thinks your machine is now a different box, and refuses to recognize previous backups. There is also no Apple procedure for dealing with this, apart from doing a Restore from a Leopard boot CD. I ended up just having it build a new backup from scratch (which takes six hours). There are a number of online workarounds which are extremely complicated and not usable by average users. Apple better get this sorted, since they are going to be doing this a lot with the Nvidia chips.

There is another bug triggered by this, which is caused by the clock getting reset to before the Leopard build date. The binaries for mDNSresponder and one other binary needed for DHCP addressing for some absurd reason get re-signed with a self-signed certificate as a result of the clock reset, which then causes the Leopard internal firewall to disallow connections from them. Took me a long painful time searching before finding someone who had figured this out. Fix is to re-apply the latest Combo Updater, which restores the original binaries. There is no way of determining this from any logging info in the system, however, my hat's off to the guy who figured this out, he must have psychic powers.

Apologies for long email - love the site!
Cheers, FB"

(added June 2, 2009)
"I applied the SMC Firmware update 1.3 at about 2:00 last saturday and at 4:15 the GPU died, took it to the dealer they confirmed it was an effected model (early 2008) and are replacing the motherboard. On question they can't answer is if it is likely to happen again, e.g. have Apple ever fixed the problem?
-John"

The problem is really in the Nvidia GPU's mfg (pkg defect, where IIRC separation can occur from thermal cycling, etc.) - I'd like to think that any replacement motherboards have 8600M's that do not have that issue, but I can't say personally. (Not sure nvidia is even making those GPUs anymore - although the 9x00 series are commonly called just renamed versions) although in replies (older articles linked below) reportedly better adhesive is now used (although there's been debate about the issue of lead present IIRC). I've been too hammered on hundreds of other problems to keep up with this, but some of the previous article links below here may be of interest to read.

(added June 2, 2009)
"I'm hoping to have my MacBook Pro fixed under this extended warranty, but I fear it's not looking good.
Even though the machine runs and I can use remote desktop to connect to it and show that it cannot find it's own GPU, the tech is telling me it likely won't be covered (at an Apple-certified shop, not an Apple store).
He "ran his diagnostics" and submitted the results, and Apple asked him to run some additional ones, and the status has been "Pending Approval" for a few days. Let's just say I'm not optimistic, but I'll keep you posted.
Steven P."

(added June 2, 2009)
"I wrote last week regarding graphic issues after installing the MBP SMC 1.3 firmware. I was unable to resolve the issues and took the machine into the Apple Store today. They are replacing the logic board free of charge even though the machine is out warranty since it falls under the GPU repair program.

So some people are getting free repairs. I've been following the forums about graphics failures after the SMC update and some people are being charged for repairs so I'm not sure what criteria Apple is using to determine if the repair should be covered by the GPU repair program.
Regards, Charlie"

(added June 2, 2009)
"I own a (MacBookPro4.1 - aka early 2008) MBP and had rather serious graphics distortions right from the start. After lots of trying I finally found a web site that showed it almost always--most of the time the display did not act up when I tried to demonstrate the problem. Dozens of others had the same kind of experience Our local Mac service center (not an Apple Store) finally (nearly a year later) sent my unit in and the return paperwork showed a replaced main circuit board.
But scrolling is still rather uneven and jumpy. The Apple test program shows everything passing. So, I'm kinda stuck! I guess time may tell--I hope that the graphics system holds together, but the extension of coverage is a pretty clear indication of ongoing problems with the GPU. I doubt if Apple would replace my system again.
-Fred R."

(added June 2, 2009)
"I had 2 MBP's repaired with no problems. (both were under AppleCare)
The first was my 17" SR 2.4GHz and the second was my son's 15" SR that they wouldn't replace a failed disk because the case was dented.
-Mike W."

(added June 2, 2009)
"Mine was covered with no problem once I brought it to the Mac Genius's attention. They also fixed a few other things not under warranty. So all's well here.
(I asked if the MBP had any warranty (std or applecare) in force at the time of the repair and for the record the model (early 2008 aka MacBook Pro 4,1 or the 2007 series).-Mike)
No warranty on it or apple care. I believe it's a 2007. Sorry no time to check. it's a 2.4ghz intel core duo if that helps.
-Jeremy "

(added June 2, 2009)
"Had no problem getting mine fixed (under Applecare warranty) through my local Apple store. 2.2Ghz Santa Rosa.
-Adam B."

