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I need suggestions.

I've got a live little bug inside my macbook pro screen for 2 days now.

I've tried to film it using my iPhone, but it ain't that good. :(

Should I try to open it? o_O

C'mon, looking for ideas here! :)

edit: Here's an alike video.

It's not moving anymore for now... I hope it isn't dead! Right when I've found a possible solution along with many ideas on that link: suction cup; monitor off and lamp on to attract it out; scratching the screen (made it move a little); and got to know there's no warranty for this "feature" (also known as bad design in a jargon).

edit2: It's been "fixed" on its own. Just check the answer.

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  • 15
    An... an actual little bug? Can you coax it out with food?
    – Phoshi
    Feb 24, 2010 at 15:54
  • 4
    Voting this for the best question ever(!!) :)
    – Rook
    Feb 24, 2010 at 16:08
  • I really wonder if he/she was born inside your Mac :)
    – Mehper C. Palavuzlar
    Feb 24, 2010 at 17:56
  • 7
    @Phoshi - does that constitutes as debugging ?
    – Rook
    Feb 26, 2010 at 0:42
  • 1
    Related: superuser.com/q/76153/70766
    – Mr.Wizard
    Jun 14, 2013 at 6:58

5 Answers 5

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I've had the exact same problem for around a week, and while this question may be amusing, it could end in disaster if you squish a bug and need to dismantle expensive equipment.

What I noticed was after a couple of days, it appeared to be dead, but I lightly tapped around it and it didn't move.

The key is, if it doesn't move when you tap around it, it's still alive because it still has a grip.

A couple more days passed, and I noticed it was stationary again. With one light flick around an inch beside it, the bug fell right to the bottom of the display, out of sight and out of mind.

Happy screen-flicking!

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  • That's some awesome insight!
    – cregox
    Aug 22, 2013 at 13:24
  • When SuperUser meets Zoology.
    – Hashim Aziz
    Jul 5, 2020 at 16:01
8

Leave it alone. It'll eventually die and find its way to the bottom of the LCD.

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3
  • actually I was going today or tomorrow on applecare, but this happened before! I left it alone, it died (when I edited the question) and now it disappeared! Probably to the bottom. It did stood still as a respectable dead pixel for another couple days, tho.
    – cregox
    Feb 26, 2010 at 19:27
  • 1
    Pretty much every bug in an LCD I've seen so far didn't go to the bottom. It just got stuck where it died.
    – Joey
    Mar 22, 2010 at 20:45
  • @Johannes then I guess yanokwa and I were very lucky! ^_^ Maybe in my case, since it's a notebook, moving it around daily could have helped with that.
    – cregox
    Mar 26, 2010 at 19:55
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This thunder bug issue happened to me 2 times. The 1st time I was stupid enough to squash the bug inside the monitor ended up sending the monitor for repair. It was an expensive lesson. The 2nd time, which just happened last night, I quickly turned the monitor light off and left a bug zapper light (which attracts bugs and electrocute them) overnight. I've heard a big zapping sound middle of the night and the next morning, the sucker has completely gone :). The trick is to keep the monitor dark and attract the bug with another light source. You can get a bug zapper around 20 Euro. Definitely worth it to protect your expensive monitor.

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1
  • or do it like me (and i advocate for over 90% of people) and quit computers! use a cell phone only (for the past year, in my humble case). slowly moving towards less and less, how it's more... 😁😆 not for everyone today, though. 😘
    – cregox
    Jul 6, 2020 at 8:11
0

Check for an Apple Store nearby. In or out of warranty, they may be willing to remove it for free due to the novelty.

If you don't mind cracking the case open, grab a nice set of small tools and head over to iFixit and find the Teardown guide to your model. Here's the 13" Macbook Pro unibody LCD teardown. Pluck the guy out and blow out some dust while you're there, and put it back together.

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-1

Are you serious?! If yes, is this one of the most curios things I've ever heard!

Do you still have warranty on it? If yes, turn it in.

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1
  • Yes, it's about 2 pixels big. I'll post the little video as soon as I can take it off my iphone 3G, which supposedly have no video, you know. :P I didn't thought of using warranty... Maybe... But only if I can get another one right away. I'm using this heavily at work.
    – cregox
    Feb 24, 2010 at 18:05

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