Q: Strange vertical stripes

I have a 2 week old (Penryn) MacBook Pro and had the exact same issue with a vertical zebra pattern emanating from the bottom of my screen. I restarted the MacBook Pro and I have not seen the problem since?

Because is disappeared after restart. I think it must have something to do with software? Just a guess though?

Should it happens again, I'm going to take a screen shot (Command + Shift + 3) and also a photo from my digital camera and bring the MBP to my local Genius bar to see what they have to say??

I just spent an hour on the phone with Apple Care. I ended up speaking with a specialist who said that Apple engineers are aware of this problem and are working to resolve it. He also said that it sounds like a software problem because the engineers' notes specifically said that no repair was needed at this time (according to the specialist, if it were a hardware problem, they would have recommended a repair). Hope that helps.

Note, he didn't know how long it would take for Apple to fix the problem.

Thanks for the info...

I kind of thought it might be a software issue? It's good to hear that they are working on it. Apple is usually pretty good with this sort of thing. Especially when it comes to their Pro products.. I've yet to have it happen again??

Hi all

For now [knock knock] it did'nt happen to me anymore :

- I did a smc reset : shutdown mbpro, disconnect battery, press power for 5 seconds, connect battery again
no luck but I dis the next step : a golden oldie...

- Command,+ Option,+ P, + R [pram/nram reset].
see: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238


After those resets I haven't seen the beems anymore. Did hardware tests and cold starts form battery and ac-outlet. so hopefully more people can confirm this trick.

It's been a couple of weeks, but the vertical lines have just reappeared

Macbook Pro was Shutdown last night, with power adaptor plugged in, but not turned on at the wall. Turned Macbook on this morning, screen lit fine, it then when into 'Sleep' - or at least the screen turned off, but then relit with the vertical bars.

My hunch is if a software fault, the code is simply not 'triggering' the LEDs correctly.

However, what really concerns me is that it seems to only occur when the LEDs have only been on for a few minutes. It also seems to only occur when the Macbook Pro is running on battery. I cannot see how these faults can be resolved via a simple software hotfix.

I'm going to give Apple Care UK a call simply to log this fault.

I've got the same problem and sometime the screen is blueish (the white is not white but light blue). Using the Ctrl-Shift-Eject trick resolve both problem.

cooncerning taking screen shot:
i tried that, this dont work. the stripes cant be pictured via a "classical" screen shot.

Same problem here, as someone said, I think this will be solved via firmware/update.
But Im curious about display lifetime.

Tried your PRAM trick and so far so good. No incidences since yesterday with multiple restarts. Hope this permanently took care of the problem.

pram/nvram or smc reset will not solve the stripes issue. i tried this weeks ago and the stripes reoccurred several times.

i want to remark that not only the stripes are a problem for me. there are as well issues with a "blueish" screen after wakening the screen, as i and another user stated before. seems that the lcd profile is not loaded correctly sometimes. screen reset or active corner with sleep screen will solve this issue as well.

I got my MacBook Pro last week, and am running Win Xp on it with Bootcamp.
I can confirm the stripes only appear under OS X.

Yesterday the stripes showed up for the second time. I woke up the baby, unplugged, in light conditions forcing the keyboard to light up (the first time I had stripes I was in sun light, with keyboard illumination off).

I called Applecare (Italy). After waiting for 16 minutes, I described the problem and received the following embarrassing answer: we are not aware of this issue. They gave me the addresses of two Apple service centres where I can go to show the pictures of the striped screen I took. Those pictures will help the service centre to establish whether or not it is a defect (<- their words).

Anyway, CTRL + SHIFT + EJECT worked.

ciao,
mac.cardi

Just to put some pressure on Apple and to keep the thread on the top ...

It happens on my 3 weeks old Penryn MBP with glossy screen as well.

An official statement from Apple whether this is hardware or software related is long overdue. It is a waste of time, money and resources, if people send it in for repair, if it is a firmware issue.

So Apple, even if you don't have a patch available already please tell us, whether it is hardware or software related ASAP!

BTW over 14000 views meanwhile - shows how common this issue is.

Peter Gutbrod

Not only is a waste of time if it is a firmware issue. It is a waste of time even if you receive a second one with the same defect (and some more), as many people do.

I am very sad about this issue I have (and some others) because I bought the MBP thinking that, using "old" technology (case, screen, firmware, etc), it would come without any build/design defect. As you say, the number of views (and posts) clearly shows that there are a lot of units with this flaw.

mac.cardi

I just want to make sure...
It seems this is an ongoing problem as of today, April 26th.

I was going to buy a nice shiny new MBP today... but it looks like I will wait till this screen issue has been resolved by Apple.

I'm curious, has anyone bought a new MBP in the last couple of days, and experienced the problems discussed in this thread?

Please keep this thread going, and let us know of any resolution....

Good luck!