(added June 2, 2009)
"I have one of those pesky nVidia 8600s in my Mac Book Pro (MacBookPro3,1 model, 2.2GHz). Screens (built-in and external) went utterly dark upon my upgrade to 10.5.6. Took the MacBook Pro to my local Apple Store. The Genius ran some type of video test from an external HD, had my fill out a form and took my Mac. They had a logic board in stock and were able to swap it out and have the machine back in my hands the next day. No issues whatsoever since then and everything was covered by warranty. (My laptop was NOT under standard warranty or AppleCare at the time of service. It was handled under Apple's policy regarding the nVidia GPU.)

What I've read is that the failure tends to manifest sooner on MacBook Pros connected to external monitors since it drives the GPU harder. (and I suspect from owners that regularly stress it heavily - i.e 3D, gaming, etc.-Mike) Dunno if that's true, but it makes some sense. Thanks for your site!
Best regards, Ty"

(added June 2, 2009)
"I had three Macbook Pro GPU failures. One on a 15" and two on the same 17", both with GeForce 8600M GT. All were covered under warranty. (Both had a warranty in force at the time.)
The 17" was one of the first to fail in the USA so it took two tries to get it fixed.
The question I have is what about AppleCare? Does my AppleCare warranty get extended as well? (I'm sure it doesn't - the extension is for GPU related failures only per the Apple doc. And since even the GPU extension is only 3 years from date of purchase, does applecare even extend beyond that? (can't recall if AC is 3 years from date of system purchase or from date of AC purchase))
Actually, the second time the 17" went in, it was One Year and One Week but as it was an open issue, there was no discussion.
I get your drift on the AppleCare, I think you are right.
Best regards and thanks for everything you do for the Mac community - your website ROCKS!
-Jim"

(added June 2, 2009)
"The video card failed on my 2.2GHz MacBook Pro at 9.5 months. I have Applecare, so there was no argument at the Genius Bar in the Lehigh Valley Apple Store. Three weeks later the HD died and was replaced. If I didn't have Applecare all this would have happened at 13 months.
-Art"

I asked about that last comment - as 9.5 months + 3 weeks is still under the std 12 month (1year) warranty) - unless the first repair took 2 months to get back? (and then 3 weeks later the HD failed)

Earlier info/posts from 2008 follow

(Dec. 10, 2008) FYI: INQUIRER confirms (new) Apple Macbook Pros have Nvidia (GPU) bad bump material w/Analysis of 9600 GPU material - per an Oct. Apple doc (see below) this affected only earlier MBP models.) Also see the replies to the Inquirer article, which reference rebuttals such as Cnet's Allegations, denials of 'bad' Nvidia chips in MacBook Pros. Time will tell if these really have a higher than normal failure rate. (There's a LOT of notebooks out there using the 9600 GPU, and others (9700, 9800) that were assumed to not be affected by the previous issue. And now also wondering about desktop 9x00 GPUs.)

(Oct 10th 2008) Apple Comments on MacBook Pros with Flawed Nvidia GPUs I've been waiting for this and thankfully Apple has finally commented on the flawed Nvidia notebook GPU issue noted in Nvidia's July Financial statement (and by Dell, HP and others earlier this year - see previous links here).
See Apple's doc on MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues that lists affected production (appx. May 2007 to Sept. 2008), a graphics warranty extension (2yrs from date of purchase) (Doc revised on 5/29/2009 to note 3yrs) and says any owners that paid for a related repair will get a refund.

This page is a catch-all for reports from MacBook Pro owners on GPU failures, Tips, Notes from Nvidia on "weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of its previous gen. GPU and MCP products used in notebook systems.

"Subject: Mac Book Pro 17" 2.4Ghz Dead Graphics Adapter
I want to bring you up to date with a quality problem with my 2007 Mac Book Pro 2.4Ghz 17" with HD screen. Six weeks ago, I had random screen artifacts, that included lines, faded text and muted colors. Went away with a reboot.

Next day, more of the same and it wouldn't go away with a reboot. Called AppleCare and they promptly suggested all the nonsense blather that they recite every time (reset PRAM, SMC/PMU, etc.), culminating with the recommendation to "reinstall the operating system". As I repeatedly pointed out during my time on the call, booting off the Mac OS X Install DVD (and doing the same resets mentioned above) and seeing the exact same problems, pretty much eliminates the installed operating system, preferences, user account, etc, as a possible root cause. Believe it or not, they couldn't get their mind around this.

In any case, the problem went away on it's own in a couple of hours of fiddling and I went on my merry way. In the mean time, the repair box arrived but the computer wasn't broken so I just held on.

