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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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Waking up with no backlight, sudden/no liquid spill

The last time this MBP was on, the battery was low - so I closed the lid and put it in my bag (a laptop backpack). The bag did fall off a low bench - not an extreme fall (it had fallen harder before without causing damage).

The next time I opened the lid, nothing was visible (only a black screen). Using a projector as an external monitor works fine, and with a torchlight I can see something happening on the MBP's monitor, very dimly.

From these I conclude that it's my backlight that's the problem. How can I troubleshoot further? Which cables should I look for if I open my MBP to see if there are loose connections?

I have tried these - http://osxdaily.com/2014/11/22/fix-macbo... - not helping.

Update (11/12/2016)

Thank you so much Reece! After posting my question last night, I shut it down after doing an NVRAM zap for a few times and an SMC reset to no avail.

This afternoon though, I turned it on with projector attached - and voilà, the monitor is on!

Does this sound like the cable was loose? Or do you think there's something more serious? Would you still recommend to open it up? What should I look out for?

Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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Very likely the backlight cable has come unplugged if it was dropped, which is located inside the screen assembly. This is fairly common on the Retina models.

Use a guide on iFixit on how to remove the screen assembly from the Macbook MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Mid 2014 Display Assembly Replacement. Then check the following link to see how to reconnect the backlight cable. You don't have to remove the LCD panel itself (like in the video), just watch from about 3:48-7:17 (7:17 shows the backlight connector). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHbdmks-...

It is most likely this if not liquid damaged. Please let us know how this goes.

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11 Comments:

... and about 10 hours after, suddenly the monitor/backlight was off again.

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Try what I described, it could be a loose connection. I have had these before with no picture/no backlight, and reconnected the cables on the screen side has resolved the problem.

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If the external projector is working you've nailed it down to the display its self, the backlight logic or the cable. From the sounds of it I think you have a cold solder joint on the WLED driver on the logic board which powers the backlight LED's. To prove that shine a flashlight into the logo on the display do you see a faint image of your desktop? If you do its the driver, if not then the cable or the display have issues.

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Will do Reece. I still haven't been able to open my MBP because I'm still sourcing the screwdrivers. Today is day 3, and this morning while I was working with the external monitor, suddenly my monitor started blinking - flashing on and off at an interval of about 1 second - and then turned on. It stayed like this for about 2 hours, when it started blinking again - and this time went off. Back to the external monitor now.

Dan, yes as mentioned I could see a faint image (when I move a window around on my external monitor while shining a flashlight on my laptop display, I can see a similar window movement on my laptop display).

Where is the WLED driver on the logic board exactly?

Thank you so much!

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(ps - I'm also under deadlines while sourcing screwdrivers so this is why I haven't been able to check)

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kwaya will be eternally grateful.
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