Replacing cracked Macbook Air 11.6" screen

Techrestore Tutorial

GekkePrutser said:

The screen on the Air is notoriously hard to replace, the bezel is glued on (unlike other models like the old Plastic MacBook).

The antennas on the air are however not in the screen bezel. They're underneath the black plastic hinge cover. Antennas don't work under metal, that's why they're there (same as on the MBP by the way).

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Techrestore tutorial for late 2010 11'6 macbook air (A1370)

They use a heat gun to soften the glue… Requires patience and maybe some new adhesive to assign the bezel back after display replacement. Idea for the adhesive anyone?

Anyone has actually done this MBA LCD replacement screen?

I've got 2 MBAs with broken screens (A1370), and have bought (just received the bare LCDs yesterday, shipped from HongKong). And will try to replace it myself. Has anyone actually done it themselves, and if so do you have a suggestion on what to do or not do? I've watched the youtube videos on bezel removal. One tech used heat and another used razor blade. None show how to re-glue the bezel. I will post my effort if y'all are interested.

I'm very interested to know if it worked out. I have a 11in 2010 MBA with a cracked screen (just cracked last week) and I'm thinking about buying the bare LCD and try to do it myself... I've changed an iPad screen before and it was glued so it shouldn't be too different. I did it with a heat gun. Where did you buy it? Thanks

UPDATE 20120626: Temporarily installed my new LCD, inverter plug and display plug connected. Upon power up the "bong" sound came up, but the LCD backlight (LEDs) did not light up. Bummer. Recheck connection and everything else but no success. Don't have an idea what to do next.

ptlage said:

I'm very interested to know if it worked out. I have a 11in 2010 MBA with a cracked screen (just cracked last week) and I'm thinking about buying the bare LCD and try to do it myself... I've changed an iPad screen before and it was glued so it shouldn't be too different. I did it with a heat gun. Where did you buy it? Thanks

Click to expand...

An update: Bezel removal is a pain as it is glued to the LCD panel itself. I was careful to not bend it (it is metal/aluminum) and finally managed to get it off. I think for the average people, using an Exacto knife with a big handle is better than the blade method that was shown on youtube. However, You will almost certain cause additional cracks along the edges of the LCD. Once the bezel is off, the next problem is the LCD itself. It is a frameless and glued/held to the MBA frame by a thin doubled sided thin rubber tape about 1/8" wide along the sides and top. There is also a metal strip with 5 screw holes that are glued to bottom edge of the LCD. The replacement LCD does not come with this metal strip, so I'll have to salvage that piece and re-use. After removing two connectors from the board strip (one a ZIF with flip tab, and the second is the LCD drive data cable with flip up bail loop) I began prying up the cracked LCD. Prying (no matter how careful I was caused additional cracks, but since it was broken anyway I didn't care. Finally got them off, but it leaves lots of little shards of glass still attached to the rubber tape. Took me about an hour carefully lifting each tiny piece and then grabbing it with a fine tweezer. This step is a critical part of the operation. I think that if I do not get it absolutely clean of glass fragments, it will most likely break the replacement LCD when I install the new one into the MBA frame. That's my current progress. More later, with pictures. BTW, the old LCD P/N is LP116WH4 and my new one is B116XW05, but I think they are interchangeable. The connectors and physical dimensions looked the same. Spec wise they are identical. I will let y'all know where I got the LCD if this indeed is a viable replacement. Don't want to post the seller's info until I know it will do the job. The person I dealt with was prompt with my inquiry and sent the item immediately upon payment (Paypal). Took about a week from order to receipt of product.

It's best to use an SMD rework station instead of a heat gun so you can concentrate the heat with the narrower nozzle on the exact portion, the bezel. Too much heat on the lower layers of the LCD will mess up the backlight. On the Unibody models, heatguns are ok because the plexiglass in the front keeps some of the heat away from the polarizer. Some cheap Aoyue crap will do.