Well, yesterday morning, it was over. I opened the lid of my sleeping computer and no display. Attached an external monitor... no display. Rebooted, reset, tried everything I've learned in 23 years of Apple ownership (well, not everything, like slamming the side of the computer as hard as possible to "help it").

No display.

So, I am at my partner's office when this happened so I sat down at his desk and used his Mac Book Pro 15" to see "Shared" items and there is my computer, so I sign on using Screen Sharing and everything is normal as far as I can see. I run System Profile and mercy me, no NVIDIA 8600GT graphics adapter is installed in this computer. What do I see? An Intel GMA X3100. I don't know if that is a virtual adapter used by VNC during Screen Sharing or part of the Intel chipset that is not normally active with the add-on NVIDIA card installed or what.

In any case, I call AppleCare and they advise me that the previous case number issued is defunct and they have to issue a new number and send a new box (how retarded is that?).

This time, however, there are no questions and silly suggestions. They know exactly what is happening and I might be reading too much into their response... but I think it's happening a lot to MBP users with this NVIDIA card. (There's been complaints over graphics issues/bugs, etc. for some time in Apple's MBP discussion forums (and some threads on no video like this one with a couple hundred replies), as well as other graphics/GL bugs that are not MBP specific. A reader had also sent a link (javascript reqd) to a google spreadsheet with over 90 reports from MBP owners w/no video at boot, but of course there's been many thousands shipped - however even Nvidia mentions a suspect batch of GPUs in their Second Quarter Fiscal 2009 Business Update (item 2) from July 2nd, 2008 regarding a $150-200 million one-time charge related to "weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of its previous generation GPU and MCP products used in notebook systems". The doc doesn't mention specific Nvidia GPU model numbers, but by searching for specs on the Dell laptop models in a related cnet article I found some used Nvidia 8600M GPUs.-Mike.)

NVIDIA promised a new driver some time ago to address overheating problems with the Apple version of the driver but so far, nothing. (We hoped that the 10.5.4 update would include some GL/driver bug fixes also, but it didn't.)

So now, for the first time ever, I have to send my computer to Apple to be repaired (all those years of buying AppleCare finally paid off). Please note the dates of failure, I bought this computer exactly One Year & One Week before the first problem. Those Apple engineers are better than anyone thought they could be! I'm sure it's a coincidence but it's pretty funny to note.

SO how does a guy who works five days a week in another State than where he lives and relies 100% on his laptop to do his job, survive without his computer? I went to Apple's store and bought a 2GHz iMac, Restored the MBP internal hard drive to the iMac and bang, back up and running. When I get my computer back, I will sell the iMac, take a small haircut on the cost and move on with my life. I couldn't think of any other solution!

So I close with a warning to your readers for this graphics card, don't delay when problems appear. It will die - contrary to your hopes and wishes, so get it fixed promptly!
Best Regards, Jim"

A certain % of anything will fail (sometimes infant/early failures) but some think their MBP's had 8600M's that were part of a suspect batch mentioned in Nvidia's 2nd QTR (2008) financial results (See notes below regarding Nvidia's comments on the subject in their (July 2nd, 2008 dated) Second Quarter Fiscal 2009 Business Update PR) - some replies here on failures go back to the early models and there could be some variation in assy build quality/heatpipe mating (efficiency) - remember the posts here and elsewhere on the first gen MBP's heatpipes having thick gobs/slabs of thermal paste - not ideal... although the first runs had ATI X1600's running at lower GPU clock speeds).
If you've had a similar failure with your MBP, let me know the details. Thanks.

Other MBP owner Replies: (latest first)
(FYI: Here's some links to articles related to flawed Nvidia GPU chips - Dell issues update for (laptop) Nvidia graphics chip glitch that has quotes about "affected GPUs (graphics processing units) are experiencing higher than expected failure rates causing video problems....The issue is a weak die/packaging material set, which may fail with GPU temperature fluctuations. If your GPU fails, you may see intermittent symptoms" - this is mentioned in NVIDIA's Second Quarter Fiscal 2009 Business Update (item 2) from July 2nd, 2008 regarding a $150-200 million one-time charge related to "weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of its previous generation GPU and MCP products used in notebook systems". The doc doesn't mention specific Nvidia GPU model numbers, but by searching for specs on the Dell laptop models in the cnet doc I found some used Nvidia 8600M GPUs, as well as others like the 8400M. There's also other related articles - HP: Nvidia graphics defect an issue since November 2007 and Dell Takes Heat for Faulty Nvidia Chips)

Broken Thermal Sensor Connection:

(added 8/14/2008 - reply to report from yesterday)
"I wanted to give Sebastian as well as anyone else a bit of advice. SMC FanControl2 (and the other similar programs out there) ARE wonderful ideas; but don't rely on them for long term solutions.. I would suggest taking your Macbook/Macbook Pros in and having the thermal sensors inspected for damage or other general defects.

