Pro tip: newer Apple Silicon Macs have antennas integrated into the lower case so in the future we won't have to create weird taped together antenna bars in projects like this...
@@datdudeinred insanely smart idea that you just gave them, thanks! Jokes aside tho I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that or made Macs basically not even turn on when a running main display is not connected :(
@@datdudeinred Despite what people think apple is not going out of thier way (spending money) to make things harder to repair they are just not considering third party repair at all. There is no way they would increase the cost of making each laptop for this.
For $60 he got the equivalent of a Mac Mini with the keyboard and trackpad which saves a lot of money, but another thing that I didn't see mentioned in the comments I read is that you also get a battery backup so if the power goes out your computer doesn't go off as well. So, you save money on the cost of a battery backup unit as well. Great video, Luke!
@@kenshn22828it is a relevant point, the internal battery is not a fully functional UPS equivalent because you won’t be able to continue using the setup with the monitor powered off. _You_ made an irrelevant point.
@@whyamiwastingmytimeonthis The point isn't regarding whether or not the setup is functional without external power, the point is regarding WHAT HAPPENS when you lose power. The Macbook would remain on since it has a standalone battery whereas the mac mini would have no power and would immediately shut off. The mac mini could experience some data loss depending on what you were doing when it lost power. Neither of you made irrelevant points, you're arguing about two different things.
I did this in the early 2000's with an old Powerbook and used it as a server. The integrated battery meant it would keep going for a few hours even after a power failure. It was also small enough to mount on the underside of a desk.
Yeah. Old laptops are great for servers. Take very little space, and you have the full keyboard access when required. Tug the machine under table on couple screwed metal brackets and you forget it existing. And then you just SSH in them as required. Or use VNC etc to have nice visual remote control.
When you said the only downside is you can’t use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth cause of the antenna placement i was like “no way Luke is gonna stop at this”. And like always you didn’t disappoint ❤
@@nearcz533I would probably go with a networking dongle too but if you only spend $60 on the machine, you might not want to spend another $20 for a dongle. That said, this machine has a/c wifi and Bluetooth 4 so you could get much more modern specs, especially BT, with a dongle.
The current position of the antenna blocks the airflow, so it would be great if you 3D printed a small housing for the antenna that resembles those on WiFi routers, so it folds out upwards. Then you could keep the camera at the tip of that antenna! You could also replace the default keycaps with a custom mechanical or otherwise keyboard! (You could snap in and out a quieter low profile and a mechanical keyboard if you are using it in a library or smth). You could also use the hinges for a custom keyboard cover when transporting it.
I did the same thing to a gaming laptop. I ripped the screen off and connected it to a good monitor. Funny thing, the battery life almost doubled with no monitor attached.
@@aleckravt3848 If the display was broken, there is almost no chance you could find a screen that isn't terrible for a reasonable price. At least macbooks have the advantage of having fewer SKUs so the displays are available, even at high prices. A random gaming laptop has no such luxury.
Note: On many laptops you can use the internal webcam cable as an extra usb port, because integrated web cams are mostly usb devices, you will need to solder on a usb port and figure out which leads are which.
Right.. But have you torn a mac down? Have fun ripping that cord apart for a USB. I personally get paid more than... Minimum. So.. to spend 2 hours on an extra USB, that is... what taped? floppy? Nah, ill spend 4.99 on the adapter at good will. (JUST bought a new apple keyboard and magic mouse for 10.99 at a good will, they still retail for over 100$ when the old mouse is now useless)
@@TechnicallyTechguy dude it is four wires and you can even repurpose the connector. There is probably somewhere in Taipei or Shenzhen that'll sell you ready made cable. Repurposing commodity hardware is really worthwhile from an economic and environmental standpoint. Think of a plastic clamshell with a place and internally routed cable to hold the smartphone built into the hinge (see old olivetti typewriter keyboard covers for reference). I think I'll design one of these, actually. Might even investigate how to repurpose the screen bus, it must be something fairly standards based.
A friend of mine did the same thing with a touch bar 13 inch, she also made a DIY desk and made a slot in the front were it sits flush with the top of the desk, it has space in the sides for the connections and room underneath for cooling, but the top of the desk hides it. The result is a slick as hell desk with built in Macbook pro and older studio display. It looks like it came out of a cyberpunk movie.
headless MacBooks are pretty dope, it's like having a Mac Mini and a Magic Keyboard (w/ Touch ID for some Macs) + Trackpad combo rolled into one, a neat way of reusing MacBooks with smashed displays, and potentially better than the Mac Mini if you prefer your MacBook's IO :D
But the thing is a lot of these headless units have their board repaired and probably will not last long. Given M2 Mac mini is so cheap, there isn't much reason to still buy these units.
If I were to go so far as to disassemble the MacBook, I wouldn't stop there, and I'd proceed to enhance the cooling performance directly, maybe in a larger or open case. It's possible that you could still use or remove the keyboard separately. I would approach the speakers in the same way. It would involve more effort, but it could really maximize the potential.
Especially with a custom/purposeful case like those people who rip apart chromebooks and use their guts like raspberry pi's. Definitely would be a fun productive experiment with a sensible endgoal, unlike removing a screen and then plugging in a monitor to an input that was there the whole time & calling it a build lol
@@lukemiani Did you get the inspiration for this from the Gameboy Macro? People have been taking a Nintendo DS Lite, ripping off the top screen, to have something slim and tiny to shove into their pockets that can be hacked and play games from the DS, GBA, GBC, Turbografx, Sega Master, NES, and Atari. It's pretty cool.
Hey Luke just discovered your channel the other day. I am using a similar macbook right now, 2013 MBP even down to the motherboard standoff being broken. I got the computer for $15 at my university salvage tech sale. I had to buy a battery and a charger for it. Found a battery on amazon with good reviews and a charger with good reviews, overall have about $100 into it. My first Mac device, and it prompted me to order a 2024 M4 MBP. It's getting delivered today. I cannot believe that I have been missing out on all of this my whole life. Loving the videos, you provide refreshing topics, that are not reused. Keep it up man.
I recommend Open Core Legacy Patcher also. That in order to run Ventura, and maybe 2 cheap 8 gb ram sticks and that thing would be easily useable full time. I have an older mid-2012 macbook pro that has legacy patcher, and Ventura runs incredbly well. The HD was swapped to a Samsung evo, and 4 gb ram to 16 gb ram. After watching this, if my display ever goes I'm definitely making it headless!
Didn't think I would enjoy this one as this is something I would not do, well, not before I watched. Thanks Luke, once again providing content for us that we did not know we needed or at least needed to know but do, keep on with the excellent work!
