Early 2013 MacBook 15" Retina display hinge replacement

Thanks! I only hope this doesn’t mean I have to tear the display apart to replace wires...

Yep! You do ;-{

The better direction is just replace the entire lid assembly 15" MacBook Pro Retina Display Assembly, Apple P/N 661-7171

Sadly, I fear you are correct. All for a 1/4" Retina connector that won't go through a lid hinge. Shame on Apple. And any display disassembly looks doomed to disaster. However, here's what I think I will do (less than optimal, but reasonable): I will try to untangle and keep the old Retina wire as well as the new replacement one. I might be able to adhere them adjacent to the laptop lid without cutting them. No more onboard camera, but everything else will work. If there only was such a thing as a male-to-male Retina plug adapter...

@dschind - As much as I would like to tell you that would work, it won't! The camera cable also carries a voltage and thermal sensor which if you disconnect will cause your systems SMC to throttle the CPU and ramp up the fan.

Thank you so much for your contribution! This has given rise to one other (maybe crazy) thought. What if I can succeed at prying apart the hinges themselves enough to swap new-for-old? Then I can leave the cabling untouched and functional. Very tricky at best, but...