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Macbook Pro screen separation problem

C

calvy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 17, 2007
1,271
9
Hi all. I've got a Genius appointment in about 7 hours, but wanted to get a comfort level here before I go in.

My cousin has a Macbook Pro Unibody from late 2008/early 2009. It is one of the ones with a replaceable battery. It is unfortunately out of warranty now, but is experiencing some serious problems. When she closes the screen, the pressure on the hinge points causes the metal shell of the LCD screen to seperate from the rubber gasket and glass towards the bottom. The machine has not been dropped, and we aren't sure how it happened. But it's getting worse and something needs to be done.

I googled a bit and got some confidence that the Apple store would be able and willing to help us out. I mean, we are out of warranty, I understand, but a 2k+ laptop shouldn't just come apart like this in 2 years.

I guess what I want to know is what is the likelyhood Apple will do something for us, and if not, is there any hope I can fix this on my own? I'm very capable of taking the machine apart and doing whatever to it. I'd just rather let Apple do it if at all possible.

I'll try to post some pictures for you all later today just for reference I guess.
 
T

tjb1

macrumors 68000
Aug 26, 2010
1,999
0
Pennsylvania, USA
I watched some videos about changing the color of the apple on the back of the screen and they showed when tearing apart the screen they had to take two screws out of the bottom, 1 on the left and 1 on the right side...maybe those screws are missing?
 
C

calvy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 17, 2007
1,271
9
I suppose that's a possibility. I don't have the computer in front of me, so I'll have to check later. But if that's the case, hopefully they can fix us up in store easily. It's just weird, I looked at it briefly and it seems that the glass is peeling up from the metal housing. And I though the glass was glued in like the iPhone LCD panels.
 
l.a.rossmann

l.a.rossmann

macrumors 65816
May 15, 2009
1,096
372
Brooklyn
I see this all the time. I thought this had been fixed with the unibody.

The problem with the older Macbook Pros was that the frame was attached to the hinges instead of the backplate. The problem here is that all the pressure is put on the bottom of the frame since it is so thin, when you open & close it.

The problem with the Unibody Macbook Pro is that the display assembly, behind the glass, is separate pieces. They're held together by glue.

It's pretty lame. From what I could see, it's not actually a unibody, it's a multibody-held-together-by-adhesive.

Some superglue & holding it together for ten minutes can fix the problem if Apple doesn't help.
 
A

Adrazel

macrumors newbie
Sep 9, 2010
1
0
I'm having the EXACT same problem. Got mine early 2009, so of course, it's out of warranty now (since I didn't have the money for AppleCare at the beginning of this last year.)

I took mine to the Mac store at the mall. They insisted that I had crushed mine and that's why it was doing it... That's never happened. I feel much better to see that someone else is having the same issue.

What was the outcome of your trip in?
 
Heilage

Heilage

macrumors 68030
May 1, 2009
2,592
0
I know for a fact that on the Late 2008 MacBook Pros, Apple have done warranty repairs on this issue before, but I think the display has to be in mint condition (no bumps or big scratches) for this to occur.

You might get lucky. :)
 
C

calvy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 17, 2007
1,271
9
Well, our screen did so some signs of being dropped. Slight nicks, nothing huge, but the guy said "he'd replace it free of charge this one time". We had to leave the MBP and they shipped it off for repair. We should get it back soon.

I guess we got lucky.
 
Heilage

Heilage

macrumors 68030
May 1, 2009
2,592
0
You got very lucky. I had one today that Apple refused repair on, it was in mint condition but the glass had a crack (with no sign of origin).
 
C

CraigMalta

macrumors newbie
Aug 11, 2010
2
0
same thing happenned to mine recently. Over here after sales is not as good so I am worried. Plus I have been too busy to take it in and right now cannot afford to spend a day without the laptop. But I am going nuts because it is getting worse every time i open and close the laptop.
 
C

calvy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 17, 2007
1,271
9
A friend of mine swears I have the best luck with these Apple Geniuses. I've gotten a shattered iPhone 4 replaced free of charge, this Macbook Pro screen, and I just took my new i7 Macbook Pro in to get the trackpad looked at and advice on a missing screw. They sent me home with the computer while the parts are on order, and I have to go back to get it fixed when they call.

Anyway, i still say it's all about how you approach the geniuses. And of course, regions may vary.
 
M

misterspockyall

macrumors newbie
Jun 18, 2011
3
0
Sorry, first post and I'm resurrecting a thread. I'm having the same display separation on my 15" 2009 Macbook Pro. Mine has the unfortunate side effect of causing the entire screen to turn gray with random horizontal and vertical lines. Sometimes my display works, other times it goes gray. Sometimes minor pressure on the side of the display corrects the problem and at times it stays gray and I have to restart, or wait until it decides it wants to play nice. I appear to retain full computing functionality, but I can't see anything I'm doing.

Last night I used some Red Loctite (all i had on hand) and squirted it in the gap between the display and the display case, and clamped it down over night. The Loctite held, the display opened without coming apart, but the screen issue came back.

Any insight would be appreciated, thanks!
 