I found a screen for my 15" MBP Mid 2014 on Ebay for 110 bucks! I've kept this sucker alive for almost a decade. It's been through 3 batteries, some new thermal paste, and an upgraded SSD. And I'm still rocking High Sierra because I wanted to keep using my 32 but applications like Final Cut 7 and Reason 4.
no, video editing does not need high performance at all, just time, which is not the case with any apple silicon machine because of dedicated chips for that purpose, no issue@@42cosmonauts
I’ve seen someone who integrated a headless MacBook into a desk so you have the trackpad and keyboard integrated into the surface of the desk top and a nice display with that, was the cleanest set up I think I’ve ever seen 😮
Hey Luke...I've been rebuilding these for a few years for family and friends. I place the antenna in a piece of White PVC with a couple of Black end caps. I stuff the LCD hinges into the end caps and screw them back down like normal. It comes out looking real professional and it works great. I call my Frankenstein Apple creation "The Mac Skinny"
I just cracked the lcd on my 2019 MBP. It was in mint condition prior to it's fall to the concrete. It's been working fine while tethered to my tv via HDMI cable. I can't wait to remove the cracked screen!!! Thanks for this video! 🙏
For anyone planning to do this i have some tips for you: 1. Macbooks pros from 2016 and never including mba from 2018 have antenas built in at the lower portion of the laptop so when you remove display you don’t have to worry about it. 2. Also on these never models the keyboards backlight stops working when you remove display because it needs the ambient sensor which is in the display. (And theres no way to force backlight on) Other than this its a great way to have macbook experience on a budget😁
@@emberavenge7162 It depends on the macbook model, and the price you could get it for. I would really recommend m1 air or pro macbooks with damaged screens. Because they are really powerfull and dont have any issues with keyboards.
what I find funny is that by doing so you replicate the "wedge" form factor of the early personal computers! (apple 2, c64, atari, amiga...) from the 80's
Yo......i'm a year late and my mbp screen just broke. So glad i found this. I'm doing this and to answer your question, no apple doesn't need to make things more accessible. Imo they need to see the people move on without the fomo of buying the new yearly camera and/or M chip upgrade . I'm a production director at my church and this just showed me that a new small church-plant can spend maybe $150 per decently new MacBook Pro and then have the freedom to choose which monitors they want (ultra-wide, ultra-thin etc), not NEED to purchase mac keyboards and mice AS WELL they can use PowerPoint (or free PP variant) starting out and have two video outputs that don't use the once built-in display by default. If the mbp's they decapitate are just before the M1 chip then that means they can also feed up to 3-4 monitors each depending on the local TB i/o without spending hundreds on a deck-link setup. All wins in my opinion, thank you for this!
I basically did this for a few years with my white MacBook when the screen went bad. The Mini-DVI port was anything but sturdy though. The best option was to get a mini-DVI-to-HDMI cable instead of using one that was adapted because the box portion of the setup was too heavy for the connection over long-term use.
Scooped up a m1 air recently (broken screen), and was stuck on the fence trying to decide if it's worth the 200 to fix it up. Talk about perfect timing with this video. There's still enough value to warrant the replacement but I love the execution here. Very tempted to sell my Mac mini and switch to this type of setup. Super clean. There's definitely an opportunity for someone to start a little business selling the antennae covers. I'll be your first (or I guess second) customer.
I'd be curious to see this done with a modern Mac, if it's still possible. You could have power, display, and ethernet over a single usb-c cable making for a pretty sleek desktop solution.
What a great idea and video…love the step by step and your enthusiasm, why I like this channel !!! Also amazing how easy it was to work on/ upgrade those old machines.
I have done this- or something similar- with two different Macbooks (an ooold, pre-unibody MacBook Pro and a 2012 MacBook Air) and I've had great results! In each case, the screen cracked but the computer otherwise functioned fine. The old MBP was the core of my music production and arranging business from 2008-2020, and the Air is still in service as an ersatz HTPC! I didn't bother to remove the dead screens- I just run in clamshell mode and use a wireless keyboard and mouse- but as long as the computers stay cool and the batteries don't explode, they work pretty darn well!
Maybe if you use a heat shrink sleeve instead of electric tape you get a cleaner look, and it’s not that expensive. Just be careful not to apply too much heat as to damage the hinge or the antenna components.
I think another cool use case is to send the screen via WiFi to your TV. Sure the FPS / refresh rate might not be awesome but for simple tasks that's quite a cool couch setup where you can control everything via the inbuilt keyboard and trackpad and don't need to worry about a HDMI cable you can slip over.
It is Apple’s entire business model to make you buy a new machine when your new one is broken. Apple green washes like all the other big corporations. Your last video proves the point of how hard they make it to repair or upgrade. Very difficult to break through the walled garden. Really sad state of affairs as we drown in all the e-waste. Thanks for your and Rossman’s advocacy on this subject!
You are absolutely right. I have been selling new Apple computers and repairing Macs as a certified technician for over 14 years. I hear time and time again from my customers that they have been told at the Apple Store that their Mac is obsolete at 5 years or more of use. This is how Apple sells new computers, but it is simply a lie and anything but honest or in the interest of the environment. In my consultations with customers, I communicate quite differently because judging a Mac by age is wrong. I judge a Mac by its compatibility with the current operating system. And even that doesn't matter if the customer still gets on well with an older macOS version and can do everything with it. So I repair Macs much more often than I sell new ones because that is more economical for the customers, as long as the performance of their Mac is still sufficient. In fact, most users only use Safari, Mail, Photos, Pages/Word, and a few other apps. Nothing that would require enormous performance. And very few people need an M2 for that if the CPU was hardly used to capacity with an i5/i7.
What's really most important to Apple is the price of their stock. They have to extract as much money from customers as possible, every quarter, to protect shareholder value.
All while they scream at public for hurting the world while claiming they are the pure ones saving it... Like electric cars not being repaired and keeping silent about needing new battery packs all the time for extreme prices.. They could use Hydrogen with a normal engine but that would mean people could fix their cars and fill them as they want for travel over any distance... They instead want to make new cars into current phones.. No repair, your every bit of info monitored and your controlled by the product creator..
@@level16gmbh83 i think its funny how "fast" Macs get obsolete (officially). I mean I still could use a 2010 laptop normally for these tasks you mentioned, if it came with an i5 (maybe even higher-tier C2D) when upgraded to an SSD and more RAM, as long as it runs Linux or Windows. 2010 MacBook Pros didn't get a new macOS since 2017 and the last security update was 2020. Atleast with Intel Macs you have the option possibility to install Windows/Linux, but I don't wanna know how this will work out with Apple Silicon Macs
I did the same, only got the body without the screen- already 'headless ',lol. Then bought the antenna from China. Works great. Thanks for your cool vids, I've followed your advice many times.
Apple screens are ridiculously expensive because Apple does everything in their power to limit/destroy the repair market. They claim to care about the environment until it comes to letting people fix their stuff for a reasonable cost
When you use a headless macbook, you are not just losing the display. but you are losing the microphone, the wifi, the bluetooth, the webcam and the microphones.
Yes I believe Apple needs to make parts more available. While this is a cool mod that I’d certainly do to retain a machine’s usability, I would much prefer a full MacBook as I could connect it to a monitor the same way. Also Luke, where do you get the background music for your videos?
Providing parts for 10 year old Macs is not as easy as you might think. The production lines that produced those screens have long since moved on, so if you wanted to fire them back up there would be a large overhead in cost making the per screen cost much much higher than would be acceptable (as the number of displays they would produce would be low). For this situation of old devices what would be better would be to provide the schematics and CAD files etc with a license to that third party vendors could go out and make alternative parts (not OEM). With the specs having a license that others could target (legally) im sure some companies would figure out how to make little adaptors to that you could attache more commodity display panels without needed to fire up a dedicated production line again.
