What types of problems could lead to 10 logic board failures across 3 different laptops? In March 2012, I bought a new 15" MacBook Pro. It required 3 logic board replacements over the next 13 months, leading Apple to replace the unit with a new 15" MacBook Pro in April 2013. That computer required 6 logic board replacements (as well as various RAM, airport card, and fan replacements) over the next 20 months, leading Apple to replace that unit with yet another 15" MacBook Pro (the one I have now; specs below) in December 2014. Despite my best hopes, this computer recently required its first-ever logic board (and hard drive) replacement last month. All problems were diagnosed and all repairs were performed at Apple stores.

The astounding frequency with which my laptops have required logic board replacements has naturally made me wonder what, if anything, I am doing to damage them. Some potentially relevant pieces of information:


I keep multiple current backups of all my data, and whenever I get a new machine and/or hard drive replacement, I port all of my backed-up data to the new hard drive. Sometimes I've used Time Machine, sometimes Carbon Copy Cloner, sometimes manual drag-and-drop. In general, I install all applications anew from freshly downloaded .dmg/.iso files.
I use my laptop a LOT (I have a single machine for work + personal use), but I don't do anything too resource-intensive: very little gaming, no video editing, etc. The only exception is that I do some occasional statistical modeling in R, which always gets my fans going.
This may sound obvious, but just to head off a potential concern: I take care of my computer in the usual ways (always transport in a padded case, no liquid damage, etc.).


My question is: What factors could conceivably cause a string of logic board failures like this? To clarify, I am not asking anyone to solve my issue specifically; it's just that I don't even know what kinds of things to troubleshoot. (For example: As crazy as it sounds, is it possible that my files, which have – aside from me as the user – been the only constant across the three laptops, could somehow cause problems like this? Or is that outside the realm of possibility?) Any suggestions as to possible causes would be greatly appreciated.

Current computer specs:


15" MBP (Retina, Mid-2014)
Processor: 2.8 GHz
Intel Core i7
Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
HDD: 1 TB SSD
I don't believe anyone can give a definitive answer. I would guess the Apple Tech Support folks would have indicated something by this time.

I personnaly have never heard of this level of repeated failures for a single person and/or device. But I have seen low levels of failures of Apple devices at a much lower, single instance level many times over the years. I have seen that I believe to be failure caused by "power spikes" on both the AC power ( very limited for Laptops ) and but more often thru other connected devices which the the like cause of the failure. Connections thru USB, ethernet - RJ45 cables can cause "logic board failure"/"logic board replacement" situations.

I would suspect it is not your computer itself but the ecosystem of things your device is connecting to that a leading to this level of repeated failure that is hard to figure out ( apparently ).

Can you paint the picture of your ecosystem of devices and home(s) of this device over the time period of failures?