MacBook – Can a non-retina MacBook’s screen be replaced with a Retina screen

displaymacbook pro

I'm using a MacBook Pro Late 2011. The processor, RAM, hard drive – just about everything else still work fine. I'd like to have retina display without necessarily buying a new unit.

Is there a way to change my screen to a retina display – i.e. physically removing the old screen and replacing it with a retina one?

Best Answer

It won't work. This iFixit answer outlines the various issues:

Unfortunately, the simple answer is no. The graphics card would have issues running the display if you were even able to install it. The Retina display MacBook Pro also has different connectors and dimensions then the regular Macbook Pro and therefore not fit and not connect. The firmware for you computer will also not scale the resolution and render properly so you would have a 1440 x 900 resolution displaying on a 2880 x 1800 display which would only take up 1/4 of the display.

As the answerer says, your biggest problem is the graphics card. The mobile card on your Late 2011 MacBook Pro just isn't designed to push quadruple the pixels at an acceptable framerate.

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