@@bb5242 Not true apple care a lot about this, but only when it is themselves doing the fixing. When you get a warranty replacement you are not getting a new product you are getting a refurbished product (in a new case) that fixability saves apple a LOT of money compared to taking a new product of the production line and giving it to you. This is why apple prefure skews (lots of them) over glue, it saves them money in the long term.
I loved that you didn't give up on the antenna. Actually I believe all the laptops should be modular and this idea is not new, even in mobile phones, but companies find this idea will be thwarting to innovation and will make them lose the edge to other compatitors. Some companies are better at durability, like thinkpads, others focus on wieght reduction, and some other focus on the design and has their own silicon like macs now.
I think that what you are doing is a great example of how people and companies should approach this issue. I find it a very sad trend that now electronics are ridiculously difficult to fix. It’s easier to buy a new one to replace the broken one. I think that the only flexible devices to fix and upgrade are PCs where you can have access to all components. And for more mobile devices sometimes it’s even difficult to change the battery.
This is why everyone should consider Framework Laptops if they are purchasing a new laptop, IMO. Will it beat out a new macbook in efficiency? No. But it has the benefit of having sanely priced replacement parts and tutorials for everything. You can even upgrade the entire system board to a new generation. Oh, and what do you do with the old board?.. Well, you can buy.. Or 3D print a case for it and stick it behind a TV as a small media device. OEMs, Apple included need incentive to change their practices which just creates e-waste.
Nice work. If you were printing a case for the antennas, it would be interesting to save and integrate the camera as well, from a bottom-up angle like you can find it in some huawei laptops.
No it wouldn't, and no they don't. It's a fashion accessory and therefore any logic and reason surrounding it goes right out the window. Any other laptop is plastic and can bounce around loose in the trunk of a car for a decade and be just fine, a macbook blows the screen out if you set a coffee mug on top of it and everyone knows it. People with less brains and more money will still buy them, they make them less repairable every generation and they still sell. Or do you actually think it's some big secret that they make them intentionally fragile and also hard to repair?
I wonder it you could fit some acrylic tubing for water cooling over the wifi section before fitting it back in the hinge area. p.s. I did this to an old Dell laptop that someone gave me years ago, didn't have wifi issues since it was a plastic shell.
I've thought about doing this before, but thought I'd screw it up. Great video as always. One additional thought - I use an Apple wireless keyboard and a magic trackpad on my desktop Mac, and I definitely prefer to have the trackpad to the right side of the keyboard instead of underneath it. But I have no problems using a laptop.
Travel with it and just find monitors to use where you’re at, tv screens in hotel rooms etc. Headless MacBook is definitely a solution I would come up with.
There are some AR glasses you could plug in that would act as an external display. That way you could maintain the portability of a laptop and have full privacy to boot.
Hi Luke, you've convinced me to try my hand at doing one of these headless MacBook projects. Most headless Macs I've seen are older, and I found a banging deal on a 2020 w/touchbar with only the two usb-c ports on it. Do you know of any limitations on newer MacBooks for this?
I’ve heard about these and it’s amazing what people are able to do with spare MacBook parts! Glad to see these older machines be reused into something like this.
Thanks for the video. Totally agree with your points that replacement parts need to be affordable and accessible. Thanks for what you're doing to help us reuse, reduce and recycle!
Apple has always had a need to control their products, even after they have sold it or their warranty expires. I'm highly anticipating whether they will be forced to become more customer friendly in allowing their future products easier to fix by their customers. Love how this one went. That black section that originally housed the hinges, camera and antenna hookups, can't that section be used or 3D copied to make that area more clean.
Your simple answer to a simple situation probably just revolutionized computing. Here is a great idea that can be done by practically anyone. Good job and thanks for sharing!
I have my old 2012 MBP running like a beast 24/7 as a home server. It runs Plex mainly, used to run home assistant until I upgraded to a Synology. But the MBP is still active and running some random things along with Plex. Docked in a vertical stand, use an external monitor. Also pulled the battery out after it started puffing up. 11 years old and this thing is still a beast!
Amazing video Luke! I was happy when you didn't simply give up and used ethernet but tried to make wi-fi work as that is in the spirit of this channel. The only downside to what's shown in the video is that it completely blocks out the fans and the cooling so I can imagine that Intel chip running really hot. I'm sure you'd figure something out though
@@Thomas_Bannon With the screen on it's not actually touching, it's a round thing that lets air through above and below. Not ideal but it's the only vent on the device...
Many years ago I had a Macbook air 11" 2011 and the display cracked and ended up non functional. I had a 70" TV a 3 meter HDMI cable and a Display port to HDMI adapter to hook it up. It was a no brainer. Love your videos keep it up!
I agree that 3D Printing a nice housing for the wifi would be awesome. Beyond that, I wouldn't change a thing. I love this idea, and honestly I think it looks super cool without the display. Also didn't know you could turn an old iMac into a display - I've got one sitting around and that would be the perfect fate for it if the board ever fails.
This is the perfect mod for someone with a middle school kid who wants a Mac for homework. It is an excellent video, showing how folks with minimal technical skills can do this.
This has been popular in China for several years now. I jumped on this last year with a 13" M1 MacBook pro, the last guy already did the hard work of removing the screen and I bought it for only $360. Super good deal
Would be interesting to see if keyboard and trackpad could be used separately as input devises on another machines (for example, on Windows/Linux), so that you can switch between different OS's (and hardware) using MacBooks input devices.
Even better than 3D printed plastic would be a nice bit of hard wood, you could hide the antenna inside and it would look sweet!. Maybe even extract the face time camera as well and put it down there with a little bump so that it looks in your direction (all be it up your nose) it would be a very nice modification.
I’ve done this sort of thing a few times over the years, with assorted laptops. The most recent example (sort of) was a Surface Pro with a cracked screen. This completely wrecks the touch and stylus input, but with the keyboard/trackpad attached it was still a reasonably useful desktop computer, and aside from the crack, the super-sharp display still worked. So I added a big external monitor, a proper wireless mouse, and VOILA: a dual screen desktop computer!
hey man, tip from an IT guy, its MUCH MUCH easier to remove the mac screen when its open and just the screen is hanging off the front edge of your table, hinge lined up with the corner of the table
I did this with a ThinkPad x280 (8th Generation i7, 16GB RAM) and it works great. I need to change the thermal paste, but I'm really happy with it because it's always better to recycle electronics whenever there is a chance to do so. Plus, laptops idle at very low wattages making them perfect for server usage, and without a lid, thermals usually benefit greatly. I removed the battery for safety reasons (keeping a laptop server online 24/7 with a battery is not a great idea) but I've gotta say, it's a great project and a lot of fun if you like to tinker with technology. It does suck that it's not easy to get Wi-Fi working, but for server usage, you likely already want an Ethernet connection anyways. It's a great option for people looking to start a homelab without a lot of money for sure.
I did something fairly similar. My old 2012 non retina doesn't have a cracked display but is so out of date it's no longer usable as a daily, even with 16GB of ram and an SSD. So when my GF gave me her 2015, I decided to run OPNsense and make it my router - way more powerful than any router you can buy, and I run separate APs and POE switch for the network itself. Plus, it is battery backed! Only issue is that OPNsense doesn't seem to turn the display off when the clamshell is closed, so I did open it up and disconnect that cable. I'd rather have the clamshell on to protect the keyboard and prevent it being inadvertently messed up. It's easier to administer it from the broswer of another computer which has a great GUI vs the command line interface on the display itself.
