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User profile for user: wheninseattle
wheninseattle Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Macbook Air Early 2015 - Sudden appearance of distorted lines and region when display text, no problems viewing video

I have an early 2015 Macbook Air in great condition. No drops, no damage.

Yesterday, the screen suddenly started showing distorted lines and regions when rendering text in browsers or PDF viewers.


Symptoms

  • Distorted areas move with content when scrolling
  • Distorted areas/lines flicker when scrolling
  • The same behavior occurs when I connect to my external display.
  • When I play a video there are no problems and the screen is crystal clear


Things I've tried

  • Connecting to external display to ensure it isn't the screen
  • Restarting computer
  • Reseting SMC
  • Reseting PRAM
  • Creating new user on system


Other info

  • I updated to Big Sur a few months ago - no recent updates
  • The computer has been sitting on my desk with external mouse/keyboard for the last few week, so there is no chance that is was dropped or spilled on without my knowledge.

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated!

Posted on Jun 25, 2021 10:41 AM

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User profile for user: dominic23
dominic23
User level: Level 10
83,964 points

Posted on Jun 25, 2021 12:36 PM

1. Update the software on your Mac,

    Update may come with bug fixes.

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201541


2. Startup in Safe Mode. https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/start-up-your-mac-in-safe-mode-mh21245/mac.  

    Quote:

    It also does a basic check of your startup disk, similar to using First Aid in Disk Utility. 

    And it deletes some system caches, including font caches and 

    the kernel cache, which are automatically created again as needed.

3 .If you still need help, please contact Apple Support.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: dominic23
dominic23
User level: Level 10
83,964 points

Jun 25, 2021 12:36 PM in response to wheninseattle

1. Update the software on your Mac,

    Update may come with bug fixes.

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201541


2. Startup in Safe Mode. https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/start-up-your-mac-in-safe-mode-mh21245/mac.  

    Quote:

    It also does a basic check of your startup disk, similar to using First Aid in Disk Utility. 

    And it deletes some system caches, including font caches and 

    the kernel cache, which are automatically created again as needed.

3 .If you still need help, please contact Apple Support.

Reply

Macbook Air Early 2015 - Sudden appearance of distorted lines and region when display text, no problems viewing video

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