Vertical Lines On Macbook Pro Unibody. Advice?. (Pics Attached)

[BearTrap1]

Hi All ,

my macbook pro (unibody mid 2009 model) has now got vertical lines on the display there is also a small dent in the top casing of the laptop and where that dent is is where the lines start (from bottom till top of screen).

I want to know if possible if this is a hardware fault or something to do with the graphics drivers ect. Also if it is a hardware fault what actually needs replacing?.

When I press the screen it does not appear to be broken (no ink blurr) and the laptop is fully working

here is a quick snap.

 

[Lostanddamned]

Genius bar ASAP, it might be a damaged GPU...

 

[Peace]

I agree with the Genius bar but that could also be caused by a tiny dent in the lid somewhere. I had that problem once with an old Powerbook.

 

[BearTrap1]

hmm , so is it likely Ill have to get the whole screen replaced? because that would be very tough on the wallet.

 

[Lostanddamned]

hmm , so is it likely Ill have to get the whole screen replaced? because that would be very tough on the wallet.

Do you have applecare? Is it less than a year old?

If yes to either then no, no it wont. If no to both - then you should get applecare now, then have it looked at...

 

[mulo]

I agree with the Genius bar but that could also be caused by a tiny dent in the lid somewhere. I had that problem once with an old Powerbook.

if that was the case it would also show up during boot.

 

[BearTrap1]

yes it shows up as soon as the mac turns on.

 

[UltraNEO*]

To help determine if it's a faulty display & GPU you might like to take a screen shot.. if it's not there, then it's likely to be a duff LCD or GPU.

If it's a brand new machine, just return it and demand a exchange. It's your right!! - Sooner, the better!

 

[BearTrap1]

I took a screenshot of the desktop and when I viewed the picture there the lines did not show and the desktop screenshot showed nothing out of the ordinary.

So what is the likely problem?

 

[daneoni]

Its simple, if there is a visible dent on your display panel then its that otherwise GPU.

 

[UltraNEO*]

I took a screenshot of the desktop and when I viewed the picture there the lines did not show and the desktop screenshot showed nothing out of the ordinary.

So what is the likely problem?

Sounds like a faulty GPU or more likely, a damaged LCD, pal. Time to revisit the AppleStore man... ASAP!

If it's less than two weeks old, it'll be easier to give you a new machine! Otherwise Apple will change the display first.. and if that sorts it out, it'll be back to you! Otherwise they'll be changing the Logic-board too!!

 

[alphaod]

I took a screenshot of the desktop and when I viewed the picture there the lines did not show and the desktop screenshot showed nothing out of the ordinary.

So what is the likely problem?

Damaged LCD panel or broken cable.

And they'll diagnose it; if they determine it out of spec due to something other than the dent, it'll be fixed for free (assuming you still have warranty).

And I wouldn't mention the dent unless they do

 

[BearTrap1]

the machine has been through a couple of owners and I dont have any warranty information and the serial number says limited warranty. if I go to the store what would I need to bring asides from the machine?

Does anyone know the rough cost to fix broken display from a 3rd party repair shop?

 

[UltraNEO*]

the machine has been through a couple of owners and I dont have any warranty information and the serial number says limited warranty. if I go to the store what would I need to bring asides from the machine?

Does anyone know the rough cost to fix broken display from a 3rd party repair shop?

Usually Apple only supplies twelve months warranty for it's products, they are expendable via their AppleCare scheme, exceptionally good value for laptop users!! To check your current warranty inforamtion, this might help, if you don't know already:

http://www.apple.com/support/macbook/service/


Just be warned... If you don't have warranty, you might like to avoid the official chancels of fixing your problems cause they won't be cheap! Apple have been known to charge outrageous prices for things. Particularly if they're due to the end user.

 

[drambuie]

I would suspect that there is damage to the screen's column drivers in that area. Some are switched permanently on, and some are permanently off. The screen driver circuits are thin film, and fragile.

The way the display works is each pixel is made up of red, green, and blue sub-pixels. The pixels are scanned, (updated), left to right across the screen row by row, starting with the upper left corner, (pixel 0,0), ending at the lower right corner, (pixel 1439,599), for a 1440x900 display. The sub-pixel brightness combinations determine the color for each pixel. Each MBP sub-pixel has 64 levels of brightness, so the total possible number of colors is 262,144. That includes 64 gray levels from black to white. There is no flicker on an LCD screen because each pixel retains its value until updated.

If a column is stuck on at a particular color combination, then every row intersection at that column will display that color, producing a vertical line. Where the vertical line is white, it means all three sub-pixels are stuck on. Where it's black they're all stuck off.

 

[BearTrap1]

drambuie , do you know anything about the repair of this problem (i.e will i need to get the whole screen replaced?) or what would be the best thing to do?.

I also want to ask a question about the warranty. It appears the laptop is still under apples 1 year limited warranty , my issue is that can I really just take the laptop into the store and providing that they verify its under warranty I will get the laptop fixed just like that or is there more to it than that? (with me not being the original buyer and have no receipts or anything like that)

 

[drambuie]

As others have advised, if you take it to an Apple store, and they determine that the screen needs replacing, and that the dent caused the damage, the screen won't be replaced under warranty. Also, Apple treats the screen and lid assembly as a single unit for replacement, so they don't just replace the screen.

In any case, it's best to take to them and get a diagnosis.

 

[KirkL]

drambuie , do you know anything about the repair of this problem (i.e will i need to get the whole screen replaced?) or what would be the best thing to do?.

I also want to ask a question about the warranty. It appears the laptop is still under apples 1 year limited warranty , my issue is that can I really just take the laptop into the store and providing that they verify its under warranty I will get the laptop fixed just like that or is there more to it than that? (with me not being the original buyer and have no receipts or anything like that)

If it's been reported stolen or anything they might just confiscate it (not saying you stole it, just to be careful if you got it through shady channels, Cragslist etc)

 

[DJ-R]

Screenshot shows as NORMAL?

• Not GPU
• Not Software
• Not Motherboard

Is either one of these

• Screen
• Monitor Controller

 

[cfedu]

Did apple fix it

I have the same problem on my uniboby macbook aluminum
I have the vertical lines in the same place, the lines are not always present only 25% of the time.

I also have a little dent on the tip of the top left corner of the display.

 

[paintballswimgu]

Its probably because you are running windows...



(couldn't believe no one had said it yet)

 

[cfedu]

Did apple fix it

I have the same problem on my uniboby macbook aluminum
I have the vertical lines in the same place, the lines are not always present only 25% of the time.

I also have a little dent on the tip of the top left corner of the display.

Apple fixed mine for free, I had the same issue as the OP. the dent on my display was the top left corner. They said the dent was not a factor.

Anyways I love applecare, Brand new display and no more dent. Now I have to sell it for a new macbook air 10.6

 

[calvingsc]

Luckily for me, I have applecare as well. But this issue happened twice.

The first time I got a brand new LCD. But after 3.5 months, the issue came back. Got a second LCD replaced. This is quite concerning since barely 4 months, it has issues again. I don't if the LCD part replaced is refurbished, or this is more than a LCD problem. A major GPU/Motherboard flaw that comes up only after 2 years?

recently, trackpad problem. Can't register click when pressed down; tap still works.

Trackpad got replaced within 45mins.

My MBP is the 15" unibody mid-09 version. I am surprised that so many problems pop up as it approaches its 3rd year. I always thought Apple products last a long time without any issues.

Maybe this is a gimmick to get users to pay for Applecare.