Q: MacBook Pro screen blinks

Call Apple Care and see what they can do for you. Obviously you're not getting resolve through the retail store, it sounds like they're just poo-pooing it.  Similar issue with my wife's white macbook and cracking plastic--they told us it wasn't covered under our warranty three separate times between two stores yet when I called Apple Care, they had no issue sending us a box and fixing it.

As for the flickering, if the black-bar flicker happens several times a day, I understand getting that fixed. However, if it is only happening once a day or every so often, then I wouldn't worry about it.

If it is' the flickering/pulsing backlight at low-brightness on the 9400M chipset (not the black bar), that is relatively normal for that vintage and just about every laptop with an LED-backlit screen built around that time. I'm not saying Apple should be let off the hook but if you look on YouTube, there are machines by many different PC manufacturers with flickering at low brightness. It doesn't seem to be an issue now and can be fixed by turning the brightness up a tad. Contact Apple Care if it bothers you and see what they can do for you, though.

You have a right to be happy with your computer (within reason of course). Whatever happened to English tenacity?

Replacing the logic board a second time SOLVED this issue. I had my logic board replaced the first time & the blinking continued. Next they replaced my screen & the blinking continued. They replaced the logic board a second time & I've not had any blinking for two weeks. I'm thrilled to have this solved!!!

How to fix this problem link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOFI6b-tJ_U

I wasn't able to do the tutorial with a damaged macbook pro because i already fixed this one when i saw this post.But still is a guide so you can fix it by your own.

Do it at your own risk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOFI6b-tJ_U

here is the tutorial... it took me long time because i wanted to find another macbook with the problem but i didn't find one here in Puerto Rico so i just created a tutorial as a guide.

Seems like this problem happens after I have upgraded from 10.6.7 to 10.6.8. View my components under "About this Mac" -> "More info" I notice now that there is a Nvidia 9400M. I know my Macbook has a 9600M GT and in previous OS's I never saw a 9400M so there may be a driver issue with 10.6.8 which is causing the flickering which is highly annoying...

So in the ongoing MacBook saga less than a week of having it back, inserted the restore disks finally received from AppleCare to reinstall Snow Leopard and it died. Literally will not boot and will not allow me to install SnowLeopard telling me over half of the disk is no longer accessible. The white screen appears then the gray apple followed by complete shutdown. This literally when there has been less than 6 hours of use on it since I got it back from having the heatsink and all the other parts replaced. So at this point they will have much more in my used MacBook than it is worth. It is asinine. I am still irritated that all of my calls and visits I have been treated like I am just a complainer. The A/C experience has not been good for me. I have also had roughly 16 support tickets since I got the stupid thing. On the other hand I have an old Mac Mini that runs like a champ! So does the new iMac but seriously this is insane with the MacBook.

My mid-2009 MBP has had this problem for some months. First, the display was replaced but this had no effect whatsoever. Handed it in for repairs again but this time they said they could not find any fault with it. Took it to another service provider who saw the blinking and found something wrong with the logic board which was then replaced. Since then - knock on wood - no more blinking. So don't give up - there is hope ;-)

I'm still tackling this issue.

So far my MBP has had:

    •    3 optical drive replacements

    •    Screen Replacement

    •    Logic board replacement

    •    Top case replacement

I've just picked it up from the store following the logic board and top case replacement and i've had the screen flicker three times already (on the discrete graphics 9400M).

It's beginning to get extremely frustrating. I just want to be able to use my Mac with out this happening!

Any advice on how to go about getting this resolved with Apple? Do I go back to the store? or Phone Apple care and escalate the problem?

So just heard back from AppleCare. I posted before that upon getting my MacBook back after having the heat sink replaced that the superdrive would not work, it was not remembering the airport settings, and had a complete drive failure. This all within 4 days of getting it back. The screen was not fixed either. Anyway, they just called and told me that nothing they can do. It is a 3rd party drive and the repair will cost $709. The lady from AppleCare a 512 number told me "let me explain this to you so you can understand it"   This has been a nightmare. Truly. Next I am sending it certified mail to Tim Cook's office. Seriously. I have had all I can possibly stand.

Have an appointment with the Apple Store for this Friday 2:00PM.  Will see what they say and post an update... <fingers crossed>

Good point Stokestack...  Tks...

Guys, we're up to 85 pages.  Please don't post anything that doesn't add useful information to the discussion.  For example, what time your next appointment is.

I'm having this issue too. I've been running a few years on the 9600M GT, alternating back and forth with the 9400M, but the power drain and the heat have made it all but necessary to run on the 9400M most of the time.

Just to reiterate what others have said: the screen flickers with a full black screen or partial black screen very briefly (less then a second) every few minutes to every few hours. I work all day at this MBP so I see it very frequently.

I'm posting because my warranty has run out and this recently just came to light. I'm hoping that if this is in fact a loose connection on the logic board then perhaps there will be a recall.

I spent the past month sending in my MacBook for repairs. I bought my MBP back in 2009 and bought Apple Care in case this problem was not resolved within a year of me buying it. Before the repairs, running the 9400M the screen would blink every couple of minutes, which rendered the 9400M useless since I bought the MacBook. Because there is no Apple store where I live, I sent in my MacBook to a Authorized Service Provider. First, they ordered and replaced the logic board themselves. That reduced the flicking to occuring every couple of hours, but it was still present and not completely fixed nonetheless. I sent it in again to them two days later. From there they sent it to the Apple repair center where the logicboard would be replaced again along with the display. However, that did not completely fix the problem either, the flickering was still happening every couple of hours. Calling Apple Care again they direced me to a Senior Tech Advisor where he created a case for my problem. Telling him after two repairs the problem was still not fixed, he had me send it in again to the Apple repair center for a final repair. This time, nearly all the internal parts of the MBP were replaced, the logicboard, display connector, RAM, and the superdrive. Two days after receiving it, however, it was still flickering. I called the Senior Tech Advisor about the problem persisting. From there he offered me a up to date, top of the line MBP! Apple provided me a shipping label to send in my MBP, with overnight shipping. They will ship my replacement once they receive my Mac. I sent it in yesterday and Apple received it this morning. Within an hour they already processed my replacement to be shipped, with overnight shipping via FedEx! If everything goes according to plan I will receive the replacement tomorrow afternoon.

For those with the flickering problem, hopefully you have Apple Care! Just as I and a few others have posted, the repairs will not fix the problem! Keep sending it in for repairs, hopefully and eventually Apple will realize that the repairs will not remedy the problem completely and they will offer a replacement. Be persistent but also patient! I spent nearly all of the past month without a Mac, and had to endure using a PC.

Surprisingly the Senior Tech Advisor who handled my case told me that this is the first time that he had encountered this problem. I told him about this 85 page thread but nonetheless he haven't heard about this problem before.

Sorry for the long post! Good luck to everyone out there with this problem!

I encountered the screen flicker problem late last November on my 2009 MBP. After unsuccessful "repairs" I sort of gave up and "lived with it" but found it increasingly annoying. Then, when I tried to read a CD of photos my brother sent me and the MBP thought it was an empty disk, I straight away returned to the local Apple Store. I suppose since they'd "fixed" my MBP so many times that the cost was the same as a new MBP, I was offered a new unit and took it. I suggest that this unfixable problem will persist and if you have Apple Care, I recommend bugging Apple until your unit is fixed (which will not occur) or they offer a replacement. I was surprised, but I was given the option of purchasing Apple Care for the new unit, which I did, and will also be getting a prorated refund on the 8 months left on the Apple Care for the lemon MBP. Good luck to all of you.

If there is a loose connection inside the macbook pro, it can blink. Please check that

Kim