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meghmo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 24, 2011
14
0
Hi everyone! I have been having the strangest issue lately with my Macbook's screen. It's the 13" without a touchbar from 2017, and for the past few weeks it's been doing well...what the images show. The top image is from today, while the other two images are from the past few weeks.

I've taken it to an authorized Apple Service Repair center as well as an Apple Store, where it passed all diagnostics testing and everyone said they couldn't get the issue to reproduce. Even after getting it wiped at an Apple Store and restored with Big Sur (macOS 11.5.1) since it was on an older version of Mojave.

If I just shut the clamshell and open it up again, the screen is fine; it's like nothing was ever wrong with it. I'm not seeing any of the "stage light" issues, and the vertical lines had me wondering if the logic board is potentially starting to fail.

Here's where things get weird: one of the Apple Store techs said that my screen's weirdness looks like there's a crack in my screen, but my screen isn't cracked at all. Then earlier today, I was on a Microsoft Teams call and the screen went pixel-y but stayed on. It looked like it faded a bit from the spotlight-esque blob. I couldn't use my screen, but the video call still stayed connected and the other folks I was meeting with COULD see and hear me.

Back in March, I had a total battery replacement for this device, where they completely replaced the bottom half of my computer. The screen that is on here is my original screen from when I first purchased it.

I don't have the capabilities to hook it up to an external display to truly see if it's a screen issue. And yes, I've reset the PRAM and the SMC on this computer. It's not my first rodeo with weird MBP issues.

So. This brings me to my next question: Logic board issue, display issue, weird wiring issue or something completely different?

Some stats from my device: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

Processor 2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5

Graphics Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 1536 MB

IMG_5280.JPG
IMG_5199.JPG




IMG_5112.JPG
 
possibly a flex cable issue, way too common on the 2016, 2017 models. If you go in for a butterfly keyboard repair they should do fix the flex cable as well.
 
Technically this model of MBP "shouldn't" have been affected by Flexgate. Did the original flex cable on the screen get messed up somehow when I had a battery replacement, or is that something completely different?
 
I would not place any stickers on the palm rest, especially when they are a bit higher like the right one.
 
As it turns out, the issue ended up being hardware-related (possible graphics card or logic board early stages of failing) and I ended up buying a new MacBook Air instead, since it just made more sense economically to do that than put any more money into that device.
 
sorry you had to dish out money for the new machine, even if it is much nicer in many ways (I had the same 2017 model).
 
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