Is it possible to turn off damaged part of my Mac screen?

[michaelm95]

Last night, I closed my Mac A1707 (2016 15 inch Pro retina with touch bar) but as I was closing it, part of the charging cable got caught between the keyboard and the screen and the force crushed part of my notebook's LCD. As a result, there is one of those ink blotch things on the bottom right of my screen and about 1cm of lines travel upwards to the top of the screen and leftwards all the way to the left of the screen.

Bottom line is that the the bottom one cm of the screen and last 1cm on the right of the screen are ruined with these lines.

My question, is it possible to 'turn off' this part of the screen altogether and make the part of the screen that is actually on and part of the display smaller.

Basically, I wish to reduce my 15inches of display to about 14inches with the last inch switched off. This is somewhat possible with televisions when changing the aspect ration settings.

To illustrate this, I have included a crude image of what the screen looks like. You can imagine the black lines on the sides are the broken parts of the screen. I wish to 'switch off' any part of the screen where these black lines fall and compact the display into the functioning white part.


Any help would be much appreciated. Many thanks View attachment 26263

 

[IWT]

A warm welcome to Mac-Forums.

Quick point first. As it's a 2016 model, and assuming you took out AppleCare +, this does cover accidental damage. Many of us do take out the extended warranty, so hopefully you have.

In System Preferences > Displays, you can adjust the resolution and maybe adjust things to fit the smaller screen - but is that really what you want to do with a Mac that has the potential for several years' of utility?

Ian

 

[Raz0rEdge]

No, this is not possible. You have a brand new MBP and are best served by fixing it. iFixit describes the procedure to replace the top assembly that contains the LCD for the 2015 MBP but they don't have the same instructions for the 2016 yet. But it should be similar and you can follow the teardown guide to figure out how to take it apart. You will need to purchase the top assembly (not sure if its readily available and how much)..

If you don't feel handy enough to do all of this, take your MBP to your closest Apple Store and see if they will help you out as part of AppleCare or give you an estimate on how much to fix it..

 

[michaelm95]

Thanks for both of your responses. I used to fix iPhones a few years ago but have never done a laptop. I have done some searching online and it seems as though replacement screens are not yet available. Do you have any experience replacing pro screens? If so, are the replacement screens usually as good quality as the original. Because I am unsure if it is Apple who actually release the parts or if it is a third party who simply (illegally?) replicates and sell them.

 

[IWT]

michael

Ashwin's advice mirrors my own. Brand new, get it fixed properly - you or Apple. Apple uses the same part as was in the original. They are also tolerant of accidents and, whatever they do or charge, they guarantee their repair.

Ian

 

[chscag]

Thanks for both of your responses. I used to fix iPhones a few years ago but have never done a laptop. I have done some searching online and it seems as though replacement screens are not yet available. Do you have any experience replacing pro screens? If so, are the replacement screens usually as good quality as the original. Because I am unsure if it is Apple who actually release the parts or if it is a third party who simply (illegally?) replicates and sell them.

Don't even consider it. Take it to Apple and let them repair it. Your Apple Care DOES NOT cover accidental damage (that type of coverage is only for iPhones and iPads) so the repair cost is going to be on you. Your machine is very difficult to do any kind of repairs on since it's mostly glued together with strong bonding. It's probably going to be an expensive repair and that's unfortunate, but you really do not have any other choice in my opinion.

Some other possibilities:

Do you have any type of home owner's insurance? Did you buy your new machine with a credit card? In either situation, your machine may be covered and the repair or replacement cost picked up by insurance or credit card guaranty. Make sure you check the fine print that comes with your credit card. Good luck and we hope you can get this done for free.

 

[michaelm95]

I contacted Apple last night, they were surprisingly unhelpful. Given that I live in Ireland all they do is refer me to third party 'authorised' technicians. I have emailed several of them; some have not replied and those that have said that the part is not available yet. It looks like I'll be waiting a few months minimum before this gets resolved and that it will cost me €600 if I'm lucky, maybe €400 if I gamble and do it myself.

Can anyone here who has fixed a mac assembly tell me if the replacement screen part comes as just the LCD, or does it come with the metallic shell casing and glass as well. I imagine the repair will be significantly more difficult if the LCD comes alone given how easily it is damaged. Whenever I used to repair iPhones, fixing the iPhone 3GS LCD was significantly more risky then later models as the LCD had to be separated from the Glass and replaced. From iPhone 4 onwards, the LCD and Glass Touch screen assembly was all one part. More expensive for the consumer but much easier for the repairer

 

[michaelm95]

chscag, I'll have a look at my home insurance policy. Thanks for your help. I bought the device with a credit card but I've never heard of the company I use offering insurance but it's well worth an investigation.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

As far as replacements go, you traditionally replace the entire top assembly which includes the LCD, backlight, glass and the cover as one component. You do not break it down further. Thus the high price since the LCD costs a lot of money. The 2015 for reference costs $475 or €444..