Q: Strange vertical stripes - Continued

Agree this is not third party RAM issue. I have had the problem intermittently as well with factory install MAC RAM.

My other two cents into the discussion. My issue just escalated to this:

http://www.photoslideshow.eu/MacBookPro

holy cow!
(is everyone paying attention?)

sorry to hear and see this and thanks for uploading the pics. i was a little afraid already that this issue may now be manageable but could turn into something worse over time.

how old is your mbpro? and did you call apple or the store about this?

This is a update to an earlier posting....
I was in the Apple store for an unrelated matter, so I thought I would broach the issue of the "vertical stripes" (I had had one occurrence). I had the MBP on my back, there was only a very short wait @the 'bar', so I described the issue to the tech. After a very short discussion to identify the issue, he, while stating he had never seen/heard of the phenomenon, offered to immediately replace the lid.
???!!!!
He never even attempted to duplicate the problem. He just went to a website, did a quick scan, and presto! ---these things can be interesting.

sigh

It has been several months now with no further developments in what I can only conclude is a defect.

All responses from Apple regarding this issue have been inadequate. There isn't even a promise that should the cause of this defect eventually be discovered and remedied, that affected machines that have fallen out of the warranty period would be repaired at no cost.

From a business perspective, I suppose this makes sense. There have been relatively few complaints compared to the number of units sold, media attention has been fleeting and ineffectual, from a cost-benefit standpoint, it makes little sense to devote precious engineering and financial resources to properly investigate the flaw, and maintaining a minimum of dialogue prevents accidental exposure to legal liability. It is cynical but entirely consistent with running a business and I expected no less.

I was the originator of the initial thread. It was presumed answered but I changed the status because I feel that it is misleading. My question has not been answered in any meaningful or satisfactory manner. There have been no reassurances from Apple, nor do I believe that a sincere effort has been undertaken by Apple to fully investigate the cause of what I and many others consider to be a serious design flaw.

There is at least one other serious design flaw in the Penryn MacBook Pro--the audio output contains a lot of hissing that is not present in other Apple products, such as the iPhone. This is clearly a hardware fault and as has been the case with the "vertical stripes," Apple has not acknowledged this problem either. In fact, I would say the audio problem is MORE serious than the display problem, because it renders the audio output jack IRREVOCABLY USELESS.

At this juncture, I would like to ask everyone who has been patient and persistent to NOT GIVE UP. Please try to escalate these issues you are experiencing with the build quality of your MacBook Pro as high as possible. Make it clear to Apple that the more they drag their feet, the more customer support resources we will use in order to be heard. Call them and visit them every day if need be. Show them that it is in their long-term financial interest to resolve these issues to our satisfaction. We have EVERY reason to complain. This is not some bargain-basement machine we purchased. By their own admission, it represents the best of what Apple creates. And so if this is to be believed, then I am afraid that it is not very good.

Nobody expects perfection. But when you make a mistake, admit to it and fix it. Don't pretend it didn't happen, or try to minimize it. That is dishonest and fraudulent.

sigh Just bought a brand new MacBook Pro a few days ago (aug 13th to be exact). I had heard about this problem and wanted to look into it to see if I was going to be running into the same problems. I tried the Photobooth test and...

...sure enough, a slight spotlight effect.

At this point I'm not going to worry TOO much. I will wait until the first time it happens legitimately on me and then I'll be making ANOTHER phone call to Apple Executive Relations who I've been dealing with for the past month on issues with Quicktime on my Powerbook.

Hopefully I won't run into the issue anytime soon. Though I doubt that'll be the case.

I shoulda gotten glossy.

Does anyone have an idea of what the LED driver is & what it might be costing Apple to replace it? I have 12 computers, 4 of them Macs & the rest HP or Dell. Although I really prefer the Mac OS, it has become difficult to do work on Apple's hardware since it is usually defective. Of the 8 Dells & HPs, I have repaired one once. This is the report for the Macs:
Powerbook G4 15" 1.67GHz 2005: lock, hinges, screen, CD/DVD, battery (not Apple's fault), power supply, heat sensors (system defect in most of these machines - similar to vertical stripes in MBP), motherboard.
Desktop G5 2005: Fan
Macbook 2GHz Intel 2007: Keyboard, screen (both defective upon delivery)
Macbook Pro 2.5GHz Penryn 2008: Dead pixels (under the (un)acceptable limit), strange vertical stripes (LED driver replaced, still defective)
These machines are not physically abused since they generally stay in the office & actually most of the defects are present upon delivery. Although I'm fed up and won't be making any more purchases of Apple products, for anyone who wants to change things I think the only way to make the company listen is to turn your machine around immediately for another costly repair as soon as you receive it back - by the look of the stats, there will always be something that doesn't work. Possibly you should restrict purchases of Apple machines to multiples of two so that one can be used while the other is in the shop.

