They did fix this for a short time in 2015/2016 but I had already cut my losses and sold it as spares/repair https://www.macrumors.com/2017/05/20/apple-ends-2011-macbook-pro-repair-program/
You could sidestep the issue by modifying the bios to disable the AMD chip, and only use intel integrated video. That did work to give you a somewhat usable laptop & retrieve your data. When you fork out for an Apple product though that is precisely the kind of thing you want to avoid!
/r/casualuk seems unaffected and thats about all i go back for