Q: MacBook Pro screen blinks

been reading this post on and off since getting may late model 2008 unibody Macbook Pro 15" with a flckering or randomly blinking screen. Been doing it almost from day 1 (Feb 2009) and finally decided to take it into the genius bar to get it looked at since apple care is in effect still. They fixed and returned the laptop pretty quickly (with christmas in there, would have took 2-3 days). They replaced the following based on the product repair summary that came back with the machine:
Main Logic Board 2.4GHz....symptom video flickering
2GB memory module (Ram)-issues
2 GB memory module (ram) -issues
Thermal Assy Thermal Module Defective..

Interesting that they replaced my upgraded 4 GB of ram with theirs as computer only came with 2. Main Logic board seems to be the protocal on flickering screens. Thermal assy i'm not aware but fingers crossed, so far tonight no flickering....the even fixed my trackpad as i mentioned that seems to stick. It seems they do all the neccessary steps thoroughly, so hoping this does the trick although it seems alot of people have had nearly the same thing come back to later get some of the same results....time will tell. I'll try to report band

Right it only blinks using the integrated GPU. You have to run at discrete gpu mode which kills your battery time significantly. You can reset the processor to temporarily fix it, but you have to do it everytime you switch to integrated. This issue has been going on for quite some time now. No fix or acknowledgement from Apple. Apple will fix the iPhone clock first before they bother with MacBook Pro users.

Message was edited by: SuperSizeIt

These days you have to bring it in the media before these big corporations do something for their customer. Maybe someone can send this issue to some newspapers or large computer sites. Maybe then they'll do something about it.

second that dutchbb.

I'll start with a blog post about this later this week. Hope to bring some attention to it from apple...

Unfortunately, this is not the solution ...

This thread now has around 128,235 views and 1.000 replies. If I were apple, I'd know where to put my energy.

I'm trying out several things and looks like Safe Mode doesn't have this problem, but then again, video drivers aren't loaded there I guess?

+1
I haven't read all the posts so far, but I have a question for anybody here: do you experience black screens when waking from hibernate? Are the two issues somehow related?
Also, when this thread has been answered?

d

Message was edited by: dawe

update: the 10.6.6 update did not resolve this issue. Still got the flicker problem at random on top of the screen

The 10.6.6 update only installs the new App Store on your Mac. Still seems like Apple is ignoring this problem. The screen flickering and screen dimming problems seem to be getting more serious and more widespread. I can't believe Apple is not trying to address this, but it doesn't seem like they are taking notice of either of those problems.

update 2: I'm in Safe Mode now and haven't noticed a single blink in about an hour. Does this mean it's a driver/firmware problem?

Things started since the snow leopard upgrade or anywhere around that time, never happened before.

After getting my logic board replaced the first time, I only experienced a couple of blinks over the space of a couple of months... then I upgraded the OS... I don't think the OS itself is the issue, I think the computer working hard for several hours and possibly overheating may be.

Incidentally, have since had logic board replaced a second time, then RAM replacements... and yesterday I had a crash/restart, two WindowServer crashes and this morning a kernel panic. Go Apple.

Another similar tale to add. Brought my late 2008 MBP 15" in to the retail store on 12/31 to have them take a look at it while I was away on vacation. The genius suggested replacing the logic board on the estimate (covered by Apple Care). When I got back, picked it up with a new display assembly. No idea what they saw that needed to be repaired.

When I sent the machine in, I swapped out my work hard drive for a spare with just OSX 10.6.5. For the short time I ran the machine like that, I never saw it blink. Been using it for three days now with the new display assembly and the blinking is less frequent - maybe half a dozen times a day, but it is still there. Ordered a new hard drive and will try a clean install of everything - maybe it's a driver issue. If that doesn't work, I will wait for another down period at work and drop it off again for repair.

I use an external monitor as my main screen most of the day, so the blinking is more of a nuisance - when it happens, my peripheral vision catches it an looks to the laptop screen to see what is new (for instance in my Skype chat), only to find that it was actually "the blink" and not a new message.

Apple replaced my logic board, but the display is still blinking as I type this.

further investigation points towards video kernel extensions that have been updated since 10.6.5

safe mode has the same problem btw

An update on my situation- the solution not being of any help to anyone else but me I'm afraid.

First noticed the blinking blink back in August, took it back to the department store the day before my warranty ran out back in November and was told it would take 4 to 6 weeks. Called them every week to get updates and found over the course of 9 weeks that 3 replacement parts had been ordered on separate occasions (one being a logic board) and with testing- no sign of it being fixed.

I went back to store yesterday and given it was way beyond the 6 weeks expected I got a brand new machine as a replacement. They did try to get me to hold on but I had lost patience and confidence in it being sorted. I was lucky to have the 2 year warranty but there may be a case for the product not being fit for purpose it you are out of the warranty period yourself.