I too was having trouble with fatal graphical corruptions as well as random shutdowns of my Core Duo MBP and finally had enough of it on Sunday August 9th.

Thinking that it was the known issue of the amount of heat sink compound on the CPU/GPU/Chipset units, (this was noted on very early (ATI X1600 based) MacBook Pros years ago (early MBP page here had several posts on this) with some pix showing thick slabs of compound. There were also some notes (years ago) on a wire being replaced due to contact/shorting against a heatpipe IIRC.-Mike). I completely disassembled my system intending to clean it and start from scratch.

I was almost finished removing everything when I discovered that one of the wires attached to the right thermal sensor had broken at the solder point. I completely removed it and reassembled my MBP then turned it on. (Removed it? (not resoldered the wire) With no sensor connection (open ckt) to the thermal sensor (if a PTC thermistor type) the system would see that (NC) as max temp (infinite resistance) and downclock speeds/increase fan speeds, etc. But not sure what type of sensor is used there. I'd be curious what Apple Hardware Test reported also (before take-apart) but if it was shutting down the test may not have completed.-Mike) It is now 5 days later and my system has not had a single shut down or issue with graphical corruption, even when running programs like Second Life and Phantasy Star Universe (natively in XP) at their highest settings. I will admit that I am glad that the new sensor I ordered from iFixit arrived today, but all things considered, I'd say it was a chance well taken.

I'm not 100% certain as to what was occurring, but it seems very likely the broken wire was shorting out and causing the sensor to report incorrect temps from the nearby GPU and forcing the shutdowns.
(He later wrote)
I completely removed it (sensor connection). Surprisingly I did not notice a serious increase in fan activity as a result of this action. (If ran with no sensor connection it would have been interesting to see what was reported with (freeware) utils like iStat Pro or Temperature Monitor as well as reported clock speeds.-Mike) I submitted a question to Apple Tech Support about that observation, but it appears that (on the original Core Duo models at least) it is possible for a MBP to function at a normal capacity with just one sensor installed.

Then again, I wasn't too anxious to really push my system either... It is out of warranty (even applecare) and I haven't saved enough to purchase a new one yet.
-Joel S."

I asked he report back after replacing the sensor.
With later (C2D) MBP's the possible use of flawed Nvidia chips (see links above) is still another concern (I wish Apple would officially comment if any production runs of MBPs used those flawed GPUs.)

(added 8/13/2008)
"I own a 15 inch bottom line Macbook pro (128mb Nvidia 8600M GT) that I also bought about this time last year (about a month before the begining of college). I noticed the problems just 4 days ago for the first time. I was playing Civilization 4 on my windows partition when I suddenly got a grainy checkerboard pattern on my screen. So the first thing I did then was restart and see if it also happened in my Leopard partition and it did about 10 minutes into my game of Warcraft 3 TFT. After fiddling with it for a while I came to the conclusion that anything video intensive set this off (the checkerboard distortion).
I started to monitor the video card temperature using iStat pro (freeware system stats widget) and my guess is that when i reach about 80 degrees C I get the mentioned problem. Oh and I forgot to mention that this error is fatal.. as in shortly after everything else stops working my mouse stops moving on screen as well. The first thing I did to try to combat this was to reinstall Leopard after clearing the drive. I didn't call apple for this because I am out of warranty... very convenient that this happens within a month of losing coverage. Then it happened again shortly after completeing the install.

So I shut the damn thing off and turn it back on. Then I installed FAN CONTROL. (I think he means SMC FanControl2, which some readers have used to boost fan speeds during gaming (increase cooling/reduce throttle down due to heat)-Mike)
I set the upper threshold temp to 70 degrees (the lowest allowed). I also set the minimum fan speed to 2500 rpms. Since then I have not had the problem once. I even just played warcraft 3 for about 2 hours straight with no issues. I don't know what will happen when and if I try to play Civ 4 on windows, but I'm just glad I don't have to get a new video card for now. I always had a feeling that 80 C was just way too high, so I guess it finally took its toll on my card, that now (w/boosted fan speeds) seems to operate completely fine. I'm keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that it was just a fluke or a software issue....
-Sebastian"

Still nothing official from Apple if any MBP production runs included Nvidia GPUs with the mfg/pkg issue (see links above on the issue from Nvidia, Dell, HP and another article today $196M Should Cover Costs of Bad Graphics Chips, Nvidia Says) - but cooler is always better and thermal cycling reportedly is a factor in failures for those suspect GPUs (i.e. temperature cycles of heat/cool down of the GPU).

