Cracked Screen Repair – Introduction

Cracked screen repairs on the 14″ MacBook Pro introduce a new complication due to the mini-LED display backlight. These backlights require a more complex calibration, which has caused Apple to design the parts such that artifacts that appear on the screen when they have not been paired to each other. This video outlines the tedious and risky process by which the chips containing the paired data are transferred from the old to the new part in order to ensure proper functionality. Currently, this is the only way to repair the display on a 14″ MacBook Pro besides taking it to Apple.

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Why LCD-Only Repairs

The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel is the part of the screen that displays the image; and along with the display backlight which sits behind the LCD panel, an image is properly displayed. LCD panel only repairs are the preferred method for cracked screen repairs at Vancouver Mac Service Centre for several reasons.

Firstly, replacing the other components of the screen (backlight, camera, light sensor, back casing) often means that only an inferior quality or assembly is available for use. Re-using the original components means original quality is guaranteed. Secondly, components such as the camera or light sensor are often paired through serialization, and changing these parts, even with an original part can disable features such as True Tone. Lastly, replacing only the LCD means that better stock can be kept, since there is no need to account for colour variants such as Space Gray and Silver.

Mini-LED Displays

The Mini-LED display backlight was first introduced into the MacBook lineup in 2021 with the new, notched 14″ and 16″ MacBook Pros. These displays use an array of thousands of small LED lights separated into zones, allowing for local dimming and dynamic brightness adjustment across the whole display. In contrast, the older MacBook Pros and current MacBook Airs use a conventional backlight design consisting of a single LED strip at the bottom, lighting the screen globally.

These design improvements are great, allowing for much higher contrast in the image. However, Apple has implemented a calibration process that causes compatibility issues when parts are replaced. Specifically, when replacing the display assembly on these MacBook Pros, block-shaped artifacts appear on the top border of the screen. Apple provides access to their software tool called System Configuration that alleviates this issue, but the tool is only accessible after purchasing a screen from their Self-Service Store. These screens are prohibitively expensive for repair shops to purchase from. In addition, they are only available for purchase in select countries.

Repair Procedure

It is important to note that this repair procedure best suits cracked screen repairs; as liquid damage repairs risk damaging the serialized components that cannot be replaced. Removal of the LCD panel is largely the same as it has been for previous models. One significant change is the transition from a tape-based to a glue-based adhesive due to the very thin bezel. This requires slight alterations to the removal procedure, and even more precision as it is easier than ever to blemish the backlight diffuser layers. The most crucial part of the repair procedure is the transferring of two ICs (Integrated Circuits) from the old to the new LCD panels.

One of these ICs is a TCON (Timing Controller) chip; the DP855 by Parade. This chip is responsible for converting the eDP (Embedded DisplayPort) signal from the logic board into “raw” signals that feed the LCD matrix. The other IC is an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) that contains serialized information, including calibration values. Both ICs must be transferred perfectly to the new LCD panel. If either IC is damaged, the repair becomes impossible and it must be completed through Apple. Apple has always used multiple OEMs for their LCD panels, historically sourcing parts from manufacturers such as LG Display, BOE and Sharp. In the past, firmware between these different LCD panel variants were not cross-compatible. Thankfully, on 14″ MacBook Pros this is not the case, and the ICs can be swapped across manufacturers without any issues. Overall, the cracked screen repair takes several hours.

Video

Vancouver Mac Service Centre demonstrates the many steps of this cracked screen repair in the video shown below.