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Macbook Pro's display have vertical lines

My 2008 Macbook Pro's display suddenly have vertical lines and the display changes colors every time the mac either wakes or boots. This started just a few days ago. At first the display goes back to normal but after 3 days it no longer went back to normal and every time I restart the color changes either to red (common), blue (common), green, violet, yellow or orange. Other than the display problem, my machine still works fine though. What could be causing this? Is this a display hardware problem, logic board failure, graphics failure...? I've done some research and there are a lot of cases with different causes such as logic board failure, graphics failure, others even said it was a driver issue that has not been addressed by Apple. I can"t do anything about it for now since I have no clue where to look. But I did some test like connecting to an external display. That one proved that it was a hardware problem cause the external display was okay while the one on the have lines. I also tried booting the Drive Genius and at some point that made the mac display run normal again but after a few hours the lines appear again. I also tried to reset both the PVRAM and and the display (control+shift+eject) but none worked. I hope someone could at least shed some light on this or help me in finding a way to address the problem. Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2), Early 2008 Model

Posted on Dec 13, 2011 6:30 AM

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49 replies

Jul 4, 2017 10:30 AM in response to ekrumrey

hi similar problem also with my Macbook pro 13" vertical lines with color blue and red streaks suddenly appeared 2 days ago when I open it, I just bought it 2 months ago..didn't drop it or put anything on top of it.i did a screenshot and the picture was clear of the streak.any idea what's wrong with it?..thanks

screenshot:

User uploaded file

the display

User uploaded file

Sep 25, 2017 12:10 PM in response to Penny_24

I have a cracked LCD panel on a MacBook Pro purchased in April of 2017. Now my $3000 laptop needs a $680 repair for what either is a weak design or had a manufacturing defect as we treat our laptops with care. In June 2017, AppleCare Plus would have covered ($99) this issue BUT I purchased before that was available and Apple will not give me any relief. I know that others have this issue (many reports searching online) and therefore the display coverage was added to AppleCare. That doesn’t help me. We have two working 2010 MacBook Pros that have served us well and that is why we went with another MacBook Pro but maybe that was a wrong decision. Sorry Apple, with no relief or even some assistance, your Apple Customer Service is going downhill and that was made you so profitable. *****!

Dec 13, 2011 3:55 PM in response to tinton tana

I have had display issues with twice with my older MBP (2006 vintage). Both times I was advised by the Genius bar to send it to an off-premises repair facility where they would not only address my specific problem but check out the entire MBP and fix everything for a flat fee (both times $310 + tax). I acquiesced and the second time they replaced not only the display, but the lower case, RAM cover, topcase, keyboard, AirPort card and the optical Drive. It looked brand new! (that was about 18 months ago)


I feel I got more than just my moneys worth. If the program is still in effect and even if the price has been increased I think it would be worth it. I still use my old MBP (right at this moment) and I only got a newer one because I needed a faster machine for some video applications. To a large degree, obsolescence is to often a state of mind rather than reality. I see nothing wrong with a 2008 MBP (if it is working properly).


Go to the Apple store and get a definitive diagnosis and discuss what your options are. If indeed my suspicions are correct, $310 or some what more, would be a very good price for this repair. Check out repair prices for replacing mother boards and displays by other repair shops and you will find Apples deal a bargain.


Good luck,


Ciao.

Dec 16, 2011 7:33 AM in response to TildeBee

I brought my mac in today and they'll diagnose the unit first to see which caused the problem. It'll take 7-10 days then after they'll give me a feedback regarding the diagnosis. It's a bit longer than i expected but they told me that my mac maybe qualified for an existing apple program which entitiles owners of that generation of macs with faulty nvidia GPUs for a free replacement. That is if that's what the result would be in the diagnosis and that would take 4 weeks. That's probably the best service that they can provide since the parts would still have to be shipped in from someplace else. Well, hopefully the diagnosis turns out positive for a faulty nvidia GPU. If the logic board seems to be the probelm then i would have to resort to using an external display just to use the mac.

Macbook Pro's display have vertical lines

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