Seeing a lot of logic board replacements here.

I know that the majority of posts to any discussion boards are by people who have issues of one kind or another, but I am reading a lot of posts stating that the poster has had the logic board replaced at least once.
Being that the logic board is to the MacBook what a motherboard (or mainboard) is to a Wintel unit, I am finding it hard to believe that the main component of a computer from one of the (or the) most respected personal computer manufacturers is being so troublesome.
As I have a 17" MBP on order & live over an hours drive from an Apple store, I would like to know exactly how common is a replacement of the LB?

Indeed, you are right. Apple's approach is usually silence. Those of us with warped cases, bad logic boards, bad batteries, defective trackpad buttons, and much more will likely be brushed aside if all looks well on the marketing end. And that is how we can best get their attention. In my job I can tell at least 5 people per day how horrible mhy experience with Apple has been. The market is corrective. The greatest thing we can contribute to the welfare of the market is to base our next purchase on our past experience. At this point, it will NOT be an Apple bit of hardware. If OSX is not running on other systems by that point, I will simply revert to SuSE 10, or SLED (by Novell) running on a an inexpensive but reliable HP or Dell.

Similar Messages

  • 3rd Logic Board replacement: will Apple give me a new computer?

    Hello Ronda and Friends,
    I am a professional guidebook and magazine writer, currently traveling around the world with an iBook which loves to crash its logic board right before book deadlines, usually very far from Mac centers. The first time was in Belize (had to ship it back to US at great expense), the second time in Pakistan (got logic board replaced 6 weeks later in Delhi, this was only 5 months ago), and the third, the day before yesterday, here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which thankfully has a Mac repair center.
    I've got 3 months left on Applecare and plan on replacing the logic board again, though I have 6 months left on this current trip, which will soon take me very far from Mac repair shops (i.e. Africa). I am constantly working on deadlines, and if this third board craps out in Kenya, I'll be pretty screwed.
    After reading a few archived logic board sob stories here, some seemed to suggest that there are cases where Apple would grant a new model iBook, if that person's livelihood depended on it which mine certainly does.
    Please advise as soon as possible so I know whether to go ahead with the logic board replacement here. Or let me know who I should contact in customer relations.
    Thank you -- and if you are interested in my travels, go to
    http://blog.stonegrooves.net
    Joshua Berman
    Dual USB iBook   Mac OS X (10.3.3)   3rd logic board crash

    Hi, Joshua. Welcome to Apple Discussions. Again isn't it, as I seem to remember your logic board failure in Pakistan, yes?
    It seems to be the usual thing that Apple wants three attempts at repair (which means four logic board failures) before considering a replacement. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Especially since your livelihood depends on a working iBook, I'd advise you to ask for a replacement.
    Apple Phone Contacts includes a number for Thailand:
    http://www.apple.com/contact/phone_contacts.html
    But do not mess around with Customer Service. Ask for Customer Relations. Tell them that your iBook has a habit of losing its logic board at the most inopportune times and in the most inopportune places. Be prepared to give them dates and details of repairs, and stress how vital your iBook is to your livelihood and that lost computer time is lost income. Tell them you need a computer you can count on, and your iBook, much as you love it, just isn't getting the job done for you. Then ask for a replacement.
    If Thailand won't do it for you, I think you should invest a call to the U.S. Again, don't settle for Customer Support; immediately ask for Customer Relations and give them the same sad story and ask for a replacement. It won't hurt to emphasize the fact that you have AppleCare.
    Failure in Africa equals a trip to the Netherlands for repair (at least from what I've read here). One person in Africa didn't have his iBook for months. You really need a dependable iBook to take to Africa. Tell them so.
    Good luck.

  • Has anyone here had their logic board replaced yet?

    I am going to take my MBP to my local Apple store tomorrow to hopefully get the logic board replaced due to the whine and some crashes. Has anyone had the board replaced? Does it fix the issue? I am just wondering if it is dead silent after the switch...

