Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

JudyHunter

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 21, 2017
5
0
laptop : macbook pro 13" retina display, early 2015 model

I fell with my laptop in my hand and it didn't go so well.
When I opened my laptop it was clear i broke a LED light in my screen as theres a black bar (on the right of my display). Apart from that my display is breaking into lines which are moving up and down, inverting the screen as it moves. I attached 2 photos to understand my explanation.
Any ideas of what I broke ?
 

Attachments

  • 18618660_120332000941987329_1746233089_o.jpg
    18618660_120332000941987329_1746233089_o.jpg
    120.4 KB · Views: 9,494
  • 18675119_120332000931805562_701706460_o.jpg
    18675119_120332000931805562_701706460_o.jpg
    81.8 KB · Views: 9,195
Last edited:
I fell with my laptop in my hand and it didn't go so well.
When I opened my laptop it was clear i broke a LED light in my screen as theres a black bar (on the right of my display). Apart from that my display is breaking into lines which are moving up and down, inverting the screen as it moves. I attached 2 photos to understand my explanation.
Any ideas of what I broke ?

Do you have  care + on it?
 
You didn't tell us which Mac you have but the fall may have loosened one of the video cables that goes from the logic board to the LCD display. I can't tell from your photos if the LCD itself is broken or damaged. You might want to take it on in to an Apple Store and have them check it out for you.

(Accidental damage is not covered by the warranty or Apple Care.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: QueenTyrone
Do you have  care + on it?

no i dont :(
[doublepost=1495351281][/doublepost]
You didn't tell us which Mac you have but the fall may have loosened one of the video cables that goes from the logic board to the LCD display. I can't tell from your photos if the LCD itself is broken or damaged. You might want to take it on in to an Apple Store and have them check it out for you.
I have the macbook pro retina 13 inch (early 2015)
 
I can't see any visible impact damage; the LCD itself doesn't appear to be damaged. It's pretty likely the drop unseated the LCD cable. Reseating the cable could do the trick.

I'd take it into an Apple Store. Providing it still has AppleCare, it should be a quick warranty repair. Regardless take it to them and see what's what.
 
  • Like
Reactions: throAU
I can't see any visible impact damage; the LCD itself doesn't appear to be damaged. It's pretty likely the drop unseated the LCD cable. Reseating the cable could do the trick.

I'd take it into an Apple Store. Providing it still has AppleCare, it should be a quick warranty repair. Regardless take it to them and see what's what.
Very good advice.
 
Today i dropped my macbook pro retina 13" early 2015 model and now horizontal lines are moving up my screen and flicker (as shown in the pictures)
Do you know what I possibly damaged or broke?
Could be as simple as the cables become disconnected or it could be as bad as the logic board is damaged.
 
Today i dropped my macbook pro retina 13" early 2015 model and now horizontal lines are moving up my screen and flicker (as shown in the pictures)
Do you know what I possibly damaged or broke?

Possibly damaged or broke your MacBook Pro retina 13" early 2015 model.

Joking aside, take it to Apple and they'll do a diagnostic on it.
 
Today i dropped my macbook pro retina 13" early 2015 model and now horizontal lines are moving up my screen and flicker (as shown in the pictures)
Do you know what I possibly damaged or broke?

Looking at your first picture; was it the bottom right corner that hit? Looks like your LCD is cracked there. See the perfectly rounded arc leading up the right side? Expensive replacement you've got on your hands.
 
Looking at your first picture; was it the bottom right corner that hit? Looks like your LCD is cracked there. See the perfectly rounded arc leading up the right side? Expensive replacement you've got on your hands.
:(
 
Looking at your first picture; was it the bottom right corner that hit? Looks like your LCD is cracked there. See the perfectly rounded arc leading up the right side? Expensive replacement you've got on your hands.

WOW. Missed that before. Ya, time to go to Apple and see how bad it will be. If you are handy you could try finding a busted 2015 that has a good screen but doing so involves risk, maybe substantial risk, of the seller being factual. If it were me, I'd avoid that and just go to Apple.
 
Do you have  care + on it?

That's only available for iPads and iPhones.

Looking at your first picture; was it the bottom right corner that hit? Looks like your LCD is cracked there. See the perfectly rounded arc leading up the right side? Expensive replacement you've got on your hands.

I will concur with this assessment.
 
They're still pretty similar though and OP doesn't have a warranty anymore anyway.

They're only similar in that they both extend the warranty. AC+ on the mobile devices covers all failures, even accidental drops and liquid damage. That is not offered in any way for the Macs which ONLY get warranty coverage extended for 2 more years and phone support extended from 90 days to 3 years. It's a VERY important distinction.
 
  • Like
Reactions: laurihoefs and gifo
So the other day a fell while holding my laptop ( MacBook Pro 13" retina early 2015) Unfortunately I caused a lot of damage to my screen.

I cracked the LCD and a connecting cable has come loose causing my screen to flicker.

If I were to just fix the cable and not replace the LCD (as I am a broke student and the damage is on the side of my screen so it's not too much of an eye sore ) will this broken LCD somehow cause later damage to my laptop ?
 
So the other day a fell while holding my laptop ( MacBook Pro 13" retina early 2015) Unfortunately I caused a lot of damage to my screen.

