Q: Strange vertical stripes

I've sent back my first mbp. The new one, two-weeks old, is ok : no more vertical stripes.

Do you mean they gave you a new one? What did you say in the Mac store? Did they ask to prove them that you had the problem or something? I've got a photo taken with my mobile phone. Do you think this would help?

I just had to phone to the applestore to get my first mbp, which was only two weeks old changed and they sent me a new one. But they didn't discuss the problem at all.

I am going to add a me too to the list as I bought mine yesterday and it happened earlier today. a restart cleared it and cycling the sleep a few times didn't. I will use the screen refresh next time it occurs to see if it'll prevent me from having to restart. It was running pretty much all day on charge when I took it off to move it then re-attached it. I took it out of sleep to notice that the lower display was a pain to see right due to the striped display. after the reboot I decided to also clear the power management unit and have not seen it since. Though it has not been very long. I will pay attention to the usage time temp and other possible variables that could cause this and let you know. Apple needs to get on this issue. This is in deed seeming to be common enough to warrant attention.

I've had the same problem. I've had it for over 10 days (I had the problem two days ago and haven't had the problem since) and they won't let me get a new MBP. They told me to reinstall OSX and monitor the problem which doesn't help me all that much. I got hold of a product specialist and they said that they didn't know whether it was Hardware or software.

I'm hoping it is software, because if it is, I just have to wait.

I've swapped over from windows and have been extremely happy with Apple as opposed to PC, but this is quite annoying.

You would've thought Apple would know about this by now.

http://yagankiely.googlepages.com/Image708.jpg

To add a little more:

2Gb, 10.5.2 (all updates, save the Java one that popped up yesterday). Glossy screen: manufacturer 610, model 9c81.

The last two nights I've been working on battery power, have then shut the system down completely, and left it charging overnight

In the morning, I've unplugged the adaptor, and then started up, and on both occasions I've had the problem. I suppose the best way to describe it is as a sort of "footlights" effect, as you'd see at the bottom of a theatre curtain.

In both instances, resetting the screen with Ctrl-Shift-Eject has cured the problem.

Did anyone have the MBP changed in another country than the country he bought the MBP from?


*_Digg It_:*
*http://digg.com/apple/Appleignoring_display_problems_on_latest_MacBook_Pro2008*

I'm getting this as well on my 15" Penryn 2.5GHz MBP.

*1. How often does it occur? Does it occur reliably?*
This has happened 3 times in 2 months, i.e. very infrequently.

*2. Does it resolve if you perform a specific action? What is this action?*
Sending the MBP back to sleep and waking it up again does NOT fix it for me. I fixed it twice by rebooting. The third time (10 minutes ago) it happened and I then waited to see if it would go away by itself, which it did after about 10 minutes.

*3. Does it always resolve by performing this action?*
Rebooting seems to solve the issue reliably.

*4. Is the machine plugged into AC when the problem occurs?*
No. The machine was running off battery every time. I had also been carrying the laptop in vertical orientation (either in a bag or under by arm) each time.

*5. Can you cause the problem to occur by performing an action?*
No

*6. Is your display glossy or matte?*
Glossy

*7. What type of video graphics hardware does your machine have? How much VRAM?*
NVidia GeForce 8600M GT w/512MB VRAM

*8. When did you purchase your computer?*
March '08

*9. Do you have a photograph of the defect? If so, please post a link.*
No, but it appears exactly as posted by others in this forum: vertical banding in lower half of screen.

VMware/Parallels
I have VMware Fusion installed but it has not been running on any of the occasions when this happened. I frankly don't believe this has anything to do with Parallels or VMware. It's most probably a problem with the power management.

I have not tried any of the PRAM/power management reset tricks.

Yup, I've got MacBook Pro LCD Meltdown of Doom too (aka Strange Vertical Stripes).

Basically, every other column of pixels is switched on (or off; in other words, I've got a white-pin-striped screen, which makes everything pretty much illegible).

It's happened three or four times intermittently in the past week or so since I installed the latest firmware update (which I suspect is the culprit). It just happens completely out of the blue, with no warning or provocation. Up until yesterday a restart has fixed it, or it's fixed itself just as inexplicably as it wigs out, but it's been getting worse / happening more often, and now even restarts won't fix it. This last time I was stuck with the problem for over 24 hours, during which I tried pretty much everything to no avail. (For example, Apple Support recommended a PRAM / power manager reset, but that didn't fix it either.) So far my experience has been that Apple Support is completely stumped and/or unaware of the issue.

However, today on a whim I tried running TechTool Deluxe (the AppleCare-included version), and lo and behold all my pixels are back. However, I'm not at all confident the problem won't return, and have no idea if TTD will fix the problem next time. (Please let me know if TechTool Deluxe fixes the problem for any of you.)

Again, my best guess is that it's a firmware-related/introduced problem, but it would be nice if Apple acknowledged the problem exists, and confirmed they're working on a solution.

Hint-hint.

Call Apple Care. They can't fix it if they don't know it's broken. This is a user discussion area - no sense complaining to each other.

ok, mine's done it three times now. common denominator is that every time it happens, it's just been fully charged.

in between times, it's been running on the battery for the day and woken from sleep many times with no ill effects.

of course, i might get a different result tomorrow, but i thought i'd mention it in case anyone has similar experience.

er, scratch that.

it's just done it again on battery.

I think we can stop looking for some conditions to be met in order to observe the stripes.
It has just happened for the third time.

I had the notebook on my lap, put it to sleep (using the menu command, not by closing the lid), then I realized I had to do something more.
Once the light was pulsating I woke it up and the stripes were there.

Nothing changed: the notebook stayed on my lap... I did not touch the lid... the external light did not change...

I can add that now the text is Safari is broken, when I scroll the text is repeated (exactly the other graphics issue these MBPs have)... may be there is a relation with the stripes?

And still no word from apple... that did not change either.

mac.cardi

*1. How often does it occur? Does it occur reliably?*
This has happened once in 3 days.

*2. Does it resolve if you perform a specific action? What is this action?*
Sending the MBP back to sleep and waking it up again fixes it.

*3. Does it always resolve by performing this action?*
Rebooting seems to solve the issue reliably.

*4. Is the machine plugged into AC when the problem occurs?*
Yes. Without the battery.

*5. Can you cause the problem to occur by performing an action?*
No

*6. Is your display glossy or matte?*
Matte.

*7. What type of video graphics hardware does your machine have? How much VRAM?*
GeForce 8600M GT 256MB

*8. When did you purchase your computer?*
Late March '08

*9. Do you have a photograph of the defect? If so, please post a link.*
http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=29042008rt3.jpg

VMware/Parallels
None of them

I have not tried any of the PRAM/power management reset tricks as are not helping at all.

Add another to the list.
Less than one week old.
Same problem: Bottom screen stripes (like stage lights) when working off battery.
Frustrating. I've already had one replacement for audio problems.
Please Apple help! (Given my income, this machine was a major leap of faith. So far, I just seem to have jumped into problems).