You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Richhep Author

Level 1

8 points

Display flashes to solid black intermittently

I originally posted this in the wrong category for the MacBook Pro instead of the Monitor catagory. I am wondering if anyone else has the same problem. I posted the following last night.

*Still an unknown issue with Apple Tech Support*? After 2 calls to product specialists and apparently an undocumented issue by any customers contacting tech support this seems to be a widespread worldwide issue. In one form or another with no answer after several months of the computer release displays are blinking, flickering and flashing to name a few descriptions of this problem. Mine flashes solid black for a fraction of a second and comes right back on. I have had this issue in the power saving mode as well as the better performance mode so that kills that theory. To this point there has been no pattern that I have been able to detect. I can go for weeks without a blink and all of a sudden get 2 in 5 minutes. Usually I am pretty good at troubleshooting but this problem has no pattern and is so intermittent I think it's going to be a tough one and I truly believe Apple has no clue as of yet so they are not addressing it publicly or to individuals calling in with the problem. I purchased my computer November 29th. I used it for over a month without ever seeing the issue. When the new monitor came out I still did not experience any issues with either display in the area of blinking, flickering or flashing. There is a video on Youtube that I have located showing the exact same issue as mine. Though the person on Youtube has a non-apple display and mine is the new 24" Apple display and it is the exact same issue this rules out the problem being the external display. Well, I can check that off as well. This is the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-dQIgfIFsI Does anyone else have the exact same issue as mine? I am thinking maybe it is something in the 10.5.6 update. Who Knows?

*BTW this problem is not at all heat related.* It can happen during heavy use or very light use at low temps. I have purchased many newly released Apple Computers over the years and have actually had great luck with them. I hope this is not my first lemon.

MacBook Pro (late 2008) 2.53GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.6), Apple LED Cinema Display (24" flat panel)

Posted on Feb 10, 2009 11:35 PM

515 replies

Apr 20, 2009 12:08 PM in response to Richhep

I'm experiencing the same problem on my aluminum unibody MacBook Pro 15" 2.4 and 24" LED Cinema Display purchased together in February 2009. I'm running OS X 10.5.6.

The screen blacks out at random for about a second at a time. Sometimes it happens only once every few hours, but it can also occur more frequently, sometimes several times within the span of a minute. It doesn't seem to matter what applications I'm using, or whether the hardware is warm. The problem has occurred since the hardware was brand new.

Apple telephone support couldn't provide any solutions or workarounds beyond resetting PRAM, which didn't help.

One thing I've noticed is that unplugging and reconnecting the Mini DisplayPort connector after the screen has blanked seems to prevent the problem from occurring further until my next work session.

Here's hoping that Apple can come up with a fix for this annoying problem 😟

Richhep Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 22, 2009 9:11 PM in response to Richhep

I originally stated this thread. Since then I have gone through 2 computers and 2 monitors and I still have the problem in both power modes and it will even happen if the computer is completely idle using no apps. I am getting a third monitor tomorrow and now have a 2.66 as they made an exchange after the 2.53 was updated. I have my fingers crossed I am going to be lucky enough to get a pair that doesn't blink though the apple tech told me he will send me the monitor but he doesn't think it will take care of the issue. Obviously, they are well aware of the issue now and are working on it. When they come out with a real fix we will hear about it and either the item in question whether it is the computer or the monitor will be fixed or the software or firmware problem will be available. If you have a blinking external apple LED 24" inch monitor and it blinks it will probably continue till the fix. I am just trying one more monitor but It will probably blink as well but time will tell. I have sent a capture data document to apple with a detailed timeline and maybe they can see what the issue is from that. In the mean time all I have noticed is that the blinking issue is a lot less in the better performance mode though will happen on rare occasion regardess of what software you are using. I was informed by applecare that if the warranties expire and the problem is not fixed they will extend them for this issue. Of course you have to have a documented case# with apple tech support. I will give an update on the performance of my 3rd monitor but sometimes there are weeks between episodes. I was told it could have something to do with the new port as the fix seemed to solve the problem with people using adapters with older computers.

jskains

Level 1

0 points

Jun 25, 2009 6:34 AM in response to Richhep

I have the latest MacBook Pro 15" 2.8ghz machine and the Apple Cinema Display I have does this exact same thing. It blinks on and off. It goes out for a half second and does randomly. Right now it has stopped, but last night it kept doing it over and over. Pulling and repluging seems to help, but that seems unacceptable.

