Macbook flickery pixels - diagnosing and fixing a screen hardware problem

I have a Macbook, it's partially broken right now.

There is a stripe of pixels top to bottom on the screen, about 1/8 of the screen, running top to bottom that is flickering. It's not what Apple calls a "pixel anomaly", since it's not a single isolated spot; rather, it's a big stripe. It starts at the middle of the screen, and goes to the right from there.

I have Applecare (whew).

I ran TechTools Deluxe, their self-help diagnostic CD; all of the hardware that it tests checks out OK, including the video ram.

I double-checked the video issue at multiple screen resolutions, and it appears that the same screen stripe is fubar independent of resolution, which suggests that it's a problem with the screen itself and not the circuitry driving it. The external monitor looks fine.

@bdimcheff on Twitter noted that he had a similar problem which was "the bottom set of input circuitry on my LCD was falling off".

On hold to Apple Support right now (1030am EST), estimated wait 15min plus. I can still work. "Please continue to hold for the next representative".

I'm not going to fix it myself (did I mention Applecare)? But here are some people who did replace a Mac laptop screen:

Replace MacBook Screen - A Tutorial - Tweak OSX

A client of mine sent me a MacBook with a broken screen. It was his daughter’s computer, and she had accidentally broken the screen. I told him I couldn’t help him repair the screen, and he should look to Apple to make the repair for him. I turns out that the repair is 90% of the cost of the computer itself.

"Clear to me right now that it's a hardware issue; don't have to worry about it because it's a hardware issue. Need to send this one to our Apple Depot and have it fixed; the turnaround time is 5-7 business days. Genius bar doesn't have the parts to be sure and have it in stock, but you can ask them. Box delivered by DHL, just the computer into it; they will deliver it back to us; call them if it's ready for pickup. Box valid for 30 business days; always back up the files."

(sigh)

The next problem is to figure out a transitional period where I get a laptop for 5-7 days to work while my system is in the shop, and enough data and code on that laptop to make it work. Without going into an exhaustive search for rentals, it appears that the value of a machine for one week as a rental is in the $250 range.

Technorati Tags: hardware, mac, macbook, sad-mac

Comments

[Murph]

My iBook came from a generation of G3 iBooks that had notoriously bad logic boards; I'm on my fourth. (They happened too far apart for me to qualify for a "lemon" replacement - but they did the last repair 10 mos after my AppleCare coverage expired, and still called it "covered", so I'm satisfied.)

If you haven't previously used the DHL/AppleCare service, I can vouch for it being pretty helpful. One of the three times I sent mine in, it was returned the very next day. (So quickly I was worried it had gotten bounced for a bad shipping label or something.) Definitely easier to deal with DHL yourself than to try to have the Apple Store or an "authorized vendor/repair" place do it for you.

Also, while the shipping boxes are technically larger than the maximum size that DHL's drop boxes say they can handle, they work just fine, if you don't want to worry about coordinating a DHL pickup. I don't know what you need to get done, but it's pretty good odds that you could stuff your machine in a DHL dropbox at ten to five one day, and get it back the next evening, or two mornings later.

(Of course, if you're counting on that, Murphy's law will make it take the full 5-7 days...)