Upgrading Low Res LCD to High Res compatibility?
I am looking at purchasing a 2012 15" macbook pro (MD103LL/A ) on craigslist for a significant discount. However, I would like to upgrade the screen to high-resolution - either matte or glossy.
I've spent the last two days researching this and found a lot of contradicting information.
This place, welovemacs, sells LCD panels and divides them up by years. The offerings and prices are different depending on the year. This leads me to believe they are different.
This place, powerbookmedic, has only two categories, one for unibody and one for non-unibody. Under unibody is shows a list of compatility that ends in year 2010. So it doesn't show that it IS compatible with a 2012 macbook pro. Another thing, this place says the matte and glossy lcds are interchangeable, but resolutions are not.
I have looked at so many lcd retailers that I am getting exhausted with this. The prices vary so vastly that it is also alarming.
Here are a few more retailers I found
^This place is the cheapest and the a1286 is the model that corresponds to the 2009-2013 15" models. So I'm really tempted to order from these guys.
I will of course be calling companies to try to get more information from them and will be updating this question/answers as the weekend closes; however, I'd be interested in hearing what is already known?
First question is - difference between matte and glossy? Is it in the lcd or the overlay? If one were to want to switch between the two, what additional parts might be needed? I know the screen borders look different between the matte and glossy high-res options when purchased through apple. The matte version does not have the clean black trim.
Second - any issue going between resolutions? Apple loves stream-lining so I suspect there are no hardware differences in the low-res and high-res models except for the actual screen, but I could be wrong. I noticed that some of the 15" macbooks seam to claim to have a 1GB 650m graphics card while others a 512MB 650m.
check the 500GB HDD and 750GB HDD versions to see the different graphics cards
Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this.
Appreciatively,
Rob
interesting but possibly worthless discussion on LCD models found in 15" macbook pros
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6 opmerkingen
It would be cheaper to sell your current system and buy a new system with the higher res display Vs the cost and labor retro-fitting a new display into your current system. Also note the resale value will be less not more after doing this.
door Dan
I just picked up a 15" 2012 macbook pro for 1100 in the box new. Warranty started today. I can pick up a high res glossy LCD for 80 dollars from here:
https://www.laptopscreen.com/English/mod...
and here is a video showing it done on a 13"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSolxo06y...
I already picked up a suction handle and other tools necessary for this job at the parts store as well as ordered a heat gun on amazon.
The graphics card for sure is not an issue since the standard integrated HD4000 is capable of supporting the retina display in the 13" without any assistance.
This is completely doable. Worst case I break the glass screen. 30 dollars on amazon.
I will most likely purchase an additional screen for the "just in case."
If I don't need it, amazons return policy is friendly.
I'm making sure I have everything I need and then I am ordering the screen, since the vendor wishes to know if the screen is damaged within 5 days of delivery.
Game on.
door Rob Nich
Hi Rob Nich,
How did it go? Were you able to replace your screen with a higher resolution one? I also wanted to follow your steps :)
Thanks and Kind Regards
door rain
Just replace the whole top lid, no need to pull the displays out the lids...
door Daniel Tucker
I have something significant to add to this conversation. I purchased this model. It came with a lo rez glossy screen. I wanted a matte screen. I found someone selling the matte screen but in hi rez and puchased it (this is the entire assembly mind you, not just the screen. normally you don't remove the screen from the laptop lid if you can help it). The video connectors LOOK the same and are the same width but when you go to slide it in the receiver on the logic board, it won't slide in. I went back to the drawing board and discovered that running the hi rez screen requires far more processing power than the lo rez screen which tells me that Apple doesn't want you switching out resolutions since there are probably also different components on the board to accomodate this. Considering that the 2011 models had overheating issues, I would argue AGAINST buying a hi rez model at this point actually. Focus that limited processing power on speed instead.
door Segue Fischlin
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