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Smaller version of the original iPad Pro. Released March 31, 2016. Features a 9.7" display, A9X processor, and 32/128/256 GB storage options. Available in Silver, Space Grey, Gold, and Rose Gold.

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Can a "flashlighting" backlight be repaired easily?

Hello there.

Please read my story about me and an iPad Pro 9.7" and tell me what chances I have in getting it working perfectly again. So, I managed to "rescue" a faulty iPad Pro 9.7" off eBay in the attempts of fixing it cheap and finally getting that digital drawing pad I've always wanted (I draw traditionally, but always wanted to move to digital, but couldn't find a device that felt right, so I'm trying Apple's stuff now). Its original fault was that it had no signs of life and wouldn't charge. I had heard of iPad batteries being drained to the point of going into a sort of coma, so I went ahead a fought for it and won it at a good price (i.e, a price I could afford).

So I check over the iPad and find that it's in pretty good cosmetic condition (aside from a chip in the glass that thankfully hasn't developed into a crack and a light dent on the rear housing). I try charging the device overnight and doing a hard reset. Nothing. So I figure, why not do a factory reset and also reinstall the firmware? That's when things got interesting. I connected it up to iTunes and lo, and behold it connected! It wasn't completely dead! But the screen wouldn't come on at all. I found the screen was locked with a passcode, so all I could do was reset it and upgrade to iOS 11.

So I did so in the hopes of the screen springing to life and still nothing. It wanted me to set it up, but how? I couldn't see anything at all... until I shined a bright light on the screen... the backlight was dead! That should be fixable, right? The LCD panel wasn't broken, so there may be a chance to save it. But, since I realised it used to belong to someone (obviously), I decided to check with Apple first that it didn't have any iCloud lock/activation lock or something on it. Luckily for me, it didn't and was fine for me to keep. I carefully open it up (have repaired a few phones in the past, so I had the tools) and check for water damage.

I did see a bit of rust on a screw or two, but other than that (which I cleaned up), it was fine inside from what I could tell. I searched online trying to figure out what could be the problem. A few YouTube videos mentioned certain diodes on the logic board dying, but I couldn't tell myself. I decided to remove the screen clean up the old adhesive residue and send it all to an expert (at the same time I ordered replacement adhesive strips for the glass). I told him my story and he said he'd look at it (he mentioned he was impressed in how I opened it without damage, which saved him some work!). Let me tell you, that this guy is amazing.

He worked really hard on it and tested the iPad Pro with a new screen also to find out the craziest thing. Some water (or some liquid) had only affected the original screen alone and corroded a connector on the LCD's PCB (and somehow left everything else inside the iPad alone)! He replaced it and it sprang back to life! You're probably thinking "she's %#*@ lucky and got herself a working iPad Pro real cheap", well, yes and no. Fast forward to now. The screen had a secret problem that I need help with as unfortunately the repair guy can't help me (aside from replacing it with a new scree, which I can't afford right now).

The backlight is exhibiting "flashlighting" (for those unaware of this issue, it's when the light from LEDs in the backlight strip are very visible through the LCD, and they each give off a cone shaped beam, just like little "flashlights"). I paid for his hard work and asked him to send it back to me today still open so that I can have a little careful "faff" and see if I could make it look less noticeable. So after all that, my question is, can a "flashlighting" backlight be repaired easily before I permanently adhere the glass down for good? I'm looking for ideas to try before it arrives. Hope you managed to read through all that (thank you, really) and I hope someone out there will be able to help me out with a solution.

If I find out anything useful when I get the iPad Pro back, I'll be sure to share! Once again, thanks for reading!

Update (11/21/2017)

Whoops, completely forgot! Here's a couple of pics the repair guy took to show me the issue when he got the backlight working again:

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can you please post photos of what the lcd looks like when its turned on

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@starlet that appears to be a stage lighting effect. Check the filters around the display connectors if a new display still shows the same issue.

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this is actually called backlight bleeding, theres no actual fix for it apart from replacing the lcd

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Hi Daniel. I know about backlight bleeding, but this seems a lot more severe than the examples I had seen. Blacklight bleed in my experience was much more subdued like bright mist/foggy spots that blended into the LCD. You couldn't see the gaps in between the LEDS as sharp as this. Flashlighting is not a term I made up, it was literally what many people called this as it was a lot worse that the traditional bleed I mentioned above.

When I get the iPad back, I want to see if there is a way to get the LEDs to diffuse better so that even though the issue is there, it is not as noticeable.

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well it seems more like an lcd problem, ask the tech you paid to test another lcd on it as it could be the problem, other than that i would check the fpc

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@djdannyrock Totally agree...bad LCD. BTW, this iPad is water damaged and hopefully the tech did a proper decontamination otherwise you may discover other hidden secret issues in the future.

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I already mentioned in my original post that it was tested with another working screen, and it was confirmed that the original one was at fault due to liquid damage which DIDN'T affect anything else in the iPad. I was extremely lucky in that regard. I have the iPad back now and have been testing with it and believe I can get rid of the backlight issue. However, I have noticed something that the tech didn't see. And that was that the screen unfortunately has a curve shaped water stain.

The iPad is currently charging and I've ordered some blue silica gel packets that might hopefully remove the excess moisture and make the stain less noticeable. It may help with the backlight too, before I have to resort to my other idea... I'll update with progress if any once I've left the iPad with the silica gel packets for a few days.

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Don't waste your time with silica packets, they will not help. As I said, your device is water damaged and while you may believe nothing else has been impacted, if the tech didn't do a proper decontamination, you are at risk of having other issues in the futur. If there was enough water to damage the LCD, there was enough water to seep underneath the shields and possibly the IC's.

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Replace the screen, it’s quite clear that the liquid has effected the screen, and if the “tech” hasn’t done a proper liquid damage clean, then you may have issues in the future.

You can’t go straight to a logic board issue if you personally haven’t tried another screen and seen it working normally.

Liquid damage can effect these screens pretty severely, especially if it’s enough to corrode some of the logic board.

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Syreeta Wright zal eeuwig dankbaar zijn.
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