Q: MacBook Pro screen blinks

I have the late 2008 model. I know this issue did not occur until a few months ago or so. Not sure exact when it 1st started to happen but it might have been around the same time I moved to SL or so. I know for sure it did not happen with Leopard, but also can not state that it started happening from the moment I moved to SL.

Note, I have always been running with on the Best Performance setting.

Having read all these 35 pages I can state 1 thing that I am 100% certain of.....it is not a software issue.

Back in November09 my MBP15" (2009) speaker sound went very tinny....practically inaudible but headphones were fine. It was the only problem I had!
I took it to an authorised Apple service centre where the logic board and a speaker were replaced. When I tested the MBP I was pleased to have sound but started to notice the flickering. Initially I thought it was my eyes playing a trick on me but after a week I was convinced there was a fault. I returned the the service centre and was told "I had problems with the logic board when installing". Not sure how that can be as it looks pretty straight forward to change. However, they went inside and did whatever and I picked it up again on a Friday. By Friday night I was convinced that not a lot had been done as the fault was still there and a new fault too. I could not connect to the wifi in the house...I got an exclamation mark on the wifi signal icon and that was that....all other macs/pc could connect to the wifi no problem. Saturday I returned to the service centre again and tried to show the fault but, as is always, it doesnt flicker when you want to show it to someone! I could connect to his wifi which pleased me. The techie connected up an external HD, ran a test, got a hexidecimal error, called Apple and they said "logic board". A week later I returned to pick up my MBP to be told that they had put it on test for 72hrs without a fault. They reset the SMC and PRAM and, apparently, they were satisfied. It was suggested that it might be a s/w problem and I should format and reinstall. I had already done that recently but said I would do it and even go as far as install the original Leopard disks. So there I am, with a formatted (I always ZERO out the disk) MBP....no s/w installed.....and it flickers! I continue to install Leopard and test once done. Resetting the PRAM will put you back in BATT SAVE MODE so I stayed there for 5 hrs watching the MBP flicker away.....incidentally, I didnt load any other s/w as, for some unknown reason, I could not log on the wifi again! Changing to PERFORMANCE cures the flicker problem for me. I then installed Snow Leopard on top of Leopard....and the fault still persists.
Oh.....and get this, I can no longer check the serial number of the machine thru the APPLE>ABOUT THIS MAC route......all I see is a hash.

So, the logic board replacement caused my fault not s/w.

The MBP warranty runs out on the 20th Feb.....I will be returning to the service centre in the morning with a "fix it or replace it" message!


orion

I was going to live with this until a software fix showed up, but my machine's fans started getting really loud so I took it to the Genius bar. Eight days later I got it back with new fans and a new logic board, and after 24 hours of testing I can say that it seems to be working now. I hope a software updates will fix this but if not, consider having a logic board replacement (IF you are under Applecare!) as it seems to have helped with mine.

Best of luck to everyone...I hope one way or another your MacBook Pro's all get fixed of this annoying problem!

I read through everything, but mine seems to be a slightly different problem -

The screen flickers, but in varying brightness levels, and doesn't turn completely dark. Also, the brightness won't go up past a certain point (it actually gets darker when I do) and it's a bit too dark for comfort. It's difficult to find the cursor and hurts my eyes - I believe normally, this would be one of the lowest brightness settings.

The first time it started flickering, I restarted the computer, but the screen would stay completely dark. System seemed to be completely fine. It came back after about five trys, but very dark, flickering, and brightness unadjustable.

It happened when I had left it on for a long time in another room, and I brought it into my bedroom, if that's any help. It's really frustrating because I just got it last August...

I don't have Applecare and am not under the warranty (I don't think), as I bought it on ebay.

I'm going to bring it to the apple store on Monday, but I'm afraid of what it might cost to fix... Does anyone have an idea? It seems to be purely a display issue, as the system itself seems fine.

I am pretty sure I am out of the original 1 year warranty now, so i assume i am screwed on getting this fixed...

it is so **** annoying... when you pay a premium for a product, you don't expect sub-par performance and experience.

