Apple MacBook Pro A1286 Graphics Chip Replacement
Hi again!
This week’s look behind the scenes of a Disc Depot repair is the repair of a faulty AMD/ATI graphics chip (model: 216-0809000) on an Apple MacBook Pro (A1286 15″ 2011 version).
As you can see on the first photograph, this MacBook Pro isn’t showing anything on the screen- it’s totally blank. As usually happens with problems due to the chip itself, we replace the 2011 version of the chip with a newer upgraded- and fixed- 2013 replacement version of the same chip.
This means firstly desoldering the old 216-0809000 chip from the motherboard. That’s something that isn’t as easy as it looks here; we use a specialised, temperature-controlled reflow machine that only heats the parts we want to heat, and includes specific temperature profiles for different equipment and tasks. This significantly reduces the chances of heat damage and increases the likelihood of success in repairing the MacBook Pro’s blank display.
As always, this isn’t a complete guide, and we’ve missed out some secret tips and tricks we learned the hard way (and expect our rivals to do the same!)
(Edit; Please note that this article was published in early 2015, and we are no longer able to offer this specific repair for the reasons given in our comment below).
As you can see, this 2011 Apple MacBook Pro 15″ is showing nothing but a blank screen. Not very useful, unfortunately.
To replace the graphics chip we need to disassemble to MacBook Pro.
The motherboard is heated at a relatively low, controlled temperature in a specialised oven in order to drive out humidity and increase the reliability of the repair.
Using the temperature-controlled reflow machine to apply heat only to the graphics chip, allowing it to be removed.
Now that it’s been desoldered, we can remove the old graphics chip.
The old graphics chip comes off.
The motherboard with the old graphics chip removed and the new one still in its packaging beside it.
The new “2013” AMD 216-0809000 graphics chip has been installed, and we reassemble the computer
Now that the chip has been replaced, we run a battery of tests on the MacBook Pro to ensure that the new one works correctly.
Furmark is a well-known way to stress test GPUs. Each “hair” must be rendered separately. Once the tests have been passed, the computer can be returned to the customer.
8 comments
Hi sorry to bother you, just found this article researching this as I recently had 2 MacBook 2011 chips go. I sent them to a chap in london who claims to have replaced the chips. While they are now working again, the serial numbers on the board show signs of being melted and I’m wondering if maybe he just heated the motherboards for 8 minutes in the oven at 375, which I could have done myself. Firstly does that hack work as someone said it’s more an issue with the solder than the chips themselves, if this is what he’s done is the hack likely to last? Also is there any simple way to verify if he has actually replaced the chips as the graphics info in system report seems the same as the old chip. Finally how much do you charge for this repair? I originally got a quote from a company in west yorkshire who quoted about £450 inc VAT per laptop. This chap in london did both for 300.
Thanks for any clarity on this.
Disc Depot said:
Hi Alex,
Unfortunately, as of mid-2018, we are no longer offering this repair as there is no long-term solution to this problem. We have repaired many of these devices and the repair can last anything from 1 week to 1 year. The underlying problem is the cooling inside the MacBook is not suitable for the device and it forces the MacBook to run hot and damage the chip.
On top of this, it is nearly impossible to buy a brand new GPU for these nowadays- all the ones sold through China are salvaged from dead boards and had their date code ground off and replaced to make them look new. Due to this, the replacement chip is, in effect, no better than the chip you already have on your motherboard. We can replace the solder on your GPU but these chips have a die in the center where the solder can’t be replaced and often it is this part that fails.
We’d be surprised if the company you used simply put your motherboard in an oven to “reflow” it. If they did “reflow” the GPU then I would expect them to use a proper rework station. Most reputable companies would take pictures of your motherboard with the chip off so they can prove they’ve at least removed the GPU. There is probably no way of you knowing if they’ve done this by looking at the board. There is glue around the GPU but even if they reflowed the motherboard they would have still removed this glue, as if they didn’t it would stop the chip “floating” and may force solder balls out from underneath the GPU.
The second price you’ve been quoted is roughly the same as what we charged when we offered this service. The first price is quite high, but this person probably knows they’ll need to do this repair more than once to the same device so have set the price accordingly to compensate for that.
Ted said:
Can I upgrade to a different AMD GPU that is metal compatible? My older MacBook Pro has an AMD Radeon HD 6750M discrete chip.
Is this possible or will there be hardware conflicts?
Disc Depot said:
Hi Ted,
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to upgrade the GPU on older MacBook Pros, as the graphics chip is soldered onto the motherboard, and even if you were able to remove it, it’s not designed to work with other GPUs.
(It’s theoretically possible to add an external GPU (eGPU) to newer models that have a Thunderbolt interface, but that still has issues with portability).
Phil Sykes said:
dosdude1 has a permanent fix (bypasses the GPU) but he volunteered some info that the Macbook can run without the GPU (i.e. physically removed). If I’m content to just use the Intel graphics, is there any advantage to physically removing the GPU (such as energy savings since the chip is no longer being powered)? Is that a service you offer and if so, how much ? Thanks.
Disc Depot said:
@Phil Sykes; Our head technician has heard of this and confirms that while it’s technically possible, it requires a lot of hardware work (more than a brief glance at the Dosdude1 or ComputeCode pages might suggest).
It also requires patching the OS (to be able to handle the missing chip) in a manner which might break if it’s ever updated.
The MacBook Pro in question already saves power by switching to the internal graphics when it doesn’t need the separate GPU. So it’s true that being forced to use the former all the time would save power, but it would also mean the computer was no longer capable of handling demanding graphics tasks.
Those in the industry reckon that a reasonable charge for the amount of work involved would be c. £600-700. On top of the drop in performance, this means such a repair just isn’t likely to be worth it considering that other (secondhand) MacBook Pros of the same model- and age- typically sell for less than half that price.
Dosdude1 himself says that it was intended more as proof of concept than a practical solution. It’s a clever trick, but not something we’d recommend in the real world.
Dimitar Kostov said:
Hallo,
I’d like to recover my mcbook pro 2011 but canot find the 2013 replacement chip. Do you think that the 2016 version of the 216-0809000 chip will be compatible? Thanks!
Disc Depot said:
Hi Dimitar,
Unfortunately, since we no longer offer this repair anyway (for the reasons stated above), we haven’t investigated that, and we’re unable to comment.
A Jolly said: