A MacBook screen that flickers or goes black is not always a broken screen. Sometimes it is software, and sometimes it is a cable costing a fraction of the price. Here is how to narrow it down yourself.
Start by ruling out software
These three things take five minutes, and they solve a surprising share of cases:
- Restart the machine. Obvious, but graphics drivers can hang.
- Check whether it also happens under another user. Create a new user in System Settings and log in there. If it does not happen for the new user, the problem is software, not hardware.
- Start up in safe mode. If the picture holds steady there, that points to software again.
Is it the screen or the graphics?
The deciding test: connect an external display.
- The external display shows a clean picture while the built-in one flickers. Then the fault is in the screen or the cable to it.
- Both displays flicker or show the same lines. Then the fault is on the logic board, in the graphics. That is a considerably more expensive repair, and on many models it is not worth it.
What the symptom usually means
- Flickering that changes when you open and close the lid, or at a certain angle: the display cable. It runs through the hinge and wears from being bent thousands of times.
- Vertical or horizontal lines that stay put: the display panel itself.
- A completely black screen, but the machine is running (you can hear it, and sound works): often the backlight or the cable.
- Black or discoloured patches in one spot: the panel has taken pressure or a knock.
- A bright band along the bottom of the screen, known from some older models: the flex cable in the hinge.
Also try this before you book
Turn the brightness all the way up and all the way down with the keys. If the screen does not react at all, but you can just make out a picture when you shine a torch on it, the panel itself works and it is the backlight that is out.
What a screen costs
You see the price for your model in our price calculator, with VAT, travel and the part included. On a MacBook the screen is the most expensive single part, so it is also the repair where getting the diagnosis right first matters most. That is why the tests above are here: if you can show us that an external display is clean, we have already narrowed it down to the screen.
If you are unsure, write to us with the model and a description of what you see. We will tell you what it most likely is, including when the answer is that it is not worth repairing.