MacBook Pro screen fading out

Thank you VERY MUCH for the very swift and helpful reply.

I'll try swapping my partner's screen then.

If it's the cable, could it be that it's unseated from its connector on the LCD side? If then I could just try reseating it?

Again, a very big thank you for your help!

@johndupont If it would be unseated it would not be an intermittent error. It would do this all of the time. Your LCd is losing signal either directly at the connector or at the damaged cable end. Once you test it with your other LCD (hopefully that one has an undamaged cable) and it works okay then you know it is your cable. If the currently working one also displays the same error then you know it is the logic board connector. Replacing the connector should repair this. Of course, that will require some board level repair soldering but it definitely can be done. Just out of curiosity, would you know what may have happened to this board and how the connector might have gotten damaged?

Thanks a huge lot again for the swift and helpful reply.

To answer your question, the problem started out of nothing. In particular, I had not disconnected the screen or the display cable ever.

By the way, DanJ seems to be certain that the logic board's connector is faulty, while you are not. Is it because you haven't noticed its picture in my question, or do you have a different opinion?

Thanks again a lot for the help!

@johndupont I am for figuring it out first. Sure, could be the connector. Like I said in my original answer, the cable probably does not lock into place properly. Surely the connector needs to be fixed but there may be more to it. It would be easy for me to say it's one thing or the other but I would be making an assumption, which I don't like to do. I prefer you checking it out, since only you can touch, see properly and evaluate it with a hands on experience, that is not possible with remote repair.

@oldturkey03 thanks a lot again for your reply!

Yesterday evening I took advantage of a time when screen was completely faded out to open the case with the laptop running, and trying to press on the socket and also pull on the cable. No reaction whatsoever.

I'll try swapping my partner's screen. But she is very reluctant to me doing it. She is very afraid that she'll end up without a laptop anymore.

I might start by opening the screen assembly, and checking the cable, just to see if putting some tape somewhere could fix it.

Thanks again a lot for the help!

Thank you VERY MUCH for the very swift and helpful reply.

Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding due to my picture not showing every angle of the motherboard, I wanted to check that you were certain this was a problem with the connector on the motherboard.

I am no expert but it seems to me that the metal part which is out of position was not exerting any pressure. It looks to me more like an electro magnetic interference shield, or something. It seemed to me that the connector itself was pretty solidly grounded to the motherboard.

Also, if this connector is the problem, does it still make sense that bending the upper left corner of the screen temporarily fixes the bad contact?

Again a huge thank you for your help!

@johndupont - The picture is clear the logic board connector needs replacing. As to bending the the display altering things the cable routing would alter the stress of the connection which might just be enough to allow the signal to pass to the data starving T-CON board within the display. You may also need the Display cable too as the tang of the connector could be damaged as well. Here again it's easy to damage as people lift up befor the connection is disconnected which is why the logic board side gets the worse of this.

Thanks a lot once again for the very swift and helpful reply!

As a quick fix, since you mentioned this is a problem of not enough compression on the contacts, do you think I could stick something on top of the connector, so that the pressure from the outer case could push things tight?

@johndupont - I can't answer that as I wouldn't do it. Applying pressure is a tricky direction.

While it can be daunting to replace, it's a lot easier than it looks. The trick is using Solder-wick to remove the solder and adding a bit of paste flux and reheating the pins from one side to the other while carefully lifting the connector pin by pin using a pick making sure the solder is not holding fast. The connectors body ends are done last. The other way is to use a rework hot air station which is quicker. Or if you have a large iron with a connector tip (large broad tip) allowing you to heat up all of the pins at once.

Or, lastly, applying more solder so all of the pins are loaded so you can heat everything at once. I prefer not doing this as you often snag some of the components nearby or leave solder balls and maybe shorted out components that become bridged.

@danj thanks a lot once again for the reply, and for your help.

This is really interesting. It's very good to know that it's not as hard.

Yesterday evening I took advantage of a time when screen was completely faded out to open the case with the laptop running, and trying to press on the socket and also pull on the cable. No reaction whatsoever. So it seems that my idea of a hack to exert pressure would have been useful at all anyway.

I'll try swapping my partner's screen first to check whether the issue persists, and if so try replacing the logic board connector.

Again a huge thank you for your help!