(added 8/12/2008 - later updated)
"The instructions for connecting an external monitor, turning on and closing the lid worked. (See notes in 8/4/2008 report below this one.) My LCD screen now comes on 'phew'. I thought my graphics or LCD was busted.
(Just for the record I asked model of MBP? (when was it bought, etc.) and was this the first time you had any problems? )
It was a mid-2007 MBP 2.4. I've had intermittent wake from sleep issues but would resolve at least via a hard shutdown and reboot. No recent firmware updates. Last update was done same day as the latest leopard update was released which was a while ago. (The reader below that posted the tip said his problem happened after the Security update 2008-005 (from July 31st). 10.5.4 was released June 30th.)
This is the first time it's actually been unresolvable following a reboot.
Prior to it happening, it was connected to an external monitor, put to sleep, external monitor disconnected, then attempted to wake from sleep. I've yet to retest it to see if I can repeat the bug.
(So your last update was the 2008-005 security update then?)
Hmm interesting. Yes. Well this was the first time I had connected it up to an external monitor since that update. Perhaps that's related?
(he later wrote)
Update: The trick with plugging in an external monitor, turning it on, and closing the lid, doesn't always work (even after resetting NVRAM). It works sporadically, so you have to keep trying it until it does work.

I've decided to soon, take a shot at calling Apple support despite it being out of warranty and try to claim its a known issue citing the Apple forum thread on it.

I've also tested the theory on the problem being due to recent software updates. (May not be related, just that he tip came from someone that saw the problem right after the 2008-005 update, but that could have just been coincidence. Again if a hardware issue tips like that won't fix that - and again some that had failures initially had intermittent problems.-Mike) I installed replaced the MBP hard drive with a fresh one with Leopard installed with the latest updates EXCEPT 2008-005 Security Update. It didn't make a difference.

My belief is that if the problem is indeed a software issue, then it would have to be an update that involved a system firmware update. (If I had $1 for every (uncommmon) problem with an OS X update over the years here I'd be richer than Bill Gates. (I guess you missed the past posts from even developers on this...) - although nothing is a sure thing this is why I always suggest A) using download updaters and B) doing a clean reboot (with nothing else running) when installing any OS X update. But I've even had some PB owners report no video after a blizzard game update once (nvram reset fixed it) - although the main question on recent MBP's is the possibility of flawed Nvidia GPUs being used (see above links on the subject, although nothing to date from Apple on that.)-Mike) Although I also believe it's a hardware issue thus requiring logic board replacement to fix. Either way, this is a real pain in the ass.
-Paul"

Let me know if the problem reappears (as for those with suspect hardware, the problem can be intermittent at first) - but hopefully not.

(added 8/4/2008)
"Well, on Friday night, I thought my NVidia 8600M GT had bitten the dust. After applying the latest security update on my MacBook Pro 17" 2.4GHz and rebooting, I faced a black screen. The laptop was still working just no video. I tried to hook an external monitor and there was no video signal. Rebooted a few times. Tried resetting the PRAM, no change. Since the laptop is provided to me by the company I work for, I reported my problem (I work from home and losing my laptop would be a catastrophe).

One of the tech's suggested that shut it down, connect an external monitor, turn it on and close the lid. Which I did and this time, I got a video signal on the external monitor. Since I had forgotten to plug an external keyboard and mouse, had to open the lid to shut it down. Well, upon opening the lid, the image came back on the internal LCD. Shut it down, disconnected the external monitor and turned it on. This time, the image appeared on the LCD. So, it looks I'm back in business for now but am still very suspicious.

Anyhow, thought you could maybe update that page with this additional trick that I didn't know about, even though I've been owning Macs for well over 20 years.
-Lauren"

I asked he report back if the problem reappears (i.e. was the 'fix' due to the chip cooling down, or just another odd/uncommon problem seen after an OS X update.) If anyone else finds this helps, let me know. (This won't fix a case where the GPU has actually failed of course and there is usually intermittent problems seen before a failure - as Jim noted in his original report above...)

