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15 inch MacBook Pro Vertical Striping Issue

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So what's the verdict on taking it. I'm finally near enough to an apple store for it to be feasible, and I want to know if I can expect to (1) convince them to fix it and (2) cover the repair costs since this is in no way my fault.

Those of you who have exchanged or had 'repairs' made, have you had to pay anything? I have a 3 year warranty, but I'm not sure it extends to the screen (a nasty trick of Apple, that).

With regards to the problem, it's tenacious as ever, but not inducible as far as I can tell. The photobooth method doesn't seem to affect anything. All I can say is that the problems tends to occur when the screen transitions from off to on, in either X or Vista.
 
Klapaucius said:
Those of you who have exchanged or had 'repairs' made, have you had to pay anything? I have a 3 year warranty, but I'm not sure it extends to the screen (a nasty trick of Apple, that).
Click to expand...

I've posted a lot on this subject. From my experience, I was able to exchange my 3 units.

1st - problem happened within 6 hours after waking it from sleep. Swapped with no questions.
2nd - Problem happened after 16 days. Apple conducted "stress testing" and received a new.
3rd - same problem within 2 days but also experienced very poor video. Went to a different store about 30 miles away.
4th - crossing my fingers. Its been over two month.

It actually makes it easier on them to do not register your apple care until after the 90 days. Each time they asked if they had to transfer apple care I said no.

Only problem now are is that my purchased iTunes music is now authorized on 4 machines. =(
 
I started facing this problem about a month after I purchased my MBP but I have purchased it through a 3rd party dealer in my country who purchases it from Singapore apple store.

So even if I send it in warranty it will go to Singapore and I don't know whether they will repair it, replace it or sent it as it is. The problem would usually occur when the macbook comes out of sleep but I have even noticed it would just come up anytime. For now the ctrl+shift+eject shortcut works so rather then putting my macbook to repair or anything I think I will wait for Apple to officially figure out the problem and announce the fix.

It might just turn out to be a software/firmware defect but if its a hardware defect then at least when I send my laptop the store would be sure what to do. I know two other people who purchased the MBP around the same time as I did with few days plus minus and they are not having any such issue. Hard to classify if its a firmware issue or hardware but Apple has fixed display issues through firmware in the past:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macbookproefifirmwareupdate13.html

It can't be leopard specific because then the 13" model should also give this problem.

Till then everyone here digg it:

http://digg.com/apple/15_MacBook_Pro_Vertical_Striping_Issue
http://digg.com/apple/Vertical_Stripes_on_MacBook_Pro
 
question... i have my mbp for not even 2weeks... can i just get a brand new one as exchange? i really dont wanna see refurb hardware in my new mbp after paying 2k dollars...
my speakers are corrupt and my lcd is corrupt... or will they repair it?

hmm i dont know but its my first mac... and i have to say mac os is nothin special... it has nice features and a nice design BUT it lacks many things as well... i am thinking going back to windows.
i may be the only person on this planet... but i must admit windows is more userfriendly than leopard... dont flame me plz :D
@丫cloudlane... i really understand u
i waited so long and though very carefully about buyng the mbp and in the end it dissapointed me to an extend i didnt expect. speaker probs (and i even had a scratch before i used my mpb) and lcd probs. u fan boys can say what u want but i dont support this kind of policie. if it doesnt change this mac was my first and my last.
 
What's the bottom line of this?

I recently bought my mbp (almost two weeks ago now), and noticed this issue with the vertical lines a couple of times. Didnt know what to make of it, whether its common or not.
Also, I havent had the time to test out the machine or learn how to use a mac yet (Been using pc since the amiga went away).

Now I'm just curious. Should I hurry and try to get it replaced or is this an issue that just need a software patch?
 
ryberg said:
I recently bought my mbp (almost two weeks ago now), and noticed this issue with the vertical lines a couple of times. Didnt know what to make of it, whether its common or not.
Also, I havent had the time to test out the machine or learn how to use a mac yet (Been using pc since the amiga went away).

Now I'm just curious. Should I hurry and try to get it replaced or is this an issue that just need a software patch?
Click to expand...

Well, I called the apple support and after chatting with them for a little while, they arranged to get me a new one.
"phew"
 
Hey, i just had this happen to mine:eek:. I closed the lid, and now it is gone. Does anyone know if it will happen again, and if i should get it replaced?
Thanks a lot
 
This just happened to my new MBP (bought it Sunday). Should I return it, or keep it? I don't want to risk getting another one with other issues, this one has a good screen and has worked fine aside from the one instance of the backlight going wacky.
 
This happens on my penryn mbp occassionally too. It also gets super hot at time even after a restart when I'm not running anything (right now I don't have the beams, but it is running really hot...) Think this next week I'll take a trip out to the apple store.
 
I took my machine into the Apple store yesterday and talked with a Genius. Explained the problem, and they are going to replace the entire display (even though it wasn't actually doing the vertical striping at the time I brought it in). Another impressive experience with Apple customer service!
 
