jonathan12

Oy, having the same problem with a 2015 13” MacBook Retina. To fix the issue after consulting this site, I got a used replacement display assembly. $275 later… The problem persists. It is less bad, but different horizontal and vertical lines appear on the screen. Despite restarts, PRAM resets, attempts to re-seat the cable, the works. And they don’t show up on a 2nd monitor. Don’t know if this was the case with the 1st display assembly (which grew worse and worse, eventually developing solid black blotches of nothingness randomly across the screen), but the replacement display appears to have a “soft spot” on the screen, at the nexus of the horizontal and vertical lines — a place where, if you touch it or put pressure on the screen, the colors of the lines change, but don’t go away. And if you press hard enough, black blotches appear. They are temporary, and disappear after a while. For now… Like I said, “oy.”

It does scrape off (or, more precisely, peel off) from the back of the plastic button — there's actually a really nice grooved recess into which the Home button switch "decal" sits just perfectly. Really the only catch with replacing this piece is properly seating the other end of the Home button switch ribbon cable — the tip of its "tail" back into its tiny harness. It wouldn't be such an issue except that you pretty much have to reassemble the entire phone, with layer upon layer of electronics components covering up this junction, just to be able to turn on the phone and test to see if the ribbon cable has been plugged in to the harness far enough, or otherwise correctly. And if you didn't, you need to disassemble the whole thing all over again. Why Apple couldn't have put a nice, neat little "plug" on the end of this ribbon cable to make a a neat little socket connection (like the rest of the connections in this phone) is beyond me. I have had similar travails seating the keyboard ribbon cable on my...

Sorry for the late reply, but it's not the size of the drive. I've had a 750GB drive in my mid-2009 MBP for 1.5 years now without issue. The behavior you're describing is most likely due to a faulty Hard Drive Cable. The first story at the bottom of the iFixit page for this cable in question described a fellow who "found this model notorious for the board drive cable going bad." Dozens and dozens of others have experienced almost identical behavior — in Flashing question mark on startup, — in addition to this forum on Apple Discussions, as well as this one. RECOMMENDATION: Do the most important test first: Remove the drive and see if it functions — either in another unit or as an external drive, with a SATA to USB interface or similar. If it does, then erasing the hard drive and/or reformatting it will not only prove ineffective, but unnecessary. Just replace the hard drive cable (in my case it was this one) and you should be all set.

FYI, I had the same issue (couldn't get past the white login screen, with or without the apple icon, and/or a flashing question mark in folder icon, or a circle with a slash through it; either couldn't find it with Disk Utility, or was unable to repair it, erase it or reformat it). I replaced the Hard Drive, and the new one also failed in an identical way. The good news: We're not alone, and there IS an inexpensive fix for this. Dozens and dozens of others have experienced almost identical behavior. — check out the user stories at the bottom of iFixit's MBP 13" Mid-2009/2010 Hard Drive Cable page, as well as Flashing question mark on startup, — in addition to this forum on Apple Discussions, as well as this one. The consensus is that it's NOT the hard drive, but turns out to be the Hard Drive Cable (Apple Part #922-9062), for these units, which seems to have a reputation for failing. IMHO I would suggest that DIY'rs do the most important test first: Remove the drive and see if it functions — either in...

FYI, I had the same issue (Couldn't find the HD with Disk Utility, or if I could find it, was unable to repair it, erase it or reformat it). I replaced the Hard Drive, and the new one also failed in an identical way. The good news: We're not alone, and there IS an inexpensive fix for this. Dozens and dozens of others have experienced almost identical behavior. — check out the user stories at the bottom of iFixit's MBP 13" Mid-2009/2010 Hard Drive Cable page, as well as Flashing question mark on startup, — in addition to this forum on Apple Discussions, as well as this one. The consensus is that it's NOT the hard drive, but turns out to be the Hard Drive Cable (Apple Part #922-9062), for these units, which seems to have a reputation for failing. IMHO I would suggest that DIY'rs do the most important test first: Remove the drive and see if it functions — either in another unit or as an external drive, with a SATA to USB interface or similar. If it does, then erasing the hard drive and/or reformatting it will...

I had the same issue. I performed all steps recommended here, as well as on Apple's Support page "A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac," many of which is repeated on "Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup," but, like the rest of the postings here, to no avail. However, I removed the hard drive and it showed up fine connected via a SATA to USB cable. Bought a new drive, installed it and still had the same issue. Removed this drive, and it also ran fine externally. According to dozens and dozens of people in similar situations, it's NOT the hard drive, but turned out to be a faulty Hard Drive Cable (Apple Part #922-9062). For the evidence, check out the user stories at the bottom of iFixit's Hard Drive Cable page, as well as Flashing question mark on startup, — in addition to this forum on Apple Discussions, as well as this one. I would love to order this part from iFixit (where I first discovered this issue), but the item is listed as "Used" on iFixit — and my understanding is...

It now is, yes. At the start of 2016 it wasn't, but at least Other World Computing (owc.com) has begun selling 480GB and 1TB SSD drives specifically for this machine. I just got mine today.