Internal not working, external works but not stable

Question

MacBook Air 13" Retina Late 2020 (M1)

Repair guides, support, and troubleshooting information for the first 13-inch MacBook Air to feature Apple's ARM-based M1 SoC (with an 8-core CPU and up to an 8-core GPU). Released in November 2020 and identified by model numbers A2337 or EMC 3598.

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Jesse Emspak @jesseemspak

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Dzi 7, 2025

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Internal not working, external works but not stable

Hi I am posting to this thread because I had a similar thing happen. I was replacing the display on an A2337 -- I believe it is an M1 late 2020 (I should have checked the about this mac). The mac boots tho no chime, and I got it to work with an external HDMI display. (Weirdly, when I put the bottom panel back on it would stop displaying sometimes? I think that was just the metal touching the connection maybe?)

Anyhow, I followed the directions and even tried re-seating the cable connecting the display to the logic board to make sure I had inserted it correctly. The Mac works, I suspect there is no chime because the user (it isn't my Mac) set the sound off, but anyway it seems to work sort-of-normally (I got it to work with one external display but not another; both were HDMI). I tried adjusting the brightness just to be sure that wasn't the problem.

I can see the light in the screen when I turn the Mac on so clearly there's power to the monitor. But as others noted the display otherwise does not work and I wonder if it is because Apple John Deere'd the system (even though this one is a bit older I think?)

More to the point, would a used laptop lid work? I get that there would be some loss of functionality but I think to the owner that's less important.

I tried looking up Apple's self-repair options but it seems geared to enterprises and not individuals.

Anyhow I will also try @simplekind 's list of options and see if any of those work too.

ETA: I found that the stability seems to have improved, I could hook up the HDMI dongle to a Promethean board, but it doesn't seem to work with an ASUS monitor, I am not sure how much of that is just the settings, tho. I asked the owner for the PW to get in there and see.

Meanwhile here are some pictures I just took of me essentially re-seating the cables and removing the antenna bar to see if there is damage to the cables

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Dan @danj

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Self employed contract worker

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Dzi 7, 2025

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@jesseemspak - I’m moved your Question onto its own and Simplekind list was an AI generated diagnostic process that covers everything from A to Z. It was removed as it doesn’t get to the heart of the issue here.

In the case of the OP it was a bad Display T-CON which is that little circuit board hanging from the display assembly.

In your case it sounds like the display ribbon cables are damaged. Can you post a few pictures of the display cables looking down where they enter into the lid so we can see things.

@jesseemspak - Yes, it’s a bit confusing. There are three ribbon cables (Green) two which are smaller that go from the T-CON board to the LCD panel and a larger one (Blue) which connects to the main logic board.

You need to look at the smaller cables for damage as these two cables flex every-time you open or close the display. Often I see these cables wrinkled which then effects there movement and then failure.

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OK will do, I honestly don't think the cable was damaged (but I will look) though given what happened to the original display it's certainly possible.

Also you are talking about the cable connector -- the press connector -- right? I looked at it and I didn't see any bent pins or the like.

crwdns2934271:0Dzi 7, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Jesse Emspak crwdne2934271:0

Hi, just curious if the pics helped? I was also curious about something I saw from the package the new display assembly came in. It says that "the fault comes from the LVDS" when there is a blank screen. What is the LVDS? I haven't found any references to it on the Internet that were any help, but if I knew what it was...

crwdns2934271:0Dzi 9, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Jesse Emspak crwdne2934271:0

Another update: According to the Apple site the display requires a system config - so I am guessing that the display is fine, and odds are my repair is fine, just that Apple's restrictions are preventing it from working?

crwdns2934271:0Dzi 9, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Jesse Emspak crwdne2934271:0

@jesseemspak - Well… it depends on the source of the replacement. Apple has the required calibration tool behind a paywall so you are forced to buy the display from them to gain access to the tool. If you used a Used display the FaceTime camera will work but the TrueTone Services won’t. A back room/fell off the truck display from the factory won’t have the firmware loaded so the camera and TrueTone won’t work.

crwdns2934271:0Dzi 9, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Dan crwdne2934271:0

Thanks, the source seems to be a shop on Amazon called Seven Puppy(?) anyhow just to be clear, these days buying the replacements from the various Amazon or eBay sources you run the chance it hasn't got the firmware, correct? I did run the computer on an external display (the big Promethean board again via HDMI) and everything seemed to otherwise function normally. Display mirroring for example seemed to work. I was thinking of experimenting with a truly used display (maybe cannibalizing another machine's) to see what works, if I can find one. With all the places selling display assemblies, it makes me wonder if this thing with Apple locking them down via system config is relatively recent.

crwdns2934271:0Dzi 9, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Jesse Emspak crwdne2934271:0

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OK will do, I honestly don't think the cable was damaged (but I will look) though given what happened to the original display it's certainly possible.

Also you are talking about the cable connector -- the press connector -- right? I looked at it and I didn't see any bent pins or the like. — Jesse Emspak
Hi, just curious if the pics helped? I was also curious about something I saw from the package the new display assembly came in. It says that "the fault comes from the LVDS" when there is a blank screen. What is the LVDS? I haven't found any references to it on the Internet that were any help, but if I knew what it was... — Jesse Emspak
Another update: According to the Apple site the display requires a system config - so I am guessing that the display is fine, and odds are my repair is fine, just that Apple's restrictions are preventing it from working? — Jesse Emspak
@jesseemspak - Well… it depends on the source of the replacement. Apple has the required calibration tool behind a paywall so you are forced to buy the display from them to gain access to the tool. If you used a Used display the FaceTime camera will work but the TrueTone Services won’t. A back room/fell off the truck display from the factory won’t have the firmware loaded so the camera and TrueTone won’t work. — Dan
Thanks, the source seems to be a shop on Amazon called Seven Puppy(?) anyhow just to be clear, these days buying the replacements from the various Amazon or eBay sources you run the chance it hasn't got the firmware, correct? I did run the computer on an external display (the big Promethean board again via HDMI) and everything seemed to otherwise function normally. Display mirroring for example seemed to work. I was thinking of experimenting with a truly used display (maybe cannibalizing another machine's) to see what works, if I can find one. With all the places selling display assemblies, it makes me wonder if this thing with Apple locking them down via system config is relatively recent. — Jesse Emspak

Rashmi Kandhil @rashmikand95190 crwdns2934065:0crwdne2934065:0: 1 2 · Answer 1 · 2025-04-08T05:40:35-07:00

Rashmi Kandhil @rashmikand95190

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Dzi 8, 2025

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Internal display not working despite power; external HDMI works inconsistently—suspect display cable, lid issue, or Apple's repair restrictions on M1 A2337.

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MacBook Air 13" Retina Late 2020 (M1)

Internal not working, external works but not stable

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Update (04/08/25)

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