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Suffering from video woes on an old MacBook Pro? Apple comes to rescue, free of charge

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Although Apple has updated its uber-successful MacBook Pro line several of times since 2011, there’s no shame in holding on to machine you’re perfectly happy with. Unless you’re experiencing various video mishaps or random reboots.

Actually, that’s not reason to ditch your MacBook, either, as Cupertino is apparently taking all blame. No need to throw 15 or 17-inch MacBook Pros manufactured between 2011 and early 2013 at the trash bin! Repairs are being offered, free of charge, whether you bought AppleCare or not.

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Owners can choose to send their glitchy Mac by mail, or personally hand them to an authorized technician. Either way, you’ll want to make sure you qualify for the “Repair Extension Program.”

First and foremost, are you seeing distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen, no video with the MacBook powered on, or are you bugged by constant unexpected restarts? Good. That means there’s still hope.

Next, you’ll want to enter your hardware serial number here, and definitively find out if the problems you’ve been having are tied to these faulty batches. Apple stresses only “a small percentage of MacBook Pro systems” exhibit the symptoms in question due, so don’t celebrate too soon.

After all the online verification, a certified troubleshooter will need to run a final diagnostic test and give his blessing for the complimentary restoration to happen. American victims of the video plague can apply for the program starting today, with the rest of the world following suit on February 27.

Last but not least, it’s worth pointing out Apple will have your backs for malfunctions connected to this disease until February 27, 2016 or three years from the original date of sale of your MacBook Pro, “whichever provides longer coverage.”

Adrian Diaconescu
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Adrian is a mobile aficionado since the days of the Nokia 3310, and a PC enthusiast since Windows 98. Later, he discovered…
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