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Released in July 2018, the 15" MacBook Pro, model A1990, features a 15.4 inch LED-Backlight display with True Tone technology, TouchID, and up to 6 Core i9 Processor.

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Touchbar display partially off, come and go, something I could check?

Hello everyone,

My MBP after 6 months from purchase had a very small segment of touchbar going off (touch was still working in that area):

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Before bringing it to Apple Care, it magically went back to normal so I just forgot. Now, 5 months after out of warranty, a larger part of the touchbar is off, with touch still working..

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Do you think I could try to check some cables or similar inside the Mac before giving up and prepare to spend a lot of money? [I won’t of course… will leave without touchbar]

thanks!

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I have the exact same problem with a 2018 Macbook pro 15"

Apple wont repair it for free when I asked, I'm hoping this might change ..

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Let’s visualize how the display works… Its like a spreadsheet! a bunch of rows and in this case a ton of columns!

So the more right columns are being dropped! While not obvious the display lines all go to the far left edge (the other side from the power button). So these column lines have to travel to this point and then go into a driver chip and then a ribbon cable connects to a controller board and then to logic board below it. Here’s what it looks like:

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The Blue outlined chip is the controller and on the right of it is the driver. Apple doesn’t replace the touch bar which I suspect is damaged here. All they do is replace the full upper case. which is a lot more expensive! For reference iFixit has the older version MacBook Pro 15" Retina (Late 2016-2017) Touch Bar Assembly which only costs $55 Vs the uppercase $530. Sadly, I haven’t found out if the older TB works in the newer 2018/19 models yet.

MacBook Pro 15" Retina (Late 2016-2017) Touch Bar Assembly Image

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MacBook Pro 15" Retina (Late 2016-2017) Touch Bar Assembly

$39.99

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So if I’m getting it right the damage should possibly be in the assembly itself and opening the MBP, disconnecting and reconnecting the (2?) connectors would be only a waste of time and risking more damage?

I don’t even know whether I can reach both connectors just by removing the back cover…hm.

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I doubt the issue is the connector connections. So yes, a waste of time.

The bar its self tends to be the issue, on the three I've fixed.

Its still a bear of a job as you need to peel it off like an egg shell, little pieces at a time and then clean off the adhesive to then replace it.

Apple doesn't like labor intensive jobs, which is why they just replace the uppercase.

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