As a shameless plug, we have some b116xw05 for sale, coupon code macrumorsair for 15% off. A little cheaper than the average price, and ships from Manhattan.

l.a.rossmann said:

It's best to use an SMD rework station instead of a heat gun so you can concentrate the heat with the narrower nozzle on the exact portion, the bezel. Too much heat on the lower layers of the LCD will mess up the backlight. On the Unibody models, heatguns are ok because the plexiglass in the front keeps some of the heat away from the polarizer. Some cheap Aoyue crap will do.

As a shameless plug, we have some b116xw05 for sale, coupon code macrumorsair for 15% off. A little cheaper than the average price, and ships from Manhattan.

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I haven't done anything since my last attempt. however, I've been studying the schematic and this forum. When I have time I will check the backlight fuse and see if it is bad. My mistake was removing the LCD without disconnecting the battery first and perhaps while jostling the LVDS cable plug the power pins to the backlight LEDs may have temporarily shorted out. Fingers crossed.

UPDATE: F9800 was open, tacked on another one on top of the old one. LED backlight now worked.
Today I installed the LCD and proceded to connect the LVDS cable as well as the flex cable for the LED backlight. UNFORTUNATELY, in the process of connecting that flex cable I caused a tear and now I only have the left side LEDs working. The LCD itself seemed to work fine and the system boots normally. The right half of the screen got residual light from the left half, so I can see the right half, but not as bright. I don't know who sells a replacement flex cable. Searching eBay for A1370 (11") seemed fruitless. Anyone can help? Thanks.

Hi Cmdrdata,
I accidentally cracked screen of 13" MBA
Was able to get a new one from eBay, installed it but backlight does not work
Can you provide advice on how you installed and fused it?
May be with pics?
Cheers

Not much use to you now, but I cracked my 2010 11" screen by closing it on an earphone, took it into my Apple store in Aberdeen and was quoted £220 for a new one, but chatted with the lassie at the bar for a while, she went and had a word with the Manager, and they repaired it for free.

Obviously it was not covered under warranty, but it is surprising what you can achieve with personal contact and a pleasant attitude, so always worth trying.

It also applied to my battery being replaced a couple of weeks ago as it had dropped down to less than two hours, not covered under warranty, but they again replaced it for free at 20 months old.

tut

cmdrdata said:

I haven't done anything since my last attempt. however, I've been studying the schematic and this forum. When I have time I will check the backlight fuse and see if it is bad. My mistake was removing the LCD without disconnecting the battery first and perhaps while jostling the LVDS cable plug the power pins to the backlight LEDs may have temporarily shorted out. Fingers crossed.

UPDATE: F9800 was open, tacked on another one on top of the old one. LED backlight now worked.
Today I installed the LCD and proceded to connect the LVDS cable as well as the flex cable for the LED backlight. UNFORTUNATELY, in the process of connecting that flex cable I caused a tear and now I only have the left side LEDs working. The LCD itself seemed to work fine and the system boots normally. The right half of the screen got residual light from the left half, so I can see the right half, but not as bright. I don't know who sells a replacement flex cable. Searching eBay for A1370 (11") seemed fruitless. Anyone can help? Thanks.

Click to expand...

I was offered a cracked assembly for $55, which would have the cable you need in it
let me know if you are interested
also would you mind helping me with an advise as I replaced a screen the same way you did and my backlight does not work either
I am guesing that it is not fused, but i am not sure how to check/fix it

Thanks

Replace Entire Assembly

So after much research, I finally found a place selling the complete 11.6" LCD Assembly Module.

I broke my screen about a month ago and searched high and low for a replacement, http://www.humptydumptyservice.com came though and had it in stock. Much easier then replacing just the LCD.

Direct link --> http://www.humptydumptyservice.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=apple

Penjuku said:

So after much research, I finally found a place selling the complete 11.6" LCD Assembly Module.

I broke my screen about a month ago and searched high and low for a replacement, http://www.humptydumptyservice.com came though and had it in stock. Much easier then replacing just the LCD.

Direct link --> http://www.humptydumptyservice.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=apple

Click to expand...