O

OneLoveMusic

macrumors newbie
Jul 4, 2011
2
0
I'm having the same problem on my 15" MacBook Pro from early 2009. The bottom of the display on the backside is coming apart, but I haven't any display issues... yet. It looks like a lot of people have been having this problem on this generation 15" pro, and some people have been able to have it replaced free of charge, even without Apple Care, because Apple has recognized it as a manufacturing defect.

I'm going in to Genius tomorrow, wish me luck. Misterspockyall did you get it fully fixed?
 
rkmac

rkmac

macrumors 6502
Jun 22, 2009
413
0
JAFA, New Zealand
Resurrecting an old thread...
This just started happening to my late 2008 unibody MBP the other day. Sadly I cant take it in for repairs for a couple of weeks because I cant be without my laptop just before final exams. Luckily I have applecare until the end of this year. I'll update this thread after I go to the apple repair guys in NZ.
 
P

photo1257

macrumors newbie
Oct 18, 2010
4
0
Calvy/need to ask about solution to macbook pro hinge

Forgive me for posting this way but I was not able to get a direct link to Calvy to ask. My macbook pro looks just like the photos you had with the hinge coming away from the screen, etc. I would like to know if you were able to repair it?
Thank you for any help you can offer!
Deb
 
L

lawhuiyiu

macrumors newbie
May 16, 2006
20
2
Just to share my experience. I have the same problem with cracking hinge, and brought it to the local Apple Authorised Reseller. They just sent it off and got it fixed for free. You know, it originally cost £423 including labour fee. I think if you have similar problem as I, it is worthy bringing it to the Genius Bar.
 
C

Cindy$$$

macrumors newbie
Aug 3, 2013
1
0
Had the same problem with my MacBook Pro with the hinge separating and it got so bad, the screen shattered ! Just been to the Apple Store and instead of charging $540, they are repairing it for FREE due to the fact that there are some known issues with this model and the adhesive on the hinge . Fantastic result (-:
 
P

poornasupun

macrumors newbie
Oct 27, 2013
1
0
macbook screen seperation

I had that same problem with my mac book pro A1286. my screen was separated from body,
I used different kind of glue after couple of days again separated, Then i found this 3M™ Windo-Weld™ Super Fast Urethane, This is usually used to bond vehicle windscreen to body, its did my job well. first clean both parts , remove old glue . when you apply glue use a clam or similar kind
of heavy object on top until its cure, i kept 24 hours ,
its a rubbery glue can withstand heat and vibration ,
 
S

Stevefm2003

macrumors newbie
Mar 27, 2014
1
0
calvy said:
Here are some pictures to illustrate. 2 hrs before. I'm nervous.

http://gallery.me.com/camueller#100036
Click to expand...

can not see the pictures. Link takes me t iCloud setup.

----------
poornasupun said:
I had that same problem with my mac book pro A1286. my screen was separated from body,
I used different kind of glue after couple of days again separated, Then i found this 3M™ Windo-Weld™ Super Fast Urethane, This is usually used to bond vehicle windscreen to body, its did my job well. first clean both parts , remove old glue . when you apply glue use a clam or similar kind
of heavy object on top until its cure, i kept 24 hours ,
its a rubbery glue can withstand heat and vibration ,
Click to expand...


I'm having the same issue. My screen in perfect. Apple said $600 to put on a new screen. Guess I'm not lucky. I tried RTV glue ( all I had) if it won't hold I'll try the auto glass glue. I live in Texas , could the heat and cold from having the laptop in a car cause the glue to fail. Mine has never been dropped and is always in a Targa padded case.
 
M

MLands

macrumors newbie
Jul 17, 2015
1
0
I've had the same problems with the screen separating from the shell, but not until I owned the laptop (15" MBP) for 5 years. I tried the genius bar but they insisted I have mishandled the laptop. The store manager said if he had some specific locations and names or work order numbers for anyone with the same problem he would do more to get it fixed, though he also said they had no record of this problem happening. For those of you who were able to get this separation issue fixed through the genius bar, would you mind sharing some information with me so I can try and get mine fixed?
 
maumau02

maumau02

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2016
1
0
calvy said:
Hi all. I've got a Genius appointment in about 7 hours, but wanted to get a comfort level here before I go in.

My cousin has a Macbook Pro Unibody from late 2008/early 2009. It is one of the ones with a replaceable battery. It is unfortunately out of warranty now, but is experiencing some serious problems. When she closes the screen, the pressure on the hinge points causes the metal shell of the LCD screen to seperate from the rubber gasket and glass towards the bottom. The machine has not been dropped, and we aren't sure how it happened. But it's getting worse and something needs to be done.

I googled a bit and got some confidence that the Apple store would be able and willing to help us out. I mean, we are out of warranty, I understand, but a 2k+ laptop shouldn't just come apart like this in 2 years.

I guess what I want to know is what is the likelyhood Apple will do something for us, and if not, is there any hope I can fix this on my own? I'm very capable of taking the machine apart and doing whatever to it. I'd just rather let Apple do it if at all possible.

I'll try to post some pictures for you all later today just for reference I guess.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1453899523][/doublepost]i've found the solution:
 
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