    Yes, I just received mine back today for logic board replacement. It did get rid of the whine, I must say that apple's service was first calss. I placed a call last Wednesday, received a shipping box next day, prepaid I might add. DHL picked up the box on Friday, apple service center received, repaired and shipped it back on Saturday. Amazing, never experienced this kind of turn-around on anything.
    Thanks Apple

  • Logic board replacement - do I do it or not?

    Hi,
    The Logic Board of my iBook G4 14" 1.2 ghz recently died and is going to cost me almost £600 to make right!!!
    No I didn't buy Applecare. Call me stupid but I expected Apple machines to be a cut above bog-standard PC machines and assumed it'd last me a while.
    If I'd have known these issues before I made my purchase then I'd never have bought the machine - it's 2 years old for god's sake.
    I digress.................
    I've seen the posts on this board - multiple board replacements seem to be the norm, although by the looks of things the older ibooks seem to suffer the worst from this.
    My question is should I expect another board failiure? The service centre is offering me a 3 month warranty on the replacement parts. If my ibook goes down after that with the same problem then I'd be seriously annoyed that I just didn't buy a new MacBook instead. I see I could get hold of their lowest-spec machine for a few hundred pounds more.
    What do you guys think?
    iBook   Mac OS X (10.4.7)   iBook G4 1.2ghz 14"

    I've seen the posts on this board - multiple board replacements seem to be the norm, although by the looks of things the older ibooks seem to suffer the worst from this.
    You'll have to keep in mind that this is a technical support forum specifically for people who are having problems. The topics here do NOT reflect the experience of the vast majority of iBook owners. Apple regularly sold 250,00 iBooks each quarter, so if "multiple board replacements" were the norm, there would be thousands upon thousands of posts here about an issue like that.
    Apple did recognize a manufacturing defect in the G3 Dual USB iBooks and created a logic board replacement program for those that failed due to that specific defect. But, it was only for those that did fail and not all of them failed.
    Without knowing more about your need and use for your iBook, it will be difficult for us to determine the risk you face by paying for a replacement. There is currently a refurbished iBook 12" 1.33GHz /512DDR /40GB /Combo for £524.25 right now at the UK's "Special Deals" Web site. This computer would have the full Apple warranty and could take an AppleCare Protection Plan as well.
    -doug

  • Logic Board replaced after randomly shutting down

    I know there are a lot of posts on the randomly shutting down issue...
    My MacBook started randomly shutting down after a month since I got it. Apple replaced the logic board and I got it back today. I read on some posts that people got their logic boards replaced and the problem continued. Is this likely to happen with my MacBook?
    This seems to be a big issue. My friend got a MacBook last week and it started randomly shutting off within the first hour of use. He had it exchanged, and it's fine now... but for how long?

    I don't think it would do any good to yell at the store manager/technician. Still, I do understand you since I got the same problem here. However, since my logic board was replaced, I got fewer RSD, which is a start...
    Personnaly, I know that my MB is guaranted 1 year, so I won't hesitate to have it repaired, or exchanged if needed (after 3 repairs for the same problem usually). As a matter of fact, other than some RSD, my fan has started making noises when I power up my MB, when it is cool. I wait because there is no solution out there yet (for RSD, and my problems are not that bad.
    By the way, reading many of the threads around here, we can almost state for sure that:
    -the logic board
    -the RAM
    -the hard drive
    -the heat sink
    -the battery
    are not the (direct) sources of RSD. This has to be proved for the processor and the fan.
    To be followed...

  • Logic board replacements: supply shortage!

    I've seen a lot of threads on here encouraging anyone with a whining MBP to send it in for no-questions-asked logic board replacement, so I wanted to post a quick caveat...
    My MBP has been in the repair queue at the Apple Store for a week and a half, and they're still waiting on shipments of logic boards; from what AppleCare can tell, it looks like supplies are hugely diminshed at this point, and the only stock of MPB logic boards is what the individual Apple Stores have on-hand.
    Maybe I'm just unlucky, but chances are that if you're hoping for a one-day turnaround in a shiny yellow DHL box to stop the whine, you'll have to wait a bit longer...

