Q: MacBook Pro screen blinks

my macbook pro 2.8ghz is barely a month old and is giving me this screenin 'blink' problem with random moments of flickering then normal, then sometimes ne nanosecond blink etc.

am really annoyed and tired of this. am having to go through the standard procedures at Apple here. I wonder a why, problem, which is so widespread, is being ignored by Apple in no official acknowledgement/fix etc. In fact this is my second MBP. The first one (bought early July) would freesze. So it was replaced with this one which flickers. What next? Cant seem to get down to work whole-heartedly on my Mac! I have had flawless Macs since the LC475, and this one sure smarts!

(anyone had the problem fixed in a replacement machine?)

Mine is 11 months old, started blinking and I have a uniform series of alternating dark blotches at the bottom. Called AppCare and went to the Genius Bar yesterday. The guy said it is either the screen, the device that regulates the brightness or wiring -- all corrected by switching out the screen. They do it onsite, but do not have one on hand. It was ordered, so I should have it installed this week. Stay tuned....(PS - he said he was aware of hte problem and that switching out the screen seems to resolve it..)

I have exactly the same problem. If in System Preferences / Energy Saver "Better Battery Life" is chosen (I suppose that is when it uses the 9400M mode), the display flickers just as you describe. If I choose "Higher Performance" in the Energy Saver settings (I suppose that is the 9600M GT mode), the problem goes away. You can switch that back and forth and the flickering comes and goes.

That seems clearly be a software / firmware problem.

I bought my MBP in January. I'm not 100% sure but I think the flickering started when I upgraded to Snow Leopard (10.6).

Anybody knows a fix for this? I cannot run in "Higher Performance" mode when on battery because then the battery is empty in less than one hour.

i've got a late '08 model (15") and the same problem. it startet some months ago (10.5) and is still there on 10.6. 9600 (performance) works fine, 9400 (eco) makes my display blink. my warranty will be gone soon, so a fix or any news from apple would be nice.

im using macbook pro(late2008).i have the same problem too.it blinks randomly when ever i switch on my mac. the problem seems disappeared when i switch to higher performance. Is there any chance that i can change my laptop with a new one because im sick of it.

I have a late 2008 MBP 15", and just had my machine repaired by Apple for the screen blink issue. The repair receipt says that they replaced the "main logic board 2.4Ghz" (605-1686). So far in 2 days of use, I have not seen the screen blink again. I won't make any assumptions until I've used the repaired unit for a few weeks, but so far it looks like the problem is resolved.

i guess, i have to call apple care and have it repair

Laptop has just come back from the apple store - I'm on my second laptop and my third screen, and I think I just saw another blink...
Going to watch it for a few days before I take it back but this issue is driving me absolutely crazy...

This has me a bit scared of my replacement. I think I'll take the time to run through everything at the Genius Bar before turning over my working (but blinking when on the 9400M) 17" MB Pro. Last thing I want to do is trade bad for worse. This seems to be a real quality control issue.

Makes me wonder why Apple gave up the ATI contract for nVidia, when there have been so many QC issues since the switch, it seems.

I just saw mine blink once last night. That's the only time I've noticed since I got it back from repair. Otherwise, the screen image quality is fabulous. Almost seems better than it was before (?).

I'm not terribly worried about it at this point, since it's not happening as often as it was before.

Man, it's too bad you saw a blink after your repair. But the thing is, if it blinked, that means that the problem wasn't fixed. Myself, I sometimes go a day or even a few without a blink, and then it will happen 2-4 times in one day.

If you were having blinks a lot, and now it happens less, then that's certainly good, in a sense. At the same time, it tells me that replacing the screen doesn't actually solve the issue.

This is quite a frustrating problem, isn't it...

Add another one to the list - late 2008 15" MBP 10.5.8. Started in the last month and is now blinking the top 1/3 of the screen to black about 4 times a day, with no obvious usage pattern.

I only post this to record it here, as I've no doubt Apple will ignore this issue. Despite the 26 pages of complaints over many months this is still a tiny minority of customers, so cheaper and easier to ignore than to deal with.

I have a refurb late 2008 MBP running 10.6.1 and it's unusable with the 9400M integrated graphics processor. The top half (sometimes all) of the screen flashes black 6-10 times a minute and frequently it's 2 or 3 times in quick succession.

An attached a 23" cinema display will run perfectly but the MBP screen still flashes. I have to turn the brightness to zero so it doesn't distract me.

I'd get it maybe once or twice a day on Leopard but since the upgrade to Snow Leopard it's terrible.

Obviously it's completely unacceptable. This is my fifth Mac and all the others have been superb. Booking my appointment with a genius as soon as I return to Canada.

Apple Store called...they replaced the screen and said the problem is resolved, but that the new one had a "cosmetic imperfection" and they ordered a new one. I assumed that replacement of the screen meant to remove it from the clam-shell top; in fact, the entire clam-shell top, which houses the display, gets replaced. There was an indentation in the lid, so a new one is on the way.

Besides the blinking issue, I had a pattern of dark spots along the bottom. Ther Genius from Apple referred to them as "spotlights", so it seems that they have seen it before. Anyone else have that problem in addition to the blinking?

hello all! my July 2009 Macbook Pro 2.8 had a screen flicker/blink problem. I am happy to say, after changing the display, the problem has gone away (changed three days back only) and I seem to be getting better battery life.

i checked with higher performance/longer battery life etc...