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Model A1989, EMC 3358. A refresh of the existing design, with updated processor options and a change to the keyboard materials. Available in Silver and Space Gray. Released in May 2019.

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MacBook Pro 2019 Model "Flexgate" appears and disappears

Hi,

So I literally made this account just to ask this question.

I bought the 2019 MacBook Pro 13” literally 3 (THREE) DAYS AGO lol

I did open it over 90 degrees once during the day and in the evening the backlight stuff (dark shadows) started getting bigger in the screen. I then closed the laptop and opened it again and it was gone.

When I googled this topic, I found out that usually after the backlight thingies shut down, the whole screen shuts down after that.

So why did the shadows go away on mine, why did it get normal after I reopened the laptop? Will it happen again?

So I’m not sure what to do. I’m from a country in Europe and here the Flexgate thing isn’t too common so the store could give me a new MacBook because it happened just 3 days after buying.

But since the screen got normal again I’m not sure what’s going on.

Please help

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@tamm223 - Did you get your replacement system? If you are working now how about scoring and accepting the answer.

I promise you we will keep an eye on the 2019/20 systems.

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I have a 2019 MacPro 16", 13 months old, never travelled, Nearly complete loss of 16" screen covered with vertical lines, works fine on external monitor.

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Can you post a picture so we can see what you encountered. I'm not sure you encountered the FlexGate issue here. Adding images to an existing question

It sounds like you might have a bad display assembly with the displays data lines. FlexGate only effects the power lines of the backlight which sits at the bottom edge of the display. Here’s a picture showing the effect:

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Each light burst you see along the bottom is a working LED group and the gaps between is a group is not getting power.

What I think you are describing is the screen washes out so the whole screen goes white (sometimes is only a side (left or right or top or bottom).

Here’s a good view of the connections to the T-CON board from the display. Here one of the Purple cables is not properly attached to the T-CON board and/or one of the ribbon cables is damaged.

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I added the photos to the post

Thank you so much for answering! I thought nobody would try to help but this is amazing.

I hope it’s visible in the photos.. I suspected it could be flexgate bc earlier that day I did open the lid all the way for a few minutes.. And i used the laptop a lot those 2 days.. So I don’t know. Let me know what you think based on the photos :)

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All I can say is WOW !!

Apple made such an effort to as you can read up here 2018 MacBook Pros Try to Solve Flexgate Without Admitting It Exists and here's the first report The Design Flaw Behind MacBook Pro’s “Stage Light” Effect

@whitsongordon - What do you think??

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@tammz - Did you get to the Apple Store to get it looked at or better yet get a replacement?

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@danj

Hey, they will give me a new one, I'll go and pick it up in 2 days.. I hope I'll have more luck this time

It's not an Apple store, it's an Apple Authorized Reseller (idk if that makes a difference).

Luckily I sent them an email immediately after noticing the problem so I have the right to get a new one.. If I hadn't contacted them in the first 3 days they would have just replaced the screen (that's the contract of this particular store)

[short rant]

This whole thing is rly crazy, because I didn't sign up for having to potentially pay 600$ for a screen replacement of an already expensive machine. I wasn't even aware of this issue.

Like this problem has been around since 2016, what about like.. actually ..doing something about it.

For some of us it's quite an investment (I'm a student). I used iPhones for years so I thought the laptops were as durable and long lasting as the phones, that's why I got the MacBook in the first place. Sorry for the rant, rant over :)

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Fascinating! That's pretty quick to be seeing a flexgate issue already...we'll be watching this model year closely to see if others experience the same! Thanks for posting here!

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I am having the same issue with MacPro 16" 2019.

I'm contacting apple now and trying to arrange for repair! They said they need to inspect it and then to decide whether it's going to be eligible for free repair or not

They said there is few patch number or line with this issue.

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@abdulra7manz - The 16" models did improve the cooling system from the 13/15" lines but its still way under sized if you have an i9 in the system.

Sorry what they told you is BS! There is no code issues, it's simple physics!

Sadly I've seen a few of these too all with the same affliction!

It all boils down to two issues:

∙ The vents of the system are not blocked by stuff or cloth/rug. The fan and heat exhaust fin areas are not loaded with dust and debris. You need to stay on top of cleaning them.

∙ Not pushing the system hard for long periods without raving up the fans using a good thermal monitoring app like TG Pro which can boost the fans RPM's when getting too warm. I have some folks which even use portable A/C units feeding the cooled air directly into the vents under pressure. These are advanced video students and Pro's! Trying to do sizable video production on these systems.

But of course Apple is still the one on the hook for not sizing the cooling solution properly given the CPU's they used. And lastly, Intel is also to blame as they failed to deliver the CPU Apple was intending in using in this series (10 nm) which is still MIA even today!

Back in 2014/15 Apple should have had a plan B solution to jump to once they realized Intel was going to fail them. Just look at the Butterfly keyboard mess they also had! One easy change would have been placing the T-CON in the lid where it was before so it wouldn't cook!

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I had the exact same issue on my macbook pro 2020 out of warranty. I suspect it was the humidity in the air causing the flex-gate like symptoms to appear. Once I'm in a dryer environment the display just looks fine. No stage light effect or other issues. But I have no definitive proof that this is the issue.

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@gezmakan - Moisture is a fickle animal! Pure water is not that conductive, the salts and minerals within the water offers the needed ions to make it conductive. What you are seeing is the water offering what's deposited the means for the signal to bypass or short out.

I've only seen this issue once before where the ribbon cable to the display lost its insulation exposing the traces within it. Here we are talking about the backlight cable being worn by the grit or sand in the air slowly rubbing off the insulation as you open and close the display. Follow this guide MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar 2019 Screen Replacement as you'll needs to remove the display to clean the ribbon cables and the area where they sit and then inspect for wear. Hopefully some sealer can be applied to prevent the traces from being exposed. It's also possible the ribbon is to far gone and will need replacing.

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I know I had the flex gate issue on a Macbook pro 2017 and had it fixed before. But on my 2020 pro I had the exact same symptoms and and was considering fixing it too- the laptop spent a few months in a humid environment (Florida level humid - 80-90% humidity) and then when I used it for about a month in a less humid environment 50-60% the symptoms disappeared by its own without me needing to get it fixed

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