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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: October 25th, 2023

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  • I recently picked up a 15 inch 2015. Temperatures sit around 60°C (noting it is almost summer here), fans are around 2000rpm. They are not audible over the ambient noise in the room. When the fans do spin up to max they are noticable. They’re comparable to the fans on the 2018 and 2019 pros.

    1080p video playback (youtube) does not induce audible fan noise, nor does basic web browsing. Geekbench and cinebench do get the laptop cooking though (temperatures hover around 96°C)


  • Let me guess… this is a 13 inch 2018 macbook pro. If so, you’re the proud owner of a macbook pro that has suffered what is being called (smh) “dustgate”, in which pieces of dust and debris can get behind the plastic screen cover (that has the Macbook Pro label on it) in two places that happen to coincide exactly with the position of the two data flex cables. When the screen is open, this debris can happily sit on the cable, but when the lid is closed, the cable pulls tight against the cable guide and between the guide and cable, the debris is trapped. If you’re unlucky, the debris can pierce the flex cable and break one of more of the data tracks within. In Apple’s obsession with thinness, the cables do not plug into the screen, but rather are soldered onto the PCB within the screen. What’s worse is that the PCB is actually behind the screen, so to replace the cable means to dismantle the screen - usually resulting in a destroyed LCD panel.

    I too have suffered from this situation and for the interim, my 2018 has now become an under desk mounted clamshell desktop machine. I’m also rocking a 15 inch 2015 macbook pro (i7, 1TB SSD, 16GB ram) which I got myself as a replacement (don’t tell my wife).


  • 4v3ngR@alien.topBtoApple@hardware.watchsuper glue on key
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    1 year ago

    If it is only on the keycap (and has not gone into the keyboard mechanism), my recommendation would be to let it dry. You can always get a replacement keycap off amazon or ebay. A trip to the Apple store may even get you one for free - if they happen to have a dead macbook hanging around out the back.





  • your only option will be to take it to an (and this is an Apple term) "UNAUTHORIZED REPAIRER who could also install malware on your computer). they’ll likely replace it with an aftermarket battery - simply because Apple doesn’t sell them any more.

    Your alternative is to watch youtube videos, read the ifixit battery replacement guides, and then do it yourself. The important thing to note is the retinas have glued in batteries - apparently screws make laptops thicker (even though the battery on the airs are screwed in 🤷‍♂️). 99% isopropyl alcohol will help greatly in disoling the glue.



  • This is now officially being called “dustgate”. It is caused when dust (or other particles) get into the screen via the plastic cover (with macbook pro). These particles can then settle on the ribbon cable, and when the lid is closed, the particles can push into the cable and cause the tracks to break.

    There has been a recent uptick in reports (on reddit and other sites). I’ll also note that I too have had it happen to my 2018 macbook pro just a few days ago.

    Apple has acknowledged the problem (in that they fixed it in 2021) but have not yet offered a repair program for it.

    I’m currently using my 2018 as a desktop machine, awaiting for the repair program.


  • 2016 - 2020 are not worth anything these days. The 2016 and 2017 suffer from “flexgate” - in which the backlight cable is not long enough and eventually breaks - and they all suffer from “dustgate” - in which dust (or crumbs) can enter into the lower portion of the screen and break the tracks on the data ribbon cables, resulting in a pink screen to be displayed.

    You’re better off getting a 2015 macbook pro, or save up for an M series (in which Apple has fixed the dustgate design flaw - even though they’ve not yet admitted it to be a design flaw)



  • yep, though I believe this issue is different to the flexgate issue that happened for 2016 and 17 laptops (apparently it is called “dustgate”). for flexgate was the backlight cable breaking due to it not being long enough. Flexgate, on the other hand, is due to bits of dirt or other debris can enter into the screen while cleaning the hinge mechanism (where all the crap likes to gather). One in there, it can settle on the flex cables. When the screen is closed, the crap gets stuck between the cable and a piece of the laptop. The result is that the copper “wires” can break - resulting in the pink screen.

    Here’s a video that shows how it can be fixed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQPRNRxcOWA

    I’ve already purchased my replacement. A 2015 15 inch macbook pro i7 with 16GB memory for around $250 USD.


  • I’ve the same problem with my 15 inch 2018. It started the other day. I pulled of the base plate to check whether the flex cable was damaged, but couldn’t see anything wrong with it. Upon booting up again, it was all good.

    It happened again, and I found that doing the old school “hit it until it works” solved the issue. So it is likely the flex cable isn’t seated correctly - or is broken.

    Some third party repairers will “fix” the cable for much less $$$ than Apple will charge for their bad design.



  • Upgrade the SSD, get opencore legacy patcher, and install Ventura or Sonoma on it. Sonoma runs well even on 4GB laptops (running on several 11 inch macbook airs). Of course, don’t expect to be able to have 100s of chrome tabs open while encoding 4k video, but playing 1080p youtube videos is perfectly find.