green line on screen

Hi David,

So how did the green line start? In pretty much every case I've seen it was a result of damage to the screen; many times that damage isn't enough to actually crack the glass itself, but rather it breaks loose the flex cable connecting the OLED matrix to the video controller. That sort of damage is not repairable but requires a new screen to fix the problem.

If you want to post a picture of what the screen looks like, that may help confirm the diagnosis, but I strongly suspect you're going to need to replace the display. Here's how to add pictures to your question.

Adding images to an existing question - iFixit Repair Guide

As far as replacing the screen, that's something you can do yourself!

iPhone 13 Screen Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

Unfortunately, thanks to Apple's unfriendly approach to repair, you'll run into a couple of issues if you do. First, you're going to get an "Important Display Message" that Apple is unable to determine if your screen is genuine - whether or not it is a genuine Apple screen. That warning will pop up every time you restart the phone for about two weeks; after that it'll quit popping up. However, it will appear as a warning in your settings as well and that won't go away - ever, so get ready for a little red badge on your settings icon for the rest of the life of the phone.

Now there are about three different ways to get rid of that warning. First, of course, you can pay Apple to replace the screen and they'll pair the new screen to your phone and eliminate the warning. Second, you can avail yourself of their self repair program where you buy the screen from them (for full price, of course) and rent their equipment to do the replacement. That'll save you a few bucks over having them do it, but not that much.

Finally, the only other option, the only one that non-Apple repair shops can do, is to carefully remove the Touch Module chip from the old screen and transplant it to the replacement screen. As you may guess, this requires a technician experienced with microsoldering and specialized equipment. Definitely not something us home DIY-ers can even think about doing.

Also, you'll lose the True Tone function and apparently auto brightness unless you use a device programmer to copy a small piece of data called the MtSN from the old screen to the replacement. That is something an independent shop can do, but does require you to have a programmer such as the JC V1SE or the Qian Li iCopy. Prices for those start around $85 US as I recall from when I bought mine.

So there are your options; you can save a big bundle of money by replacing the screen yourself if you don't mind a bogus warning and the loss of the True Tone and auto brightness. A shop will cost a bit more but should be able to preserve your True Tone, but you'll still have the genuine parts warning unless you want to splurge the big bucks and pay Apple for the repair.

Good luck; I'd be curious to hear what you decide.