Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

[triplefour]

any chance this could be caused by anything other than a damaged LCD panel? replacement panels are quite expensive...going for about 200...for a used part no less! in this picture you cant see it but when i first turned it on it was flickering pretty bad as well. the flickering was like between having ok looking color and then totally solarized like in the picture. it eventually stabilized into this.

[myth77]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

did you check on external screen?

[reformatt]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

Screen for mine. Sanity check is to run it to an external monitor via Thunderbolt to HDMI adaptor.

Great machines this series but a lot are consigned to parts only on eBay due to defective screens.

[triplefour]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

Screen for mine. Sanity check is to run it to an external monitor via Thunderbolt to HDMI adaptor.

Great machines this series but a lot are consigned to parts only on eBay due to defective screens.

i have traditionally avoided apple products and been quite successful in doing so...up until now it seems! so of course i dont have this adapter. of course apple couldnt just put a hdmi plug on the laptop like normal people :[
first thing i wanted to do was check for loose connection and identify which series mainboard it is (since it matters for ordering the correct replacement screen) but i found i dont have the necessary pentalobe screwdriver bit to get into the case!
ordered some bits. waiting on that. will post progress.
thanks!!!!

P.S. is there any way to get and replace just the LCD itself? all i can seem to find is full assembly with bezel and hinges and all that

[reformatt]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

P.S. is there any way to get and replace just the LCD itself? all i can seem to find is full assembly with bezel and hinges and all that

Only if you are masochist. Unlike PC laptops (which are all self contained), Apple screens have the LCD and backlight diffusers/polarizers separate. The screen is also glued in on top of that, so getting it out without contaminating the diffusers etc is tricky. Then you need to source a replacement screen, which will often be a factory reject.

Screens on the PC space typically use an existing design that is made to a standard spec and made by multiple suppliers. Apple go the other way, and get a factory to make the screen for them only, and change the design every year or so. The factory produces only a limited quantity as a result and you end up with scarce replacements and high prices as a result. It's a built in obsolescence.

There are aftermarket screens for some of the lesser resolution models like the Air, but for older Retina's there doesn't seem much out there.

Stick with fixing the Apple devices, as they are the low hanging fruit when it comes to repair. Apple customers are used to getting bent over and still keep buying their stuff. As such, they often will spend far more on repairs than their PC counterparts.

[piernov]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

of course apple couldnt just put a hdmi plug on the laptop like normal people :[

A1398 chassis does have an HDMI port. Also without HDMI port you can also use a mini-DisplayPort (which is a standard used by some other laptops as well) to HDMI adapter.

[triplefour]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

Only if you are masochist. Unlike PC laptops (which are all self contained), Apple screens have the LCD and backlight diffusers/polarizers separate. The screen is also glued in on top of that, so getting it out without contaminating the diffusers etc is tricky. Then you need to source a replacement screen, which will often be a factory reject.

Screens on the PC space typically use an existing design that is made to a standard spec and made by multiple suppliers. Apple go the other way, and get a factory to make the screen for them only, and change the design every year or so. The factory produces only a limited quantity as a result and you end up with scarce replacements and high prices as a result. It's a built in obsolescence.

There are aftermarket screens for some of the lesser resolution models like the Air, but for older Retina's there doesn't seem much out there.

Stick with fixing the Apple devices, as they are the low hanging fruit when it comes to repair. Apple customers are used to getting bent over and still keep buying their stuff. As such, they often will spend far more on repairs than their PC counterparts.

LOL everything you said was what i already suspected. what an evil company! but their followers insist they must have their macbook no matter what the cost. and it has to look perfect too! no way to take this screen apart without someone being able to tell you did it. PC owners wouldnt care as long as it works. mac owners cant handle things like damaged rubber around the screen.

but hey if they want to pay, who am i to turn their money away?
plus as an electronics repair guy with the nerve to dream of being an engineer one day, i am on the quest to be able to build or repair any electronic circuit.
thank you for your comments

[triplefour]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

A1398 chassis does have an HDMI port. Also without HDMI port you can also use a mini-DisplayPort (which is a standard used by some other laptops as well) to HDMI adapter.

youre right. it does have a HDMI port after all. i should have looked before believing that. i was able to use keyboard shortcut cmd + f1 to output to external monitor, where the picture looks fine.

does this tell us the mainboard is most likely fine? or is there still something that could be damaged on the mainboard that would affect only the built in screen?

it would be awful to spend 200$ on a used screen only to realize it was the mainboard causing the issue the whole time!
also if its something on the mainboard, i could do a component level repair, im thinking a lot easier than trying to repair something on the screen itself.
relating this to my knowledge of tv repair, it looks like the kind of graphic problem you could get from a failed Timing Control board...which i would assume is some small board buried in the panel assembely.

[dellxps15]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

some days ago got one macbook 15 2013 from ebay as non working. after repairing the mainboard that works perfectly on external, i had that on off screen. i replaced the lvds cable but problem is the same.

it do as the video i posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPN5CdsExeQ

im going to read voltage on the tcon board. it all looks ok under microscope inspection.

yes these macbook screens are really bad... when they go ko it's hard to find a valuable replacement. they go from 250 to 500€ for just the screen assembly, while whole notebook wort like 350€.

