MacBook Air screen has a thin black line and flickering

My macbook air - about 2 years old - all of a sudden has a thin black horizontal line crossing the middle of its screen and there is also a slight flickering in the screen. I've tried rebooting but that's about it. Suggestions?



MacBook Air, macOS 15.1

Posted on Jun 14, 2026 12:14 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 15, 2026 3:46 AM

Thank you for reaching out. 😉


First, let’s see if this issue happens in Safe Mode:


  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Press and hold the power button on your Mac. As you continue to hold the power button, your Mac turns on and loads startup options. When you see Options, release the power button.
  3. Select your startup disk. It's named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name.
  4. Press and hold the Shift key, then click the “Continue in Safe Mode” button below your startup disk.
  5. Log in to your Mac. You might be asked to log in again.


If the strange behaviors do not occur, then it may possibly be a software issue.


If the issue doesn't continue in safe mode:

Leave safe mode by restarting your Mac normally, then try to reproduce the issue.


If the issue doesn't return, it might have been resolved by the other things that safe mode did at startup, such as checking your disk and clearing caches.


If the problem persists, then let’s try this:


If none of those ideas work, then I recommend service.


Service Checklist:



Click ▶︎ Start a Service Request. ⚛️



Need more help?


Click ▶︎ Check Repair Status. 🔧


Good luck! 👋🏼😉

Smiliñ 😎 Brian

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 15, 2026 3:46 AM in response to karoc

Thank you for reaching out. 😉


First, let’s see if this issue happens in Safe Mode:


  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Press and hold the power button on your Mac. As you continue to hold the power button, your Mac turns on and loads startup options. When you see Options, release the power button.
  3. Select your startup disk. It's named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name.
  4. Press and hold the Shift key, then click the “Continue in Safe Mode” button below your startup disk.
  5. Log in to your Mac. You might be asked to log in again.


If the strange behaviors do not occur, then it may possibly be a software issue.


If the issue doesn't continue in safe mode:

Leave safe mode by restarting your Mac normally, then try to reproduce the issue.


If the issue doesn't return, it might have been resolved by the other things that safe mode did at startup, such as checking your disk and clearing caches.


If the problem persists, then let’s try this:


If none of those ideas work, then I recommend service.


Service Checklist:



Click ▶︎ Start a Service Request. ⚛️



Need more help?


Click ▶︎ Check Repair Status. 🔧


Good luck! 👋🏼😉

Smiliñ 😎 Brian

MacBook Air screen has a thin black line and flickering

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