Photos Mac App Graphics Issue

Try selecting one of the problem thumbnails and rotate it 90º one direction and then back again to rebuild the thumbnail.

Also download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

Copy the report

and use the Add Text button to include the report in your reply. How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting Large Amounts of Text, i.e. an Etrecheck Report

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what's causing the problem..

Download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

Copy the report

and use the Add Text button to include the report in your reply. How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting Large Amounts of Text, i.e. an Etrecheck Report

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

ALSO:

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine the root of the problem.

First thing to do is make sure you have a current and complete backup of your hard drive. If you have a drive you can clone your boot drive to that would expedite the troubleshooting.

Now log into another user account and see if the problem persists there in Photos. (This tells us if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide).

If still a problem from your account boot into Safe Mode (Use Safe Mode to isolate issues with your Mac)  and check to see if the problem persists there. Reboot normally and check again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing some system cache cleaning, volume verifying and directory repairing. 

Lastly, it may be time to make an appointment at the nearest Apple Genius Bar for a free diagnostic check. They may want to wipe the drive and reinstall a clean system to assure that there's no 3rd party software that could be causing the problem. So that's why you should have a current and complete backup before taking it in. If you go the clone route you can boot from the clone, and erase the laptops boot drive and clone back to it from the external drive.

Hi, I’ve already tried the rotate “trick “ (batch) and at the beginning I thought it was the right fix (thumbnails rebuild and no flickering ) but after that the Photo app started the usual long process for layout, find duplicates...etc. etc.

At the end of the process the flickering was back.

I also noticed this: the flickering is there only for Album views and in Recently added view.

In addition to this I noticed that if you open a window over the Photo app (i.e photo preferences) and you scroll the photos, there is no flickering.

Just bought a Macbook Pro 13 a couple of days ago. Its my first time using a newer one. It was acting wonky from the start. I installed all software updates as soon as I got the computer, and the installer hung on the Apple logo with the progress bar at about 25% while installing Catalina. I waited 2 hours and didnt see it move a smidge so I restarted the computer and it quickly finished reinstalling Catalina in like 30 minutes. After that my battery was out of whack and stayed on 99% for 5 hours, and then it finally dropped rapidly to like 76% and would keep dying at 76%. I realized the battery somehow wasnt calibrated. Recalibrated it and it worked fine, but still have two problems:

1) The graphical issues you mentioned in the photos gallery. Sometimes it happens when Im not scrolling but more often it happens when I scroll and especially if I reach the bottom of the folder and continue scrolling that will always trigger it.

2) I have a similar graphical glitch when the laptop is about to sleep, where the wallpaper turns rainbowey and it does the same thing when I try to shut down only it will hang on the desktop for like 30-45 seconds more than usual with the same graphical glitches.

I am definitely concerned about whether this is a hardware or software issue. I didnt get the chance to try everything out on Mojave because I immediately applied all updates first but this is definitely not a good first impression.

Most likely I will end up swapping the laptop for another of the same one and see if it continues to happen.

angeltello wrote:

Only information that we discovered is that when I created an alternate user and uploaded photos on that user there didn't seem to be any graphical issues.

Were you using the same library in the other user account that gave you problems in your account? If not as a test in your primary user account launch Photos with the Option key held down and create a new, test library.  Import some photos and test to see if the same problem persists. Does it? (This tells us if the problem is limited to your current library or is more wide spread)

Create a new library, import some of the same photos that are problematic in your current library and see if the problem persists. If it does try the following:

1 - copy the library to another user account on your Mac and see if the problem persists.

2 - copy the test library to another Mac that is running the same version of system and Photos and see if the problem persists. It's best if the other Mac is a different type of Mac than the one your're having problems with, i.e. if your Mac is a laptop try an iMac.

Hi Old Toad,

the problematic photos are completely random...they change everytime I open the photo app.

I noticed this:

1 - only places where I can see the glitch is in "Recently added" and in "albums"

2 - If I open Photo app preferences panel and I scroll the pictures, there is NO glitches.

3 - If I reboot in safe mode, NO gltches

4 - in my wife's Mac Book Air 2018 (I'm on MBP 2017) there are no glitches at all (same Catalina Version)

Thanks for your response.

I have malware bytes installed just in case, and oddly did have to run a check on a single file I was trying to attach to a website saying that the file I was attached had a virus...but I wiped the computer after that entirely because I thought Catalina was my photos issue (they also won’t sync to my phone at all).

I have a folder that I exported all unedited originals into, prior to clean installing Catalina and have the Photos library backup from before the clean install too.

That website warning was a scam as there are no viruses for Macs. However, Malwarebytes is the only app I use as there can be adware and malware that we could inadvertently install. I don't run in continuously in the background but just when I think there may be a need.

If you get another popup up at a website just close out Safari and launch it again with the Shift key held down. Also run Malwarebytes.

Sorry just saw this. I scrolled through Recently Added Pictures and Shared Albums (Shared Albums was where I first noticed the issue) and it has been completely resolved for me. I was about to take the laptop and have it exchanged before I resolved the issue.

To clarify, I did not do a clean reinstall. I just went into recovery and reinstalled the OS and it maintained all of my files and the issue just resolved, as well as all of the other issues that I had mentioned in my prior post.

EDIT: I did not and still do not have any antivirus software installed before and after solving the issue.

I just reinstalled Catalina over my current installation in case it would help me too, and it has not. Guess I could clean install again but I did it just before 10.15.2 so not sure that would help? Still seeing the same thing in photos like OP. They do seem to only occur on the photos in albums...

Thanks for the report.

Glad you fixed you issues!

In my case I clean installed Catalina (10.15.2) but nothing changed...same graphical glitches in "Recently added" and in "Albums" and only if the picture size cursor is in the middle or below. If I maximize the pictures sizes I have no glitches.

At this point I don't know what to to try....

Update: the issue with my albums has stayed away so far but I’ve started getting the graphical glitches on the desktop wallpaper whenever the laptop goes to sleep or starts shutting down. It’s happening less frequently now but I’ve decided I had enough and I am gonna exchange the laptop at Best Buy since I’m still within the return period.