It's almost like what was done with the first Atari, Amstrad or Commodore computers : you have the keyboard that acts as a computer XD. Apart from the part that it has a battery, you basically created the modern version of a 2600XT or a C64 😂
I recently had problems with the display on the m1 air after 3 years of using it and it economically makes more sense for me to just buy a new one because the repairs are too expensive. While I wont take off the display I will continue to use it even when I receive my newer model by connecting it to an external display. Helpful video overall
Thanks to this video I was able to remove a trash screen on a Mid 2012 Macbook, then update it to Sonoma with OLCP, and it was all rady to go when the new screen arrived. Thank you.
Are you serious? So creative .❤ Dude… I've been a long-time fan and you've outdone yourself. Luke, I'm serious. What incentive you've shown me. Genius.
It's not just Apple. I ran a Dell for years, that I got for free, hooked to my TV using Kodi. I still have it somewhere, but the only thing on it that's broken is the display. All laptops have this issue. I now have a Mac Mini hooked to my TV. It's a Smart TV, but the Smart TV OS sucks beyond belief, so I don't use it. I got a 2012 Mac Mini just for the TV. Apple TV sucks too. Not as bad as a Smart TV, but you really can't beat a Mac Mini.
I have done this with my Dell 2 years ago and it still works no issue. For missing wifi I actually used a cheap wifi dongle (may not be the fastest option but works just fine).
Hi Luke, at 11:08 you mention "using an iMac w/ dead GPU" as an external display"... Is that, in fact, possible...? I was under the impression that a dead GPU == using it as a display was no longer possible... (If it IS possible, it opens up a whole range of possibilities for me :)) -- Nice job on this video, by the way. I love, love, love this type of (re)use of older tech!
Been doing that for years... removing the broken display is the cheapest way to bring a cracked laptop back to life. Get a long HDMI cable and use it with your TV or just hook up and old display... Great tutorial!
I'm now using a 2014 13" MBP, a 2020 13" MacBook Air M1, and a 2015 15" MBP all through the Screen Sharing App. I left the screens on them, and keep them plugged in, then I can do this as long as I want. I even have the Screen Sharing connections automatically open when I boot my computer. Attached to the 2015, I have two 27" HD monitors and all my mice/keyboards/backup etc.
you could throw an LED strip in that hinge area to cover it instead of just plastic. Cover the strip in a diffusing channel guide, cut it very neatly, and it could easily look OEM-ish.
I'm considering this since my MacBook is experiencing flexgate issues. One problem I've run into is recovery assistant doesn't seem to like using an external display to show the main options and info. If there's a workaround for that then this is the way to go
Ten years ago, My brother accidentally broke my laptop screen but everything else was fully functional. So i did this exact set up by connecting the HDMI cable to the tv and it worked great. I kinda wish this was a new trend in the industry. Reminds me of the old 80's computers where you just hook up to a tv set.
Two minor form-factor adjustments I'd like to see: IIRC a major part of the ventilation is housed behind the monitor hinge so I'd be interested to see how the custom piece takes that feature into account. Also, at risk of stating the obvious, there's a free hinge bracket just going spare at the top of the headless unit. Seems like the perfect place to mount a flip-down foot bar to raise the back edge for improved cooling and a more ergonomic typing angle.
a better idea: only to disconnect the tiny and flat connector shown at 4:23. wrap the connect with some isulation tape to prevent electrical short inside the macbook. And don't have to remove the faulty display unit from the macbook. Close the back cover by putting back all the screws. Then connect external display unit as shown in the video and here you go!
Pro tip: newer Apple Silicon Macs have antennas integrated into the lower case so in the future we won't have to create weird taped together antenna bars in projects like this...
I’m pretty sure this is true of the USB-C retina MacBooks too…? Certainly my 2017 and 2020 13 inch, and my 2018 15 inch has it separate.
Lol after seeing this they would transfer few more chips onto the display just so no one would be able to do this with next macbooks. Mark my words.
@@datdudeinred insanely smart idea that you just gave them, thanks! Jokes aside tho I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that or made Macs basically not even turn on when a running main display is not connected :(
@@datdudeinred Despite what people think apple is not going out of thier way (spending money) to make things harder to repair they are just not considering third party repair at all. There is no way they would increase the cost of making each laptop for this.
@@hishnash well many parts are hardware locked, especially on iphones.
The guy who sold him the MacBook for $60 watching this right now: 👁️👄👁️
lol
Sucking his teeth
@@truetruth2322 I have never heard this saying in my life.
@@HappyGaminz your life must be quite short up to this point then
@@ayosj99 it really is not a common phrase
For $60 he got the equivalent of a Mac Mini with the keyboard and trackpad which saves a lot of money, but another thing that I didn't see mentioned in the comments I read is that you also get a battery backup so if the power goes out your computer doesn't go off as well. So, you save money on the cost of a battery backup unit as well. Great video, Luke!
Your computer does go out. The monitor will turn off. The benefit is might not lose data
@@eomorani dont want to be mad, but did you kniw that portable monitors exist?
@@eomoransame would happen with a mac mini except with the potential data loss. You made an irrelevant point.
@@kenshn22828it is a relevant point, the internal battery is not a fully functional UPS equivalent because you won’t be able to continue using the setup with the monitor powered off.
_You_ made an irrelevant point.
@@whyamiwastingmytimeonthis The point isn't regarding whether or not the setup is functional without external power, the point is regarding WHAT HAPPENS when you lose power. The Macbook would remain on since it has a standalone battery whereas the mac mini would have no power and would immediately shut off. The mac mini could experience some data loss depending on what you were doing when it lost power.
Neither of you made irrelevant points, you're arguing about two different things.
I did this in the early 2000's with an old Powerbook and used it as a server. The integrated battery meant it would keep going for a few hours even after a power failure. It was also small enough to mount on the underside of a desk.
Yeah. Old laptops are great for servers. Take very little space, and you have the full keyboard access when required. Tug the machine under table on couple screwed metal brackets and you forget it existing. And then you just SSH in them as required. Or use VNC etc to have nice visual remote control.
When you said the only downside is you can’t use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth cause of the antenna placement i was like “no way Luke is gonna stop at this”. And like always you didn’t disappoint ❤
I don't get why he didn't use a small usb dongle for WIFI and Bluetooth... Seems so much simpler to do.
@@nearcz533one downside is you lose a USB port. The way he did it has really no downsides aside from a bit of extra work
@@jarboerbut it’s never leaving your desk anyways. Not really a inconvenience to add a usb hub
You know me 😆
@@nearcz533I would probably go with a networking dongle too but if you only spend $60 on the machine, you might not want to spend another $20 for a dongle. That said, this machine has a/c wifi and Bluetooth 4 so you could get much more modern specs, especially BT, with a dongle.
The current position of the antenna blocks the airflow, so it would be great if you 3D printed a small housing for the antenna that resembles those on WiFi routers, so it folds out upwards. Then you could keep the camera at the tip of that antenna!
You could also replace the default keycaps with a custom mechanical or otherwise keyboard! (You could snap in and out a quieter low profile and a mechanical keyboard if you are using it in a library or smth). You could also use the hinges for a custom keyboard cover when transporting it.
