The company admitted in July that its 15-inch and 17-inch laptops with NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphic processors were experiencing "a higher than normal failure rate ... due to a packaging defect," the company said.

Consumers found the graphics either "distorted or scrambled," Apple said. Others had no video displayed on the screen or external displays even with the computer turned on, the company said.

Apple said those who have already had their MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.4GHz, 15-inch 2.4/2.2GHz or early 2008 MacBook Pro computers repaired can apply for a refund on the repair costs. Others should contact an Apple Contact Center to schedule an evaluation, the company said.

Repairs would be made for free even if the computer was out of warranty, the company said.