Hello kareng12
before I wrote here yesterday, I have restated in safe mode, I have reset NV RAM and SMC, I have run disk utility and I have erased the SSD and reinstalled macOS. It has made no changes what so ever to the screen problem.
I have also googled the issue, and I find there is something called Backlight Issue - and yes, if I use the flashligt in my iPhone, I can see what sould be viewable on the display - so it is there, it's just very very very dark. I also found,. that there is something people call Stagelight Issue that perfectly descibes the 8 brigter areas I have in the bottom of the screen. There's even a picture of it. Here: https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/11979ad3-ac81-43d6-a1c3-48e46401bdf1
So I'm not the first to experience this "issue" - on the contrary,. it seems there are thousands if you ggoogle the issue. Om discussions.apple.com, on reddit and numerous other sites.
Apparently it's a display issue with a defective cable (bad design or engineering). Or a cable that become defective way before the expected end of life of a fairly expensive computer. And the cable can not be repaired or replaced because of the design, you have to have the complete display replaced.
And Apple even have a program for this "backlight issue".
Great ... I thought
So yes, I called Apple Support and talked to a guy who asked me if I had tried to restart the computer ... errrr .. yes, actualli I have restarted and I have reset and I have and I have ... and then he said he suspected it was the backlight issue, and I agreed with him after my fairly extensive research on different sites. My compouter acts exactly as described there.
But he was a careful guy and wanted a last check and yes, i turned on the flask light on my iPhone and pointed to the area of the bottom of the screen and all the icons are clearly visible.
Aha, he said, then it is the backlight issue. We have had a very small number of displays that does not live up to our standards, and we will have the display replaced. Can I have your serial number.
And I gave it to him. And lo and behold .. suddenly it was not the backlight issue! Because my Mac is from 2017 and all 2017 machines are perfect. No issues in any of those. "We don't have a program for that", he said.
And I argued ... you have just diagnosed it to be the backlight issue, and now it isn't? Yes, we don't have a program for that.
Hmm, but, you just told me it was a defective display with a backlight issue, so how can it not be?
Our program only covers 2016 models, but you can have it fixed at a workshop, I can send you alist of nearby authorized Apple repair centers.
I know I have have it repaired at a shop, it's not so unusual. I know I can, like I can have my car fixed and my bike and stuff. But I did not make this happen. It is a defective display ... you just told me.
I don't think this conversation is bringing os any further, he said, and hung up.
Sad but true
My computer is too new for Apple to care. And I can either throw it in the bin or pay half the price of a new computer to have it fixed. After 3 and a half year.