    My condition with regards to work isn't quite as bad as yours, however I did realize that as soon as I dropped the machine off I had forgotten to commit my last day and a half of work back to Subversion, so I've been just idly touching up things here and there as I don't want to waste a whole day and a half re-implementing something that's stuck on a 2.5" chunk of steel. sigh
    Although, if there is a shortage, I'd better get cracking on re-doing that day and a half of work or I'm going to be even further behind on my projects. Thanks for the confirm.
    My MBP is CTO, so I'm pretty much screwed on trying to get a replacement before the logic board comes in. I don't think I'll have lost any clients (I've been doing new stuff on my old PB) but I'm definitely not in a comfortable position wrt my existing work. Ah, the perils of computerization.
    There is good news: I remember this happening back in the day with the problem-plagued old G3 iBooks, and many of those were just replaced with more recent boards as they became available. Maybe I'll get a 2.16 out of it.

  • Signal hasn't worked properly since logic board replaced

    My logic board went out a 6 weeks ago, and I had it and the topcase replaced. Since getting those two components replaced, I no longer can pick up wireless signals in public places. I say "public" because at home, I can pick up the signal, but that's because my desk sits atop the base unit. So it's only when I'm out do I notice the problem.
    I thought maybe it might be the logic board again, or the airport card, so I had the technician replace it again. So I have had the logic board replaced TWICE and had a new airport card installed. Same deal. It's software related from what I can tell.
    Here's one symptom that is strange. As time progresses, it gets worse. So I started at 3 bars this morning, and finally the signal disappeared. I rebooted, and it came back, but at 3 bars. What is causing this? Do I need to wipe clean the HD and just reinstall OSX? I backed up everything last night preparing to do that, but wanted some info. I also have applecare, but right now, work's so chaotic I can't afford to be away from the computer.
    PLEASE HELP!

    You wrote:
    "I doubt that reinstalling OS X would help here. From the following reference you can see that the iBook G4 uses an AirPort Extreme card. (ref: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=26277) Most likely this card was removed in order for the technician to replace the logic board. The card also has an antenna cable attachment.
    I suspect that this cable is not fully attached, and may be worth having a look at to verify. (ref: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108039) "
    You may be right, but this is hard to believe in some respects. When I took it in the first time, the Airport Extreme card was not changed out, and the problem immediately materialized after teh logic board was replaced. I took it back a second time, and the logic board was re-replaced. I also requested a new Airport extreme card. That too was replaced. The antenna was also checked. None of this appears to have made a difference.

  • After logic board replaced- SystemSerialNumb listed as serial number

    I just noticed this.. I had my logic board replaced a few months ago. Now when I go to About This Mac, it lists my serial number as: SystemSerialNumb
    The number is no longer there. I read about someone else who this happened to. Is there anyway to get the serial number back? I have it printed on my AppleCare.
    The problem is now, if I can't prove this is my system, the one stated in Apple Care, how do I resolve that isse? Will I be able to ever get Apple Care for this computer?
    Any help will be appreciated.
    Bryan

    Hello,
    I have a little trick for you below. But, first I'll explain how this feature works and why it doesn't.
    The serial number you were seeing in the System Profiler is written into a chip on the logic board.
    But, when they refurbish a logic board, they clear out this serial number. Since they have no way of knowing which system it's going to be installed in next, they do not re-program another number into the logic board.
    So, when you get your refurbished logic-board installed, that location that contains the serial number is cleared.
    Apple will often reprogram the number into the logic board on complete systems that they refurbish. But, it is not common for them to do it on the individual logic-boards.
    Unfortunately, the only way to get it to display in system profiler again, is to re-program that serial number back into the logic board. And, Apple is the only one with that tool.
    But, you can continue to use the serial number that is printed on the foot of your computer for all warranty related items. That number is still your "official" serial number. So, the number you use has not changed. It is just not visible in your System Profiler.
    Now, there is a little trick to make your serial number display in the "About this Mac" window.
    You can read about that here:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1511437#1511437
    I hope this helps.

