Every apple repair shop is trying to charge me £300 for a $18 fix

neckbeardthethird · 26 Feb 2020 at 10:29

So i have this exact issue, its a well known issue with the macbook pro 15" mid 2010 model.

Basically the GPU does a kernel panic whenever it's being utilized a decent amount (ie: playing a 1080p video or using a graphics intensive program). The computer does a hard shut down and then when i check the crash log its reporting GPU Kernel panics.

The problem is due to a faulty capacitor and the replacement capacitor is only $18(ish) according to this guy.

Now my problem is that whenever i phone up literally any mac repair shop (even unofficial ones) they all say 'we have to change the logic board'... which is a solution but its a £400+ solution which is pointless for a 10 year old macbook.

What i need is someone like this guy in the video to replace the capacitor but how the hell do i ever find a guy like this ? I've phoned over 20 places in London over the past 2 days and they all sound clueless and insist i have to get a new logic board even though i try to tell them it can be fixed another way. Id understand this stance from official third party mac partners but not from unofficial repair places.

Anyone got any suggestions where i can find someone like this guy ?

edit: im aware it would cost more than $18 in total as id be paying for the guys time as well.

ChrisD. · 26 Feb 2020 at 10:32

You can actually send it to Louis for repair:

https://rossmanngroup.com/shipping/

Shipping might be an issue though.

Deleted member 77746 · 26 Feb 2020 at 10:36

I wish I still had my soldering stuff. I would have done it for you.

I’ve done successful back light replacements many times on Apple logic boards before and they are tiny so if I can do a backlight I can do that chip.

tom_e · 26 Feb 2020 at 10:43

Don't phone Apple repair places, phone electronics repair places that know how to wield a soldering iron.

neckbeardthethird · 26 Feb 2020 at 10:49

tom_e said:
Don't phone Apple repair places, phone electronics repair places that know how to wield a soldering iron.

I did think about this but im not technically savy enough to explain it to them, the best i could do is say 'watch this video, this is the problem and fix' but i cant imagine the average electronics repair guy being willing to watch a 30 minute video just to see if he can do the job or not

ChrisD. · 26 Feb 2020 at 10:53

Just say a capacitor needs changing on a laptop motherboard, they'll most likely have done similar work. Or look on Facebook for any local electronic nerd groups, I bet there's a few.

neckbeardthethird · 26 Feb 2020 at 10:55

sweet

https://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store...MIsL__6oXv5wIVDLTtCh0iNQ-JEAQYAiABEgJ-XPD_BwE

found these guys, £103, much more doable.

dirtybeatfreak · 26 Feb 2020 at 10:55

any official/acreddited repair shop wont touch this model as it's deemed obsolete by Apple.

something daft already!! · 26 Feb 2020 at 10:56

This is one reason why I don't use Macs.

ChrisD. · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:04

something daft already!! said:
This is one reason why I don't use Macs.

Why is that, because laptops are immune to a failing capacitor?

Lakeland · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:04

I bought a macbook in 2011 and even though it functions perfectly, they’re treating it as obsolete now, restricting software etc. I’ll most likely never get another MacBook.

Bluecube · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:11

You have a NINE year old laptop that functions perfectly. I’d be happy with that.

Deleted member 77746 · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:21

Lakeland said:
I bought a macbook in 2011 and even though it functions perfectly, they’re treating it as obsolete now, restricting software etc. I’ll most likely never get another MacBook.

You say that though right but if you think about how long it has lasted, nine [9] years is a long time for a bit of tech to last.

something daft already!! · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:24

ChrisD. said:
Why is that, because laptops are immune to a failing capacitor?

No, because Macs are very expensive to fix.

ChrisD. · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:28

something daft already!! said:
No, because Macs are very expensive to fix.

How is replacing a capacitor on a mac any different to replacing one on a normal laptop?

Deleted member 77746 · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:35

something daft already!! said:
No, because Macs are very expensive to fix.

It's a logic board nothing more nothing less. Apple just use (usually) higher end components but at the end of the day it's just chips that can be replaced just like any other repair.

ChrisD. · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:38

mrbell1984 said:
It's a logic board nothing more nothing less. Apple just use (usually) higher end components but at the end of the day it's just chips that can be replaced just like any other repair.

Exactly. A laptop from 2011 with a similar spec would be about the same to repair. MacBook's are expensive to fix if you go direct to Apple outside of warranty, that's to be expected. But they aren't these magical beasts that are hugely different to a high spec'd laptop and cost more to repair using 'normal' methods.

SonicSW20 · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:38

Hard to find good businesses that do component level repair unfortunately, most will just say replace the board.

SonicSW20 · 26 Feb 2020 at 11:42

mrbell1984 said:
It's a logic board nothing more nothing less. Apple just use (usually) higher end components but at the end of the day it's just chips that can be replaced just like any other repair.

They really don't, their boards are not particularly high quality. See Louis Rossmann's channel linked above.

something daft already!! · 26 Feb 2020 at 12:23

SonicSW20 said:
They really don't, their boards are not particularly high quality. See Louis Rossmann's channel linked above.

I watched a lot of his stuff, He's very interesting.