For the 11.6 A 1370, they charge $467, not to cheap when you consider you can get a used MBA for a little more. I think Rossmann (see his previous post) sells a bare one for a little over $100, and I don't know how much he charge for labor.

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Dmurka said:

I was offered a cracked assembly for $55, which would have the cable you need in it
let me know if you are interested
also would you mind helping me with an advise as I replaced a screen the same way you did and my backlight does not work either
I am guesing that it is not fused, but i am not sure how to check/fix it

Thanks

Click to expand...

Email me privately and I'll see if I can help you. The cracked assembly also interest me as I do need that tiny flex cable. Thanks.

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Dmurka said:

Hi Cmdrdata,
I accidentally cracked screen of 13" MBA
Was able to get a new one from eBay, installed it but backlight does not work
Can you provide advice on how you installed and fused it?
May be with pics?
Cheers

Click to expand...

I have never replaced a 13" MBA LCD, but I believe it is not as difficult as the 11.6". See the link for backlight issue: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/972699/

Dadioh is the expert in this area and it seemed that many backlight issue pertains to a bad fuse (relatively easy to fix, bad WLED chip, or bad LCD cable/connector.

Apple store quoted me £200 odd pounds to replace the entire lid and screen assembly, considering how much is included and the painful process of actually doing this particular repair yourself, I think it's a good price.

That for the record is nowhere near the cost of a new MBA!!

cmdrdata said:

For the 11.6 A 1370, they charge $467, not to cheap when you consider you can get a used MBA for a little more. I think Rossmann (see his previous post) sells a bare one for a little over $100, and I don't know how much he charge for labor.

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Email me privately and I'll see if I can help you. The cracked assembly also interest me as I do need that tiny flex cable. Thanks.

----------



I have never replaced a 13" MBA LCD, but I believe it is not as difficult as the 11.6". See the link for backlight issue: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/972699/

Dadioh is the expert in this area and it seemed that many backlight issue pertains to a bad fuse (relatively easy to fix, bad WLED chip, or bad LCD cable/connector.

Click to expand...

I think I'll check with my local apple store again. Maybe the price has gone. I am kinda scared to repair the screen myself. One screw up and i'm SOL $100.

MBA LCD fix

Hi Cmdrdata,

I'm having an issue with my backlight out on a first gen 2008 MBA.

My hinges are fine, so I'm almost sure that my cable is ok.

I was told that it could be a bad circuit board located below the screen. I'm trying to find pictures of this to see whether it is a part that is removable. I have a spare lid assembly with a cracked screen as a donor.

Wanted to also ask you if you were able to troubleshoot your blacklight issue or find fix?

Would really appreciate your help, I followed the two videos online that you referred to but it still leaves me a little worried. I've worked on other types of repairs, just never have done a LCD change.

Thanks,
Manny

I have the 13" air and had to replace the screen. This is not for the week at heart. Extremely difficult. Was able to replace without any issues. I used a thin metal spudger(not sure on the spelling) to remove frame with no heat gun. However, if i do it again I will use my hot air station. Had same issues with glass shards in the tape and glue. Light heat with the hot air station reattached the bezel.
One more critical part to be aware of:
There is a white reflector film behind the screen, if you so much as look at it wrong it will scratch and show up through your brand new $250.00 extremely difficult to replace MBA screen.

So take your time!!! By the way, if anyone knows where to get one of those films let me know.

soapsudz said:

Cmdrdata, love your nick

Anyway did you have any issues with swapping an LG Phillips screen with an AU Optronics one? I have a broken MBA 1370 (2010 model) with the LP116WH4-TPA1.

I've found a bunch of suppliers from China with ready stock of these screens:
B116XW05v.0
LP116WH4-TJA1
LTH116AT01

Prices range from US$50 onwards. They say the LP116WH4-TJA1 should fit any previous models but I'm not sure because I don't know the differences between the TPA1 and TJA1 variants. I would hate for the screen not to work because of an EDID issue. Otherwise I'll order a B116XW05v.0 and see if that works.

Click to expand...