[triplefour]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

some days ago got one macbook 15 2013 from ebay as non working. after repairing the mainboard that works perfectly on external, i had that on off screen. i replaced the lvds cable but problem is the same.

it do as the video i posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPN5CdsExeQ

im going to read voltage on the tcon board. it all looks ok under microscope inspection.

yes these macbook screens are really bad... when they go ko it's hard to find a valuable replacement. they go from 250 to 500€ for just the screen assembly, while whole notebook wort like 350€.

my screen is doing a similar thing but not as fast. more random when it snaps back to regular color...and then eventually it doesnt. ill try take video of it and put on youtube soon.

[reformatt]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

Yep sorry was thinking Air, not Pro, which has the HDMI port.

Unfortunately, cost of the screen for A1502/A1398 makes them uneconomical for refurb and resale. Everyone who resells these knows this, so any machine you buy as not working on eBay will very likely also have the display swapped out as well. The only time you come across a steal is from an end user who has no idea what the screens are worth.

So the boards/parts etc are reasonably easy to source because most are written off due to bad displays. The boards for the most part are easy to fix, but sometimes ones I buy have a shorted PCH or CPU. I wait for a cheapish board to turn up, but then if the price is cheap, it's usually got a shorted CPU in it.

[dellxps15]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

inspected lcd t-con. all voltage present , but noticed one big bga getting hot. it was "parade ao dp635".
removed and ordered a new one from china. when it will arrive ill post back if monitor come back to a normal working condition.

[Matt42386]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

inspected lcd t-con. all voltage present , but noticed one big bga getting hot. it was "parade ao dp635".
removed and ordered a new one from china. when it will arrive ill post back if monitor come back to a normal working condition.

When you do get it please let me know. the same issue and when taking a thermal cam it was the only chip getting hot at about 50C. I may just order one to check. BUt definitely keep us updated!

[Matt42386]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

inspected lcd t-con. all voltage present , but noticed one big bga getting hot. it was "parade ao dp635".
removed and ordered a new one from china. when it will arrive ill post back if monitor come back to a normal working condition.

I apologize for the double post, I just found that the ipad 4 and possibly the Ipad 3 have the same DP635 in their display. So if you can find an icloud locked or cracked LCD Ipad3 or 4 for cheap you may be able to avoid long shipping times.

[triplefour]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

ok i finally got the correct bit to take out the bottom screws and reveal the logic board. i see a sticker saying C024084001EFJTCAF but a google search gets me nothing there.

serial on the bottom of the case is C02M924SFD58 and according to this site i found http://www.chipmunk.nl/cgi-fast/applemodel.cgi
it says its a late 2013 model.

anyone know a good source for a replacement screen?

and how to tell for sure what the part number i need is?

edit: i found a better site for looking up serial numbers. also cross referenced with what i find in system information on the mac itself. quite sure this is the exact model:
Apple MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.6 15" Late 2013 (IG)
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/m...lay-specs.html

[Stephen]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

i have traditionally avoided apple products and been quite successful in doing so...up until now it seems! so of course i dont have this adapter. of course apple couldnt just put a hdmi plug on the laptop like normal people :[
first thing i wanted to do was check for loose connection and identify which series mainboard it is (since it matters for ordering the correct replacement screen) but i found i dont have the necessary pentalobe screwdriver bit to get into the case!
ordered some bits. waiting on that. will post progress.
thanks!!!!

P.S. is there any way to get and replace just the LCD itself? all i can seem to find is full assembly with bezel and hinges and all that

My best suggestion is buy a broken MacBook Pro 15” A1398 and take the screen off of it then buying one working. Risky but as long as the seller is honest and states the screen is good you save money this way.

[Stephen]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

A1398 chassis does have an HDMI port. Also without HDMI port you can also use a mini-DisplayPort (which is a standard used by some other laptops as well) to HDMI adapter.

I was going to say the same thing. Easy test if external shows the same we have a board issue on hand and his screen is good.

[dellxps15]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

update: changed the dp635 with another one i got from aliexpress. new chip get hot too and problem remain the same as in the video i posted erlier. i will inspect this problem more the next days, but seems like another component get hot in the tcon board on the lcd.

[triplefour]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

My best suggestion is buy a broken MacBook Pro 15” A1398 and take the screen off of it then buying one working. Risky but as long as the seller is honest and states the screen is good you save money this way.

i like this idea a lot. but what models will have a compatible screen?
i am having trouble finding a conclusive compatibility list.
i read this page and still have no idea as my model doesnt seem to be listed anywhere
https://logi.wiki/index.php/MacBook_..._Compatibility

for clarity i will repost these infos:
serial:C02M924SFD58
MacBookPro11,2 (Late 2013)

the seller of this item assures me it is compatible but i dont know if i want to gamble with a "D" grade screen
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133525802782

in the ad it has a compatibility list:
MacBookPro11,2 (Late 2013)
MacBookPro11,3 (Mid 2014)
ME293LL/A
MGXA2LL/A
ME294LL/A
ME874LL/A
MGXC2LL/A
MGXG2LL/A

but i cant find any model numbers that look like any of these in the mac i am working on.
but is it some kind of clue? does it mean any screen that comes from a mac with these model numbers is compatible with mine?

[reformatt]

Re: Macbook Pro 1398 LCD damage?

https://logi.wiki/index.php/MacBook_..._Compatibility

The 2015 model is the one that is unique, but 2013/14 are interchangeable. Motherboards for 2013/14 are 820-3787. 2015 are 820-00138, 820-00163, 820-00426. If the board number isn't visible, it's usually hidden under a black sticker somewhere.

I think the difference is LVDS and EDP IIRC.