Q: Strange vertical stripes

The apple tech said to me, who was chatting with a product specialist, said this was a vboard fault and that i could get it replaced (mine is brand new). They didnt say this with you guys ?

i don't know if it's a hardware issue as people are saying. honestly, i think it can be just a firmware issue and hopefully 10.5.3 will solve it. apple also said 10.5.3 will solve the "broken up text from scrolling" issue with 10.5.3.

the mbp i'm writing this post from is my 1st replacement. it's been about 3 weeks and i never saw the vertical strips again. i think it effects very random mbps (thought still very common).

let's just cross our fingers and pray a for a fix in 10.5.3.

I too recieved my MBP March 6th (Penryn) and experienced that backlighting error. I thought it was a software issue and decided to ride it out. I began to grow tired of waiting for my MBP to sleep before carrying it so I used the quick sleep terminal hack. After doing so I have not experienced the backlight issue. It has at least been 3 weeks and I have been problem free. Now, about that Starcraft/Diablo 2 error...

i did receive my second replacement notebook. the first one had, as i described above, some issues with the dc port, an annoying hum of the 7200 rpm hard drive and a cloudy yellowish display.
of course this laptop went directly back to apple. my second replacement macbookpro now also has a cloudy yellowish display. both displays are: auo B154PW04 V6 (model 00009C80).

seems to be a bad production line that auo manufactured.

the chimei N154C6-L01 (model 00009C82) display of my first notebook that has the "vertical stripes issue" is evenly illuminated without any darker, cloudy areas and seems to be ok.

again i called applestore aftersales support and the lady told me, that yellowish displays are a known problem....!

in all my talks to the applecare technicians nobody had any clue wether the stripes may be a hardware or software failure. this issue is definitely known to apple and already forwarded to their developers to find a solution.

I now have the problem that i have a very well manufactured and working macbookpro (the first one) only thing is that it has these vertical stripes

i won't get any further replacement units. i will have to send my first one in and would get my money back to order another macbookpro.

i still have some more days to decide, after this time if i would keep my first macbookpro the only possibility would be a repair. and repairs are usually not so good for the macbooks, especially the casings....

if i give it back now and order a new one it could be that the hole story continues... may it be a cloudy yellowish display, vertical stripes after sleep, bad casing, humming hdd or whatever there may be.

i told this dilemma to another applecare technician today, looking for some help.
she could understand my problem fully, but could not give me a proper solution. she tried to get an e-coupon for a rebate in the online store for me.

her superior colleague just told her that this would not be possible because i always had issues with the display and should better give it back and buy an new one from a store.
when i talked to this, from the first second on, unfriendly guy, he told me the same, to buy from a real store because there i could check if the quality of the notebook would be sufficient for me. he did not seem to feel uncomfortable when telling me this although he was admitting with his statements that apple manufactures products of minor quality and that one could only be sure to get a proper product when buying in a retail store.... the conversation ended with him proposing me to buy a protection plan for the notebook. ridiculous! i feel like i have to justify myself for claiming a proper working unit with a good display. for the cost of 2300€ i think i can expect that!

so what do you think? return the laptop and order a new one which could be worse than the original one with the stripes or stick with it and maybe have to get it opened up and repaired?

return it for a fresh one from the apple store.

worked out for me beautifully.

I had/have the stripe problem, but it only rarely can be seen these days - never on AC only battery. I debated returning for replacement with the reseller I bought it off, visited and debated with the local Apple store, debated with the telephone Support guy, and after all that discussion and none of the Apple people could assure me I wouldn't get a new with the same (or worse) problem, and after reading on this forum the amount of times old got swapped for new and problem still existed, I decided to keep my original. My logic? The probability of getting the same or worse was too high vs the hassle of returning the first (after reformatting), only to have to load all my files/photos/music etc all over again. Plus, I have 12 months warranty, so if it gets worse I can always get it fixed (if it's a hardware fix issue). Not saying I'm not disappointed with the quality of this Apple product, but it's not too great an annoyance. And I hope it ends up a firmware fix...
But don't get me started on Time Capsule... that purchase was a mistake !

I've had the same problem with my new Macbook Pro. However, I've noticed that it seems to be linked with the 'Lab Tick' application I downloaded to keep the keyboard backlight switched on. I can reboot several times without it running without problem but firing it up and then restarting seems to lead to the problem repeatedly.

Could be co-incidence, I dunno. I've turned it off for now to see if the problem repeats. If ditching it solves the problem then it's something I can do without, but if it is faulty then I'd rather know now so I can get it swapped inside 14 days. I'm in a quandrary now!

Are the rest of you having this problem also running Lab Tick?

I have the same vertical stripe problem being discussed in this section, however, the problem occurred prior to my downloading Lab Tick. My laptop just started having problems yesterday and I have had it for over a month now. I was just wondering if anyone that has returned their laptop did so after the 14 day grace period. Please let me know.

Just ran a little experiment that I hope some of you will join me in to either validate or disprove my findings. I have Windows XP on this laptop and using Boot Camp started the laptop under Windows. I placed the laptop in standby 5 times using the Standby button and 5 times by closing the lid of the laptop. Each time the laptop "woke" from Standby I was unable to see the vertical stripes. Tried the same thing under OS X and 2 out of 10 times I saw the stripes. If you have Windows installed on your laptop I would appreciate it if you could try this and let me know your findings.

Yep, even here the same stupid stripes.
just one time. its been about four days ago and never happened again.
but that cant be true. i talked to an appleserviceguy, too. he didnt know anything about it either. i dont believe them a word. ****, i got my second mbp too, and i need it for work. the first one didnt work fine, two times the display showed a totaly snowy screen. i had no stripes with that one, but feared other problems after that experience. and now this disaster. and they dont know a thing about it. what a joke. shame on you, apple.

1. once. no not relieable.
2. no idea.
3. no.
4. cant remember.
5. no.
6. matte.
7. 512 vcard and 4 gb ram
8. 9th of march
9. no, but looked similar to the others we have seen.

no windows or stuff like that installed.
Boot-ROM-Version: MBP41.00C1.B03
SMC Version: 1.27f1

It also occured on my girlfrends brandnew macbook pro with 250GB@5200rpm HD and 2GB Ram, rest like mine. her Boot-ROM-Version is: MBP41.00C1.B00
SMC is the same.

It happend three or four times. but havent been happening since a week or so.

i forgot to place this link: http://www.fscklog.com/2008/04/penryn-macbook.html

a german side with stripepictures and even many stripevictims.

in the meanwhile, there are over 12000 views on this side.



...and apple never heard of it...

Count with me to the list of buyers with this problem. It happened three times to me in a 2wk old MBP. Every time running on battery. First time, sleep + wake solved the problem. Second time, not even a shutdown solved it (had to take the battery out). Third time, just shutdown. Every time the problem appeared was after putting it off to sleep, but I'm unable to reproduce it systematically.

Judging from the number of people that have this problem, I believe it can be a firmware bug. Either that or a whole product line is simply just screwed. The former is just a matter of waiting (and using the SHIFTOPTIONEJECT fix); the later will inevitably lead to mass replacement if enough people complain.

I guess I should explain the reason for the little experiment I am proposing. Please let me know if my assumptions are wrong. If the problem that is occurring is a firmware/software problem then we should not see the problem if we boot the laptop from Windows as the software controlling the laptop should be different. If the problem that is occurring is due to hardware then we should see the problem regardless of which OS we are using.