For some time now, it's been known that the nVidia chipsets (8400M and 8600M) used in Apple's MacBook Pro product line are defective. Moreover, this is a problem that affects portables from nearly every maker, from Acer to Toshiba, and nVidia has set aside a massive $200 contingency fund to deal with the issue, which could utimately affect tens of millions of notebooks.
Despite all that's known about the issue, Apple's been mum. That is, until now. According to the this Knowledge Base article dated for yesterday, Apple has finally admitted there are problem.
In July 2008, NVIDIA publicly acknowledged a higher than normal failure rate for some of their graphics processors due to a packaging defect. At that same time, NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected. However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected.
Thereupon, Apple promises to repair any MacBook Pro that fails within two years of the date of purchase due to a faulty nVidia graphics processor. Affected 15 and 17 inch models were manufactured from May 2007 through the end of September 2008.
Editor's note: Come on, Apple, an additional year of warranty for a product designed to last five years? And, what proactive steps will ya take, Steve, to find users that already have dead MacBook Pros? People that were already out of warranty that were told they had no recourse, hmm?
