Dropped MacBook- screen shaking glitchy

[daeser1]

Hello,

I recently dropped my MacBook and now the display is shaking, flashing, and glitching. Any idea if this is something I can repair at home?

 

[Apple_Robert]

I wouldn’t waste time trying to fix that at home. You probably damaged some hardware. That kind of trouble should go straight to Apple.

 

[JLH81]

If it were me, I would contact Apple also!

 

[ght56]

I agree that looks very hardware-like. You could try to reset the SMC/PRAM at home, but I don't think it is going to do anything. You could also try using an external display, which would tell you if it is more likely the screen/cable that is damaged or if something else.

 

[anubis1980]

Eek doesn't look good, def contact Apple.

Or you could take some acid and hope it counteracts the screen movement.

 

[s66]

It might be just a connector needing to be pulled off and placed back to reseat it into a proper contact. But it's in my experience more likely going to end up to being a replaced screen (that's the entire lid of the laptop being replaced).

It's not a cheap repair if it comes to that. If the machine is recent: better have AppleCare, if it's rather old: check the cost before you let it get repaired as it is easy to be more expensive than the machine is still worth.

If you have no AppleCare and want to try for yourself: check the instructions for your specific model over at places like ifixit and get to the point where they disconnect the cables between the display and the motherboard. It's DEEP into the machine and you're likely to need special tools to do this. Do not try if you have no experience with modern fragile electronics.

 

[daeser1]

Turns out that Apple will not work on it because it is 11 years old. Any other suggestions besides contacting Apple would be much appreciated. The laptop is useless at this point.

 

[Fred Zed]

Will it work with external monitor?