Aftermarket screen replacement from 1440x900 to 1280x800 on 13" Air - Warranty?

[fruitninja]

- I really like the 13" Air. Basic model, nothing fancy. My dream machine.

- However one thing on it really bugs me. The 1440x900 screen. That is just one magnitude smaller for me to read. And it displays too much information on the small screen real estate I don't need (on such a small place). My ideal screen resolution for a 13" screen is the 1280x800 used in all other MacBooks. The Pros, namely. Yes, technically the Retina displays show the picture exactly like the magnification of the 1280x800 display just with more detail, more pixels. Can you follow me so far? It was not hard.

My idea is buying a new 13" Air, bring it to my friendly unofficial service and get the display replaced by them to a 1280x800 one. One they got from a broken Pro, bought from eBay, etc. I'd give them the 1440x900 display in exchange. Hopefully we can arrange a mutually beneficial agreement for the swap. After all, I guess much more people would want a 1440x900 display than a 1280x800, right?

Is the swap technically possible at all? Question to begin with.

My friendly aftermarket service would guarantee me the new display they put into the machine. Now here comes the rub: Will the other parts still be covered by Apple's official warranty for the whole warranty period as if nothing happened? I have my doubts, sadly.

There are alternative options as well, none really are my cup of tea:
- I can just wait one year until factory warranty ends, possible errors get fixed, etc. and I swap displays after that. Problem: No, I could not live for a year with such small fonts or sub-optimal display.
- I buy an exactly 1 year old Air just out of warranty. No, I don't think it's a good deal.

Still, what are my options?

 

[fruitninja]

OK. Maybe that's non-existent what I am asking for. That's an answer, too.

 

[na1577]

I won't comment on whether or not it's technically feasible. I have no idea.

Essentially any third party modification will void the warranty. If Apple finds any stock parts swapped out, they will not service your laptop regardless if it is related to the problem or not.

Your options are this: buy a MacBook Air and set the resolution to 1280x800 (causing a slight decrease in screen quality) or buy a MacBook Pro 13".

 

[TheralSadurns]

The swap is NOT possible for a number of technical reasons, connectors, etc..

If I were you... I'd really just get the base 13" rMBP. The scaling is SO good that you can basically set any resolution/size you want without losing quality.

To me it sounds like THIS is what you really want. Make things bigger, w/o losing quality... 13" rMBP is the answer!


(Plus if your modding would be possible (which it is not) for the MBA + the display... you would end up paying MORE than for the better spec'ed rMBP to begin with!)

 

[michaelsviews]

OK. Maybe that's non-existent what I am asking for. That's an answer, too.

Look for a user by Louis Rossman I think his name is he has a shop in NYC and does all these screen repairs and would be well suited to answer your question, he also has a youtube channel.

 

[gnasher729]

Essentially any third party modification will void the warranty. If Apple finds any stock parts swapped out, they will not service your laptop regardless if it is related to the problem or not.

I wouldn't say _any_ modifications. There are standard things like hard drives and memory; they should be no problem.

That said, if you replace a screen with a different one with a different resolution and go to the Apple Store for warranty service, I'd love to be in the store and witness the events

 

[Anitramane]

A person here on MR put a MBA screen on his MBP

 

[filmbuff]

I feel like it would be easier to set the resolution to 1280x800.

 

[JD92]

- I really like the 13" Air. Basic model, nothing fancy. My dream machine.

- However one thing on it really bugs me. The 1440x900 screen. That is just one magnitude smaller for me to read. And it displays too much information on the small screen real estate I don't need (on such a small place). My ideal screen resolution for a 13" screen is the 1280x800 used in all other MacBooks. The Pros, namely. Yes, technically the Retina displays show the picture exactly like the magnification of the 1280x800 display just with more detail, more pixels. Can you follow me so far? It was not hard.

My idea is buying a new 13" Air, bring it to my friendly unofficial service and get the display replaced by them to a 1280x800 one. One they got from a broken Pro, bought from eBay, etc. I'd give them the 1440x900 display in exchange. Hopefully we can arrange a mutually beneficial agreement for the swap. After all, I guess much more people would want a 1440x900 display than a 1280x800, right?

Is the swap technically possible at all? Question to begin with.

My friendly aftermarket service would guarantee me the new display they put into the machine. Now here comes the rub: Will the other parts still be covered by Apple's official warranty for the whole warranty period as if nothing happened? I have my doubts, sadly.

There are alternative options as well, none really are my cup of tea:
- I can just wait one year until factory warranty ends, possible errors get fixed, etc. and I swap displays after that. Problem: No, I could not live for a year with such small fonts or sub-optimal display.
- I buy an exactly 1 year old Air just out of warranty. No, I don't think it's a good deal.

Still, what are my options?

Has your unofficial repair service actually said they can do this? I'm not sure if it's technically impossible, but I really think you should look into getting a 13" Retina MacBook Pro instead of going through with this idea.

As for the warranty, the UK warranty states "This warranty does not apply... (g) to an Apple Product that has been modified to alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple". I doubt any Apple Store or Apple service centre would give you a warranty repair on hardware which has had such an unusual modification.