I have a wifi antenna I can just plug into usb
or just don't remove the screen and connect an external mouse and keyboard that's far better than the trackpad and keyboard on the macbook.
@@Gertzerroz
*Magic keyboard isn't backlit* and the magic mouse _suuucks._ MacBook keys and track pad is the far better-and less wasteful-solution.
I did the same thing to a gaming laptop. I ripped the screen off and connected it to a good monitor. Funny thing, the battery life almost doubled with no monitor attached.
another good thing is that you can upgrade the screen in a few years without needing to replace the entire machine, cool stuff
Shocker
You could just close the screen and connect 2nd monitor w/o ripping off the screen.
@@aleckravt3848 If the display was broken, there is almost no chance you could find a screen that isn't terrible for a reasonable price. At least macbooks have the advantage of having fewer SKUs so the displays are available, even at high prices. A random gaming laptop has no such luxury.
Like from 8 minutes to 16?
Note:
On many laptops you can use the internal webcam cable as an extra usb port, because integrated web cams are mostly usb devices, you will need to solder on a usb port and figure out which leads are which.
This is good to know, as I'm trying to build a "dumb terminal" laptop.
Right.. But have you torn a mac down? Have fun ripping that cord apart for a USB. I personally get paid more than... Minimum. So.. to spend 2 hours on an extra USB, that is... what taped? floppy? Nah, ill spend 4.99 on the adapter at good will. (JUST bought a new apple keyboard and magic mouse for 10.99 at a good will, they still retail for over 100$ when the old mouse is now useless)
You're not LTT
why do people always get negative about some cheap trash turned into SOMETHING lol it's pathetic
@@TechnicallyTechguy dude it is four wires and you can even repurpose the connector. There is probably somewhere in Taipei or Shenzhen that'll sell you ready made cable. Repurposing commodity hardware is really worthwhile from an economic and environmental standpoint.
Think of a plastic clamshell with a place and internally routed cable to hold the smartphone built into the hinge (see old olivetti typewriter keyboard covers for reference).
I think I'll design one of these, actually. Might even investigate how to repurpose the screen bus, it must be something fairly standards based.
A friend of mine did the same thing with a touch bar 13 inch, she also made a DIY desk and made a slot in the front were it sits flush with the top of the desk, it has space in the sides for the connections and room underneath for cooling, but the top of the desk hides it. The result is a slick as hell desk with built in Macbook pro and older studio display. It looks like it came out of a cyberpunk movie.
That sounds sweet. Would love to see a photo of that!
Photos or it didn’t happen
@@t20594 was going to say this
🎉 definitely would love to see pics!
Me too, id love to see a photo please😭
Fantastic video! You inspired me to try with an old MacBook I had with a broken screen - now I have a headless Mac with Wi-Fi!! 🙌🏻😊
headless MacBooks are pretty dope, it's like having a Mac Mini and a Magic Keyboard (w/ Touch ID for some Macs) + Trackpad combo rolled into one, a neat way of reusing MacBooks with smashed displays, and potentially better than the Mac Mini if you prefer your MacBook's IO :D
Built-in UPS as well
hopefully, the prices don't get inflated because of this headless idea.
And MacBook speakers are pretty great too!
And you'll still have ports available.
Agreed 👍 🎉😂😅
If we can run these computers for a while longer. That’s a bonus for all of us. ❤
Now to find a used broken MacBook 💻 Pro. 😂
But the thing is a lot of these headless units have their board repaired and probably will not last long.
Given M2 Mac mini is so cheap, there isn't much reason to still buy these units.
If I were to go so far as to disassemble the MacBook, I wouldn't stop there, and I'd proceed to enhance the cooling performance directly, maybe in a larger or open case. It's possible that you could still use or remove the keyboard separately. I would approach the speakers in the same way. It would involve more effort, but it could really maximize the potential.
Especially with a custom/purposeful case like those people who rip apart chromebooks and use their guts like raspberry pi's. Definitely would be a fun productive experiment with a sensible endgoal, unlike removing a screen and then plugging in a monitor to an input that was there the whole time & calling it a build lol
Ran my first "headless" MacBook around 2011, was too broke to afford a full blown rig and wanted to start learning FCP. Simpler times.
Good old Ivy Bridge days
@@lukemiani I miss those days dearly. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the M.
@@lukemiani Sandy Bridge. Ivy Bridge was released in 2012
@@lukemiani Did you get the inspiration for this from the Gameboy Macro?
People have been taking a Nintendo DS Lite, ripping off the top screen, to have something slim and tiny to shove into their pockets that can be hacked and play games from the DS, GBA, GBC, Turbografx, Sega Master, NES, and Atari. It's pretty cool.
Hey Luke just discovered your channel the other day. I am using a similar macbook right now, 2013 MBP even down to the motherboard standoff being broken. I got the computer for $15 at my university salvage tech sale. I had to buy a battery and a charger for it. Found a battery on amazon with good reviews and a charger with good reviews, overall have about $100 into it. My first Mac device, and it prompted me to order a 2024 M4 MBP. It's getting delivered today. I cannot believe that I have been missing out on all of this my whole life. Loving the videos, you provide refreshing topics, that are not reused. Keep it up man.
We need this form factor to be more sold regularly. Let’s bring back the Commodore 64 and Apple II style of computer.
Would be epic, Apple IV (we had the Apple III already).
They should have done that rather than the macPro just to troll people. ...
@@hishnash Steve Wozniak would love that... jony, notsomuch
I thought this looked familiar!
Looks like ZX spectrum (Sinclair Z80 computer) from 90-s, very popular in low price segment😹
@@hrissan 80s
I recommend Open Core Legacy Patcher also. That in order to run Ventura, and maybe 2 cheap 8 gb ram sticks and that thing would be easily useable full time. I have an older mid-2012 macbook pro that has legacy patcher, and Ventura runs incredbly well. The HD was swapped to a Samsung evo, and 4 gb ram to 16 gb ram.
After watching this, if my display ever goes I'm definitely making it headless!
Didn't think I would enjoy this one as this is something I would not do, well, not before I watched. Thanks Luke, once again providing content for us that we did not know we needed or at least needed to know but do, keep on with the excellent work!
I found a screen for my 15" MBP Mid 2014 on Ebay for 110 bucks! I've kept this sucker alive for almost a decade. It's been through 3 batteries, some new thermal paste, and an upgraded SSD. And I'm still rocking High Sierra because I wanted to keep using my 32 but applications like Final Cut 7 and Reason 4.
I think 'Headless' M1 13 MacBook Air is better than M1 Mac mini. You even don't need to buy a keyboard and a trackpad separately.
Lack of a fan could be a factor for people using high performance programs like for video editing
no, video editing does not need high performance at all, just time, which is not the case with any apple silicon machine because of dedicated chips for that purpose, no issue@@42cosmonauts
@@42cosmonautsif you need a fan than you could use the 13 inch m1 pro
@@jacksonkuzmicheadless M1 Pro 13. Great idea!
