MacBook Pro screen blinks

I've had the same problems with my late 2008 15 inch MBP as the people in this forum - a black bar that flashes across the screen and varies in height. This happens 2 or 3 times a minute at its worse, and sometimes it doesn't do it for ages.

I'm still covered by AppleCare. I've been to the store twice now - first time they replaced the screen and the second time they replaced the logic board. They were very good about it and did the work in store and quickly. However, neither repair has fixed the problem.

Yesterday I tried switching to the 9600 to see if the problem carried over. I came back to my laptop to find the bottom half of the screen flashing like crazy and the computer had completely frozen. Had to do a hard reset. Anyway I'm taking her for yet another appointment at the Genius bar this afternoon and I'll report back.

Don.

Wow!

I had to post this for those of you who have lost hope. Just back from the Apple store, where they replaced my late 2008 Macbook Pro with a brand new, top of the range 15 inch Macbook Pro. Oh, and they gave me another 3 years AppleCare to sweeten the deal!

I couldn't be more impressed with the service I have received. It has been perfect.

Good luck!

Don.

Had the screen and main logic board replaced on my MBP 2.53 about a week ago. No problems yet, but I've heard it sometimes takes as much as a month to come back. If it does, I'll be looking for a comparable replacement.

Well, that didn't take long... I'm at, what? 10 days after the repair?

Just noticed my first blink after the logic board replacement. I'll be making a call to customer service tomorrow. So tired of having this computer in for repairs...

Well, problem solved, the only way that it appears that it can be solved. Took the MBP in to the local Apple Store with it's fourth logic board inside. It blinked up a storm. Walked out with a new 2.2 Quad Core MBP. Bought AppleCare again, and got a refund on my remaining AppleCare fromt he old machine.

Good luck to those of you still fighting the issue.

Well, I called customer service today.

Really nice lady asked me what they could do to make me happy, since I told her I did not want more repairs. I said to replace my MBP. She transferred me to an upper-level tech who was also really nice. I explained to him that I did not want to keep going through these repairs since nothing seems to fix it. He said that they need to attempt a repair at the Apple Repair Depot before we can discuss a replacement.

Strangely enough, he said there is a known fix for this issue on this generation MBPs, which can only be performed at the Apple Repair Depot and not at the Apple stores. He also said that the temporary workaround they have listed in their system is to put the computer into Higher Performance mode. At this point, unless I was being lied to (though I think he was telling me the truth), I think Apple finally knows about this problem and has a workable fix. His temporary workaround seems to corroborate this, as I doubt he came up with that off the top of his head while I was on the phone with him.

So, later this week, my MBP is getting shipped off to the Apple Repair Depot.

Anyone else send theirs in to the Repair Depot versus having it fixed at a store? Did the issue come back after that?

I just talked to a genius at the Apple store and she said Apple is working on a firmware fix and she basically guaranteed me that it will be fixed. They're well aware of the problem and have stopped replacing logic boards and displays because it's apparently not a hardware issue. She told me to use the dedicated chip and hold tight. I asked about Lion and she said she wouldn't be surprised if they're testing a fix on the developer beta, but she doesn't have any word from Apple to confirm this. I certainly hope this can be fixed with a firmware update and I hope they solve it soon.

+1 with this issue!

my 2 year old (08 MacBook Pro) with Apple Care.

Blinking started (once a week) a month ago, thought nothing of it until a week ago it became more frequent, read up online and found this forum. After it began happening more i went to the apple store in London, I told the Genius about the issue with 9400m, it didn't happen in store however i showed him pictures, he told me he was sure it was the screen, however he told me he would change the logic board too just to appease me and gave me a invoice showing this.

The next day i got a call back to say the work had been done early, however only the screen had been replaced and so using my MacBook Pro later that night i had a blink again.....

Don't know weather to take it back in and get a new logic board, when so many people on here seem to have new logic boards repeating the same behaviour??

I guess it's my only option, as i have to get it fixed before my apple care runs out next year and i'm left on my own.

MonoMatt,

My last and final repair was a the Apple Depot the week of April 4th, didn't correct the issue. Maybe they've discovered something in the past week or so. It would be great if they could correct this with firmware or with Lion. It was kind of said seeing my 2008 MacBook Pro go to the back of the store when they repalced it. Wonder what's going to happen to it.

I'm bringing my Macbook Pro in today to the Apple Store. I DO NOT have Apple Care, but an Apple Care technical support person told me that my computer is probably covered under TS2377 which basically says that Apple will fix FOR NO CHARGE this issue. He said something about replacing the graphic's card, but I'm not entirely sure. I will make sure to post back exactly what they did (after I get it back of course) and, right now, I'm hoping for the best.