Well, I managed to get the technician to agree the MBP should be changed but it appears Apple want to have 1 more go at fixing it. If no good, they say they will replace it. I hope they are not playing games so I pass the warranty end date. It will take 10 days so it will be a week before I report back.

The missing serial number is normal when the logicboard has been replaced, so I was informed.

Caveat: assuming US here...

The repair itself should have a warranty (though likely not a long warranty). If it comes back after the expiration of the original manufacturer's warranty, it will be covered by the repair warranty. This might be a good reason to consider AppleCare, if you haven't already purchased it. Not trying to make a sale, just speaking from experience. Remember that AppleCare is discounted for students/teachers; take advantage of the discount...

I have heard mixed comments on the serial number missing. Typically, if Apple repairs the logic board, they should have the facilities to replace the serial number (or, at least burn in the serial number to the logic board). The burned serial is available in the About This Mac... window by double-clicking the OS X version number.

Good luck, and let us know the result!

I've fixed my laptop in a certain position and set my camcorder to film it for a while, then I started using it and filmed it too.

While I wasn't using the laptop, the blinking was less intense, and while I used the laptop the blinking was more intense. In 50min and 50secs of video, it blinked 17 times!

I might have lost the count because it was very tiresome to go through all of the footage in iMovie, but what I counted was 18.

Screenshot of the markers:
[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/18m9ky.png[/IMG]

I've posted a video on youtube showing the problem but it hasn't been processed yet. I will be posting a link here.

Apple should fix this problem for free, this is just ridiculous.

It's clear that this is widespread. They had problems with faulty nVidia chips a while ago and they fixed it, now they have the same problem and are keeping quiet? What's the problem with Apple?

You know what? If this is not fixed, Apple can forget me as a customer, I will not buy ANY hardware be it a computer or a phone, or any software or accessories. I am fed up with this bad support.

This is the link to the youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyr5Ssg2ykw

The original video which is in my iMovie library lasts 50:50 minutes, so I edited the blinks to be in slow motion to make them easier to spot and also set the non-blinking parts to be very fast to cut on the time, so the video now lasts only 5:31 minutes.

I've done it first with the laptop completely still, no usage at all...
Then you will see in the video that I started using the laptop. You can see on my screen that I was actually doing the editing of the first part on iMovie. Using the laptop causes the blinks to be more frequent, which I can only assume is because of when the chips get hot.

If people could post videos of this problem, maybe Apple would admit that these laptops are bad and they would offer a fix to us... But given how greedy they've been acting lately, it's highly unlikely!

hi all,

i've the same problem on my 15" uni. MBP.
This is the second time that Apple cheats me. I've also a Powerbook G4 17" with the logic board dead (like a lot of people) and Apple had never admit the problem (now i've the laptop o but i can't use because the display have only lines).

This time is the same, i'm out of warranty from 2 months and now i've to pay more than 700 euro to have the logic board changed...

My Powerbook was cost 3.000 euro, this new 15" was cost 2.200 euro...for what?

My heart is broken after this problem and i dont' know what i've to do now.

Maybe i will leave apple forever this time...

Good luck to all (me also)

Apple bilgisayar artık almam. Tanıdıklarımı uyaracağım. Elmadan ekran titremesi için bir açıklama bekliyoruz...

27 inç iMac'ler için güncelleme çıkartan ''Apple'', neden Macbook Pro için de bir güncelleme yada açıklama yayınlamıyor...

Yazık... Çok yazık...

I've started noticing this problem after the last update on my late 08 unibody MBP. It's getting quite annoying. What's the consensus here? Do we take it in for warranty service?

Lucky me! My flickering screen blinks have now matured. Instead of just the top third of the screen blinking, now it's my entire screen!

Still just the 9400M card, not the 9600M GT.

No progress and certainly no statements or solutions yet from Apple... Has anyone on this 36-page thread contacted any media outlets about this issue? It seemed to help with regard to the new 27-inch iMac's graphics issue. Just a thought.

And why is this thread marked as "Answered." It is not and the thread should not be marked as such!

We are waiting for explanation from Apple ...