Advice Needed - Macbook Pro, single verticle line of pixels intermittently appearing

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timbosan

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#207779 13-Jan-2017 13:07

Hi all,

I need some general advice on an intermittent problem on my Macbook Pro. I have a late 2013 model, Core i7, 512SSD and 16GB RAM, so not a cheap thing. It has started to show a single vertical line of pixels on the left of the screen, doesn't go away when rebooting, PRAM resets, etc.

It is not there all the time (was there yesterday and not today) and I do have the option of returning the Macbook and getting a full refund. But if I wanted to get it fixed, what am I looking at price wise? New screen? Re-seating cable?

Or am I better to just get (the already offered) refund?

froob

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#1702710 13-Jan-2017 14:04

I would probably go for the refund, if that's an option. I can't tell you what the issue is, but it could be a problem with the screen itself, the display cable or maybe the graphics card. You might be able to narrow it down with some research, but if one of those turns out to be the issue, it won't be an "easy" fix.

The cable would be much more straightforward to replace than the screen or the graphics card (which would require a logic board replacement). All in all, unless you can be sure about what's causing the issue and how much it would cost to resolve, I would go with the certainty of the refund.

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lxsw20

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#1702718 13-Jan-2017 14:27

Guy at work recently broke the screen on his 2014 15" MBP, it was £600 for a replacement fitted via Apple. So I guess you would be looking at $1000+ for a replacement in NZ.

timbosan

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#1702843 13-Jan-2017 18:23

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice so far. I am inclined to take it back, but finding another machine of the same specs for the same price might be impossible. However the option of paying for repairs that could be > $1000 would be very sad :-(

doug3

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#1702887 13-Jan-2017 19:49

I had this problem with a 2015 27" iMac the line was intermittent at first but soon became permanent, always in the same place.
Apple replaced the screen under warranty, took about a week as they didn't have the parts in NZ.

alexx

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#1707045 21-Jan-2017 17:14

Did you decide what to do in the end?

Taking the refund sounds like the obvious answer, even if it doesn't cover the replacement cost. There are some reasonable deals on 2015 models in the apple refurb store. You didn't mention if it was 13 inch or 15 inch, but getting one with the same spec might be the problem.

There is a 13 inch MBP retina with i7, 16GB, 512GB SSD in the nz refurb store right now if that was what you wanted.

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timbosan

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#1707047 21-Jan-2017 17:42

I ended up taking it back and getting a full cash refund. This was at Cash Converters, who were actually really good about it. They will send it off to get repaired, then they will call be back to give me first option on re-buying it.

Sorry, it was a 15". I am a software dev so the more speed (Core i7), Ram (16GB) and faster disk (512GB PCIe SSD) the better for running VM's!

Interestingly Cash Converters have also recently increased their warranty period to 90 days, so if I do purchase it again I will get a new warranty too!