I bought 2 B116Ws. The first one I installed worked fine except for the partially torn backlight flex cable, but the MBA is now usable (it is now my wife's MBA).
On the second MBA (to be my own MBA), I initially used an external monitor and upgrade the SSD and all other apps just fine. Then I proceeded to disconnect the battery and began removing the old broken display. That too come apart in several pieces of broken glass. In the process of heating the glue I also distorted the upper left layers of diffuser sheets underneath the broken display. I went ahead and clipped the two flex cables from the LCD to the thin strip of LCD driver circuit board, leaving the board attached to the LVDS cable (and the logicboard). After cleaning all the shards and double sided tape that held the screen, I attempted to power the MBA, and to my surprise, no "bong" and no power. So I have not proceded beyond this point. I have no doubt that the display will work, but with the no "boot/bong" issue, I need to figure out what went wrong before I moved forward. Oh, I also somehow managed to destroy the black rubber gasket around it, so that piece is totally removed from my MBA. I need a replacement but can't seemed to find one. LRossmann, do you have any rubber gasket and/or diffusers for an A1370?

I don't have any data on the other LCD models you mentioned but I think the LP116W should also work.

RANT: Apple I think has decided to make these MBA LCDs as "non-replaceable item" and fix broken ones under warranty by replacing a complete upper half assembly. I don't see how they can use their time removing glued broken LCDs and bezel and putting new ones effectively. Alibaba vendors are selling complete top halfs for about USD500.

mba08 said:

Hi Cmdrdata,

I'm having an issue with my backlight out on a first gen 2008 MBA.

My hinges are fine, so I'm almost sure that my cable is ok.

I was told that it could be a bad circuit board located below the screen. I'm trying to find pictures of this to see whether it is a part that is removable. I have a spare lid assembly with a cracked screen as a donor.

Wanted to also ask you if you were able to troubleshoot your blacklight issue or find fix?

Would really appreciate your help, I followed the two videos online that you referred to but it still leaves me a little worried. I've worked on other types of repairs, just never have done a LCD change.

Thanks,
Manny

Click to expand...

Manny sorry for the late reply. There's an excellent forum on backlight issues pertaining to bad LCD backlight fuse or WLED driver. search for WLED and dadioh" in this forum. I'd not go tearing the LCD assembly itself as I believe it would not be productive and more than likely would cause other damage.

cmdrdata said:

I haven't done anything since my last attempt. however, I've been studying the schematic and this forum. When I have time I will check the backlight fuse and see if it is bad. My mistake was removing the LCD without disconnecting the battery first and perhaps while jostling the LVDS cable plug the power pins to the backlight LEDs may have temporarily shorted out. Fingers crossed.

UPDATE: F9800 was open, tacked on another one on top of the old one. LED backlight now worked.
Today I installed the LCD and proceded to connect the LVDS cable as well as the flex cable for the LED backlight. UNFORTUNATELY, in the process of connecting that flex cable I caused a tear and now I only have the left side LEDs working. The LCD itself seemed to work fine and the system boots normally. The right half of the screen got residual light from the left half, so I can see the right half, but not as bright. I don't know who sells a replacement flex cable. Searching eBay for A1370 (11") seemed fruitless. Anyone can help? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Where is the f9800 LED backlight circuit located on MBA logic board? Is it on the underside of the logic board? I am currently in the middle of doing this lcd replacement and unknowingly did not disconnect the battery cable before disconnecting the lcd cable.

The backlight is out now and I am pretty sure the F9800 LED circuit needs to be replaced/repaired.

I read the WLED Backlight thread by Dadioh - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/972699/

But am still not quite sure how to pinpoint the F9800 on the A1369 Logic board. Any help would be great Cmdrdata. I live in the Dallas area too (Lewisville to be exact) and am in dyer need of assistance!

Thank you so much for this thread btw, it has been life saving thus far!

BusterW said:

Where is the f9800 LED backlight circuit located on MBA logic board? Is it on the underside of the logic board? I am currently in the middle of doing this lcd replacement and unknowingly did not disconnect the battery cable before disconnecting the lcd cable.

