my macbook pro screen is separating from the case, how to fix

Im trying to post pics of and affected model but strangely its not letting me feel free to contact me directly at andy.gray@charter.net and I will forward them to you

MIne is the same as yours, its in excellent condition never been dropped and not act scratch. Hope I can get it repaired here in Australia. Going to try my luck

HI Morpheus thanks for your advice. I'm not familiar with Depot Repair, I live in Sydney Australia. You saying if my MBP is in excellent condition apart from this splitting problem. There's a chance Apple may fix it for no charge or replace? I've booked in for an appointment with Apple genius anyhow and will see how I go, judging by the amount of posts on here, seems like a common problem. Cheers

i can only speak for my experience they may offer free replacement remember to mention em209 to have your best chance . Worst case ask for depot repair it's 315 and they will fix not only the screen but everything else they find, best of luck to you .

Thank you for this post! Decided to fix the screen of my mid 2009, 15" MPB while I was replacing the airport card. It feels great! Doesn't feel like its falling to pieces!

I just had a great experience with this!

I had this issue on my mid-2009 MBP. It looked just like the pictures posted here. I thought one of my kids had tried to close the lid while a pencil or something was on the keyboard, but seeing all these photos I'm convinced it was glue / screw failure, as described here.

I took it to the Apple store at Fashion Place Mall in Utah about five months ago, not yet having read online. The guy said it was out of warranty but I could do a depot repair. The cost would probably be $310, but if the repair people thought it was broken due to carelessness it would be $600ish. I decided not to go for it.

I read up on the issue and I epoxyed it. I did a pretty good job, I thought. Only lasted a few days, though. I set the computer aside for several months, but just last Monday I took it to the Apple store at City Creek Center in Utah. This time I was prepared with the EM209 info and a few links on my phone in case I needed to convince the tech it was a manufacturing defect. He believed me and typed in EM209 in their system and got no results. He searched using a different database from in the back room. When he came back he said that that issue had been closed out over a year ago and he couldn't even read up on it now. He offered the depot repair for $310. He warned that they might choose the $600 price because of a significant dent in the bottom case at the DVD drive slot, but I decided to go for it.

I acknowledged that the machine was way out of warranty (a year and nine months), but pointed out that this was a failure on their side, not mine, and I'm sure they intend their machines to hold together for more than three years, so would he be willing to work with me in some way on the price? He talked to his manager and they decided to waive the $100 labor portion of the $310, so my total bill would be $224, including tax. I happily accepted that proposal, and left the machine with them to mail out for repair. He estimated 5-7 days, which was fine by me.

That was Monday afternoon. On Thursday afternoon I got a call that the machine was done and ready to be picked up. Wow! Three days! I went down there and got the machine. Everything was great. New lid and display. New bottom case because of the dent. New DVD drive because of the dent. New AirPort card for whatever reason. I really won the lottery on this one. The $224 was within my budget, and was well worth it for having a fully functional, and new-feeling laptop. I went home and installed Yosemite, and am loving the new computer feel.

The only negative was that they removed my 2x4GB Crucial brand memory and installed new 2x2GB Apple approved memory. I guess that's just their policy to replace non-approved components. They mailed back the old, larger memory, so once I was sure everything worked I put the larger memory back in. Notably, I had also replaced the hard drive with an SSD, but they left that in there, thankfully.

Anyway, if you can afford it I really recommend this approach. Everyone on here who has done the depot repair seems quite happy with the results.

Cheers,

Dave

This is an old thread:

Just adding my bit - I have a 2011 (early) MBP 13" and the right display hinge has lifted from the display cover. There is a one inch wide, 1/4" high strip of glue that has failed, right under where the hinge would mount against the aluminum cover. IF there is a screw on the right side I say it's still intact as that part of the screen is still holding (maybe two inches up as illustrated in your photos).

It is the right hinge that has come loose and is able to pull up from the top case so the lid will not sit square on the upper case...ie. all screws are tight, but the hinge mount has pulled from the display cover because the glue has failed. WHAT glue did Apple use?

I recommend this as a fix: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131447348453

Hello,

I am so glad that I decided to start reading a lot of the postings in this community forum! I thought my MacBook Pro was the only one that had this issue going on.

I purchased my Macbook Pro 15" actually in January of 2010 to use for college online courses. Now, it was a sacrifice for me to purchase a Macbook because of the price, but I had researched for so long and it seemed like the best decision since it would be a long lasting purchase, so I thought. Anyway, I am extremely careful with my Mac also. A couple years later the screen began to separate from the casing just like the pictures that have been shown here above. I tried calling Best Buy and my warranty had just expired literally a few days prior! I was told the same thing about repairing, dropping at least $500 or more, so I didn't do it. It got so bad that I had to start propping up the back on something to keep it supported.

Then, my son grabbed the box from behind it to use it, not realizing I was using it as a prop. The screen flew back, the metal bracket that holds the screen up snapped where the tiny screw is and it fell flat!

In the process the screen also cracked from the brackets snapping and hitting the back of the screen. Good thing is, my MBP still internally works perfectly. Even now in 2015, it works wonderfully, just as well as the day I purchased it. Do you have any advice on where I could get the casing and screen repaired without nearly paying for a new Mac? As I said, I use it still for college, but I have to have it propped up still and I don't move it at all because the screen may just hang there.

Ok first and foremost your very lucky that you haven't broken the LVDS connector that connects the screen to the logic board ( from your description the hinges have snapped completely), you have a 2009 15 inch pro so you need a used top case , I own a mac repair facility and have seen this issue literally a thousand times....the 2009 screen and 2008 unibody 15 screens are faulty and fail and fall apart which you know first hand. Your best bet to avoid the issue is get a 15 pro screen from a 2011 Macbook Pro 15 which will solve the issue but create two issues which are easy to live with and will extend the life of your mac.

