Macbook Pro blank screen problem: logic board failure
Posted by Esme Vos | Posted in Gadgets | Posted on 28-12-2008
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Two months ago, I had a serious problem with my Macbook Pro (purchased July 2007). When I booted it up, nothing appeared, just the dreaded blank screen of death. I could hear the hard drive whirring away but nothing else happened. I took it to the Apple Store and they told me that the logic board needed to be replaced. So they sent it to a repair place in Texas. I got it back within a week. But it cost me a little over $300.
Today I read on the 37 Signals blog about the same Macbook Pro blank screen of death. The author of the post says that every Mac he has ever owned has failed. None of my Macs has ever failed; this Macbook Pro is the first one so perhaps I’m lucky.
I also found out that many people have this problem. See the Apple Discussion boards on the Mac Book Pro blank screen problem.
UPDATE: Apple will repair this problem free of charge. See my latest post.
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Thank you so much for posting this. I turned on my MacBook Pro yesterday morning (less than a year and a half old, previously working fine) and was shocked to discover that the screen was black, but the keypad obviously responsive. I've tried various ways of getting it to work with no result, and on the advice of many I had been convinced I was going to have to shell out for another one – I'm a student, and would have to get badly in debt to do so – but your post has provided me with a glimmer of hope. $300 is a large sum of money of course, but it is nothing compared to the thousands I was expecting to probably have to fork out. I'll keep a bit of pessimism, but once again thank you for a rational and detailed post on a vital issue.
yhad the same problem last night….i turned on my mbp & there was no display….this had happened once before but it came back after a few restarts so i thought it might have been a one time glitch…but when i got online i found that literally hundreds of people seem to have this same problem…i turned it into the service centre today (fortunately i just extended my applecare last month)….im thinking its the same dreaded logic board issue…hope things work out well for us…
You shouldn't have to have paid anything.
Apple have accepted this as a known issue with defective NVIDIA 8600M GPUs
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377
You can even claim back your $300
I called Apple Support and they confirmed that I am entitled to a refund. I need to go to the Apple store where I initially tried to get the laptop repaired because they were responsible for sending it out to the repair center.
Same thing happened for me. About a year and a half old, I opened my computer up, and the screen never turned on. It was still on warranty, but its nice to know I would have been covered anyway. They also found out in the process that the PRAM was defective, not allowing the computer to reset properly, so I got that replaced too.
same thing happened to mine last week, took it in after the screen went black and was told they have to replace the logic board…luckily my 6 yr old one still works
For those affected – Have a look at my post here. I seem to have fixed the black screen of death on my MacBook Pro. Thing is, you will need another machine to operate it via screen share…
Hope this is of use to someone!
http://blog.ginkgostudios.com/2009/05/just-a-note-of-caution-this-worked-for-me-i-hope-it-works-for-you-but-obviously-i-cant-guarantee-that-i-just-thought-i-wou.html
Echo… happened two months before the 3-year warranty period on my 17″ MacBook Pro was up). Apple fixed it (quickly and professionally. Sent it in to the site here in Houston and it was back in two days. First time anything like this happened… been using Macs since ‘93.
I had the same problem and was stressed for about a week. Very pissed off with Apple. Then I searched the Apple forum and the screen failure was known to happen to some of the macbook pro’s of this generation (07-08). Apple acknowledged the problem as a failure of the Nvidia chip and will replace the logic board of any macbook with the this problem free of charge even if the Macbook pro is out of warranty (like mine was). So I took my Macbook pro to an AASP here in Melbourne Australia and within a week they repaired it and I didn’t have to pay a cent
They even refunded my $75 booking fee. So not happy that it malfunctioned in the first place because of a manufacturing defect, but I’m glad Apple acknowledged it and provided the repair free. Hopefully the new logic board (Rev 2) will last…
17” MacBook Pro (2.5 years old) no APP. Logic board failed. Factory defect graphics card, Symptoms: while working, stripes on screen, goes blank and would not turn on, hard drive made noise. Apple Fort Lauderdale sent it out and fixed for free.
A week ago I turned on my 17in mac book pro which was purchased in Nov. 2007. The screen was black.
I was so happy that I spent the extra money on the extended warranty. I took my mac to the apple store on Thur. evening Monday morning fed ex was at my door with my mac. We have a total of 7 macs, this is the first one we have had any problems with. I am still a mac fan.
My husband and I had a lot more problems with any dell we owned.