Fixing this $100 Broken MacBook Pro Didn't Go Exactly To Plan. 

*Attention regular viewers:* *This is my last weekly video upload, NO VIDEO NEXT WEEK* After about 8 years I am changing my video schedule from weekly to fortnightly. I explain why I am making this change and how will be beneficial in the long run in this special video: www.patreon.com/posts/weekly-youtube-8-98505782

It is completely crazy how i watched nearly all of your videos over the last 5 (or more) years at its release time (here in germany 1 AM) and you never missed once. Thank you so much for that, i really got into repairing stuff and you helped me in so many ways.

Older Macs do mirror; apparently the new ones must not. It wouldn’t surprise me if Apple did this intentionally just to make repair tougher, even software repairs.

I find it dumb how apple won’t fix their products when there is a design flaw like there is on this model

Another excellent video Hugh! Back in 2022 when I was visiting family in Australia my nephew said that his dad spilt some orange juice on their 2016 MacBook Pro 15 inch and then done nothing about it for years. Thus started our uncle/nephew project. We cleaned out the MacBook and bought a new top cover from AliExpress (and kept our fingers crossed). 18 months later and my nephew uses the MacBook everyday. I got my inspiration from watching your videos. I hope that the change is so that you can find time for other things important to your life. It will be strange waking up on a Sunday without a Hugh Jeffreys video... but I will only have to wait a week... or I will revisit your back catalogue.

Just thought I'd leave it here: If you want to do this modification on a Windows laptop, you'll get the most luck out of a Dell laptop, most (if not all of them) automatically switch to an external display if the lid is closed or if there is no internal display connected, it also has a dedicated screen switch button on the keyboard. The second best laptops you can try this on are ThinkPads, but I'm not sure about the newer models, but on the older ones, there's also a dedicated screen switch key, but it will always default to the internal screen, even if there is no screen attached, although there's an option in the BIOS to set the default output when the computer turns on. Finally, don't do this on a Fujitsu laptop. They have a dedicated screen switch key but doesn't always work, and most older models only support that feature if you use a VGA monitor.

I have been watching your content for the past 4 years, asn always have enjoyed your weekly vidoes, and have inspired me to do not only tech repairs, but a career in computer science. Thank you for the constant uploads, and i still look forward to watching your videos!

its no longer a laptop. its just a lap now

Especially for the type of content you produce, a weekly schedule is very tough. Bearing in mind how high the quality of your videos are, makes this schedule even more challenging. Thank you so much for creating these extremely valuable repair videos and rising awareness about anti-consumer design decisions and more!

Trust me when I say this, when come to Apple they did not accidently overlook anything! It's on purpose by design!

I worked at an Apple Authorized repair centre, we used to recover data from that one port A LOT, got a lot of macbooks with that issue come in, we replaced the whole motherboards then it was working again, we connected the two motherboards with the special dongle to transfer the data across the two motherboards, then everything was working fine...

Good on ya Hugh. I've loved your content over the years, and I can't wait to see what you put out with a more relaxed schedule. All the best to ya.

After trying with many Apple MacBooks, I can only say that after 2015, none of their machines are worth the money. Paying as much as they ask for a computer that has those kind of failures should be labeled as a SCAM. Also, when having screen issues with a "normal" laptop, a replacement costs not more than 300$, even if the computer costs 2500$.

Fun fact this flexgate issue still affects all the newer models as well, even the current m3 max. When fully closed (thats what you usually do when transporting the laptop) the flex cables are fully exposed to the dust particles. Maybe in the future they would bring back the classic round shielded lcd cable that goes through one of the hinges…

i love watching your videos jeff, really appreciate your work

i’ve loved the weekly uploads over the past 4.5ish years i’ve been watching you, and although i will miss them, i’m glad you’re taking the extra time. i think spending more time on videos will do you good, keep the burnout away and just let you relax a little more

Fun fact I’m on of your oldest viewers since 2014/2015 I watched your vids keep up the good work of stopping ewaste going to landfill

I did this years ago with a Toshiba laptop running Win2000, thankfully it was straight forward and easy to remove the screen. I used it for a few years as a TV PC until I bought a cheap Acer Revo. Thanks for the videos, always entertaining watching what modern tech looks like inside. 👍

I got emotional watching your patreon video because I feel that its the end of an era. I am so glad to live in the same time as you. I've never felt alone because I always had your videos every week.

If you get bored you could always try consumer guarantee to cover flexgate.

I repair these screens quite frequently when the backlight cable breaks. Its a tedious job, but is a lot cheaper than replacing the entire screen.

Such a great video! Well done on the heroic effort getting the OS installed.

Hugh showing off his vocabulary by saying he'll move to fortnightly videos instead of just saying he'll move to uploading every two weeks

that is an insane streak man.. your work and work ethic are amazing.

