Chosen Solution
My macbook pro started having this problem about 4 months ago. When I’m working on it, the entire screen suddenly displays colored fuzz (like the black and white fuzz on an old tv screen when there’s no signal, except it’s also colored). Then after about 30 seconds of doing this the screen goes black and the computer shuts down. I’ve tried connecting it to an external monitor by HDMI but the external monitor shows no signal when the laptop does this. I took it to an apple store about 4 months ago (when the problem started) and they said it could be something with the graphics card. They wanted to charge me $400 to replace it. Unfortunately I wasn’t in a position to do that. Another thing, I use my computer for movie editing and am in the middle of a huge project. So the laptop has been getting a lot of graphics work. Last thing, I have traveled lots with this computer including the dusty outback in Australia. Could this problem be because of dust on the logic board? Or has anyone else had this problem? I really appreciate anyone’s help. Hunter Update (02/03/2018) Ok, so so far it seems to be running okay. It still seems a little slower than usual but it hasn’t shut off. Here’s what I did: As per Dan’s suggestion I removed the logic board and cleaned all the dust off of the board. I didn’t reapply thermal paste. There were clumps of fuzz clogging up the vents to the fan and the top side of the logic board was covered in dust. After taking it apart I used some canned air to blow it off and then some q-tips with isopropyl to clean it further. Then I reassembled everything. Here’s some pictures of the parts with dust and then after cleaning:
I’m using the laptop right now to do this post and I have final cut pro running in the background and so far it hasn’t shut off. I’m hoping and praying this worked! If I continue having problems I’ll let you know. Thank you all for your suggestions!
Wow! You are having some fun! I took the train to Alice Springs from Melbourne and on to Uluru Kata (Ayers Rock) by bus. Boy it gets hot and dusty! Given the season - Summer for you. You’ll need to watch the static electricity! As its very dry in the outback. Work in a small room with a humidifier and use proper ESD protection protocol so you don’t kill your system. I would first do a good dust out of your system. Hopefully you can get a soft paint brush and a can of can’ed air and the needed tools to open your system. Follow this guide: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Logic Board Replacement as I’m suspecting you’ll also need to refresh the thermal past as well. Carefully bush the surfaces of the fan blades and heat sink fins and a few soft short blasts of air should push away the loose dust and debris. You’ll also want to do the logic board as well. For the CPU you’ll need to get some fresh thermal paste and some cleaner to remove the traces of the old paste. I would recommend getting Arctic Silver Thermal Paste and Arctic Silver ArctiClean The reason you need to do the paste here is I’m suspecting you’re cooking your system! Video editing on a 13" system is hard on it! It does not have the best GPU services unlike the newer 15" or desktop systems for large video editing projects. If you can you might consider renting or borrowing an iMac if you can as you’ll find it’s a lot better!
This machine is a keeper. it was produced Introduction Date: June 11, 2012 Discontinued Date: October 27, 2016 It is upgradable and repairable compared to the Retina machines. If you find it is the GPU call Apple up and request a “Flat Rate Depot Repair”. Total cost for this in Texas is $357 shipping and tax included. They will repair any and all problems for this fee. Total time is four days and they overnight you a FedEx box.