My 13' M1 Pro had a flex gate problem, I did the same mod last year and I didn't even know that it was a thing. Coolest thing ever! @@scottphardin
I’ve seen someone who integrated a headless MacBook into a desk so you have the trackpad and keyboard integrated into the surface of the desk top and a nice display with that, was the cleanest set up I think I’ve ever seen 😮
Hey Luke...I've been rebuilding these for a few years for family and friends. I place the antenna in a piece of White PVC with a couple of Black end caps. I stuff the LCD hinges into the end caps and screw them back down like normal. It comes out looking real professional and it works great. I call my Frankenstein Apple creation "The Mac Skinny"
May I see how it looked like? Any shared links?
I just cracked the lcd on my 2019 MBP. It was in mint condition prior to it's fall to the concrete.
It's been working fine while tethered to my tv via HDMI cable.
I can't wait to remove the cracked screen!!! Thanks for this video! 🙏
Nice idea. Another Mac saved from the dump!
Beware of blocking the fan vent with the taped-on antenna, though.
As awesome as this was, what I appreciated the most was the last few minutes of this video. This is right-to-repair. Love it. ❤️
For anyone planning to do this i have some tips for you:
1. Macbooks pros from 2016 and never including mba from 2018 have antenas built in at the lower portion of the laptop so when you remove display you don’t have to worry about it.
2. Also on these never models the keyboards backlight stops working when you remove display because it needs the ambient sensor which is in the display. (And theres no way to force backlight on)
Other than this its a great way to have macbook experience on a budget😁
Do you still recommend doing this? I'm thinking of buying a laptop for programming work and yeah it'd be great to swap between devices on my monitor
@@emberavenge7162 It depends on the macbook model, and the price you could get it for. I would really recommend m1 air or pro macbooks with damaged screens. Because they are really powerfull and dont have any issues with keyboards.
Thanks! Do you know if a headless mbp 2021 16 M1 Pro would work?
@@rainerzufall9627 yes they work perfectly and screens are easy to remove.
what about A1502's wifi antennas?
Genius! LOVE that you can 'upcycle' a Mac - mine go for years and years and I often try and repurpose - but this is so dope!! Well done. JPMusic.
what I find funny is that by doing so you replicate the "wedge" form factor of the early personal computers! (apple 2, c64, atari, amiga...) from the 80's
Yo......i'm a year late and my mbp screen just broke. So glad i found this. I'm doing this and to answer your question, no apple doesn't need to make things more accessible. Imo they need to see the people move on without the fomo of buying the new yearly camera and/or M chip upgrade . I'm a production director at my church and this just showed me that a new small church-plant can spend maybe $150 per decently new MacBook Pro and then have the freedom to choose which monitors they want (ultra-wide, ultra-thin etc), not NEED to purchase mac keyboards and mice AS WELL they can use PowerPoint (or free PP variant) starting out and have two video outputs that don't use the once built-in display by default. If the mbp's they decapitate are just before the M1 chip then that means they can also feed up to 3-4 monitors each depending on the local TB i/o without spending hundreds on a deck-link setup. All wins in my opinion, thank you for this!
I basically did this for a few years with my white MacBook when the screen went bad. The Mini-DVI port was anything but sturdy though. The best option was to get a mini-DVI-to-HDMI cable instead of using one that was adapted because the box portion of the setup was too heavy for the connection over long-term use.
Scooped up a m1 air recently (broken screen), and was stuck on the fence trying to decide if it's worth the 200 to fix it up. Talk about perfect timing with this video.
There's still enough value to warrant the replacement but I love the execution here. Very tempted to sell my Mac mini and switch to this type of setup. Super clean. There's definitely an opportunity for someone to start a little business selling the antennae covers. I'll be your first (or I guess second) customer.
I'd be curious to see this done with a modern Mac, if it's still possible. You could have power, display, and ethernet over a single usb-c cable making for a pretty sleek desktop solution.
Yes, I did this with a 2020 MBP with a blown LED fuse.
Yes, and it's actually easier on those models because the antenna bar is located in the top-case as a separate part.
@@jcw1569m soc or intel?
@@cosettapessa6417 apple silicon
I’ve done with an m1 air
Can you make a tutorial of how to do the same thing but to with a windows laptop?
Headless laptops is the proof that general public cares about the environment more then the trillion dollar company.
Nah we care about money
Imagine apple releasing an OS update that bricks units that dont detect a primary display
What a great idea and video…love the step by step and your enthusiasm, why I like this channel !!! Also amazing how easy it was to work on/ upgrade those old machines.
Glad you enjoyed! These older machines sure have a lot of potential even today!
Another advantage I can think of is that this setup has a UPS by default, so in case of a power failure it could be useful
Can you connect an iPad pro as an external screen and 3D print a hinge that will stand for the iPad?
I have done this- or something similar- with two different Macbooks (an ooold, pre-unibody MacBook Pro and a 2012 MacBook Air) and I've had great results! In each case, the screen cracked but the computer otherwise functioned fine. The old MBP was the core of my music production and arranging business from 2008-2020, and the Air is still in service as an ersatz HTPC! I didn't bother to remove the dead screens- I just run in clamshell mode and use a wireless keyboard and mouse- but as long as the computers stay cool and the batteries don't explode, they work pretty darn well!
Maybe if you use a heat shrink sleeve instead of electric tape you get a cleaner look, and it’s not that expensive. Just be careful not to apply too much heat as to damage the hinge or the antenna components.
I think another cool use case is to send the screen via WiFi to your TV. Sure the FPS / refresh rate might not be awesome but for simple tasks that's quite a cool couch setup where you can control everything via the inbuilt keyboard and trackpad and don't need to worry about a HDMI cable you can slip over.
It is Apple’s entire business model to make you buy a new machine when your new one is broken. Apple green washes like all the other big corporations. Your last video proves the point of how hard they make it to repair or upgrade. Very difficult to break through the walled garden. Really sad state of affairs as we drown in all the e-waste. Thanks for your and Rossman’s advocacy on this subject!
You are absolutely right. I have been selling new Apple computers and repairing Macs as a certified technician for over 14 years. I hear time and time again from my customers that they have been told at the Apple Store that their Mac is obsolete at 5 years or more of use. This is how Apple sells new computers, but it is simply a lie and anything but honest or in the interest of the environment.
In my consultations with customers, I communicate quite differently because judging a Mac by age is wrong. I judge a Mac by its compatibility with the current operating system. And even that doesn't matter if the customer still gets on well with an older macOS version and can do everything with it. So I repair Macs much more often than I sell new ones because that is more economical for the customers, as long as the performance of their Mac is still sufficient.
In fact, most users only use Safari, Mail, Photos, Pages/Word, and a few other apps. Nothing that would require enormous performance. And very few people need an M2 for that if the CPU was hardly used to capacity with an i5/i7.
@@level16gmbh83 It baffles me that customers shell out 1500+ dollars for a macbook while they could perfectly live with a 250 dollar chromebook...
What's really most important to Apple is the price of their stock. They have to extract as much money from customers as possible, every quarter, to protect shareholder value.
All while they scream at public for hurting the world while claiming they are the pure ones saving it...
Like electric cars not being repaired and keeping silent about needing new battery packs all the time for extreme prices..
They could use Hydrogen with a normal engine but that would mean people could fix their cars and fill them as they want for travel over any distance...
They instead want to make new cars into current phones..
No repair, your every bit of info monitored and your controlled by the product creator..
