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Early i7 MacBook Pro Graphic Problems & Solutions

We get questions. Good ones, in fact, about all sorts of Mac problems.
Recently, the owner of an early 2011 15″ MacBook Pro with an i7 processor was experiencing some disastrous graphics issues.
These machines (15″ and 17″) offered two graphics processing units (GPUs). One is the graphics processor that’s part of the Intel CPU. The second graphics chip is made by either AMD or NVIDIA and was designed to provide an additional graphics performance boost for the laptop.
The problem is that the AMD/NVIDIA GPU has what Adam Barscheski of Realmacmods says is a “tragic defect” that causes that i7 to either have lost its video or soon will.
As our MacRecycleClinic laptop Guru explains, “The supplemental video chip was incorrectly soldered to the motherboard and when the cold solder connections separate, boink goes your video.”
As he wrote the owner, “There are some specialty shops that will try resoldering the video chip. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t last very long. The clinic has lots of i7 machines with your new woes.”
Solutions
There are frankly no good solutions to this problem, but here’s what MRC is recommending:
- Search the web for sites that claim to resolder the
video chip. Good ones insist on removing the
motherboard, removing the chip and reinstalling; - Go to the MacMedics website and see what they say
about the problem; - Realmacmods offers one possible way to fix the video issue by disabling the AMD/NVIDIA GPU so that only the Intel GPU is used;
- Find an older i5 (2013-2015) machine with retina display if your work does not require intensive graphics/video support. This series of machines does not have supplemental video problems.
- Look for a newer i7 on Craigslist or eBay that did not experience these problems.
A Crazier Solution…
A quick search on YouTube found this video from HotshotTec – who basically took the MacBook apart and COOKED the motherboard. It worked for him, but it’s not something you should consider unless you are very comfortable taking apart – and putting back together – a Mac laptop. But the process is certainly interesting:
If you’ve had this problem – and found a solution – let us know and we’ll share it here!
It’s Time To Add Antivirus Software To Protect Your Mac
(Silver Spring, Md.) It’s been a long time coming, but it is now time for you to seriously consider adding antivirus software for your Mac.
The reason is actually very simple. Our Macs have been around for a long time, grown in popularity and numbers and hackers have taken notice. Over the past few years, there have been increasing reports of vulnerabilities in the Mac OS (that Apple may or may not fix), security issues, ransomware and much more.
So we’re at a point here at MacRecycleClinic where we’ve decided to add a free version of Avast (rated as the best free antivirus software for the Mac by MacWorld) to every machine we refurbish for donation. I would strongly recommend you read their article (or search online – there are many more) and make a decision for yourself. As you’ll see, the best paid programs offer everything from malware protection to ransomware monitoring and much more.
Macworld author Glenn Fleishman notes that “antivirus software should be able to neutralize a threat before it can begin wreaking havoc. That means preventing the download, installation, or execution of malicious software.”
For our purposes, Avast will do a fine job as freeware on our refurbished Macs. If the user (the person or family to whom we donate a machine) wants more protection, they can either move to the paid version of Avast or try one of the other companies that sell antivirus software (Avast Pro is $59.99 per year.)
I will note that the U.S. Government has banned one company selling antivirus software – Kaspersky Labs – because of “fears of Russian intelligence.”
Helping People is What We Do!
Always great to hear these kinds of stories that we can pass along to our Recyclemac readers.
This one comes from our own Jim Ritz – a long-time member of the MacRecycleClinic and the old Tuesday Night Crew at Washington Apple Pi when the club had a physical office in Rockville.
Jim writes:
Recently one of (MRC volunteer) Phil Marchetti’s clients said she had an old iMac that was of unknown status. She asked Phil if he could fix it and maybe she could pass it in to her handyman who couldn’t afford to buy a computer.
Phil said it worked but needed ram and who knows what else. Hearing the specs I knew we had ram of the type it needed. We increased the ram from 256 MB to 2.0 GB and installed the latest Mac OS that early Intel could handle and passed it on. The client gave MRC a donation as well.
This was a Win, Win, Win situation for all involved!
It is what MRC does.