Grey Clamshell G3 LCD Replacement?

eric

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 2, 2021
939
1,535
93
MN
scsi.blue
Got a gray clamshell in the mail and though packed very carefully and lots of bubble wrap, something must have hit it just right to flex the LCD:

2A4E63E1-1FBC-4719-9FBF-5820324CFCA1.jpeg


It seems like these are fairly common parts - any caveats or suggestions for a replacement as I start looking?
 

3lectr1c

Active Tinkerer
May 15, 2022
629
293
63
the United States
www.macdat.net
Apple used multiple different LCD manufacturers, and to my knowledge none of the cables are cross-compatible. If you do find one that is of a different brand than the one inside it now, you'll need to make sure it comes with the cable as well.
 

This Does Not Compute

Administrator
Staff member
Oct 27, 2021
283
429
63
www.youtube.com
Instead of searching for keywords like "iBook LCD," you'll have better luck disassembling the display housing and searching for the part number off of the LCD panel itself. There seems to be a cottage industry in China that refurbishes older-model LCD panels -- I suspect it's primarily to serve the industrial controls market (CNC machines, etc) but I was able to find a replacement panel for my Duo 270c this way.
 

davidg5678

Tinkerer
Oct 30, 2021
60
38
18
I think the LCD panels from several other iBook G3 and G4s from this era should be suitable replacements, but the challenge is making sure that you have the right cables to connect them to the logic board.

Something to note is that these iBook LCD panels can be upgraded with higher resolution parts than were originally installed. If you need to replace the LCD already, this XGA mod might be something worth looking into. See here for some more info:





It looks like there are possibly some software screen resolution glitches at startup, but once the computer finishes booting, you end up with more screen resolution to work with, which is pretty handy.
 

3lectr1c

Active Tinkerer
May 15, 2022
629
293
63
the United States
www.macdat.net
That adapter part doesn't appear to be produced anymore (from the macrumors thread).

I've wanted to XGA mod a clamshell for ages but never saw it as reasonably possible. I've got 3 LCDs total so maybe I should see if any are the LG. I've also got a spare G3 Snow 12" display...

All my clamshells are the 1st gen 4MB video models, so they wouldn't work anyway...
 
Last edited:

davidg5678

Tinkerer
Oct 30, 2021
60
38
18
That adapter part doesn't appear to be produced anymore (from the macrumors thread).

I've wanted to XGA mod a clamshell for ages but never saw it as reasonably possible. I've got 3 LCDs total so maybe I should see if any are the LG. I've also got a spare G3 Snow 12" display...

All my clamshells are the 1st gen 4MB video models, so they wouldn't work anyway...
I did some research, and I think this link is for the same part number. It seems like it is still available for sale to me: https://www.pchub.com/uph-oecv022-lcd-cable-converter-20-to-20-pins-x-20mm-p30800