MacBook Pro screen blinks

My Late 2008 macbook pro has been to the gods at apple 2 times in the past month and a bit as the trackpad was broken and the machine more than occasionally wont turn on.....first time they fixed the trackpad YEAH!! replaced optical drive and replaced the logic board.......machine still didnt want to turn on.....it was sent away again and they replaced the logic board again 🙂 waited 2 weeks this time got it out the box etc etc charged it up AND.........it didnt turn on lols managed to get it to go on by pressing the button repeatedly for about 10 mins which is what made me send it away in the first place and it hasnt been off since ( bout 5 days) and now i notice.....youve guessed it that deadly flicker you guys have been on about. At first i thought it was my eyes but now i know its there bout once every ten minutes or so...SO for the third time apple will be getting called and the machine sent away as i need it desperately for work...........

Update!

Despite the guarantee had expired the damage to the screen has been recognized under warranty and now I have a new screen after 48 hours at no cost!

Thanks Apple 😍

Nice! But the question is will it start to blink again? Then you will use again the 9600 and same story. I hope you won't have the problem again. It is maybe the answer for all of us. Get your screen to snap by using the 9600 so that Apple actually starts looking at our computers...

I've had a screen replacement and two logic board replacements so far. Both of the logic board replacements took two weeks each since the depot had to wait for a part. I've been without my computer for over five weeks for all the replacements, four of those being the entire month of August. It's getting ridiculous. The issue is still present.

I have a similar issue with my late 2008 15" Macbook Pro. The screen flickers on the 9400 graphics card, and is completely fine on the 9600 card. My mother wants to take my laptop in for repairs, but I keep telling her that a lot of people with my model have taken their laptops in for repairs, and nothing fixed it. I'm perfectly content with working on the 9600 card. I don't think its worth taking my computer in constantly just to get it back and see the flickering again.

Granted, I still have apple care, but I am a graphic desginer who also does freelance work and can't have my computer away from me for to long. A few days is bad enough, but a week? To much. The only problem I have with the 9600 card is that it makes my computer run a little hotter. Sure, if I take it in a bunch of times I'll get a new laptop, but again, having my computer away for a long period of time is a hindrence.

egyptlang wrote:

can't have my computer away from me for to long.
...
A few days is bad enough, but a week? To much.

too long

too much

In your case (egyptlang) I would got to the apple store and get them to fix it even if you don't have the time for it. Your apple care warranty will stop and then it will be impossible to get something from Apple.

Has anyone tried to see exactly which OS update it was where the issue crops up? I wonder if I restore my system with the original disks if the screen will still blink.

Might give it a try and see what I get.

Just called apple, basically even though theres a 89 page thread on the issue- they've advised to deal with it and use the high performance mode.

😟

What kind of advice is that? Deal with it? It's like if I buy a car and the first gear doesn't work the guy will tell me deal with it and start in second gear???

Apple is a joke.

I have had the flicker issue for 2 years and have just dealt with it. It seemed to get more frequent, so I planned to take it in to the Apple store before the warranty is out so I don't end up with a broken machine out of warranty. I never got around to doing so, as I wanted to video the problem prior to going in and getting a 'cannot duplicate' response. It appears the problem is less apparent after installing Lion. I do occassionally get the flicker, but not as often as before.

Is anyone running Lion and getting the flicker frequently? Any way to trigger it to get video proof?

I have not noticed any real change in the frequency of the flicker with Lion. Intermittent, as always.

charlie

Call again until someone understands your situation.

I kept getting the: Reset your PRAM and that should fix your issue! Then they would proceed to tell me how, despite the fact I told them that doesn't fix it for long. It fixes it for about an hour, then it goes back to flickering.

The last time I called I got someone who actually LISTENED to me, after I told him all the suggestions I have tried didn't work. He patched me through to a technical guy, and I was told to take it to an apple store to get the graphics processors checked. He called it a stress test, or something. Just call, explain your problem, and maybe you'll get a nice guy like I did.

Give AppleCare a call and explain your situation. In fact, give them all of your repair and/or case id. Hopefully, it will give them enough reason and take action.