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Model A1502 / 2.6 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz) or 2.8 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz) dual-core Intel Core i7 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache.

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Black screen from liquid, works with external monitor.

Hey,

I spilled a small amount of water (~tsp) into the back air vent of my 2014 macbook pro retina while it was closed. I flipped it upside down, wiped it off, and dried it thoroughly with a room dehumidifier. The computer now powers up normally but to a black screen. It works perfectly with an eternal monitor via hdmi. I tried the various software black screen fixes (reseting PRAM, brightness, ect) but nothing helped.

It seems to me like the most likely problem is just the cable that transmits the signal to the LCD is burnt out/not functioning. I brought it to a laptop repair place (laptopMD) and told them all this but they were not very helpful. Paraphrased: "We have to take it apart and look at it ourselves to know what's wrong. For water damage base charge is $500 minimum + the cost of any parts + tax" I declined to let them have it (not paying over $500 to have someone look at it when it could be a simple fix!)

What's the next step I should take? Is it worth bringing to the apple store? (It is no longer under warranty) I hear it's basically the same deal where they don't do in-house repair and it's some ridiculous minimum charge for water damage because they just replace the whole logic board without troubleshooting the precise problem. Is that true?

I also could not find a guide on how to replace the cable that connects the display, is there one? All the ones I saw were to replace the screen itself, but that shouldn't be a problem since no water got into the upper clamshell and there was no physical trama to the screen. Not that I am overly confident in repairing it myself.

Any advice on the matter is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

- greg

****UPDATE****

It's the backlight. Can see the screen with a powerful flashlight. How to fix?

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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6 Comments

have you had a look inside the macbook ?

you need to look for any water marks on the logic board?

by

No, I have not opened it up.

by

Take a picture of the display cable connector area and post it in your question here so we can see. Do make sure it's a good hires pic and in focus :-)

by

this may seem random

but in a dim room with a torch/iphone flash pointed towards screen

look for any outlines of shapes

by

You got it. It's the backlight. I can see the screen when I shine a bright flashlight on it. I actually saw that mentioned when I was googling about it put couldn't find a flashlight in the moment and then forgot to chck it later.

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Hi

As stated above the back light is gone I'd say repair scale 8(1-10 )

I suggest this video (he also has other videos )

http://youtu.be/SVdQ-2njL6U

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Thank you.

Brought it to the apple store, $280 for them to repair it. I think I'm going to take them up on it.

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Yeah i mean it isn't a bad deal

They will probably just do a logic board swap

Hope all goes well

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raiyou will be eternally grateful.
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