My 2011 MacBook Pro GPU failed. What can I do?

We have bad news and good news.

The bad news – your GPU is failing. There is a widely known defect in the AMD Radeon GPUs on these MacBook Pro models. You are not going to be able to fix the GPU. You can extend its life for a few weeks with a reflow, or attempt to replace the GPU. Replacing the GPU is very dangerous (easy to “brick” your Macbook, making it a very expensive paperweight) and you are just putting another defective unit on your board. The final option is to replace the logic board. This is insanely expensive ($600+ before labor) and again, just putting defective parts into service.

Onto the good news. With this modification, the GPU will be completely disabled, and you will never have to worry about it again.

But wait, why would you disable your GPU, you need that thing right?

The 2011 MacBook Pro actually has 2 very capable GPUs inside. 1 is the AMD Radeon, and the other is an Intel GPU. If you know anything about Intel GPU (and CPU), you know they are extremely reliable. So utilizing the Intel GPU means your GPU is going to live longer than you will.

A few other fun facts about this modification:

Cooling
Your MacBook Pro will run cooler. The Radeon normally pumps out a ton of waste heat. Now your Radeon is not powered on. No waste heat.
Even better, now you have 2 fans and 2 heatsink pipes dedicated to cooling the Intel GPU/CPU only.

Less fan noise
Since you now have 2 passive cooling systems working on one chip, your fans will run less, and quieter.

Battery Life
Now that you don’t have several watts of power turning into waste heat, you now have improved battery life.

So, if your 2011 MacBook Pro is experiencing these issues, reach out to us! We will be glad to help you extend the life of your 2011 MacBook Pro.