STATUS

This is how it feels using my tools on my circa 2014 MacBook Pro. A lot of people say it's overengineered in its construction. They obviously haven't tried opening a Dell or HP made in the last five years, either.

My screen's LCD is damaged (lots of lines of solid color in the last inch on the far right of the screen), and I just got the replacement today. I started to remove the glass from the front (honest glass, not plastic). It's simply impossible. They used a very strong glue, and even with an excessive amount of hear (far more than I would use if the LCD was still something I wanted to save), I just couldn't get the glass off. So I just went a little more aggressive, and it immediately cracked. Not a big crack, but this is clearly the end. There is no saving the glass now.

I far prefer large laptops (17 inch is my preferred size, although fewer and fewer companies make very many anymore). So I opted for the 15-inch MacBook (I didn't have to pay for mine, so it was an honest choice, not even considering cost).

It turns out the 15-inch late 2013 MacBook Pro is so uncommon that no one makes the replacement glass for it, only the 13-inch model. Well, Apple clearly has replacement parts, but I'm not going down that route.

So I was pondering looking for a similar model of MacBook to use glass for, but it only needs to be a millimeter too big in either direction and it simply will not work.

So I looked up how expensive 0.040 inch lexan is. Turns out, you can get a 4 foot by 2 foot sheet for 20 dollars, and with only 30 dollar shipping. So I decided to order that. I've worked a lot with lexan to make computer case components, so I know it's well within my capabilities to make a passable replacement for the unobtainium glass out of lexan. While I'm at it, I have some old laptop screws I can use to affix it. Instead of using glue, I'll just drill a few holes in the lexan, and use longer LCD mounting screws through the lexan.

That's my new plan.