MacBook Pro 2010 Common GPU issue

[bcwiz]

Originally Posted by Raoul23

What are the signs of this failing capacitor??


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There are two GPUs in those MBP that auto switch depending on the graphic requirements, with an Nvidia doing the heavy lifting including running an external display. Switching from the Intel GPU to the Nvidia GPU will cause a kernel panic if the capacitor has failed. You can force the computer not to switch but graphics capabilities will be limited and no external display. Other than that no way to know.
However I have one 2010 MBP that has never had that problem and another that did so who knows.

[Raoul23]

Thank you for sharing this knowledge. So it’s a bit hit and miss then


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[Bob L]

I'm typing now on a 2010 MBP 6,2.

This machine was a hand-me-down from my son. It had a habit of shytting the bed semi-regularly and he couldn't hang. GPU switching will simply turn the machine off without warning. I had a recent increase following a SSD swap.

After research, I downloaded this and haven't had another since. This a donation-ware item. Note to Cody Krieger -- I can't get the PayPal donate link to allow me to enter an amount, but I tried several times. Looks like you'll have to settle for a hearty "Thank you"!

Raoul - all that said, if you can manage without Thunderbolt, it's an OK machine.

[YYR123]

2012’s in the States and on eBay regularly go for $500 or less

And as said before have TB and FW800 and USB3 (which I didn’t know)

[Raoul23]

Originally Posted by YYR123

2012’s in the States and on eBay regularly go for $500 or less

Shame I’m
In the U.K. 2012 ones are around £700 here


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[Juan Moore]

I had a 2010 MBP i7 that had this issue. Main symptom was eventually a black screen from boot up. Very very occasionally it would boot up properly but then just unpredictability go black. Apple tried repairing it 4-5 times including new boards etc (each time a 2-week repair turnaround time) without success. I got fed up and had to buy a new mac. It was a nightmare because this meant I had to also convert all my music software (I was on PT10 at the time) to 64-bit compatible and the latest Apple OS. I would steer well clear of any 2010 MBP - especially given its age. However, you need to cost out the changes associated with changing up to a 64-bit system.


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[bcwiz]

Originally Posted by Juan Moore

I had a 2010 MBP i7 that had this issue. Main symptom was eventually a black screen from boot up. Very very occasionally it would boot up properly but then just unpredictability go black. Apple tried repairing it 4-5 times including new boards etc (each time a 2-week repair turnaround time) without success. I got fed up and had to buy a new mac. It was a nightmare because this meant I had to also convert all my music software (I was on PT10 at the time) to 64-bit compatible and the latest Apple OS. I would steer well clear of any 2010 MBP - especially given its age. However, you need to cost out the changes associated with changing up to a 64-bit system.


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Apple will not do surface level diagnostics or repairs they just replace the entire board which likely has the same crappy part on it. Unfortunately a common scenario.