Hi everyone
I would like to fix a common GPU kernel panic issue on a Mid-2010 15” MacBook Pro (820-2850 board) by replacing the failing C9560 tantalum capacitor.
Ideally, I am looking for someone to perform this repair.
Standard shops that just swap entire parts, such as Delux IT Support in Zurich, can’t handle this. I already contacted couple of them.
Does anyone know a specific technician, or board-repair shop, preferably around Zürich, Zug, Luzern, or Bern regions, that definitely does this kind of precise component-level logic board micro-soldering?
Thanks for your help, cheers!
There used to be a specilazied compny in St. Gallen who assisted the compyny I worked for.
But it is probably cheaper to to replace the mac book though.
I guess it needs to be someone that does the job as a hobby. As you mentioned, people that do it for a living just exchange parts. No one has the time to do the specialized job and still make a profit.
The motherboard 820-2850 is sold between 80 and 200 CHF online. But, is the rest of the computer in good condition after 15years? I also use computers until they practically die. Last one lasted 13 years and I had to give up because the colors in the screen were really wrong, mild headache after 20-30 mins.
How big is the capacitor? There are repair cafés which do this kind of work. But people replace whole components as cost of labour is high, so these kind of repairs are done by hobbyists for fun or where replacement cost is very high, e.g. GPUs
Have you tried MUS? (Only in German)
This is what I figure out, I need to get someone that will do it as hobby. The rest of the Mac is in perfect condition. New battery, ram and SSD. Haven’t thought of looking for entire motherboard so I can replace it myself because the original capacitor might be problematic and you can’t see that.
The Apple choice capacitor is the issue with that model. It’s a common HW failure due to the specific capacitor that Apple used. The one suggested in video supposed to be more robust.
I could probably get a much cheaper and possibly newer laptop for a few hundreds but it is sonluch waste for a tiny component
Thanks for the proposal will check it out.
I am looking for a hobbist (to compensate ofcourse) since it doesn’t look any store is willing to perform the task. The entire board replacement will most likely result to the same issue, since this capacitor becomes defective after a few years.
I built my first computer, an Ohio Scientific, from a kit in the ‘70s. Haven’t touched a soldering iron since!
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To be honest, removing and replacing the capacitor is the easy part.
It’s taking the whole laptop to bits, not losing the screws or damaging any connectors, replacing the heatsinks with new heat sink compound, putting it all back together and then testing it which would take the time,
And what if it didn’t power up after the fix?
Why revive such an archaic MacBook?
True story I am fit to remove all cables and transport the mainboard and then put everything back. Not fit to remove the capacitor and solder it though.
If it does not work we have to admit that our old buddy has to RIP.
Good question. Does it even worth to invest time and money instead of buying a new more efficient machine? Probably not.
However this Mac with Linux can serve my usecase very well and I am not a big fun of wasting material if 99% of it works well. The battery is already replaced, it has a nice SSD and enough RAM. Despite this tiny stubborn capacitor the rest works like new.
I would rather give it CPR before letting it die.
I still have a perfectly working G4
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Update. They recommended a person to try to repair it for 10 CHF however without any liability.
I found a few stores that would do that in EU for 35-50 EUR.
In both cases I should provision the capacitor a d unmount the motherboard. Although I got the capacitor I decided to not to fix it. I found a SW to disable the NVIDIA and the GPU and rely on the intel graphic card.
I would not be able to use that GPU for anything g meaningful so I decided to install Linux and it runs like a charm. The only issue is that I cannot connect it to an external screen.
Thank you all for your answers
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