All the best to your new schedule

You sir are absolutely brilliant!! Good on ya’!! Thank you for sharing the creative solutions!

Thank you for 8 years of weekly content. I always thought your videos were similar to Renaissance painting restorations in terms of high quality, presicion and enjoyment. Good luck and see you in March

your weekly videos have been a part of my routine for many years at this point, probably for nearly 6 years at this point. i might miss the weekly uploads, but i’m also happy if this means higher-quality content or maybe an improvement to your health or whatever else it could be ❤

I used to watch your repair videos every Sunday. So glad to have you, Hugh! As long as I turn on your notifs to your youtube channel, I'll notify to watch your new upload. See ya! Cheers! 🤜

He makes this stuff look so easy!

Very cool Hugh!!

I have been watching your content for many years. Thanks to you, I learned how to repair iPhones. My thanks

I'm gonna miss those weekly videos. Huge fan here from Brazil

Very creative troubleshooting

Hi Hugh, I can only speak for myself, of course, but I will stick with your channel even if you decide to go to a quarterly or even yearly release schedule. You have a quality of content and filming that is exceptional since you were a younster (I hope you excuse and old man ;-) this expression) just posting your first videos, a quality that even professional content creators on large broadcasting facilities supported by a large staff regularly and often fail to archive. And your merits for bringing the frivolous methods of a well-known company to bring the right to a purchased device as an owner and the right to repair to it's contrary to a large audience can not be overestimated. Good luck for all your future projects and greetings from a country that is often confused with your home country (we don't have kangaroos here!).

Congratulations on this final and informative weekly video Hugh. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for the tech community. And thank you for your contributions to the Right To Repair movement. All the best in the next future projects. Continue to do what's right for you. :D

That was incredibly satisfying to watch.

You are a very patient man!

Bro your so close to 1M keep it up

don't rush yourself. take your time i understand. don't worry about making videos dont skip the holidays!

This is awesome mate

Oh man, fortnightly! I usually have my Sunday brunch while watching a Hugh Jeffrey's video. What the hell am I going to do next Sunday Hugh? Haha! 😉😂

It’s our fault it broke but we can’t have you fix that 😂

Hey for anyone that will be doing this… If you want to avoid running into the black screen, boot issue, remove the screen AS WELL AS the LVDS internal screen connector so the system does not detect any internal screen display!!! Ur welcome 🖤

Hey man! I watched your video on your Patreon and I see the weekly RU-vid videos won’t be coming out as often anymore, but I just wanted to say that I wish you the best of luck with what’s to come in the near future

Dude± You were amazing in Jury Duty! Loved it!

This is very interesting. Puts me off buying one without screen unless it already has OS installed.

I also did this a few weeks ago with my macbook pro 13.3 inch 2 thunderbolt 2019 model mac and it worked like a charm, it automaticly showed recovery mode on external moniter!

Thanks Jeffrey, you remembered me having a broken Macbook in the lot. Thought it was a bad GPU, but it was the display! Together with an iMac turned into an Apple Studio it should work absolutely fine for my mom :) Thanks again

My friend had the exact same problem with his, it’s a good thing I remembered this video. We made his MacBook headless too

5:37 the Hugh´s eyes in the reflection of display when he finds out it works :DDD

well done, man!

All you had to do was unplug the display cable from the logic board then cover with capton tape. Then close it back up.

Think the Macbook Pro you used had some OS issues in general and its remaining kext driver files where causing issues for you, could also been caused by an old OS installed. I have done a few screenless Macbook Pros now for people and this issue has never happened to me, removing the screen has always made the Mac use external display with no issues, but im really glad you posted this video incase I ever do come across this. If you ever find a way to install Windows on a Macbook Pro Mini (Screenless mac) id be interested as everything I have tried has never worked, but I know its possible.

i always wait for your weekly video upload, been refreshing youtube wondering why i haven't received a notification

I got a 15inch 2016 MacBook Pro with the exact screen issue, but had no issues as you did without a screen. I was able to install Mac OS just fine and use the legacy patcher to get to Sonoma

I have the 15" 2017 model that's also headless but it works fine without a internal display, including the bootpicker and recovery

Now you can follow some new dreams..what a great effort .. ❤

Great content

Kick ass! I knew that it was flex gate as soon as he said 2016. Kept on watching and boom lo and behold.

On the lack of two useable USB ports, a hub would have done the job.

really nice job

I am currently working on a headless Macbook case in the style of the Apple II. Exciting project, I plan to make one in the style of the Atari 800, Radioshack Tandy, and other vintage computers.

This is the best one !

