Weird MBP Screen issue - Pink / Purple hue + horizontal lines

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Hi All,

Ive had this problem with my Macbook Pro screen lately.
Uinfortunately its out of warranty.

It used to be intermittent, but now it happens continuously.

Basically the screen gets a whole heap of pink lines across it,making it impossible to read. Its like video noise.. (watching a blank VHS tape). Theses lines are horizontal and dance all over the screen. There is a pink/purple hue on the screen too.

Anyone seen this before on any laptop screen? What does it indicate? A broken screen? Loose cnnection?

See photos:





 
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15" Macbook Pro, 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM, GeForce 8600M GT 512MB.
Last time I had something very simiar on a PC it was a graphics card overheating, an old Geforce 4 Ti4600 if I remember correctly.

All your shots are in windows, is this occurring in OSX too?
 
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Last time I had something very simiar on a PC it was a graphics card overheating, an old Geforce 4 Ti4600 if I remember correctly.

All your shots are in windows, is this occurring in OSX too?

Oh yes!
It seems to be occurring in WIndows, OSX, BIOS bootup.. pretty much everytime the screen is ON.

IS the graphics card easily replacable on a Macbook PRo?
I'd like to repair it myself rather than pay for after warranty repairs.

Could it be the screen?
 
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I wouldn't like to say for certain what it is, but I think it's a safe bet the the MBPs graphics are not easily replaceable, if possible at all.

You're going to have to just bite the bullet and take it to an Apple store or authorized repairer :(
 
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Hi All,

Ive had this problem with my Macbook Pro screen lately.
Uinfortunately its out of warranty.

It used to be intermittent, but now it happens continuously.

Basically the screen gets a whole heap of pink lines across it,making it impossible to read. Its like video noise.. (watching a blank VHS tape). Theses lines are horizontal and dance all over the screen. There is a pink/purple hue on the screen too.

Anyone seen this before on any laptop screen? What does it indicate? A broken screen? Loose cnnection?

See photos:






I hate to break it to ya but your video card is about to go belly up. I had the same problem and then I got the dreaded black screen at boot. Took it to Apple who promptly informed me that the video card died and being a MBP the video card is integrated onto the motherboard. They were quick to tell me that I was 2 weeks out of warranty and that they are aware of the notorious nVidia faulty chips but that Apple refuses to acknowledge the problem so to make a long story short I had to pay out of pocket to replace the motherboard in my 13 month old MBP at a cost of $330.15. In exchange for my hard earned money they were very generous and gave me only 90 days of warranty on the new part and refused to sell me the Apple (we don't)Care plan to extend it. Good luck to ya.....

By Ionut Arghire, Windows Editor
11th of August 2008, 08:20 GMT.....

NVIDIA announced in July that the company had put aside $150 - $200 million to cover "anticipated customer warranty, repair, return, replacement and other consequential costs and expenses arising from a weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of our previous generation MCP and GPU products used in notebook systems".

The news spread really fast, and lots of users began to fear that they might be the owners of such a card. Although NVIDIA initially said that only some notebook manufacturers/vendors had been supplied with defective G84/86 cards, after a few weeks, both Dell and Hewlett-Packard announced that their users had experienced problems with their machines and released BIOS updates meant to fix the problem. Overall, about 34 notebook models and versions were reported to pack faulty chips.

Beside the already reported mobile PCs, the latest news shows that MacBook Pro owners might have defective NVIDIA cards included in their systems as well. Apple did not announce any problem with its machines, yet the forums began to show that the issue affects the company's customers, too. Users seem to wonder whether Apple will extend its warranty for the inherently flawed systems that the company sold.

Many MacBook Pro owners have already reported video problems similar to the previous ones. Following a post on the Apple forums, which first indicated blank screen at boot, other users posted similar problems that appeared on their machines.

NVIDIA said that "All newly manufactured products and all products currently shipping in volume have a different and more robust material set". On the Apple forum, some users that experienced problems stated they have rather new machines, which means that the problems should not occur. Still, there are a lot of reports posted on the forums, which means that Apple should consider looking into the problem and provide with a solution.
 
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A happy ending :D

On October 10 Apple posted Article TS2377 titled "MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issue". Apple finally acknowledged that the video chips used in some MacBook Pro computers were faulty. If the nVidia graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within two years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is OUT of warranty. Apple is also issuing refunds to customers (Yay!) who may have paid for repairs related to this issue. Please contact Apple for details on the refund process.

Way to go Apple! I have renewed faith in you once again. ;D

See also: MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues

Oh yeah, I spent almost an hour on the phone with Apple providing information to this article, my repair numbers and so on and they agreed to reimburse me! Woo Hoo!
 
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New Macbook soon!
Hey, I like the pink :)
 
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...same problem here!

Hi, I'm new to these forums, (not sure where/what need to include)


Anyway, thank you very much for posting your pictures here.
(thanks to your pics, I was sure my problem was not 1 in a million!)

I just got the same problem and was panicking after Apple in Australia told me (wrongly) my Mac was out of warranty and also to expect a very, very expensive repair as they NEVER heard of this problem, even thought they have access to Apple's database world wide. - huh ?!

Here in Brisbane, there's not Apple Store to just walk in with my Mac. (After many difficulties with Apple Australia on the phone, I even considered flying to Sydney to go to the Apple store there, imagine the costs).

After endless hours fighting with Apple Care Australia to cover my repair, I found here: MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues that even my Mac was
supposedly out of warranty (not) Apple does cover this repair for FREE, even if your Mac is out of warranty but is within 2 years of purchase. - Apple Care Australia denies that and tries to make excuses, saying my issue is different (which is not) so, I found myself calling Apple Care USA, where I was assured of this FREE repair for my issue, even if my warranty was up!

As it happens Apple Australia was reading a serial no. of my 17" PowerBook instead of my 17" MacBook Pro, how annoying!! So, for my relief, my Mac was indeed under warranty and (after many tests over the phone, it was ruled out the video card issue etc.) Apple replaced the LCD screen within 2 days!

I asked, just to be sure, what the problem was and I was told this:
"...it's not the nVidia chips sets or mother board, or graphics card, otherwise your screen would be all black and/or you would not have video going on."
"...it's simply a faulty LCD screen ONLY. - Many screens (a particular batch) have shown with the same or similar problem"

I hope, this helps many like me, who woke up one morning panicking and could not find help easily even from Apple.

Cheers,
Ric

P.S.
It was a straight forward screen swap, no need for any date/proof of purchase or anything. No need to backup any data from my hard drive either.
And I didn't have to take my Mac into any store, as there isn't one here anyway. The report was done over the phone and they ruled out many possibilities.
(Thank goodness for that, as I'm still recovering from a broken foot made in August '08 and cannot move around easily.)
 

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