(added 8/4/2008)
" Hi Mike, Just a quick update...

----------------------------------
From: Apple (do_not_reply@apple.com)
Date: August 1, 2008 5:00:21 PM CDT
Subject: Apple Mail-In Service Request

Dear James,
The repair of your MACBOOK PRO (17-INCH 2.4GHZ), is currently on hold, pending receipt of a needed part. We will notify you by email when the repair is complete.
Your repair status is available online.
Apple
----------------------------------"

(added 8/4/2008)
"Hello Mike, I'm the owner of a Santa-Rosa-MBP which was bought at 06/15/2007, a couple of days after the launch of the new MBP generation. I have the basic model with a 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 120GB harddrive and a GeForce 8600M with 128MB VRAM.

For about a year I had only some small problems (at least I thought those problems are "small"), like freezing after waking the MBP from sleep (after hitting a key with no screen output or with a frozen screensaver and very high fan speed afterwards). My first opinion was that this was maybe related to ACPI (ACPI is very complicated, the current ACPI specification is a document with about 600 pages and Intel is researching a new hardware-based replacement to replace ACPI sometime in the future because ACPI got very difficult to implement over the time). In cases I had a freeze after waking the MBP from sleep I had to do a forced shutdown. In some rare cases, I had problems turning it on again (no reaction after pressing the power-button). Resetting SMC and PRAM did not solve the problem. My OSX-Tiger was OK in every aspect (latest patches and firmware installed, no damaged file-systems etc.).

Unlike many others I had no screen-flickering and no vertical lines, everything seemed OK. The quality of the display was very good.

Two days after I found first news reports about the NVIDIA issues, I had the problem again (freeze after waking it, no screen output and problems to restart it). This time I had no luck. I tried everything: SMC and PRAM reset. Booting from OSX-DVD and external disks. Removing and reconnecting the power-supply etc.

Then I gave up and decided to repair it through my Apple reseller. Because I had sensitive (private) data on the hard drive, I tested if target-mode was working, because it was a must to remove and overwrite the data before I gave the MBP out of my hands. I was very surprised to see that MBP worked absolutely flawless in target-mode. This was the last proof I needed to believe I had a problem with the NVIDIA GPU... To bad my warranty had run out a couple of weeks before :(

I told my reseller what I had found out. Apple repaired my MBP and I had it back about two weeks after sending it in. My reseller told me they had replaced the logic-board.

First tests with the repaired MBP are fine, it seems to work for the moment. I'm really doubtful the repair solved the NVIDIA problem permanently (I have not seen an official confirmation the problem is really related to the NVIDIA graphics). My guess is, the wake-up problems I had are in direct relation to the GPU problem. NVIDIA says is related to thermal fluctuations which are much more often in notebooks. If you put a notebook to sleep temperature decreases rather fast and if you wake it up temperature rises fast again... it's exactly what NVIDIA wrote the problem is about!

My MBP serial number is the same after repair as it was before (I noted the serial number months ago to have it in case the MBP would be stolen). Before repair I had the newest firmware installed (Boot-ROM-Version ending with .B07). After repair I had an older firmware (ending with .B05), so I guess the motherboard was really replaced although I'm not sure where the serial number is stored and if Apple can manipulate the serial number of a logic-board.

I'm not really happy how Apple handled this problem. Not a single line of official information. But dozens of users complaing about the problem in various forums. Dell and HP reacted very quickly and replace failing notebooks beyond their warranty.

I remember many cases of bad designed Apple products (remember the bad IDE chips in the Rev.1 B/W G3 (yes, noted here back in 1999 in article w/IDE chip P/N - I had one.-Mike) or the SATA problems with the 2003 G5's?). (Issue with some drives or the PCI/PCI-X slot/bus sharing?-Mike) In every case they gave no official information. I guess it's their policy to deny as long they can. Same thing which the DNS poisoning fix: No official information for weeks although a patch for BIND was available as source days after the disclosure of the problem. And even M$ was faster which a patch...

Maybe Apple has the most user friendly operating system and the most interesting hardware. But it terms of product quality and response to user complaints they are not the best. Maybe Steve Jobs should have a look at this and correct Apple's policy.
Regards, Christian V."

I wish Apple would comment about the flawed Nvidia GPUs (HP and Dell have - see links above), and if this does affect some production runs of MBPs that they list those and offer a warranty extension program.

