MacBook Pro 2011 - Screen problems

[MacUse-R]

So my Early 2011 MBP has developed a problem with the screen whereby the screen gets black, and when I wiggle the upper lid then sometimes the picture comes back when I find the exact right position of the upper lid, if I change the position slightly more the screen goes black again.

Sometimes instead of a normal picture I get all kinds of different patterns and/or colors on the screen, it can be lines, or green or purple color on the screen, among many other patterns and colors.

This MBP is in a bad physical condition, it has fallen from the couch to the floor many many times. Also the keyboard is not working so one will have to use an external keyboard, other than that it seems to work fine.
I´m obviously not using this MBP at the moment. But I was thinking it can be worth fixing if its not too expensive.

So can this problem be related to the LVDS display cable? Or what other reasons for this problem can it be?

 

[theapplehead]

So my Early 2011 MBP has developed a problem with the screen whereby the screen gets black, and when I wiggle the upper lid then sometimes the picture comes back when I find the exact right position of the upper lid, if I change the position slightly more the screen goes black again.

Sometimes instead of a normal picture I get all kinds of different patterns and/or colors on the screen, it can be lines, or green or purple color on the screen, among many other patterns and colors.

This MBP is in a bad physical condition, it has fallen from the couch to the floor many many times. Also the keyboard is not working so one will have to use an external keyboard, other than that it seems to work fine.
I´m obviously not using this MBP at the moment. But I was thinking it can be worth fixing if its not too expensive.

So can this problem be related to the LVDS display cable? Or what other reasons for this problem can it be?

Yes it is very likely the lvds cable that is causing your issues here. In most cases that is typically the root of the problem.

However, you mentioned that you’ve dropped your Mac a number of times so it could also be that the lcd is damaged as well. You may want to consider replacing your entire display with a used one from eBay.

Otherwise you will need a glue gun and a super steady hand to remove the paneling on your current display to replace the lvds cable.

I have done it both ways, and I will tell you that it is so much easier to simply replace the entire display rather than the lvds cable.

Before doing any of this, I would contact Apple Support or a local Best Buy and get an estimate on the cost of a keyboard repair. Sometimes it can get somewhat pricey, especially when the entire keyboard requires replacing. And if you ever plan on selling it, I imagine a buyer would be more interested in buying your Mac knowing that the keyboard does work. But if it is too pricey to replace it, then maybe just leave it as is and sell it for parts. It’s your call.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers!

 

[MacUse-R]

Yes it is very likely the lvds cable that is causing your issues here. In most cases that is typically the root of the problem.

However, you mentioned that you’ve dropped your Mac a number of times so it could also be that the lcd is damaged as well. You may want to consider replacing your entire display with a used one from eBay.

Otherwise you will need a glue gun and a super steady hand to remove the paneling on your current display to replace the lvds cable.

I have done it both ways, and I will tell you that it is so much easier to simply replace the entire display rather than the lvds cable.

Before doing any of this, I would contact Apple Support or a local Best Buy and get an estimate on the cost of a keyboard repair. Sometimes it can get somewhat pricey, especially when the entire keyboard requires replacing. And if you ever plan on selling it, I imagine a buyer would be more interested in buying your Mac knowing that the keyboard does work. But if it is too pricey to replace it, then maybe just leave it as is and sell it for parts. It’s your call.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers!

Thanks for your answer. Yes I thought about the display replacement as well.
About the keyboard, can't I replace it myself if I buy a new keyboard? I´m pretty handy and have often used iFixit´s repair guides, of course I don't know how hard the keyboard replacement is, but I have done some iPhone repairs and a few Mac repairs at iFixit´s difficulty level "moderate"?

 

[theapplehead]

Thanks for your answer. Yes I thought about the display replacement as well.
About the keyboard, can't I replace it myself if I buy a new keyboard? I´m pretty handy and have often used iFixit´s repair guides, of course I don't know how hard the keyboard replacement is, but I have done some iPhone repairs and a few Mac repairs at iFixit´s difficulty level "moderate"?

Technically speaking you could replace it yourself, however, if I’m not mistaken, ifixit rates a keyboard replacement as the hardest replacement possible on a unibody MBP. You would have to take literally everything out of the laptop to remove the keyboard. It’s definitely possible, but also super risky and difficult. Before you purchase any replacement parts, I’d recommend checking out the specific ifixit guide for the keyboard replacement.

 

[MacUse-R]

Technically speaking you could replace it yourself, however, if I’m not mistaken, ifixit rates a keyboard replacement as the hardest replacement possible on a unibody MBP. You would have to take literally everything out of the laptop to remove the keyboard. It’s definitely possible, but also super risky and difficult. Before you purchase any replacement parts, I’d recommend checking out the specific ifixit guide for the keyboard replacement.

Oh okay, so its a difficult replacement. Maybe I just sell the MBP in parts. Even if I replace the screen and Keyboard, it still will be ugly looking since the whole outer casing is full of dents and scratches etc.
So i would also have to replace the whole casing for it to be looking good. It will probably end up costing more than it´s worth.
I have another late 2011 MBP which I'm using and which works normally as far as I can see, except that the battery has more than 800 cycles and is reporting "check the battery", even though the battery seems to work normally.

 

[theapplehead]

Oh okay, so its a difficult replacement. Maybe I just sell the MBP in parts. Even if I replace the screen and Keyboard, it still will be ugly looking since the whole outer casing is full of dents and scratches etc.
So i would also have to replace the whole casing for it to be looking good. It will probably end up costing more than it´s worth.
I have another late 2011 MBP which I'm using and which works normally as far as I can see, except that the battery has more than 800 cycles and is reporting "check the battery", even though the battery seems to work normally.

Selling it for parts may be your best option. How many battery cycles does the damaged MBP have? You could switch the two batteries if both computers have the same screen size and one battery has more life than another. Your MBP battery with 800 cycles only has about 200 cycles left before the battery starts to noticeably fail. Apple suggests a replacement battery when a user nears that mark so you should maybe start trying to see if you can find a battery with fewer cycles.

 

[MacUse-R]

Selling it for parts may be your best option. How many battery cycles does the damaged MBP have? You could switch the two batteries if both computers have the same screen size and one battery has more life than another. Your MBP battery with 800 cycles only has about 200 cycles left before the battery starts to noticeably fail. Apple suggests a replacement battery when a user nears that mark so you should maybe start trying to see if you can find a battery with fewer cycles.

Yes I was actually planning to do just that, but have been too lazy. Since the MBP I´m using is saying "check battery" when I click on the battery icon, but the broken MBP has a battery which does not give any error messages. Both batteries has around 800, I think the faulty battery has about 40 cycles more and shows a bit less "full charge capacity" in Coconut battery. So I will swap the batteries.