Today I learned that you have a Mac Studio as your main computer 😮 Also, I'll miss your weekly upload schedule. Best of luck to the nee schedule :)

Seems a very sensible move to change to fortnightly, Hugh - am sure it won't be much longer until you pass 1m subs! 🎉

I love your vids Your vids are enteraining

Keeping up a weekly upload schedule for so long is a great feat, and a fortnightly schedule is still a lot of videos :)

I actually did this same thing for my old compaq laptop that had screen broken. Realized it still had VGA video output so just put up CRT monitor and continued using it.

I experienced the exact same issue. My display was broken so I used external monitor to boot OS but it would turn black. I had no other way to see what was going on so I gambled into a new display and replaced it. Luckily it worked perfect. Phew. I am assuming apple did it deliberately to prevent repairs.

it was funny watching this because I've been dailying a headless 2009 MacBook pro and went through all of the same struggles

I 100% believe that Apple leaves in flaws in order to drive up repairs. If they can get something to break right when your warranty expires, that's big business for them

Providing you can guarantee there being a TV/Monitor where your going this becomes the ultimate portable desktop replacement.

3:05 "This MacBook was purchased 5 years, 3 months ago so this isn't an option". I don't think you should discount the service program coverage so quickly. Apple, particularly in Australia are very flexible in their application of these programs. Case in point, I purchased the same model new MBP in 2016, and had the screen replaced through this program, for free by Apple 5 1/2 years later.

I daily drive a 15 inch 2016 MacBook Pro. I have had the laptop since I bought it new in early 2017 and never needed any repairs for it. I have certainly not babied it but I still think I have cared for it pretty well. My main complaint with it now is the keyboard. Some of the keys tend to get stuck or not press sometimes which can be quite annoying and the laptop has a less than stellar battery performance, especially well after 1000+ charge cycles but the computer still functions normally. I have used this computer as a laptop gaming system playing through all of Dishonored 2 and some of Prey 2017 completely on the go. I also used it as a desktop gaming PC with bootcamp windows installed back in 2017 and with a GTX 1080 external GPU enclosure. I used the laptop all throughout college and I still use the laptop on a near daily basis with my current job. Shame the repairability can be such an issue but thankfully I have not had any major issues with the computer thus far and am still able to use it on a daily basis 7+ years later which I can't say for any previous laptops I have owned.

Very great idea to have one for my quest 2

And it still works???? Amazing.

Some dude on the internet completely removed the display and connected a vision pro. The results were pretty cool. Looks like a keyboard for the vision pro but with Mac os.

You sir struck gold

That headless Mac with the Apple Vision Pro is gonna be crazy

6:19 unless I've missed something, why not just use a USB Hub?

Do you have any of these modes laptops available? I didn’t see any on the store?

there are videos on flexgate cable repair using microsoldering techniques.

I wonder if its possible to bodge a cheap LCD panel to the apple housing and use one of those universal adapters to run it as an external monitor.

amazing

Isn't there another option with the original display ? Some repairers cut the flex gate and scrape off the coating. They order another flex gate connector and do the same thing for other side. Eventually flex gate cable get extended after soldering two cables.

i've replaced the keyboard on the A1707 the same way you did on yout first retina... it sucked LOL. the left portion of the keyboard backlight does not work. but it type's wonderfully now. if it wasnt for the reliability issues. the keyboard is honestly *fine*

you could take out a battery and sell it off to recover some cost, if it still has low percentage wear it sould be worth a bit. Whenever I repair any laptops I alway look for low usage original batteries over some chinese batteries that more often than not hold a fraction of the original battery charge.

Haha this video reminded me to check on my ifixit repair guide

A broken cable means the whole display is scrap?? What a bad design!

Could you perhaps have disconnected the switch that lets the computer know the display is open?

I've done a similar thing with a old Razer laptop the screen is dead so I hooked it up to a monitor and it all works fine :)

Amazing! That business with opening and closing to access the trackpad was just crazy! But if you're wondering what's the point of doing this for a 7 year old laptop, I'm still using a 2015 macbook Pro with absolutely no issues. Yes, it's not really useful for any heavy lifting, but for everything else it is as smooth as butter, no slowdowns. Say what you like about Apple, but their laptops just last much longer than their Windows equivalents.

Try it with vision pro

Man you are great,take your time in the video making don't push that hard. i might ask you when a cooperation with other creators like louis rossmann?

I bought my current 2017 non Touch Bar MBP and the screen got damaged by the shipping company but I only paid $200 for the laptop, looked on eBay found a Grade A pull only for $150

Great video as usual.

If Hugh’s video posts are fortnightly, that means it’s 12 days

Apple should have a jumper or something you can set to put it into headless mode like framework do.

I've seen some people go and repair just those cables, not sure if this was something you considered with this repair.