It may have been mentioned earlier, but there is a simple fix. Instead of complaining to an Apple Store employee, close the lid of the MBP, and apply some pressure to the base (Near the hinge). It'll re-align the LED's, and make everything sorted again.

Worked for me several times.
 
Mac superstition

TomsMacBook said:
It may have been mentioned earlier, but there is a simple fix. Instead of complaining to an Apple Store employee, close the lid of the MBP, and apply some pressure to the base (Near the hinge). It'll re-align the LED's, and make everything sorted again.

Worked for me several times.
Click to expand...

Sorry but this is pure superstition, applying pressure to your MBP will have as much effect as waving a magic wand or saying a prayer. The issue is caused by LED lights in the display failing to reset. It seems that when the display is closed the lights do get reset.

Apple have a fix for this - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1258 - buy Leopard, now can anyone tell me if they experiencing this issue on leopard?

Why blindly stick up for the geniuses, they are Apple employees but that doesn't precluded them from criticism, especially when they are so dismissive of a loyal apple customer, someone just like you.
 
It's been a while but glad to see I am still subscribed to this.

Obviously an engineering flaw with the work around and no root cause fix.

Thanks for the post!
 
Well, after a few great months without encountering this, I have finally been hit, so I attempted the "CARPO" maneuver, as I now call it (close, apply relative pressure, open :p ), and it worked, but, now, as I've been putting my MBP to sleep more and more often, this happens more and more often, so I just decided to post this here to add a plus one to the victims list of this issue. Peace.
 
Does this occur on 10.5.* ?

I posted a link here from the Apple site suggesting this problem could be solved by upgrading to OS X 10.5.3

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1258

Can anyone confirm this or more simply does anyone have this problem on Mac Book Pro running 10.5.* ??

Klapaucius

I've had this problem for several weeks now on a new 15.4 MBP. The ctrl-shift-eject shortcut used to work, but now it fails more often than not. If it were software, I would have thought that the 10.5.3 update would have fixed it.
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This problem is becoming worse by the day. What started as an intermittent problem is now constant with short intermittent periods of the back lights functioning correctly. I didn't want to have to send this machine back but it looks like I'll have to if there's any chance of this recurring after a OS upgrade £85($140-150).
 

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macjobby said:
Sorry but this is pure superstition, applying pressure to your MBP will have as much effect as waving a magic wand or saying a prayer. The issue is caused by LED lights in the display failing to reset. It seems that when the display is closed the lights do get reset.

Apple have a fix for this - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1258 - buy Leopard, now can anyone tell me if they experiencing this issue on leopard?

Why blindly stick up for the geniuses, they are Apple employees but that doesn't precluded them from criticism, especially when they are so dismissive of a loyal apple customer, someone just like you.
Click to expand...

Ah, right. Guess I was wrong.

Thanks for clearing that up :eek:

EDIT: In reply to your last post, I haven't had this problem on my MBP for a few weeks now. I'm running 10.5.5, but I had the problem only once or twice running 10.5.4.

Hope that helps.
 
Definately Not Caused by Pixels Not Refreshing (At least from wake up)...

I can now report that it ISN'T caused by pixels not refreshing (at least from wake up), because it just happened to me again, and I've been using it straight for about an hour and a half without sleep, screensaver, ect. Anyway, just thought I'd post that update... Unless someone's already posted it, in which case I'm plus one'ing it. . . Also, can someone give me an update on the situation? I'm kinda in a rush, so I don't have time to read through all 8 pages. Thanks.

[Update]: Again, not sure if this has been said yet, but pressure does nothing. This time, I just closed it and opened it quickly, and viola, the striping had disappeared.
 
Stripes Back - Time to back up and contact apple.

macjobby said:
I haven't upgraded to 10.5 yet.

Instead I tried this first and it seemed to work

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411

I'll send in an update if anything changes.

Fingers crossed eh?
Click to expand...

The stripes are back :(

Noooooo!

I have an extended warranty but also some minor damage to the main casing from a fall. The machine has had apple authorised repairs since and the problem did not occur.

I think I need to do this over the phone and get the authorisation done. I'm dreading chat back form the Apple Store. This is covered under warranty but I'm concerned the damage to the casing may cloud the issue.


Any ideas anybody?????
 
Eh, that 10.5.3 stuff is crap. It happened on all the MBPs I took back, and all were running 10.5.3 or 10.5.4.

However, I did notice that the bad ones I got were from the same production week according to the serial number, and all came with 10.5.2. The last one I got that was good came with 10.5.4 and the new mobile me updates and such, and was from 4 weeks later.
 
macjobby said:
The stripes are back :(

Noooooo!

I have an extended warranty but also some minor damage to the main casing from a fall. The machine has had apple authorised repairs since and the problem did not occur.

I think I need to do this over the phone and get the authorisation done. I'm dreading chat back form the Apple Store. This is covered under warranty but I'm concerned the damage to the casing may cloud the issue.


Any ideas anybody?????
Click to expand...

Just take it back, it is a known issue so they shouldn't try and blame it on the drop, I wouldn't think.
 
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