I got the vertical stripes tonight for the first time. I bought my MBP in February on the day the new ones were released.

Doing a backup now in addition to Time Machine.

My computer has been running hotter than normal for the past few days. I can feel it all the way down to the palm rest on the left side.

Anyone else noticed an increase in temps?

I have a 15" Pro purchased earlier this month. I get the vertical stripe problem from time to time. Putting the display to sleep seems to solve it.

Not sure what can be done beyond that. Sounds like getting Apple involved is pointless. Doesn't look like a new model would solve the problem.

It is very annoying this is happening with a brand new £1000 laptop though.

I think that this issue is being handled in the most underhanded and uncaring manner by Apple. I do not doubt that Apple, being a high-tech company with thousands of electronics and computer specialist at their disposal, have fully investigated this issue and have not only a fix but - more importantly - know exactly what is causing this issue.
The worst part of this is that Apple and its staff are sitting back and watching their clients wallow around on forums like this trying desperately to debate the possible reasons, solutions, fixes etc. I wonder if watching your customers suffer on your company supplied 'support' forum is the latest form of entertainment for Apple executives?
Apple should stop counting the revenue from their iphone fashion phenomena and start worrying about their oldest and usually most loyal customers, that is their computer customers, especially the ones that pay the most for their 'professional' level gear.
This really is a poor performance by a company that should know better.

Message was edited by: alextdel

I called Applecare this morning. She asked me what I was doing when the stripes happened. I told her that I was doing an iPhone backup. She instructed me to reset PRAM. Of course, the stripes went away. I asked her WHY the stripes occurred. She told me that the problem was resolved. Uh, no. Why did this happen? She asked me to hold. When she came back she said, "during the update of your iphone, some of the pixels got scrambled".

Pixels got scrambled??????? I told her that this problem was all over apple.com and the internet. Why did this happen to mine and how did this relate to the sudden increase in temperature? She said that all notebooks get hot. I told her, no, my computer was hotter than normal. She put me on hold again.

This time she referred me to a specialist. He said that it was software related. Asked how long since I rebooted. I told him that it was less than 45 minutes. He said if it happens again, it might be hardware related. IF it happens again, take it to an authorized repair facility. I did get a case number, but they seem awfully unconcerned.

Add me to the list. Same exact issue. I'm having some serious buyer's remorse. I've had the thing for less than a month. As much as I loathe the thought of using a gulp PC, I could have bought three 15" multimedia PC laptops for the price of one (faulty) MacBook Pro. This after having constant issues with my iPhone. Apple, what is happening to you?

I had vertical stripes one week after buying my Mac, i always thought was related to sleeping my MBP for a long time, but in the last two months the damned stripes didn't show again - even sleeping my machine all night long
BUT
this morning I wake up the MBP, and voilà, the stripes were there again.
I had the brightness set to -6 quads, so i thought this can be an explanation, as lot of people here is suggesting
I agree with you folks, paying so much for a machine and having so many troubles is unacceptable

I first posted 26 March 1 week after purchase of my MBP, and after seeing the stripes (and finding this forum). My last post was 29 July. I last saw stripes 24 June - nearly 2 months ago. I used to be able to readily bring up stripes by a few photos in Photo Booth, but now cannot reproduce !
So my machine is cured !?
And it used to run real hot back when I got it, and now not ever; hardly even warm. Could it be that 10.5.4 really has helped? - at least some machines? Perhaps there are threshold conditions - and my machine now has fallen to the right side of the threshold. Probably many no longer have the stripe problem, but don't bother posting back. Plenty of new posters, but how many are 'cured' and no longer have the dreaded stripe problem?

Hi Fatkav,

I believe that you simply have been lucky. I have more stripe poltergeists since 10.5.4 than before. In the last 3 days I had 3 stripe issues. Since March I had around 4 and one was reproduced by the Photo boot method. I too couldn't reproduce it sometimes. Once I tried about 50 photos and couldn't reproduce it.

I'm getting more and more frustrated with this issue.