Q: MacBook Pro screen blinks

I noticed it for the first time last night. My first thought was "***?". I thought I had hallucinated it. But I decided I'd better google for this, just in case. Sadly, I wasn't hallucinating.

I've only seen it once, but I'm sure to see it again. I got this MacBook Pro 2.53 in 10/08 and had it replaced once for a cosmetic defect and my complaint of numerous finder crashes when connecting to Windows shares, but that's a rant for another day.

I'm fortunate to have 2 Apple stores in my town, so I've no doubt someone at either Genius Bar has probably already heard of this. I'm going to wait to see if it happens again or if maybe the 10.6.2 update fixes this. I really hope it's only a software issue.

I got my Macbook Pro in August 2009 and for the first few months I had no problems whatsoever with it. In the past week however, the screen occasionally flickers to black, with the blackness lasting anything from a few milliseconds to 10 seconds, at which point I have usually put the computer to sleep and then woken it back up again.
Why do we think it has taken several months to occur and not happened from the start? Should I take this in to an Apple store and will they take me seriously when, as yet, I haven't pinned down the triggers for it doing this?

Many thanks for all your postings - it has made me realise I am not on my own with this problem!

just to follow up that I have got my macbook pro back today. Apple care replaced its display panel and main logic board. It seems that the flickering problem has been temporarily resolved.

FWIW: I have been using my replacement MacBook Pro 17" notebook for 23 straight days now (all day long for work and home). I've used both graphics chips (9400M and 9600GT) on both battery and AC power for extended periods of time (and at all brightnesses). I have yet to see the flickering issue again, even once.

early 2009, mine does this as well.. its very annoying.

Have a 15'' late 08 unibody.. same flickering problem, Apple replaced the display, problem persisted. Second time, they replaced the Logic board. This fixed the problem with not a single flicker/blink for about 5 months! The day I installed Snow Leopard, the problem started up again, interesting....

Going back in tonight since it is flickering every couple minutes in the upper 1/3 of the screen.

I only noticed the problem a few days ago on my late '08 2.53 MacBook Pro. If the problem existed before a few days ago, I was unaware of it.

I upgraded to Snow Leopard on the day it was released and it seemed fine then.

Personally, I don't think it's software anymore. Maybe a firmware update can fix this.

Just thought I'd give an update on my case.

A couple weeks ago, local Apple certified techs replaced my logic board. For a week and a half, no blinks. But I noticed that my internal mic wasn't working. Took it back. The guy had forgotten to re-install the mic and the left speaker. They had to order the parts. Okay, annoying, sloppy, but they replaced the logic board for me, so I was still feeling grateful. Unfortunately, when I got home, I noticed that they had scratched the case (behind the display--the "top" of the computer, when it's closed). At that point, I started to feel less grateful. Talked to the owner who very kindly offered to replace the display for me. I said that I didn't want him to have to eat the cost of a brand new display because of a couple of scratches, that I could learn to live with them. He insisted. Okay. So he ordered a display, too. (I asked if he could order an antiglare screen, but he said he couldn't.) Then, the next day, I noticed that the computer would not sleep or unsleep closing or unclosing the lid/screen. It worked fine after I got it back the first time. Needless to say, this was all descending into the comically absurd. Or, it would have been comic if it had not been so frustrating.

So, this time, they came to my house and picked up the computer to replace the parts and deal with the sleep issue. Near the end of the day, the owner says he can't figure it out, so he'll have to order ANOTHER part for that (which he could have done two days before when I told him about the sleep issue in the first place).

Soon thereafter, I got sick and tired of dealing with people who, even though they were Apple certified, obviously did not know what they were doing. I decided to just deal with Applecare. Told them my story, and lo and behold, they offered me a replacement computer right off the bat, saying that having been back that many times, it was their policy to do so. And since that moment, dealing with them on this has felt like the Apple of old, where you felt like they actually valued you as a customer.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get the new computer (with the antiglare option for a $50 charge--totally worth it, I think/hope) some time next week. I hope it doesn't blink.

But, I can report, that almost two weeks after the original logic board replacement, my old computer didn't blink once. Don't know what this problem is all about, but I just wanted to throw my hat in with the others who had the experience that a logic board replacement seemed to do the trick.

(Oh, and all this happened a mere 2 weeks after my original warranty expired. If not for having Applecare, who knows what h-e-double-hockey-sticks I would have been in right now instead of having a new computer on its way. In the whole "Is Applecare worth it?" debate, look at my situation and decide for yourself.)

It says "this topic is answered". Er sorry to be dumb, but how do I find the answer amongst these 442 postings? Is there a place where the "real" answers get posted somewhere on this web site? Or is the answer in the last posting (#442) - get your MBP replaced by apple?

I'm having a variation of this problem as well. I haven't had the whole screen go black, or anything that drastically obvious, but I have had horizontal lines flicker on the screen as if I was plugging in a display and didn't have the cable all the way in. It's really annoying when it happens, but I can't seem to replicate it when I go in to the genius bar. I did, however, find a site mentioned on a previous post- http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/inversion.php#invpattern and on that link if you look at 2b or 4b, the whole screen flickers pretty badly. Could that flicker & the occasional blocks & lines that show up on the screen be symptoms of the same issue? I tried looking at that same pattern on other displays and it doesn't flicker at all, only on the Macbook Pro. Does anyone else have the blocks or lines that periodically show up?

I had the logic board on my late 2008 MPB replaced 2 weeks ago for the upper 1/3 screen flicker issue and so far no problems. There have been no problems on my 2009 MBP.

aehaas

I just updated to 10.6.2: It was rumored to fix this and I haven't noticed it yet...but I just installed it. Anyone else have any reports after updating to 10.6.2?

Spoke too soon. It's still does it after the 10.6.2 update. Good grief Apple, when will you FIX THIS?

With all the logic boards being replaced here, it would seem to point to a hardware or firmware issue with the graphics. Firmware fixes are not typically included in OS X releases; rather, they are separate installers (likely due to the fact that they require a reboot and no interruption while installing). If the "fix" is a firmware fix, it is long past due.

This problem is not fixed in 10.6.2 - I still have flickers and the screen going black periodically when using the 9400. No problems with the 9600. Unbelievable really.