MacBook A1278 Freezing / Horizontal Lines

[michaelhare]

Need some help. My Macbook (Model A1278) is having some issues. At random points it will freeze and then restart while in use. Also, anytime I close my laptop, it completely shuts down. Lastly, Horizontal lines intermittently appear on the screen grouped in Vertical columns.

I took this to the Genius Bar and they couldn't find anything wrong. Mentioned that it could be the RAM. Before I replace the RAM, I wanted to see if anyone was having similar issues.

Thanks so much!

 

[michaelhare]

Looks like this is rapidly getting worse. Anyone have any idea on this?

 

[michaelhare]

Attached is an image of what the screen is doing.

 

[BrettApple]

Looks like it's either bad RAM, or the video card (which would be a logic board issue, it's soldered on). Usually the GPU issues show up more on ones with a dedicated card. Looks like a 13" so I'm guessing it's either a 2009-2010 model, since those were the last of the 13" models with separate GPUs. The 2011+ use Intel HDXXX.

I'd try different RAM first, since it's the easiest to try, and return if it doesn't work.

Do you happen to know what model (year) yours is?

 

[michaelhare]

Hey - thanks so much for your help. Was able to swap out the ram with that of a working unit as a test and that seemed to take care of it. Have new ram ordered now!