I cracked the LCD and a connecting cable has come loose causing my screen to flicker.

If I were to just fix the cable and not replace the LCD (as I am a broke student and the damage is on the side of my screen so it's not too much of an eye sore ) will this broken LCD somehow cause later damage to my laptop ?

Well it may allow moisture in and ruin the screen further but other than that it shouldn't matter at all.

here is a guide for troubleshooting your display.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBoo...Early+2015+Display+Assembly+Replacement/45135
 
Seeing the crack in that screen, there's nothing there that reseating the cable will fix. The display beneath the glass is damaged and is causing all of the issues you see on the display.
 
Something like this, apparently worse, just happened to me this morning.
It is a brand new MBP 2017 13 inch, i've had it for 3 days, special ordered from China with a 1TB SSD, not because i can afford it but of necessity. 2012 MBP i'm replacing (currently typing on) has 1 TB hard drive, i have 700GB on it. Old MBP has been having severe functioning problems beginning in April with updating Yosemite (working decent) with Sierra (total disaster).

Finally the new computer -- wow. so much better (high sierra still sucks for Mail, even worse--but much faster!! :) ). Just started getting all the bugs worked out and enjoying using fast small computer. Finishing touches now. Haven't moved big data over yet like iTunes.

Old computer still connected to Time Capsule with Time Machine. Was going to replace that with new computer today, start backing it up.

The computer has a thin hard shell case on it obtained last week. Yesterday i ordered an extra thick TomToc 360 sleeve to protect from impact of falls. I also ordered a LaCie Rugged thunderbolt 1TB drive dedicated to doing regular clone backups of the computer. Both of those are to be delivered today.

i went to sleep last night in my bed. i don't remember much, i usually put the computer on the floor but from what happened, i must have had it in bed with me and fallen asleep.

The problem is, i had taken a pain pill, something i'm not used to, prescription less than a month old. Take one every few days, rib cartilage injury. Took before going to bed. It must've had a strong effect (did not do this previously) because i woke falling onto the floor. i hit the right side of my face against something, not sure what, a space heater is the closest thing to where it happened. but the side of my face was, is, sore. my jaw hurts on the right, and my right temple. in bathroom i noticed a small cut on my face on the area of the back of the jaw.

So something violent happened, but i didn't realize anything was wrong with the computer.

I woke at around 6am and opened the computer and saw the damage.

From reading this discussion, it makes sense to me that the display is damaged.

I want to describe some other symptoms and ask about other possible damage. (i will be going to Apple store shortly, i just wanted to consult and be more informed first).

The computer display shows a cracked appearance on the display (not on the surface hardware, no sign of external damage). Most of the display is dark. There are some jagged looking narrow cracks, kind of going diagonally from one corner, lower left, to upper right, but that is a rough description. Mostly black display.

Keyboard does not respond, i can't do anything with the function of the computer. Pressing the power button turns it off. I'm not sure that it's completely off. When i press the power button, the disturbing patterns come back. There's no start up process. Display just goes off and on, even with holding power button down.

When i tapped on the keyboard, and then ran my fingers back and forth from left to right brushing the keys, at first nothing happened, then a noise was made, the sound when you try to do something on a mac that you can't do, and there is kind of a bonk - thump sound. i could make these sounds continuously by going back and forth. But sometimes they stopped altogether and sometimes they came back on. Then, during doing that, more display showed, most of the screen showed, though off color, and not normal, it was the screen that shows if you coming back from it being off and it asks you to log in with your admin password. but i can't use my keyboard to type with and can't get a cursor to move around.

The power button causes all of this to turn on or off. i think after i turned it off and back on, it came back as the mostly dark screen with jagged line again.

i plugged an external drive into it which has a bootable clone of the same kind of computer, it was the first one i got, just before christmas and i had to replace it upon learning that external drives and cloud back ups would not meet my needs for storage space i can use easily on the computer. that is when i ordered the one from China with 1 TB SSD, something i was trying to avoid, so much money, but trial and error showed it's necessary. credit card.

so that is what i've woken up to today. i will go to Apple. i appreciate this thread, i want to go in with some degree of being informed.

Are there other hardware things that sound like they are damaged? besides the display? Because rubbing the keyboard caused more screen to show and and then back to just the original black screen with crack mark, it sounds like something IS loose.

i would just be interested in a prognosis and assessment before i go, based on this report. I think it looks obviously cracked.

probably my most important question is, does it sound like anything where my SSD would have to be wiped clean? I have data i don't want to lose.
and is there anything i can do to try to reboot it?

Other than that, i think the rest of this discussion has been really informative and it's not good news but i think i could already tell that. And worried about whether my data will survive repairing. Is my SSD ok?

I'll get a some photos attached.
 

Attachments

  • MBP crack.jpg
    MBP crack.jpg
    60.4 KB · Views: 971
  • MBP horiz lines.jpg
    MBP horiz lines.jpg
    98.6 KB · Views: 1,605
  • MBP log in window cracks.jpg
    MBP log in window cracks.jpg
    64.5 KB · Views: 787
  • mbp menu bar.jpg
    mbp menu bar.jpg
    68.8 KB · Views: 848
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.