Q: MacBook Pro screen blinks

well apple has thrown in the towel with me, so to speak. 3rd logic & still doing it!

Looks pretty much like a software/firmware issue as changing different hardware components doesn't seem to be resolving the problems.

Hi guys, I have the same problem with 9400 so I don't use it at all. But on 9600 it's another problem. Under particular conditions the screen starts blinking continiously and then all the system freezes.

I noticed that it happens when:

- Playing flash animations/video in browser;
- Playing resized (ONLY) video in VLC;
- Using Free Transform tool in Photoshop.

The last thing didn't happen since I've turned off the OpenGL in Photoshop options a few days ago. I have deleted Adobe Flash Player and watch videos without resizing them (in the original resolution). It's all fine but it's not a solution

Ah. When I'm watching resized video (even if it's paused) and the screen starts blinking (if the video was playing at the moment it freezes) I still have a chance to save the situation by closing the video and everything returns to the normal state.

As it seems to me, the problem has something to do with OpenGL. AFAIK, it's impossible to turn off OpenGL globally in the Mac OS.

Imagine all the money they spend by replacing all these components?

For getting Lion you need to have a Mac developer account. The release that is out is just a developer preview, still having lot of bugs and not yet optimized for performance... I hope they will work on that (1.5 GB taken so can't even think to install it on my MB Air...)

This issue is nuts. So is Apples lack of response.

their response is clear to me: New MacBook Pros feature AMD graphics. the iMac features AMD graphics. the newer mac pros have 2 videocards, both are AMD graphics. NVIDIA is terrible & I flat refuse to own another machine with their chips, period.

My screen has just flickered 4 times today.... it flickers every other day. I am wondering if replacing the graphics card will help fix this. So far, I haven't seen anyone who has said they replaced it...... I wonder id replacing it will fix this issue.

I believe they're stuck on the board so you can't, that's why everyone with apple service gets a new board which hasn't solved it so far.

Message was edited by: dutchbb

I see another 10 pages of comments now since my last visit. Maybe this thread is going for the record length of an unanswered thread?

In my opinion Apple made a mistake with the design choices for this machine, and obviously they also know that now. On the other hand I think we as users are being a bit unreasonable to expect Apple to replace a whole model of laptop free of charge. They are not made of money. Anyway mistakes are inevitable with such cutting edge machines, and buyers always take some level of risk.

Hence I return to my previous suggestion for a settlement of this matter, i.e that Apple offers owners of this model a significant discount on the next.

How about it now Apple?
Wouldn't that be a sensible way to close the matter?

The problem with that Bill, is that it would likely be a temporary offer, and many of us MBP owners are just not interested in buying a new machine right now. But we should still be compensated if others are.

We are not sure if the problem can only be solved by replacing the whole laptop. Maybe they're still looking for the cause of the bug. They do not tell us anything, IMO that's the big problem. At least tell us what you know, as a customer we have the right to know.

Well you are right of course not knowing what Apple is thinking is half the problem here, which they could put right immediately by delegating a senior person to discuss possible solutions here for mutual benefit, instead of being silent.

And the temporary solution could also be quite long lasting. After all not all of us can afford to replace our machines every 3 years as Apple seems to count on. And one has to consider that this faulty model was on sale for a year or more before the chipsets were upgraded.

I would imagine that if you turned up with a machine for exchange anytime before November 2016 (6 years after the start of this model) you should be able to get a discount. Surely that would be reasonable, wouldn't it? Better for Apple than losing this whole generation of users to windows 7.

+"We're not perfect.... But we want to make all our users happy"+
+-- Steve Jobs+

At some point, you have to ask yourself: "How's that workin' out for ya?"

Well, I'm no expert, but I was always under the impression that you could replace graphics cards with a laptop, since they can go bad over time..... but I guess I was wrong, lol. Oh well.

But I am concerned with this issue, considering I am a college student and I am poor enough as it is, and I CAN NOT afford to get a new machine. This laptop was a graduation present from my parents, which I got it in July of 2009, and the guy that sold it to us did not inform us of any bugs that could occur after a long period of time with the machine. I am also questioning the method they used to diagnose my flickering issues. Watching a video for 5 hours on my machine? If they did that, it would have flickered. I have noticed it flickers when I have a video playing on youtube, or if I'm on a site with a lot of flash...

What disturbs me is that Apple hasn't given us a permanent solution to this problem. I love Macs over PCs, and I don't plan on converting back anytime soon. I just want a machine that I don't have to worry about every night...

Regardless of the cost to Apple (and I'm sure they're doing fine without us worrying about them), they should be held to account when products are faulty. You shouldn't have to live with this and I also don't think a discount is sufficient.

Apple won't respond here (it took me long enough to realise how it works), the forum is for us users and as far as possible Apple will take it on a case by case basis to avoid bad PR. That's the point here- if people are annoyed enough by this, don't gather and write a petition and then show it to Apple- gather and go to a consumer rights organisation (UK- consumer direct, Office of fair trading etc).

Personally speaking, I got a replacement as I was just within the warranty but if I hadn't I would still be expecting a solution at no cost to me as it's obviously a flaw on Apple's part. If I had no joy, I would have taken it further on an individual basis through a consumer rights route and encouraged the likes of you to email them and news/media sites your own experiences.

Don't settle for substandard products and don't bother getting angry here either- just take action that WILL actually force Apple to respond. The slightest hint of bad PR and you'd be surprised.

I love Apple products and all tech will have it's problems but they are not going to admit to any flaws without being forced to, and even then- they'll try to downplay it (think Antennagate on the iphone). Focus and make them do what they are obliged to do for their customer.

I plan on complaining to apple about this. Its ridiculous. Problem is..... who do I complain to?