Last week three men filed a class action lawsuit in Northern California District Court alleging that Apple's 2011 MacBook Pro laptops were defective and that Apple did not take proper steps to compensate customers whose hardware broke.

The lawsuit specifically addresses 15” and 17” MacBook Pros from 2011, which the plaintiffs claim suffered from “random bouts of graphical distortion, system instability, and system failures.” The plaintiffs also assert that the problem is widespread, with an online survey conducted by the plaintiffs receiving over 3,000 responses from 2011 MacBook Pro owners in a single week.

In the complaint, the plaintiffs blame the solder used to connect the dedicated GPU in the laptops to the main circuit board, saying that the solder was lead-free to comply with EU regulations, and made its way into US products so Apple could save on manufacturing costs.

“Lead-free solder,” the complainants write, “which is typically composed of a combination of tin and silver, suffers from two well-known problems. First, it tends to develop microscopic 'tin whiskers,' which cause short circuiting and other problems within electronic devices. Additionally, lead-free solder tends to crack when exposed to rapid changes in temperature.” The complaint goes on to state that such rapid changes in temperature are caused by the processors themselves heating the inside of the laptop up.

In addition, the plaintiffs say that Apple was cognizant of this faulty engineering due to its experience with the 2008 MacBook Pro laptops, which had graphics problems as well and eventually were offered extended repair coverage.

When the 2011 MacBook Pros were announced three years ago, Ars reported claims of GPU-related systems freezes on the 15" and 17" versions, “with one user going so far as to successfully reproduce the problem on every floor model at a local Apple Store.” Apple later issued a software update that it said would solve the graphics stability issues. The complaint filed last week says the patch was ineffective because the problem was with the laptop's hardware rather than its software.

As recently as this January, a swell of 2011 MacBook Pro users took to forums to complain about graphical instability on their laptops. Ars reported then that we suspected it was an issue with the dedicated GPU rather than the integrated one.

The plaintiffs in this suit are asking that Apple acknowledge the graphics defect and “reassess all prior warranty claims and pay the full costs of repairs and damages.” Ars has reached out to Apple for comment but has not yet received a response.