Small horizontal grey lines across screen

Question

Level 1

11 points

Small horizontal grey lines across screen

Hi,

I bought my MacBook Pro 13" in Sep or Oct 2017(2017 model), with two thunderbolt 3 ports. Its not even 3 years old, now I see these small horizontal grey lines on my entire screen. I read few reasons in some posts, that it could happen due to heating issues, but my macbook is not at all overheating. I checked for any service programs for those, who are out of warranty for this particular issue. Unlucky me, I found it for 2016 model. Please suggest what steps should I take. Clearly getting it repaired by paying amount is not worth at all. Hope this won't break my trust on Apple products, especially for MacBooks.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 14, 2020 12:49 AM

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Answer 1

samcys

Level 1

4 points

Jul 29, 2020 4:43 AM in response to jun4mac

I got a very similar issue as you. I found below link which is the exact same problem as mine.

https://www.change.org/p/apple-apple-service-program-for-heatlines?redirect=false

Some posts ask users to try reset smc and nvram. From my experience, it seems improve the situation a little bit.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201295

I started to see this problem since a few months back. Because 1) I started working from home so I use my laptop more than 9 hours everyday. 2) I upgraded my MacBook Pro to catalina and just loved the new catalina screen saver with the fancy Ken burns style. I found my CPU temperature spike up to over 70 degree when running it and all the grey lines would come out. While I am working, it is only 55 - 60 degree.

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Answer 2

jun4mac Author

Level 1

11 points

Jul 29, 2020 6:10 AM in response to samcys

Hi,

Even I called customer care, and ran though all the steps suggested by representative to set nvram, smc, checking on safe mode etc. Nothing helped and customer care rep confirmed its h/w issue. It just feels annoying to see such problems on products like MacBook in-spite of their quality and price. I was told if they get many such feedbacks, they might launch free program to replace the display like 2016 model.

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Answer 3

samcys

Level 1

4 points

Jul 29, 2020 6:51 AM in response to jun4mac

Agreed. All those steps won’t fix the case. Seems it is the heat ventilation design issue. I think some h/w has already got some damage due to it. Hope to see some free repair soon.

Now, I turn off my MacBook Pro every a few hours to let it take rest and don’t use any screen saver anymore. I still see the grey lines quite often. Sometimes it is very serious that the whole screen can’t be seen. I can only shut down and give it a break. I am thinking to buy a laptop cooling pad to extend the laptop life.

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Answer 4

jun4mac Author

Level 1

11 points

Jul 29, 2020 11:00 AM in response to samcys

Right. Mine is permanent. It is not due to heating issue in my case. Temps were pretty normal always. Even I had put it on rest for a while, after reading somewhere regarding heating issue. Didn't help though.

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Small horizontal grey lines across screen

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