Q: MacBook Pro screen blinks

Thanks for your 'help'.

I've been watching this Discussion for as long as I've had the blinking problem on my Macbook Pro Unibody 2008 and, over time, I've become even more angry that Apple has yet to acknowledge this problem. And, I remember back when I first discovered the blinking issue, how angry I was that my very expensive Mac was flawed.

But, as angry as I am with Apple, it makes me more upset when posters to this thread bait other users and/or treat them with disrespect.

People are frustrated and upset that the device they depend upon and use throughout the day, every day shows such a major flaw. It is understandable that their posts seem dire and might indeed express their disgust. We, as older subscribers to this Discussion, should understand and appreciate that, and resist the urge to meet such posts with 'yawns' and other such negative comments.

Let's direct our displeasure toward the appropriate party.

Just got a new logic board fitted under applecare, computer was blinking with the black bar across the top of the screen. It failed apple service diagnostic with 2D acceleration.
Unfortunately the screen still has the 'black bar flicker' with the new logic board, only much less often.
It appears to pass the apple service diagnostic at this stage.
I'm wondering whether to try for a third logic board, or whether this issue is truly unfixable

I've only recently (within the last two weeks) started experiencing the momentary black-out or flicker. Late 2008 Unibody 15" MBP. I get it with both the 9400M and the 9600M GT. This computer is now a little over 24 months old for me, and sees very regular use, including gaming - during which the CPU can easily maintain temperatures close to 80°C and the GPU can get quite hot, as well.

What I see is very clearly the screen turning black, from top to bottom, very quickly. It does not happen that often, but it also doesn't matter what I am doing.

This computer is not under warranty (I don't believe in Apple Care as I find the cost to be insulting), so I would really hate to have the hardware crap out on me this far in. As much as I spent on this laptop, I really can not buy another computer anytime soon.

The one thing I have not tested is adjusting the brightness levels or doing any hardware resets.

have a late 2008 unibody as well....

had the whole top of the clam shell including the screen replaced about 6 months ago due to a different problem....not sure how long the blinking has been happening...its been at least a few months....

at first it just seemed to happen for ten minutes after waking or starting the machine....now it continues as long as the machine is in use....

getting annoying, please fix!!!!!

WHEN WILL APPLE ACKNOWLEDGE THIS PROBLEM AND FIX OUR COMPUTERS.
I too believe it has something to do with the last OX update.

Being a photographer, I have clients looking over my shoulder while on location with my macbook PRO and it's getting really annoying and unPROfessional for a computer that claims to be PRO.

Very Frustrating.

This is rediculous Apple! I have been a loyal Apple user since the Apple IIE! This needs to be addressed. I too have a late 2008 MBP 15". So far mine only flickers on 9400 setting but still this is unacceptable! I often have this thing on location being a recording engineer/ video producer, and I too often have clients looking over my shoulder and saying what was that, with genuine concerns that it might be a problem that will find its way into their finished product. You do realize this thread started 2 years ago and you have not admitted and addressed it? Fix our macs!

Just thought I would chime in and say that I have the late 2008 MBP 15" as well and I'm getting the flickers on 9400 setting. It used to only be once every few days, now it's every 5 minutes. What the ****. I started reading this thread hoping to find a fix, and when I jumped to the end I see that two years later it still isn't resolved.

Is there any solution at all? I only read about 20 pages of the topic.

Hi

I agree 1,000% with you TLphotos !! it got be something
with the new OS Update to 10.6.5, My MacBook Pro was perfect
Since i Update, I Got this weird Problem.
I Hope Apple release a new update with the Fix, or We Need to find out how to Downgrade.

Apple has changed motherboard and screen, and the problem persists.

I dont believe that is hardware problem. cuz my MBP was working perfectly till i updated to 10.6.5
definitely is not hardware problem, they just can't find the problem in OS.

Perhaps I make a mistake, but the screen blink problem seems to be less frequent since I plugged the MBP on a videoprojector via a mini display port to vga adapter .

To be confirmed ...

Your "APPLE GIVE US A SOLUTION" message was apparently censored by Apple. This shows that they are watching the thread.

Now the question is, will they censor this message...

I Agree
I hope they don't
but i think is kind of Unfair, why they are wasting their time
deleting message, when they should be working in FIX
for this Bug... is unacceptable.

The only thing that has worked thus far is to disable the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M card which is considerably less power greedy and use the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GT which is a power pig.

Don't expect to get much more than 1.5 hrs of battery life from the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GT. Your system will generally feel snapper but the cost is that you must carry 1 if not 2 extra batteries around and manage charging them and all that bother.

The Mac setup you need with a 15" Unibody MacBook Pro is:
• extra battery ($129)
• extended warranty ($349)
• cody krieger's gfxCardStatus ($0, to switch back to GT card without login/out)
• optional third battery ($129) if you travel on flights lasting more than 3 hours

This adds roughly $610 to the cost of the MacBook Pro just to get it to work the way it was suppose to according to Apple claims of battery life and general standards for quality. That's roughly 30% added to the cost of the MacBook Pro.

Ref Links:
http://bit.ly/MacBookProAppleCare
http://bit.ly/MacBookPro15Battery
http://bit.ly/NVIDIASwitcher
http://bit.ly/MacBookPro15Blinks (this thread in case you forward this message to someone)