‘Dustgate’ issue reportedly plaguing some new MacBook Pros

I’ve had no problem with my new MacBook Pro — see my review here — but Forbes reports that a new display fault that has been dubbed “Dustgate” is plaguing several MacBook Pro models. (A subscription is required to read the entire article).

The issue, which causes purple vertical lines to appear on screen when the MacBook lid is open at a certain angle, has been seen on several MacBook models according to repair specialists. “It’s a common problem, we get several of them a week,” Stephan Steins from repair shop NotebookNerds told told Forbes.

The article says the problem seems to arise from the screen flex cable, which connects the display to the main body of the laptop. At the hinge point between the screen and keyboard there’s a gap that can collect dust and dirt. Debris then gets onto the cable and, through opening and closing the lid, damages the cable over time. 

This, repair specialists say, is what causes the purple lines fault that can be difficult and expensive to repair. Check out a demonstration of the fault in this iCorrect video and the image above.