M1 MBP Screen Flickering, External Monitor Crashing, & Unable to Connect to Apple Watch

I have the same issue too with the screen resolution on top of the flickering issue. I restarted my computer and was able to get it working normally in the meantime. I'm hoping this is just a software bug and I don't have to send it in for replacement.

I have a similar issue with M1 MacBook Air. The external monitor (Dell S2817Q, 4K scaled to 2560px with 60Hz) is connected by HDMI and an adaptor. I have tried 3 adaptors and 2 cables and still get occasional flickering and what appears to be a slight reduction in visual quality - like the gridlines between pixels become visually apparent.

This doesn't happen all the time, though, which is unhelpful in diagnosing the source of the issue.

I'm using the correct Apple power adaptor and cable, in the top thunderbolt port. The inbuilt display is completely fine.

Afraid not, was using it all day yesterday and it was fine until about 9 hours of use and it started flickering I noticed the display would have tiny vertical lines on it and was more noticeable on my Citrix Remote Desktop I use for work.

today the same thing happened after a couple of hours and I pressed the hdr button on the monitor to turn on hdr and it stopped flickering. It’s been fine since.

so the same thing with the dp cable.

The flickering seems to occur when there is lots of white on the display with the resolution is set to 3840x2160

I am having these EXACT two issues too. For the blanking external monitor, at first I thought it was a malfunctioning USB-C port, or perhaps my monitor cable. When my screen goes blank, I have to unplug and switch USB-C ports to get it to turn back on. So frustrating! Also, I work in two locations with two different monitors. I notice this screen blanking phenomena on my larger, 30" monitor (ASUS) with 3840x2160 resolution. For the flickering issue, I'm noticing this when I've unplugged from my external monitor and the resolution on my laptop is "off screen". By this I mean that the menu bar at the top of the screen is left-justified correctly, but extends well past the top-right corner of my screen (I can see the Wifi and Search icons, but NOT the date / time). If I reboot or plug back in to my external monitor this generally goes away.

These are frustrating issues to have to deal with (particularly the blanking external monitor) as they literally happen multiple times each day and are finicky and random to try to resolve. If Apple could offer a diagnosis and solution here, that would be much appreciated!

I have the same issues with an external monitor - vertical banding and flickering for short duration at seemingly random times. I have noticed this happens, almost exclusively, with a web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox). I have not seen it with other apps (or so rare that I don't recall) - anyone else have this observation?

I have two Macbook pro and Macbook air with M1 chip, I have the same problem for both, when I plug in external monitor sometime two monitors, external and main, stars flickering. Also sometime when I plug in external monitor, my main Macbook Pro monitor zooms in and I need to do restart to get back default resolution.

m1 Mac mini works with 2 external displays but they have to be specific models known to work otherwise you get the flickering and lines. Apple appear to just ignore the issue. The amount of displays connected does not seem to change the issue.

I have even seen the flickering when there is no external display (or any cable at all) connected to the device.

Adjusting the brightness up seemed to make the issue go away. I haven't tried disabling true-tone to see if that is related....

Update:

I just disabled true-tone, and still see the flickering. This happened once again on the built-in display, but this time I also had an external display attached via HDMI and it was not flickering.

I'm having this issue, too. I lose the right inch or two from the display. The only fix I've found is resetting the computer. I've got an M1 Macbook pro 13", 16gb ram, 1tb SSD, and using an LG ultrafine 5k display.

Thank you all for your valuable input and advice. I have a Mac Mini M1 and a BenQ monitor (EL2870U)

I've tried a variety of things, none of which seem to last. In short, this product is a duck and should never have been released to market. I'm an English teacher, specialising in Business, technical and scientific English and I have a global (albeit modest) audience. One of my very Apple experienced, software developer clients has kindly examined some of the video footage of the flickering and distortions that I've experienced and his comment was simply:

'Send it back'. This product is a total waste of time, so stop wasting your time and hoping that it will get better, because Apple have forgotten about customer service and are relying on brand security.

By the way, BenQ were very helpful and did their best to resolve the problem. Apple chose to blame others - Zoom and Skype and other rarely used apps and then had the audacity to suggest reinstalling the operating system. Yeah right - like I've got time!

Mine's getting boxed up and going back on Monday morning.

Same problem, my monitor is 32UN500, 4K with HDR.

Mac is Mac Mini 16GB.

Flickers flashing during some scenes of films.

The flickering is not random, it flickers always in the same points so it's a clear software/firmware issue.

8K cable by Kabel Direkt but also with LG original cable, same point flickering.

Update: flickering returned shortly. Even some ghost image of the monitor OSD is visible, so I think the interference problem is in the monitor (i.e. Mac Mini M1 radiation). What helped (for now) is moving the ferrite choke onto the monitor power cable (RFI can enter the signal path most easily via cables, so it's either the HDMI or the power cable).

Also having issues. Brand new 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro, connected to a single 1440p/60 Hz Benq monitor via HDMI from the laptop's HDMI port straight into the monitor's HDMI input. Monitor regularly blanks out for several seconds and then comes back. Happens around ten times a day. Have tried: turning off auto brightness on the laptop display; changing laptop display from ProMotion to 60Hz; disabling DDC (display data channel) on the monitor. Problem still persists. I can't believe it's 2021 and this is a $5,000 laptop and something so basic doesn't work properly.

Edit: this is running Monterey 12.0.1

Yes!! I'm having the same issue with my MBA m1 flickering/flashing on and off. I have 2 different HDMI cables, two USB-C to HDMIs and a usb-c to usb-c cable. They all do the same thing.

Mac m1 mini user here. Still flickering after yesterdays update. For me the flickering is caused by certain apps. Rekordbox as of now.