I have given up on buying laptops with dGPUs - Post Sandy Bridge Intel's GPU is more than what a non-gaming machine needs and I certainly don't need the battery loss and added heat.
(These dGPU related repair issues seems like the are an Apple only thing though - my work laptop has a Nvidia GPU and it is running most of the times due to sleep/wake issues - no other problems in the past 4 years. Haven't heard of any other manufacturers having similar issues recently either.)
Nvidia and AMD GPUs probably generate more heat than Intel chips and so have likely been more badly affected. Has there been some breakthrough in the alloy used for solder that makes this less of an issue now? Also interesting that I've never heard of this issue with desktop GPUs, which get insanely hot. My guess is the solder pads are bigger and more widely spaced?
I'm not aware of any major breakthroughs in the past few years, but lead-free solder alloys are an active research area right now. Here's a SANDIA report from 2012 that has some context and some cool micrographs; you can find lots more by searching the web for tin whisker growth in lead-free solders.
Hmm, there was a class action settlement in 2011 for that it appears. No repair programs that I can find - may be Apple's the most proactive in issuing repairs and other manufacturers' issues are swept under the rug because of relatively low visibility.
(These dGPU related repair issues seems like the are an Apple only thing though - my work laptop has a Nvidia GPU and it is running most of the times due to sleep/wake issues - no other problems in the past 4 years. Haven't heard of any other manufacturers having similar issues recently either.)