Issue with touch screen - fault or cable perhaps?

This is for the NP950QDB-KA1US. Galaxy Book Pro 360

The notebook screen stopped accepting touch response on the top 10mm of the screen, and a row of the round touch circles would display up there from time to time when moving the lid or trying to touch that region. They show up when restarting at times as well.

The notebook warranty ended in mid-2023. I ran through all of the Samsung updates, Windows updates, and with Samsung's text message support, backed up the files and did a Windows recovery reset, and tried recalibration of the touch screen several times, but the problem remains.

Now, the touch screen response seems to work on and off, but the top region still does not respond. It means you cannot maximize/minimize/close a full-screen window by touch. Also, when the row of touch circles appear, they activate any buttons that are beneath them.

I do not have the tools to pry the notebook open, and despite curiosity, do not have much time to dig around. The question is, how likely is this a loose or slipped cable issue vs. a hardware fault?