(added 7/31/2008- from Jim that previously wrote (top of page above) about a failure a few days out of the 1yr warranty)
"Less than 48 hours after return of MBP, exact same failure repeats!
I am again sending my MBP to Apple for service.
-Jim"

(added 7/28/2008)
"I just wanna say that I had the same problem. My MBP died yesterday. I had similar symptoms every one is describing, but I thought it was software related. Unfortunately my MBP died 8 days after my warranty. Tomorrow I'm going to try to convince apple support in Poland that this my case is not alone and maybe they will help me.
-Jacek M."

(added 7/28/2008)
"Hi there, I just want to submit my crappy experience with NVIDIA's GPU, my MacBook Pro and its replacements. Not to be repetitive, so I'll just summarize what's happened throughout the use of TWO MacBook Pros (including one that had a logic board replacement).

1. MacBook Pro (2.2Ghz Merom/Santa Rosa/128MB VRAM)
- 3rd month of usage, NVChannel(GL) errors
- 5th month of usage, graphic texture corruption
- Did a logic board replacement. Service note onboard TEMP sensor faulty
- problem not fixed, texture corruption still happens, condition was even worse than it was before taken into service.
- brought it in for another service
- machine got screwed up by the service centre.

2. Replaced with MacBook Pro (2.4GHz Penryn/Santa Rosa/256MB VRAM)
Within 24 hours of opening the brand new machine.
- More random NVChannel(GL) and screen-freeze
- GeForce8xxx kext induced application crashes (in QuickTime)

Within 3 weeks since machine first arrived.
- Front Row texture corruption/system freeze
- this is where I'm at NOW.

Problem persisted even after SMC and PRAM resets, and clean re-installations. I have posted my issue as well as instructions to get people to try and replicate the issue but unfortunately it has been unsuccessful.

I also have a gallery full of NVIDIA crap to document all my blabbering.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28516734@N05/sets/72157606141870377/

I'm sick on waiting and replacing my logic board just to get the same fault coming back over and over again. A month's worth of downtime had cost me too much. I do hope some action to be taken by Apple as soon as possible before the consumer decides to take action into their own hands.
-Jay"

(added 7/28/2008)
"My 1-year-old MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz has been experiencing some weird video artifacts recently. I upgraded to Leopard about 6 weeks ago and honestly don't recall whether I had the video problems under Tiger.

The most common and irritating symptom is that text display becomes corrupt on slow or irregular scrolling. In this case moving another window on top of the text (or in some other way forcing a redraw) corrects the problem. Also when reloading web pages the entire window contents blinks and stutters with flashes of garbage on screen until the reload finishes. It's a little thing but distracting.

When I upgraded to 10.5.4 I began having problems with Parallels video display in Windows, as appeared to have been common. The most recent build of Parallels fixed this, EXCEPT that after being awakened from sleep the Windows display is corrupted with garbage in big blocks, and I've found no way to recover other than to hunt in darkness for the shutdown button and restart.

I have AppleCare and am on the fence about calling it in for a repair. Following this issue carefully to see whether Apple has a real fix or is just as perplexed as everyone else.
-Jeff B."

(added 7/28/2008)
"Read about the MBP graphic problems. I had the same thing happen to my 15" MBP. I bought my MBP (Santa Rosa board) at the end of june 2007. The screen went out at the end of april. Had to go to an Apple authorized technician (horror story as Apple doesn't pick up Macbooks anymore) and get the logicboard replaced. Since then it has worked but I got AppleCare just to be on the safe side for the next 2 years.
Regards, Robert"

(added 7/24/2008)
" Our MBP (std config 15in/2.5GHz/2X1GB RAM/250GB 5400rpm/512VRAM), purchased on line and shipped May 29 from Johnstown stock, failed after about two weeks. Started with screen artifacts and went to full lock up after a few days. Sometimes would boot after sitting for a day, sometimes not.

Took it to the genius bar mid June and they replaced it with one from their stock. This one has been flawless. Tech at the store said they had been getting back more than the usual number MBPs (rare). Disc drive and CPU worked fine in target disc mode, so thankfully they were able to transfer all our stuff to the machine.

I did not see any discussion on this topic in early June, except that the MBPs were said to be sold out in many places, which added some anxiety. But the local Apple store had a few.