@@level16gmbh83 i think its funny how "fast" Macs get obsolete (officially). I mean I still could use a 2010 laptop normally for these tasks you mentioned, if it came with an i5 (maybe even higher-tier C2D) when upgraded to an SSD and more RAM, as long as it runs Linux or Windows. 2010 MacBook Pros didn't get a new macOS since 2017 and the last security update was 2020. Atleast with Intel Macs you have the option possibility to install Windows/Linux, but I don't wanna know how this will work out with Apple Silicon Macs
I did the same, only got the body without the screen- already 'headless ',lol.
Then bought the antenna from China. Works great. Thanks for your cool vids, I've followed your advice many times.
Apple screens are ridiculously expensive because Apple does everything in their power to limit/destroy the repair market. They claim to care about the environment until it comes to letting people fix their stuff for a reasonable cost
When you use a headless macbook, you are not just losing the display. but you are losing the microphone, the wifi, the bluetooth, the webcam and the microphones.
Yes I believe Apple needs to make parts more available. While this is a cool mod that I’d certainly do to retain a machine’s usability, I would much prefer a full MacBook as I could connect it to a monitor the same way.
Also Luke, where do you get the background music for your videos?
scarcity breeds more profit.
Providing parts for 10 year old Macs is not as easy as you might think. The production lines that produced those screens have long since moved on, so if you wanted to fire them back up there would be a large overhead in cost making the per screen cost much much higher than would be acceptable (as the number of displays they would produce would be low).
For this situation of old devices what would be better would be to provide the schematics and CAD files etc with a license to that third party vendors could go out and make alternative parts (not OEM).
With the specs having a license that others could target (legally) im sure some companies would figure out how to make little adaptors to that you could attache more commodity display panels without needed to fire up a dedicated production line again.
Apple gives not a shit about making their crap fixable
@@bb5242 Not true apple care a lot about this, but only when it is themselves doing the fixing.
When you get a warranty replacement you are not getting a new product you are getting a refurbished product (in a new case) that fixability saves apple a LOT of money compared to taking a new product of the production line and giving it to you.
This is why apple prefure skews (lots of them) over glue, it saves them money in the long term.
@@hishnash exactly
I loved that you didn't give up on the antenna. Actually I believe all the laptops should be modular and this idea is not new, even in mobile phones, but companies find this idea will be thwarting to innovation and will make them lose the edge to other compatitors. Some companies are better at durability, like thinkpads, others focus on wieght reduction, and some other focus on the design and has their own silicon like macs now.
I think that what you are doing is a great example of how people and companies should approach this issue. I find it a very sad trend that now electronics are ridiculously difficult to fix. It’s easier to buy a new one to replace the broken one.
I think that the only flexible devices to fix and upgrade are PCs where you can have access to all components. And for more mobile devices sometimes it’s even difficult to change the battery.
This is why everyone should consider Framework Laptops if they are purchasing a new laptop, IMO. Will it beat out a new macbook in efficiency? No. But it has the benefit of having sanely priced replacement parts and tutorials for everything. You can even upgrade the entire system board to a new generation. Oh, and what do you do with the old board?.. Well, you can buy.. Or 3D print a case for it and stick it behind a TV as a small media device.
OEMs, Apple included need incentive to change their practices which just creates e-waste.
genius. props to the person who came up with this "trend" or good idea
People have been doing this with laptops for over 20 years. I guess apple users have just discovered this now 😅
Nice work. If you were printing a case for the antennas, it would be interesting to save and integrate the camera as well, from a bottom-up angle like you can find it in some huawei laptops.
Yeah, I was thinking he should have kept it to be a nostril-cam too! Oh well
pity you couldn't extend the camera cable and locate it about the monitor
Love the subtle dig at Apple towards the end. They really need to make their products more repairable, could become a huge selling point.
No it wouldn't, and no they don't. It's a fashion accessory and therefore any logic and reason surrounding it goes right out the window. Any other laptop is plastic and can bounce around loose in the trunk of a car for a decade and be just fine, a macbook blows the screen out if you set a coffee mug on top of it and everyone knows it. People with less brains and more money will still buy them, they make them less repairable every generation and they still sell.
Or do you actually think it's some big secret that they make them intentionally fragile and also hard to repair?
I wonder it you could fit some acrylic tubing for water cooling over the wifi section before fitting it back in the hinge area.
p.s. I did this to an old Dell laptop that someone gave me years ago, didn't have wifi issues since it was a plastic shell.
I've thought about doing this before, but thought I'd screw it up. Great video as always. One additional thought - I use an Apple wireless keyboard and a magic trackpad on my desktop Mac, and I definitely prefer to have the trackpad to the right side of the keyboard instead of underneath it. But I have no problems using a laptop.
You can do it! Luke's videos and iFixit or others make it accessible, if not easy.
Travel with it and just find monitors to use where you’re at, tv screens in hotel rooms etc. Headless MacBook is definitely a solution I would come up with.
Great video. As for the makeshift wireless housing, try not to cover the cooling vents 😃
There are some AR glasses you could plug in that would act as an external display. That way you could maintain the portability of a laptop and have full privacy to boot.
Hi Luke, you've convinced me to try my hand at doing one of these headless MacBook projects.
Most headless Macs I've seen are older, and I found a banging deal on a 2020 w/touchbar with only the two usb-c ports on it. Do you know of any limitations on newer MacBooks for this?
You can always glue a strip of silver plastic from the craft supply store onto the antenna instead of that electrical tape to give it a cleaner look.
I’ve heard about these and it’s amazing what people are able to do with spare MacBook parts! Glad to see these older machines be reused into something like this.
Thanks for the video. Totally agree with your points that replacement parts need to be affordable and accessible. Thanks for what you're doing to help us reuse, reduce and recycle!
Apple has always had a need to control their products, even after they have sold it or their warranty expires. I'm highly anticipating whether they will be forced to become more customer friendly in allowing their future products easier to fix by their customers. Love how this one went. That black section that originally housed the hinges, camera and antenna hookups, can't that section be used or 3D copied to make that area more clean.
Apple needs to become customer friendly to begin with.
I can say with confidence that your channel has increased my creativity so much. Good job Luke!!❤
Your simple answer to a simple situation probably just revolutionized computing. Here is a great idea that can be done by practically anyone. Good job and thanks for sharing!
I have my old 2012 MBP running like a beast 24/7 as a home server. It runs Plex mainly, used to run home assistant until I upgraded to a Synology. But the MBP is still active and running some random things along with Plex. Docked in a vertical stand, use an external monitor. Also pulled the battery out after it started puffing up. 11 years old and this thing is still a beast!
Amazing video Luke!
I was happy when you didn't simply give up and used ethernet but tried to make wi-fi work as that is in the spirit of this channel.
The only downside to what's shown in the video is that it completely blocks out the fans and the cooling so I can imagine that Intel chip running really hot.
I'm sure you'd figure something out though
That's the factory location of that clutch cover so it's not blocking any more that it would with the screen still on.
@@Thomas_Bannon With the screen on it's not actually touching, it's a round thing that lets air through above and below. Not ideal but it's the only vent on the device...
Many years ago I had a Macbook air 11" 2011 and the display cracked and ended up non functional. I had a 70" TV a 3 meter HDMI cable and a Display port to HDMI adapter to hook it up. It was a no brainer. Love your videos keep it up!
