MacBook Pro M4 screen broken? Just rubber-band another MacBook to it!
When Apple wants a ransom for screen repairs, the internet finds a way. One genius decided to Frankenstein two MacBook Pro generations together to save some cash, proving that common sense is sometimes just expensive duct tape.
A frustrated user on Reddit refused to drop $700 for an official Apple display repair for their MacBook Pro M4. Instead of visiting a Genius Bar, they grabbed an old MacBook Pro M1 and strapped it to the lidless M4 base using basic rubber bands. The weight distribution probably qualifies as a structural engineering disaster, but it works.
To make the screens talk, the user routed the connection via Thunderbolt and utilized Moonlight, a low-latency streaming tool. By treating the M1 laptop like a glorified external monitor, the operating system of the M4 base successfully displayed its desktop on the donor hardware. The setup technically bypasses the need for a functioning native panel, assuming one enjoys carrying around the weight of two laptops just to have one working screen.
The sheer absurdity of the setup really shines when moving outside the home network, where Tailscale becomes a mandatory companion to keep the stream alive. This Franken-Mac is the ultimate monument to the ridiculous cost of modern thin-and-light hardware and the stubborn human refusal to accept a repair bill that costs as much as a used car.
Source: Reddit
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