MacBook Pro: Serious Hardware Issue

Hello there,

I have recently been noticing weird things with my early 2008 MacBook Pro, and it all started by a weird noise that happened a couple of days ago for a few hours and then stopped. It came from the right side of the computer and I am not sure if that's a fan, hard disk, graphics card, or whatever.

Anyway, it was all good afterwords when it stopped, till an hour ago when I was working on Windows 7 and the computer suddenly restarted. It booted in Windows 7 and it gave me an error saying "Blue Screen" or whatever so I was like okay.. that tends to happen so it's an operating system issue. However, the computer suddenly freeze and restarted, and that's what I keep getting:







As you can see, it seems like a video card issue. I did the Apple Hardware Test a couple of days ago and it gave me an error code with Video Card written next to it. I googled it and all the results said the same thing: that's a normal error code with MacBook Pros that use Nividia GeForce 8600M GT and it doesn't mean it's screwed.

It worked fine even after displaying that error code but I guess it is demolished now.

Any suggestions, guys? I'm sure if I take it to the Apple store they will just dismantle the notebook and replace the video card and I would be forced to pay double the price because Apple stuff in Egypt are so expensive. If there are any other suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!

I forgot to add, in the last picture it's actually frozen.

It does appear to be a GPU problem. If it is, that means a new logic board which can be very expensive. When you take it on in, ask if it's covered under the Apple extended warranty on certain MacBook Pro models which had bad GPUs installed from the factory. Otherwise, if you're not covered by Apple care, it may be too expensive a repair to have done.

Thank you for the information. I googled Apple Extended Warranty and came up with this MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues which seems very useful. Mine falls into that category, early 2008 & geforce 8600M GT. I guess that's exactly what happened with mine since I take care of it like a baby. The optical drive also died on me around 5 months after use and I am pretty sure it wasn't even my fault. However, when I decided I should go and fix it, the warranty was already over.

Too late to do anything about the optical drive but it sounds like you may be able to get Apple to do the logic board swap for free. Don't wait though. That extended warranty may expire soon.

I just called the Apple store in Egypt and contacted the service center. I told the representative the issue and he is aware that some models were affected by this problem and the board can be replaced for free. He told me they will have to run some sort of a test, get a validation code, send it to Apple in the US, and if it's confirmed, Apple will send the board and I will have to pay for the duties (shipping, customs, etc.) which will cost exactly $262USD. Of course that is a lot, especially since what happened isn't my fault, but I certainly shouldn't have bought the computer from Apple in the USA since I live in Egypt.

I am buying the new i5 MacBook Pro in a couple of days but I will have to give this one to my sister, meaning I must fix it first. I will buy the new MacBook Pro from Egypt, though, so if anything happens, I'd be able to fix it totally for free.

Around an hour ago I made a call to the Apple Customer Service in the USA and the lady told me that it could very well be one of the affected notebooks and they will definitely fix it for free after they do their test on it. The extended warranty is still valid for around two years and three months so if I don't go to the US this December, I will still have time to fix it.

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Now as for the laptop itself, I ran another hardware test, this time an extended one, and I got the same result it gave me two days ago:





Two days ago when it gave me those results, it worked fine and stopped today. Now it works fine again, but I suppose I should just leave it shut down and not use it at all till I get it repaired, right?

I would get back onto Apple customer care in USA, explaining that you were advised that you would have to pay shipping and duty on this part by the Apple store in Egypt, and see what they have to say about this.
Being that this is a known defect as acknowledged by Apple, and is covered under an extended warranty, you should be incurring no out of pocket expenses for this to be repaired.

Thank you for your reply. Those were my thoughts exactly. Why would I have to still pay (whether for duties or whatever) since it is not my problem. I guess I will call Apple again tomorrow and see what they have to say about this.

Tarek:

Apple has no control whatsoever over what taxes and import duty that your country collects. I'm sure they'll be sympathetic, but there's nothing they can do about it. However, I believe Apple will relent on the shipping charges.

Anyway, let us know how this all comes out and good luck.