  • MBP 15-inch 'Logic Board Replacement'

    I just got my MacBook Pro back from the repair center (sitting at the Genius Bar right now). The machine was sent in for heat/whine, keyboard & battery replacements, and a buzzing right speaker. The Genius I talked to initially recommended that they replace the main logic board, keyboard, battery, and right speaker assembly. The repair techs at the Houston repair center ended up replacing a lot of parts, but I suspect that they didn't actually replace the main logic board. Here is a list of the parts used to service my MacBook Pro:
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    593-0233 CBL,TEMPT SNSR,HEATPIPE,M1
    616-0260 BAT,LITHION,60WHR,PLYMR,SMPLO/ATL,MBPR15
    609-0170 SPKR ASSY,PURCH,M1
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    632-0366 FLEX ASSY,LIO/AUDIO,M1
    658-0290 ASSY,KYBD,M1
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    I've been home for about five minutes now, and in this quiet environment I've determined that neither my whine problem nor the right speaker distortion were fixed. I still get the whine, which goes away when I run PhotoBooth, put a moderate load on the system, or disable one of the cores. The right speaker still distorts, possibly worse than before.
    Not sure yet whether the machine is running any cooler, though I suspect the new battery may cool things off by a few degrees. On the plus side, after the temp sensor replacements I am at least able to monitor the internal temps (couldn't do this before because readings in Temperature Monitor never updated).
    So I guess I'll have to send my pride and joy back in for repairs again, hopefully for the main logic board replacement I was promised last time. Those b*stards!
    BTW has anyone succeeding in getting a fix for the right speaker distortion? This is certainly off topic and I'm guessing the answer is "No," but it never hurts to ask.

  • Fans Now Kick on to "Cat 5 Hurricane" Speed After Logic Board Replacement

    I have been around and around with this issue with tech support/product specialists and "Geniuses" at Apple Stores, and all I seem to be getting are shoulder shrugs from one and all.
    I recently had to have my logic board replaced --and since doing this, the fans come on for what I feel are "innocuous" reasons --say just watching a YouTube vid or opening a "heavy" PDF, Safari being the ONLY app open.
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    All those steps already have pretty much been taken, S.U. --since the logic board replacement was done at an Apple Store, I immediately took it back to the same Apple Store and the "Genius" ran through all those things --I'm still having to monitor what it's doing when they kick in, but the only thing unusual I see is when Safari goes right to the top of the Activity Monitor after clicking on the CPU column when I'm on one of these "innocuous" sites.
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    Then today, I had a supposed product specialist @Tech Support tell me "so what's the problem? The fans mean they're keeping your computer cool" --I s**t you not!!
    CMCSK, I couldn't agree with you more and have, in fact, had to take this to Apple Consumer Relations --who basically told me it's all up to the techs/"geniuses" to fix but they'd add a notation on the case to expedite should it require another repair (cause having my MBP [only computer] in the shop for a week to replace said logic board cost me dearly!!).
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    My AppleCare runs out in like 100 days --hope they can resolve this before then --don't laugh.
    This is really screwed.

  • Has the NVidia GeForce 8600M GT logic board replacement program been extended by a year?

    I have heard that the logic board replacement program for MacBooks Pro with the failed NVidia 8600M GT chip has been extended from 3 to 4 years after the date of original purchase. However, a local AASP had no knowledge of such an extension. Is this true? I have a MacBook Pro 17" 2.6GHz that was purchased in 2008.

    eww wrote:
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  • Macbook Pro Mid-2012 Logic Board replacement, Apple Dragging feet?

    First some background:
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  • Grey restart and program crashes after logic board replacement?

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    There's a 90-day warranty on the repair.

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