1.) The wifi setup is completely different so you would be cutting the three wires from the screen ( in the 2011 the wifi card is on top of the CD rom) in your current mac its inside the clutch cover .

2.) Buy a usb wifi adapter we use Asus n13 for the ease.

between the screen and the adapter via eBay your looking at maybe 200.00 , installing the screen isn't all that bad . If you don't feel comfortable doing so a local shop can do it for you for 50-60 dollars , if your in mass look us at www.macbookclinic.com

just a follow up the three wires your not needing if you use a 2011 are the left three not the right side which is the LVDS which you definitely need

Just an update: I purchased a replacement screen assembly on eBay for $115 and couldn't be happier. Installation is quite easy. Beats trying to 'fix' the old screen lamination issue. Thanks to all who responded.

THE SEPARATION OF MY MACBOOK PRO 15" DISPLAY WAS A SURPRISE FOR ME, BUT A

RELATIVELY EASY FIX IF YOU ARE CAREFUL AND PATIENT- SEE EXPLAINATION BELOW !

As stated I was surprised that my glossy 15" display separated, however relatively easy to fix!

I have extensive experience with many types of glue and the resulting strength of them.

You don't want to use any of the common glue's you typically find at your local store, because you

have to be careful that the glue doesn't expand upon setting and you need a very strong glue

(Gorilla Glue for instance is a very strong glue but it expands significantly- not satisfactory for this job !).

That being said the best and one of the very strongest glues you can buy is one you can commonly find at

a shoe repair store called "Original SHOE GOO"--SEE IMAGE BELOW. Its a very thick glue and starts to set up immediately-

you only have a few minutes ( ABOUT 5 MINUTES- IT DOESN'T SET AFTER 5 MINUTES, IT'S CONTINUALLY

SETTING THE ENTIRE TIME- WORK FAST !) to get it spread into the back area (hinge area) of the display that has separated. It's very

important not to add too much as you might short out the computer, this glue is so strong, only spread the thick glue onto

the yellow-brown areas where the original glue was placed (take time to see where these areas are) ! CAUTION: ANALYZE

WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO BEFORE YOU START !YOU WILL NEED AN OLD TOWEL TO CUSHION THE COMPUTER- CHECK

TO SEE THE BEST POSITION FOR THE COMPUTER AS YOU ARE SPREADING THIS GLUE INTO THE AREA THAT

HAS SEPARATED, FIND A SMALL TOOL TO SPREAD THIS GLUE INTO THE CREVICES THAT HAVE SEPARATED, I

USED THE POINTED END OF A PLASTIC "ORAL B- GLIDE-- 3D WHITE FLOSS PICK", THIS WORKED GREAT ! ALSO A

SMALL-TO- MEDIUM SIZE NAIL OR PAPER CLIP MIGHT WORK. AFTER APPLYING THE GLUE AND PRESSING THE DIS-JOINED AREAS

BACK TOGETHER, WIPE AWAY OR PUSH THE EXCESS INTO THE CREVICE THAT SEPARTATED. YOU DO NOT NEED GLUE

ON THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE SEPARATING AREA (HINGE) OF THE DISPLAY ( ABOUT 1/3-1/2 OF THE LENGTH ).

ALSO, AFTER APPLYING THE GLUE, PRESS THE SEPARATED AREA TOGETHER, TURN THE COMPUTER OVER (BOTTOM UP) AND PLACE A 3-5 POUND WEIGHT ON THE PREVIOUSLY SEPARATED AREA WHERE THE GLUE WAS APPLIED AND DON'T MOVE THE COMPUTER !

AGAIN, ANALYZE, GET YOUR TOWEL, APPLICATION TOOL AND GLUE READY BEFORE YOU START. PRACTICE ON SOMETHING YOU CAN DISCARD BEFORE YOU START. YOU'LL ONLY GET ONE CHANCE BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PULL THE SEPARATED PIECES APART ONCE IT SETS UP- NOTE: THIS GLUE HAS THE CONSISTENCY OF SILICONE GLUE (BUT THICKER- AND SETS QUICKER- ) BUT IS ABOUT 10-20 TIMES HARDER ONCE IT COMPLETELY SETS- 48-72 HRS.

FOR BEST RESULTS DO NOT TRY TO USE THE COMPUTER FOR 72 HOURS AFTER APPLYING THE GLUE-

My 2009 MBP has encounter the similar dislodging from the left corner of the display. I tried the Genius store and was denied. I did not however have this info regarding the bezel program. I will now arm myself and stand my ground as I am an investor as well. Thank you for the info and I will let people know how it turns out.

JerryMac, thank you for posting. I had the same issues with cover/screen separation as outlined throughout this post. 2009 Macbook. I went to my local cobbler shop and was able to find a tube of the "The Original Shoe Goo" you've pictured. I followed your directions, even rehearsing the steps I would follow before opening the tube. Using a extra long toothpick, I was EXTREMELY CAREFUL to only small amounts of Shoe Goo where I could see adhesive had been used originally. After application, I flipped the laptop upside down, wrapped it in a towel and stacked several large books on it. ( I always new that giant annotated complete works of Willie Shakespeare would come in handy someday. ) Then I left everything alone for 3 days.

It has been a couple of weeks and everything seems to be holding. Cover is holding in place and definitely much reduced screen shake when typing. I make sure that I close the cover very carefully and support that corner when opening/closing. Hopefully this will take care of the issue until time to replace the laptop.

Thanks!