Stage Light Effect on Display Screen

I think you misunderstood what I stated!

"The problem is either in the display (expensive repair) or the backlight LED driver chip has a problem (again an expensive repair)."

I stated very clearly the complete assembly needed to be replaced. My point was to explain what failed not that the cables could be replaced.

The bottom line here is we both agree! And this is a design defect which Apple needed to cover under warranty!

Got it. I think the misunderstanding was due to the statement you made there are " two cables that interconnect from the lid logic board to the main logic board" and posted the reply to the question I asked Tyler about which cable was replaced. That's incorrect though. The two cables that you have circled do not connect to the logic board at all. They are merely mounted on the case.

My 2016 MBP 13" retina display has just failed at 18 months due to one of these cables going open circuit. It showed the "stage light" effect for a while before that.

Looking at the design of the connections, it seems marginal to me. The bend radius of the flexible PCBs is about 2.5 mm, and from the design literature I could find, you need to be doing everything exactly right to get a long life connection with this radius - i.e. one layer of the thinnest feasible Rolled Annealed copper placed exactly at the neutral point of the bending axis may give you an mean life of around 1 million flexes. If anything is slightly off in the design or manufacture (such as the copper not quite being at the neutral point), then the mean life drops dramatically, maybe to 100000 or even less. If you are unlucky as well, and land somewhere away from the mean on the normal distribution failure curve, then maybe it will fail at around 10000 flexes, which would seem to be my situation.

This would be less of a disaster if the cables were replaceable.

This is the kind of engineering a trillion dollar company is producing. It is very widespread, even more so than the keyboard issues. I am surprised there's no class action suit launched against Apple, and that there's no product recall or free out of warranty replacements.

I'm not sure I'd blame the engineers - it's more likely a product design and management decision for a company to compromise reliability in favor of thinness, and something that doesn't have a direct impact if your warranty is only 12 months. (In my view a 5 year warranty would be more reasonable for a top-of-the line laptop or phone.)

Agreed the keyboard issue should still be under the extended warranty program Apple has for the keyboard.

As for the Display thats a bit iffy... Unlike the older generation the cable is less likely to shift. Review the MacBook Pro 13" Function Keys Late 2016 Teardown Step19. More likely the cable is severed! That will require a new display. I would think Apple would cover that as well!

Yeah, I'm bummed now because I also just got a reply from an Apple Accredited Service Center and they immediately told me that the whole LCD would need to be replaced -- which they estimated to be around $600 with labor.

Unfortunately for me the 1 year warranty ended just last February 4, I forgot to purchase Apple Care which I was planning to do, so now I'm in deep doo-doo >:(

You should still try to get it covered! I would go to an Apple Store as they tend to be more willing to cover these types of issues. Go in mid morning on a Tuesday or Thursday as these times they seem to be less stressed. Be pleasant but firm. Focus on the keyboard issue (dim the screen so the screen issue is less visible). If they cover the keyboard problem your golden! Then when you pick up the system raise the screen brightness to see if they fixed it, if not bring it to their attention for a re-work.

@danj @oldnewstuff Does this issue escalate the longer it goes on? Like the shadows worsening and lengthening? I mean, I guess I could live with it, as long as the shadows stay low on the screen then it doesn't really bother me much compared to the ~$600 i would cash out for the repair. Otherwise, i won't have a choice but to have it repaired if by some time the issue would extend beyond the lower borders ><

@skmm - The problem is either in the display (expensive repair) or the backlight LED driver chip has a problem (again an expensive repair). If you let the warranty expire its going to cost you $$

@Tyler+P. May I know exactly which cable was replaced? Many of my customers have this issue, except that their issue is accompanied by an issue where the screen goes to black when it is pushed up after a certain angle.

We have tried new LCDs with the existing LCD cable and it isn't an LCD cable issue. The LCD cable itself does not flex or move (it is secured in place horizontally by screws) .

@tyler p . bro i am having the same issue with my macbook A1708 , screen goes blank after opening the lid beyond 30 degree angle. i took it to icare and there are asking for a screen replacement cost $700. please share if you have found a solution. thanks

@just1ed .bro i am having the same issue with my macbook A1708 , screen goes blank after opening the lid beyond 30 degree angle. i took it to icare and there are asking for a screen replacement cost $700. please share if you have found a solution. thanks

Same issue here and they also want me to pay 700 to change the whole display. Trying to take it up the food chain to see if <i can get an exception or if we can start a repair program... Any updates on what has happened to other folks?

Guys I got my MacBook repaired about 3 months ago free of cost from apple, they have replaced the entire screen assembly.They are now running repair program for stage light effect problem.

I hope you can escalate to a senior advisor, they cannot prove whether it's been tampered by a third party unless a third party person reassembled the machine poorly or third party parts are found in there. If it's accidental damage, there must be exterior signs as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2_SZ4tf... (similar repair but older model, my guy just did something with the cable)

I highly suspect it is because the keyboard issues are clearly visible, harder to deny fault, and is cheaper to replace. To replace the LCD would cost the company too much. The cables are likely overstretched. It is bad quality and design, period. Running LCD flex cables on the OUTSIDE of the hinge is unprecedented.

With further investigation the cable is soldered to the LCD assembly and can't be replaced discreetly. Of the two display units I've pulled apart the ribbon cable was damaged and could not have be saved. Sadly you have little recourse here other than replacing the complete assembly.

I suspect Tyler+P had a dirty or loose connector interface which is why he was lucky. This is becoming a big problem for Apple right now as too many systems are encountering this failure across both the Touch Bar and Fn models across 2016 onwards, as they all use the exact same design (both the backlight & data cables are failing). Review Just1ed pictures for the details.

I'll report about my case later after taking it to a known repair shop in town. Does anyone else notice a decrease in peak brightness as well?

@longpvo - I got a fix for that damage ;-} The chin plate is just stuck on and can be replaced! Here's a guide someone made for the 15" model MacBook Pro 15" Touch Bar 2017 Replace LOGO Baffle on the screen，替换屏幕底部LOGO挡板 Replacement. Here's the needed part Display Chin Plate. I would fix this first so the cosmetic issue is not visible to them.

The brightness loss is do to the fact only 1/2 of the backlight LED's are not working.

That’s neat. Thank you Dan. I already had that replacement part around, last time the repair guy thought it’s too fragile of a job to perform have so he recommended not to.

So my repair shop fixed it for 100$ bucks without taking the display apart, it's still a significant saving.. Peak brightness came back too 500 nits. They didn’t dare to take off the Display Chin Plate so I ended up cutting some 3M tape and did it myself.

I really think Apple should acknowledge this like the keyboard issue ffs. It's a known issue.

This is a solution, but I would use some thin flexible wires instead of thick stiff solder that would break again with use.

Or just force Apple (class action if needed) to replace all of these screens for free with improved style ones,

Please read both of these IFIXIT reports:

● The design flaw behind the MacBook Pro's "stage light" Effect

● Apples 2018 McBook Pro's Attept to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exits

Patching the ribbon won't solve the problem only delay the inevitable. The risk here is if your patching fails it could short out damaging the logic board as well!

Well, it's been 30 days so far and I haven't heard back from her yet. They definitely be back I do imagine. I will follow up once that happens. If no follow up I would assume that it is still fixed and fully functional.

@tonytone - This is not a reliable repair as the wires will also snap. I've now seen three of these systems which someone has patched only to tell them I wouldn't fix the system as this repair is not the level of quality I preform, I offered the proper repair options and they all declined given the age of the system and the butterfly keyboard issues.