Extremely Blurry Screen M1 MacBook Pro 16

So, no reinstall helped. The problem just kept coming back. I contacted Apple and they replaced it for free (2 months out of warranty, props to Apple) I just had to pay for the labor because I was using one of their approved service centers since I'm not close to an Apple Store, but since I'm in Thailand at the moment the labor was like $20 lol. Oh, and they did confirm it was a hardware issue.

No, data in mine was not corrupted. I started a support case, and they said it could indicate an issue with the display or even a device plugged into the usb c thunderbolt port. Try and see if you can use an external display to see what you are doing and then try the "Better Display" application to turn the built in display off and then on again.

One thing that changed in mine is I recently moved to powering it with the thunderbolt port instead of the magnet power port, so I had less things to plug in when I move it around. Maybe the lower power of that or the tunderbolt docking/port device triggered something in the graphics engine.

Hi ChimarraoMate,

Could you tell me exactly which feature you used within BetterDisplay which allowed turning off / on the built-in LCD? I have BetterDisplay installed, but there are many menus and many options. I don't know where to find the feature that you used and exactly what it is named.

Thanks!

Hey!

When this happened to me, I called up Apple and a technician went through all the different hard reset options etc, before I went to the centre.

None of these worked, and I suspect if you have the same issue they won’t work for you also.

Just a pre warning, if it is hardware and your laptop is out of warranty, without any AppleCare on your device you’ll need to pay atleast £700+ (UK) in order to get it fixed.

If you’re unable to afford that like I was, you can still use the laptop with a separate monitor. Since mine did this in January, I have been booting it up with the laptop closed, and using a separate monitor to do work.

Since it’s a hardware issue, If you have a separate monitor, there’s no reason you can’t keep using your laptop.

Hopefully you don’t have the same issue, and it’s able to be fixed! If not, I hope my reply helps :)

Just happened to my launch day 16" M2 Max MBP as well. Was sitting with the laptop in my lap, watching something on the TV, didn't even touch the MBP (besides it being in my lap of course), looked down and the screen was like this. It was charging using the MagSafe 3 adapter from the 140W brick the computer shipped with when it happened.

Rebooted a bunch of times, tried that Better Display app to turn it off and on again. About to try SMC reset but from the looks of this thread it doesn't sound promising...

An update to this. An Apple Authorised Service Partner (MacForum AB) took in the machine and asked for 12,000 SEK (at time of writing 1,163 USD) to replace the screen (and the Lid Angle Sensor), plus an additional 800 SEK examination fee (78 USD).

I asked if it was covered under consumer protection laws in the EU, they asked for the original receipt, I gave them that and then they ultimately replaced the screen for free and repaid the examination fee!

So all is well in the end, but I am now mourning the loss of the pretty stickers I had on my lid 😭

@joaquín161 - it seems like no one has been able to fix this yet. I did sell mine for about $750, and it seemed like the buyer was sure he could fix it (saw his profile and he sold tons of Macs second hand). So if you are very technical, you might have a shot. And if not, try your luck with consumer law (won’t work in Asia), or you have to do what most people did, which is pay a hefty price for a screen you never broke. Good luck!

One interesting finding I had was that when getting the MacBook into diagnosis mode and running the offline tests (by using an external mouse, keyboard & display to get through the dialogs while having the notebook closed), **the screen works perfectly fine.** But only during testing. So it seems weird that it is something with the screen or the lid angle sensor.

Maybe some others with the same problem could confirm whether this works on their machines or not? Then it would be something completely different (and I am not sure why replacing the screen would fix the issue as the screen is working perfectly fine).

Maybe something on the motherboard on the path to the lid angle sensor? Diagnosis says "everything works fine"...

One interesting finding I had was that when getting the MacBook into diagnosis mode and running the offline tests (by using an external mouse, keyboard & display to get through the dialogs while having the notebook closed), the screen works perfectly fine. But only during testing. So it seems weird that it is something with the screen or the lid angle sensor.

Maybe some others with the same problem could confirm whether this works on their machines or not? Then it would be something completely different (and I am not sure why replacing the screen would fix the issue as the screen is working perfectly fine).

Maybe something on the motherboard on the path to the lid angle sensor? Diagnosis says "everything works fine"...

I am having the same issue. I was told in a store my system is vintage a while back but the system has been existent for sometime now. Any ideas: I have cleaned up the system … rebooted the system. Nothing…..

This just happened to me. Looks exactly like that screenshot. Same model: Macbook Pro 2016 16 inch. Very frustrating. Gotta waste an evening at an Apple store. Somehow hoping the problem will go away. Because I don't have the coverage (of course!).

Looks like a hardware issue. I can't imagine how a software bug would result in such a screen.

I had Monterrey (or whatever was before Sonoma). I just upgraded to Sonoma using an external monitor, hoping that the issue would be fixed. It was not fixed.

My next step is to take it to the Genius bar because they guy told me they can wipe away the hard disk and reinstall everything from factory settings (after backing it up). if it's a software issue, it will fix it.

If that doesn't fix it, he says to replace the screen is around $900 USD. Ridiculous. My warranty has expired. I'm based in Shanghai, China. I bought the unit in Canada, which is my home country. I intend to appeal at the store or wherever for Apple to replace the screen for free, as someone above said that they got that done in the UK. also this is looking to be a manufacturing error that is completely unjustifiable for a product at this price point.

I'd like to hear if anyone else is having any luck with appealing to Apple for a free of charge fix.

From my research, it appears the blur is because the computer remains in IDLE mode, and can sometimes lose its backlight also but I think its still in sleep mode rather than a backlight issue.

The reason I think this is because mine was broken and after a year I updated the software and everything worked as normal for a day and then it went blurry, so its not a backlight issue as software fixed it.

The cause is the Lid sensor. When you open the computer, the lid sensor normally would turn on your computer, the M1 model and up, uses magnets around the lid sensor and these magnets need calibration.

I can link a video on potentially how to fix this or to see further what I mean, but this is a serious issue apple needs to address. If you lean your phone up against the screen or leave the battery charger in for long periods it could change the magnet of the lid sensor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u18D_NPGhzQ

In the beginning, I also thought, it was the lid angle sensor. I replaced the angle sensor and it seems like the issue still persists! However, the angle sensor probably works perfectly fine. It detects opening of the MacBook (boots when being shut down) as well as closing the lid because the camera is unavailable when being closed.

Still, the screen doesn't seem completely broken as it works (sometimes) during diagnostics mode. :|

It just happened to me this morning as well. It took me 10-1/2 months to get this computer working when I first purchased it. Apple was ZERO help finding the issue, despite MANY hours on the phone and trips into the store.

I've been using Apple hardware/software exclusively since the early 80s. This will be the last! If I make it to Heaven, I let y'all know what Steve thinks about it. ;-(