I agree that 3D Printing a nice housing for the wifi would be awesome. Beyond that, I wouldn't change a thing. I love this idea, and honestly I think it looks super cool without the display. Also didn't know you could turn an old iMac into a display - I've got one sitting around and that would be the perfect fate for it if the board ever fails.
This is the perfect mod for someone with a middle school kid who wants a Mac for homework. It is an excellent video, showing how folks with minimal technical skills can do this.
Man, this is pretty great. Thanks for putting this out in the world and for mentioning right to repair. Have a nice day.
This has been popular in China for several years now. I jumped on this last year with a 13" M1 MacBook pro, the last guy already did the hard work of removing the screen and I bought it for only $360. Super good deal
Would be interesting to see if keyboard and trackpad could be used separately as input devises on another machines (for example, on Windows/Linux), so that you can switch between different OS's (and hardware) using MacBooks input devices.
You could also use something like the YAM display app to use an old ipad as a display if you wanted to maintain some sort of portability
I haven’t tried spacedesk and Duet with Apple, but it works great for me with my android and windows setup!
Even better than 3D printed plastic would be a nice bit of hard wood, you could hide the antenna inside and it would look sweet!.
Maybe even extract the face time camera as well and put it down there with a little bump so that it looks in your direction (all be it up your nose) it would be a very nice modification.
I have absolutely no use for this and have loved every second of it
I’ve done this sort of thing a few times over the years, with assorted laptops. The most recent example (sort of) was a Surface Pro with a cracked screen. This completely wrecks the touch and stylus input, but with the keyboard/trackpad attached it was still a reasonably useful desktop computer, and aside from the crack, the super-sharp display still worked. So I added a big external monitor, a proper wireless mouse, and VOILA: a dual screen desktop computer!
hey man, tip from an IT guy, its MUCH MUCH easier to remove the mac screen when its open and just the screen is hanging off the front edge of your table, hinge lined up with the corner of the table
You basically turned the mac book pro into a flattened out NUC PC that you can throw neatly into your backpack.
I did this with a ThinkPad x280 (8th Generation i7, 16GB RAM) and it works great. I need to change the thermal paste, but I'm really happy with it because it's always better to recycle electronics whenever there is a chance to do so. Plus, laptops idle at very low wattages making them perfect for server usage, and without a lid, thermals usually benefit greatly. I removed the battery for safety reasons (keeping a laptop server online 24/7 with a battery is not a great idea) but I've gotta say, it's a great project and a lot of fun if you like to tinker with technology. It does suck that it's not easy to get Wi-Fi working, but for server usage, you likely already want an Ethernet connection anyways. It's a great option for people looking to start a homelab without a lot of money for sure.
I did something fairly similar. My old 2012 non retina doesn't have a cracked display but is so out of date it's no longer usable as a daily, even with 16GB of ram and an SSD.
So when my GF gave me her 2015, I decided to run OPNsense and make it my router - way more powerful than any router you can buy, and I run separate APs and POE switch for the network itself. Plus, it is battery backed!
Only issue is that OPNsense doesn't seem to turn the display off when the clamshell is closed, so I did open it up and disconnect that cable. I'd rather have the clamshell on to protect the keyboard and prevent it being inadvertently messed up. It's easier to administer it from the broswer of another computer which has a great GUI vs the command line interface on the display itself.
It's almost like what was done with the first Atari, Amstrad or Commodore computers : you have the keyboard that acts as a computer XD. Apart from the part that it has a battery, you basically created the modern version of a 2600XT or a C64 😂
I recently had problems with the display on the m1 air after 3 years of using it and it economically makes more sense for me to just buy a new one because the repairs are too expensive. While I wont take off the display I will continue to use it even when I receive my newer model by connecting it to an external display. Helpful video overall
Brilliant concept and execution. I have a broken screen MacBook and many monitors, definitely going to try this project out.
It's very good that you brought this up. I did not expect that it's working that easy (that you can just remove the display).
Thanks to this video I was able to remove a trash screen on a Mid 2012 Macbook, then update it to Sonoma with OLCP, and it was all rady to go when the new screen arrived. Thank you.
if you ever boot into recovery mode you will need the built in display because it reverts back to to extended display btw.
Are you serious? So creative .❤ Dude… I've been a long-time fan and you've outdone yourself. Luke, I'm serious. What incentive you've shown me. Genius.
It's not just Apple. I ran a Dell for years, that I got for free, hooked to my TV using Kodi. I still have it somewhere, but the only thing on it that's broken is the display. All laptops have this issue. I now have a Mac Mini hooked to my TV. It's a Smart TV, but the Smart TV OS sucks beyond belief, so I don't use it. I got a 2012 Mac Mini just for the TV. Apple TV sucks too. Not as bad as a Smart TV, but you really can't beat a Mac Mini.
I have Mac book air M1 2021 and LCD screen got cracked.what should i do, same as he do or Any suggestion!!🤔
Free to suggest me.
I have done this with my Dell 2 years ago and it still works no issue. For missing wifi I actually used a cheap wifi dongle (may not be the fastest option but works just fine).
Hi Luke, at 11:08 you mention "using an iMac w/ dead GPU" as an external display"...
Is that, in fact, possible...?
I was under the impression that a dead GPU == using it as a display was no longer possible...
(If it IS possible, it opens up a whole range of possibilities for me :))
--
Nice job on this video, by the way.
I love, love, love this type of (re)use of older tech!
Been doing that for years... removing the broken display is the cheapest way to bring a cracked laptop back to life. Get a long HDMI cable and use it with your TV or just hook up and old display... Great tutorial!
11:25 what a masterpiece!
This is an modern equvilant of an Apple II
I'm now using a 2014 13" MBP, a 2020 13" MacBook Air M1, and a 2015 15" MBP all through the Screen Sharing App. I left the screens on them, and keep them plugged in, then I can do this as long as I want. I even have the Screen Sharing connections automatically open when I boot my computer. Attached to the 2015, I have two 27" HD monitors and all my mice/keyboards/backup etc.
you could throw an LED strip in that hinge area to cover it instead of just plastic. Cover the strip in a diffusing channel guide, cut it very neatly, and it could easily look OEM-ish.
I'm considering this since my MacBook is experiencing flexgate issues. One problem I've run into is recovery assistant doesn't seem to like using an external display to show the main options and info. If there's a workaround for that then this is the way to go
Ten years ago, My brother accidentally broke my laptop screen but everything else was fully functional. So i did this exact set up by connecting the HDMI cable to the tv and it worked great. I kinda wish this was a new trend in the industry. Reminds me of the old 80's computers where you just hook up to a tv set.
Two minor form-factor adjustments I'd like to see: IIRC a major part of the ventilation is housed behind the monitor hinge so I'd be interested to see how the custom piece takes that feature into account.
Also, at risk of stating the obvious, there's a free hinge bracket just going spare at the top of the headless unit. Seems like the perfect place to mount a flip-down foot bar to raise the back edge for improved cooling and a more ergonomic typing angle.
When you plug out the HDMI is it still on?
a better idea: only to disconnect the tiny and flat connector shown at 4:23. wrap the connect with some isulation tape to prevent electrical short inside the macbook. And don't have to remove the faulty display unit from the macbook. Close the back cover by putting back all the screws. Then connect external display unit as shown in the video and here you go!