A MacBook screen can fail in several different ways, and which one matters a great deal. Cracked glass is not the same as lines through the image, and that is not the same as a screen that simply stays dark while the computer runs perfectly. Before you go asking for a price, it helps to know which category you are in.
Two tests you can do right now
The torch test. Turn the lights off and hold a torch or your phone light against the screen at an angle. If you can faintly make out the desktop or the cursor, the panel is working and the backlight, or the flex cable feeding it, is the problem. On some models you will also see this as a band of light along the bottom of the screen while the rest stays dark.
The external monitor test. Connect a monitor or a television. If you get a normal picture there, the board and the graphics chip are healthy and the fault is in the lid assembly. If the external monitor stays black too, it is probably not the screen but something on the board, which makes the diagnosis a different one.
Those two tests have already ruled out most of the expensive surprise: you now know whether you are having a screen replaced or dealing with something else.
What not to do
- Close the lid on cracked glass. The shards then press against the keyboard and can damage the panel further. Put something soft in between and keep the lid open as much as you can.
- Press on the screen to get rid of the lines. It does not help and it pushes the liquid crystal further out.
- Tape over the crack and leave it. Moisture and dirt creep through a crack to the layers underneath. What starts as cosmetic damage becomes an image full of lines, or a panel that fails entirely, within a few weeks.
- Carry on with loose splinters of glass. They cut your fingers and your bag.
Make a backup now
While you can still see something, even faintly or via an external monitor, this is the moment to back up. A screen repair normally leaves your drive alone and everything is still there afterwards, but a machine that has already taken a knock is precisely the machine you want a copy of. If you can no longer manage it yourself, say so at drop-off and we will look at securing the data first.
How a MacBook screen is replaced
On a MacBook the screen is not a loose panel you slide out but a complete assembly: the panel, the lid housing, the hinges, the camera and the cables form one unit, and we replace it as one. That sounds more drastic than it is and it actually makes the repair predictable, but it also means this is not a half-hour job. Allow one to two working days, and you hear what it will be for your model at drop-off.
Which qualities are available for your model varies by generation. The MacBook screen repair page lists the prices per model in a table, including VAT and labour, so you can compare them before you come in.
Repair or replace?
On a MacBook this is a genuine judgement call, because the screen is a larger share of what the machine is worth than it would be on a phone. On a recent MacBook, repairing is almost always the sensible option. On an eight-year-old machine whose battery is also finished, we will simply work the sums through with you and say honestly when that money is better spent on a replacement. The diagnosis costs you nothing, so you can make that choice with real figures rather than a guess.
In short
Do the torch test and connect an external monitor: between them you will know whether it is the screen or something else. Back up while you can still see something, keep the lid open as much as possible, and come by Rijnstraat 76-H in Amsterdam Zuid for a free diagnosis.