I'll dig out the SNs if you need them. If I recall correctly, there was a significant difference, the replacement looked like a newer number.
-Sam"

(added 7/24/2008)
"I have a 17-inch MBP santa rosa, and I lost video and had a logic board replaced about 6 months after I took possession.
It was under AppleCare and the replacement gave me an upgrade from 2.4GHz to 2.6GHz. Seems to have been fine since.
-Derek"

(added 7/24/2008)
"I have been having a video issue that sounds similar to this. (No info on MBP model, series, when bought, etc. but I've asked.-Mike) Sometimes it is hard to tell by just a verbal description so I have managed to capture a sample of the problem I am having on my camera phone. I thought I would send you a sample of what is happening to me and maybe others can tell you if they are seeing the same thing I am. The flickering you see in the video is NOT from the camera phone, that is the way my screen looks. Feel free to post it (video) if you want.

I have a couple of other samples including on of the screen flickering in Single User mode so it is definitely a hardware or low level software issue.
-Craig"

(added 7/24/2008)
" After about 11 months I had a blank screen failure (computer clearly working behind the screen). Apple replaced the logic board but it happened again in about a week. Apple replaced it again* and, this time, the graphics diode runs about 15°F (not C?-Mike) cooler under a heavy video load, e.g., video skype. It turns out that 4 of 5 Apple laptops that I have owned (serially) over the past 15 years, have had at least one hardware failure.
(*Different people said different things to me about the source of the problem and the repair. I believe both repair sheets said the logic board was replaced.)
Love your site, Neil I.
(Apple system profiler info follows) Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4GHz)
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP31.0070.B07
SMC Version: 1.16f10
Serial Number: W873ÉG

Chipset Model: GeForce 8600M GT
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0407
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: 3175
Displays:
Color LCD:
Resolution: 1440 x 900"

(added 7/23/2008)
"I've just recently had the motherboard of my CD2 2.4GHz 15" MacBook Pro replaced because I was seeing similar problems. The screen would glitch out and it wasn't related to heat or software. The tech guys weren't able to reproduce the problem and all hardware passed inspection so it was only my word that they went on that there was something indeed wrong with my machine. Hope that this helps.
-Dave"

It would be nice if the MBP's graphics were a mini-PCIe card that could be replaced. (Many years ago I used a Dell Inspiron (8100 IIRC, thick slab design w/dual battery option) notebook at work that had mini-PCI based (upgradeable) video card.)

(added 7/23/2008)
"I had my 17" 2.4GHz MacBook Pro (original, not Santa Rosa) die on me on July 10. It was the same symptoms as what's been described elsewhere- the machine is completely functional with the exception of video- there is nothing on the built-in display or the DVI connector. I can shell in, and I can remote desktop in. Apple System Profiler reports the video subsystem to be an Intel GMA X3100 instead of the GeForce 8600M.

In my case, the machine was out of warranty by a month.

The failure was sudden: there were no artifacts or other video problems beforehand. I had been using the machine with the lid closed with an external LCD; I put it to sleep and took it to a meeting, and never got the video back. After I swapped the drive out with an older, spare machine to get myself back up and running, it powered up to have video once. I swapped the drives back, and it resumed its former, failed state and never came back again. I don't know if this is indicative of a loose solder point, or if it was just chance.

I'm hoping that Apple will acknowledge the problem and offer some sort of extended support on these systems; if not, I guess it will make a good headless server - after all, it's got a built-in UPS. ;) Thanks for running such a great site for all of these years!
-Matt"

(added 7/23/2008)
"Yes I did get the vertical lines thing. I was running FCP and the machine was extremely hot then all of a sudden these vertical bars appeared and went away after about 45 minutes. This MBP was only 10 days old then but has not failed since. Here are the specs of my video card. Hope it helps
Salutations, Denis C.
(Apple system profiler info (french))
GeForce 8600M GT:
Jeu de composants: GeForce 8600M GT
Type: Moniteur
Bus: PCIe
Longueur de la voie PCIe: x16
VRAM (totale): 256 Mo
Fournisseur: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Identifiant du peripherique: 0x0407
Identifiant de revision : 0x00a1
Revision de la ROM: 3212
Moniteurs:
Ecran LCD:
Type de moniteur: LCD
Resolution: 1440 x 900
Profondeur: Couleurs 32 bits..."

(added 7/23/2008)
"About the MBP video failure, I had a first Intel gen MacBook Pro 15". After the 14th month, the screen suddenly would only display 16 or 32 colors like an old macintosh. I first thought it was a software problem and went to system (display) preferences, but nothing to do.
At the time, a GPU failure was found, 800 euros to replace the mother board, I bought a new MBP instead...

Some months ago I checked it again to use it as a server and I discovered an external display was working fine, no color problem... so was it really the gpu? I probably won't know what happened!
Sincerely, Emilien"