But am still not quite sure how to pinpoint the F9800 on the A1369 Logic board.

Click to expand...

I don't have any info on A1369. On my A1370, the fuse is on the same side as the LCD connector (upper left, looking at the logic board with the botom cover removed). It is near a small 6-pin chip (WLED driver?) and the fuse itself is very tiny with a white dot in the center.

cmdrdata said:

I don't have any info on A1369. On my A1370, the fuse is on the same side as the LCD connector (upper left, looking at the logic board with the botom cover removed). It is near a small 6-pin chip (WLED driver?) and the fuse itself is very tiny with a white dot in the center.

Click to expand...

I am having trouble finding one with a white dot. I have found on with a leter "P" on it. I have read in Dadioh 's WLED thread that with a different logic board it was one with a "P" on it.




let me know if you see it anywhere on there, anymore insight or clues would be great. Thanks

BusterW said:

I am having trouble finding one with a white dot. I have found on with a leter "P" on it. I have read in Dadioh 's WLED thread that with a different logic board it was one with a "P" on it.


Image

let me know if you see it anywhere on there, anymore insight or clues would be great. Thanks

Click to expand...

Yeah that looked like the fuse. It should measure 0 ohm (good fuse) or open circuit (blown fuse). To fix mine, I just tacked another fuse on top of it and added a tiny bit of solder on both ends. This thing is so tiny that doubling up should not cause any strain whatsoever.

cmdrdata said:

Yeah that looked like the fuse. It should measure 0 ohm (good fuse) or open circuit (blown fuse). To fix mine, I just tacked another fuse on top of it and added a tiny bit of solder on both ends. This thing is so tiny that doubling up should not cause any strain whatsoever.

Click to expand...

whare did you purchase your fuse from? what size? was it surface mount or a different style so you could tack it on top?

The ohm reading i got out of it was 2.9 ohms which is open, meaning blown?

I bridged the circuit initially to test it and the results weren't good.

BusterW said:

whare did you purchase your fuse from? what size? was it surface mount or a different style so you could tack it on top?

The ohm reading i got out of it was 2.9 ohms which is open, meaning blown?

I bridged the circuit initially to test it and the results weren't good.

Click to expand...

By bridging a blown fuse you mean temporarily shorting the fuse? Never a good idea because whatever is causing the fuse to blow initially may still be present, thus causing more damage to the rest of the circuitry being protected by that fuse. These SMD fuse are fast acting and any overload beyond its current limit would "blow" the fuse within microseconds. You can get the fuse from DIGIKEY, MOUSER or EBAY. The physical size is either 0402 or 0602 (larger), and the current ratings is system dependent (like I said do not have A1369 schematic, but it is most likely 2-3 amp fast blow fuse). The letter P I believe is a 3A rated fuse. See the attached picture that shows the letter coding for 0402 fuse. Not every fuse manufacturer use the letter code for marking the current rating though. Your 2.9 Ohm could be the impedance of the remaining circuit that is being protected by that fuse. I have no idea of that is an acceptable reading or not.

Hey, I'm getting a 2011 11.6 MBA with a smashed screen I would like to replace.

http://i.imgur.com/TNKTX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/MGGbv.jpg

Is the bezel the aluminum frame only or is there also clear plastic (that shields the LCD) I can't see from the pics or videos. I'm still debating over whether getting the LCD only or the whole upper assembly. I've watched the Techrestore vid. Do you need a quality heatgun or would a hairdryer do? Does the LCD come off nicely like in their vid with the back layers staying in the frame? Would't want to touch those. Do you need to reglue the new LCD in or can you just screw it in? Is the remaining adhesive on the bezel sufficient to reattach it? Can you screw it up so it doesn't sit flush anymore? (like on the iPads where corners start to come off) Any other tips?

Also, what kind of screwdrivers do I need? And some pliers and spudgers?
Should this one be OK? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-...Laptop_Screens_LCD_Panels&hash=item27c317b4bc Full assemblies are in the 300$ range.

Thanks for the replies.