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MBA Display issues - screen replacement?

T

TUSSFC

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 7, 2013
2
0
I have a 2008 MBA - the first rev. A1237 I think?

The other day the left side of the screen went white with vertical stripes down the centre of the screen but the right side still showing the desktop.
At this point I took a photo which I will include in this thread.

Since the photo was taken, the right-side is no longer showing the desktop and has gone black.

I took it to the Apple store and he reset PRAM and tried connecting it to an external monitor. Neither work - no output on the external monitor. It still sounds like it boots as normal and the keyboard lights are working.

Apple have said the screen needs replacing (he went out the back with it and apparently re-seated the connectors with no luck) at a cost of £300.

Would appreciate some other views on this. Is it worth a DIY screen replacement?

I would just sell as faulty but have no way to retrieve data files from it (my other problem!!) and re-format the HDD.
 

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C

CesarF

macrumors newbie
May 7, 2013
2
0
Same issue here.
There are a lot of threads and discussions with the same problem.
It is a shame that Apple doesn't recognize it.
I am fighting with Apple for a free repair. I suggest you to do the same.

Cheers!
 
T

TheRealDamager

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2011
1,043
11
CesarF said:
Same issue here.
There are a lot of threads and discussions with the same problem.
It is a shame that Apple doesn't recognize it.
I am fighting with Apple for a free repair. I suggest you to do the same.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

That laptop is 5 years old - these kinds of things start to break at that age, and it certainly isn't covered by a warranty anymore. Why would you expect a free repair?
 
T

TUSSFC

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 7, 2013
2
0
I did ask for a free repair (don't ask don't get) but it was a clear NO.

However, it's just occured to me that Apple replaced the whole screen assembly 1 year ago for free because the hinge on one side broke and it was a "known issue" with the model.

Therefore, would there have been any warranty on the screen component because obviously it isn't as old as the rest of the machine? (it didn't occur to me to ask this!)
 
justperry

justperry

macrumors G5
Aug 10, 2007
12,557
9,750
I'm a rolling stone.
TUSSFC said:
I have a 2008 MBA - the first rev. A1237 I think?

The other day the left side of the screen went white with vertical stripes down the centre of the screen but the right side still showing the desktop.
At this point I took a photo which I will include in this thread.

Since the photo was taken, the right-side is no longer showing the desktop and has gone black.

I took it to the Apple store and he reset PRAM and tried connecting it to an external monitor. Neither work - no output on the external monitor. It still sounds like it boots as normal and the keyboard lights are working.

Apple have said the screen needs replacing (he went out the back with it and apparently re-seated the connectors with no luck) at a cost of £300.

Would appreciate some other views on this. Is it worth a DIY screen replacement?

I would just sell as faulty but have no way to retrieve data files from it (my other problem!!) and re-format the HDD.
Click to expand...

It does not really make sense that Apple said it is the screen, if it is the screen an external display should still work and it didn't, I think it is the graphics which is causing this.
 
Y

Yoshi Yogurt

macrumors regular
Nov 5, 2010
206
40
TheRealDamager said:
That laptop is 5 years old - these kinds of things start to break at that age, and it certainly isn't covered by a warranty anymore. Why would you expect a free repair?
Click to expand...

So a computer should only last 5 years? Is this what it's come down to? When you blow $1000+ on a laptop, I at least expect it to last 8+ years. Apple products are so expensive because of the great support. The repair should be free.
 
justperry

justperry

macrumors G5
Aug 10, 2007
12,557
9,750
I'm a rolling stone.
Yoshi Yogurt said:
So a computer should only last 5 years? Is this what it's come down to? When you blow $1000+ on a laptop, I at least expect it to last 8+ years. Apple products are so expensive because of the great support. The repair should be free.
Click to expand...

Where did he say it should only last 5 years, he said it's 5 years old and problems do start to show on older Laptops, it also depends on how much it is used, a very heavily used laptop would likely break down earlier than a laptop which is lightly used.
 
C

CesarF

macrumors newbie
May 7, 2013
2
0
TheRealDamager said:
That laptop is 5 years old - these kinds of things start to break at that age, and it certainly isn't covered by a warranty anymore. Why would you expect a free repair?
Click to expand...

When the same issue is happening to many people, something is wrong. The same happened with 2008 MacBook Pro and their video cards and then, Apple accepted the free repair even if the laptop was 4 years old. I don't see why not in this case. By the way, my MBA was only 2 and a half years old with a very light use.
 
D

dean1012

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2008
130
1
I am not an Apple employee and I recommend you contact Apple again by phone or in person to ask if a warranty exists on your screen.

With that said, I would think there'd be at least a limited warranty on parts explicitly replaced during repair but I can't be certain.

Regarding your data, I believe you can use a cable (firewire perhaps) to do target disk mode and obtain the data from the MBA. You might also be able to use an external monitor to gain access to the data.

Regarding the secondary argument in this thread (the age computers should last), it is highly subjective. I personally don't believe computers are useful after 3 years of life. If I got 5 years of solid performance from my 2013 MBA i'd be extremely happy. I replace my computers every 2 years on average.
 
robvas

robvas

macrumors 68040
Mar 29, 2009
3,240
629
USA
Yoshi Yogurt said:
So a computer should only last 5 years? Is this what it's come down to? When you blow $1000+ on a laptop, I at least expect it to last 8+ years. Apple products are so expensive because of the great support. The repair should be free.
Click to expand...

The repair should be free inside the warranty period.
 
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