MacBook Pro on Catalina shows blue squares instead of images

Hi I have a Mac Book pro OS Catalina version 10.15.7 on some sites I get blue squares with question marks instead of pictures a lot more sites have got the same problem

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Feb 1, 2026 12:53 PM

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Posted on Feb 1, 2026 1:30 PM

Are you using Safari? If so, then that browser is long out of date so it is not surprising that it may not be able to render some websites. The Internet has changed a lot since Catalina. You can try using a third party web browser, but most of them no longer support Catalina, but Firefox is still supported:

https://www.firefox.com

5 replies

Feb 2, 2026 6:35 PM in response to 7Z2aBc

7Z2aBc wrote:

Hi about the blue squares instead of images on my Mac Book Pro it's a Catalina version 10.15.5 15" Mid 2012
Processor 2.3GHzQuad-core Intel core17 Memory 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 Graphics Itel HD Graphics 4000 15-36 MB

macOS Catalina is the last supported version of macOS for a 2012 model. You are two patches out of date since the last version of macOS is 10.15.7.


Definitely try Firefox to see if that makes any difference.


If Firefox also has a problem, then it is possible that your laptop has a bad GPU. A lot of the 2008-2011 15" & 17" MBPros were known to have GPU failures. The 2012 models were much better, but occasionally they also suffer from GPU failures. You can try booting into Safe Mode where the system uses the Intel GPU instead of the discrete GPU with the possible issues. If the issue does not occur in Safe Mode, then it is possible the discrete GPU is failing....or possibly some third party software is causing the problem, however, if the software has not changed, then a hardware issue is more likely.


You can also try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected. Unfortunately the diagnostics rarely detect GPU failures. The only useful diagnostic result is one which produces an error.


Edit: FYI, please don't post serial numbers on the forum since it is considered personal information. I will ask the moderators to edit your post to remove the serial number.

Feb 2, 2026 6:20 AM in response to 7Z2aBc

7Z2aBc wrote:

Thanks for the feedback on the blue squares I am using safari my Mac book pro says I am up to date can I get a upgrade or is it time to get a new Mac Book

I have no idea since you did not provide the exact model of your Mac. You can get this information by clicking the Apple menu & selecting "About This Mac".


MacBook Pro on Catalina shows blue squares instead of images

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