JMS

Jun 25, 2009 4:17 PM in response to Richhep

I'm having exactly the same problem as you. Intermittent solid black flashes on a MacPro/24inch LED system I purchased last week. I returned the monitor once and the replacement is doing the same thing.

Jul 3, 2009 3:06 PM in response to Motionworks

Just bought an iMac 2.93 with a 24" LED display. I seem to have the same problem. The LED display flashes black for half a second. Sometimes this doesn't happen for hours and then it's every few minutes.

jskains

Level 1

0 points

Jul 6, 2009 7:46 AM in response to Chicago Jack

Yes folks, this is tied to the 9400 card. If you turn on the 9600 GT, the blinking stops.

This is an actual Apple problem.

JMS

Jul 9, 2009 1:14 PM in response to jskains

I am running the 9400 card but cannot find an option to "switch" on the 9700 GT. Any tips woul dbe helpful.

jskains

Level 1

0 points

Jul 10, 2009 7:34 AM in response to Frank Snowden

It is in the Energy Saver preferences. It's silly, but it is "Better Performance" in the Graphics option.

9400="Better Battery Life"
9600 GT="Better Performance"

JMS

Jul 11, 2009 8:27 AM in response to Richhep

I had this problem too ( http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1820145&tstart=0), and thought it was a graphic card problem, but now that I'll upgraded from a 13" MacBook Unibody to a 24" iMac, and connected the LED Display, the problem happend again randomly.
So I've got the display the a service centre, and they noticed the same problem, and changed the Logic Board.
After testing it out, it seams that it now only happens once in a while, and not goes black a few times in a row when it does start.
It's still not accepteble that it happens at all, so I guess I have to talk to Apple Care and see what we shall do with this problem.

Jul 15, 2009 11:55 AM in response to jskains

Sorry, that's not true for everyone.

The problem is still occurring for me, regardless of whether I'm running in 9400M or 9600M GT mode.

As mentioned in my previous post, I have a 15" MBP 2.4 unibody (late 2008).

Alden 01

Level 1

0 points

Jul 18, 2009 4:36 PM in response to Bryan Chow

Adding my voice to the Chorus
I am annoyed by the flashing I experience on my 24" LED display. I have a MBP 2.53 GHz and am running my 24" LED display with higher performance mode rather than Better Battery Life. I decided to check the discussions and sure enough, we're a group with the same issue. I began experiencing this problem in February or March, a month or two after I bought my MBP and LED display. I figured the flashing was due to the Mac OS update and patiently expected the problem would be solved with a fix. But here it is July... and I'm growing impatient.
I will take the steps to formally open a case as suggested.

Jul 24, 2009 9:41 AM in response to Alden 01

Same problem with my setup:

New iMac (purchased April 2009) connected to a new 24" LED Display (purchased June 2009).

Worked flawlessly for the first month. Then last week, the LED display blacks out for a second...happens up to 3 times in an hour or more. The display on the iMac is fine. Also note that the Cinema Display is set up on the left as #1 and the iMac screen is the secondary display. I had to do this to access the DVD slot on the iMac as I have the displays touching each other.

The ONLY thing different this past week is that the weather has been hot and my home office is rather warm in the middle of the day. Not sure if the warmer operating temperature is causing this or not....anybody else seem to have the issue with similar circumstances?

Jul 28, 2009 7:44 PM in response to Chicago Jack

Hi All,

I just purchased a 2.13ghz MBA and the 24" Cinema display last week. I'm having the same problems although not as frequently as some posters here (about once a day my screen goes black).

What do we all do about this issue for now? Should I call Applecare?

Jul 28, 2009 10:47 PM in response to jsheng319

I did contact Apple Care again after the repair that didn't fix the issue and yesterday they picked mine up for replacement.
Hopefully the new CD will get the job done.

Jul 28, 2009 10:53 PM in response to Being Remixed

Don't bet on it. I've had a replacement and it had exactly the same problem. About time Apple did something about this!!!!!!!!!!!

Display flashes to solid black intermittently