24" LED Display with 2011 15" MPB

Thanks for posting what you learned.

This forum/discussion has been very helpful, all 10 pages of it so far.

I have two 27" LED cinema displays at work. While the random blackouts happen on my 24" at home, they have no happened with either 27" monitor yet. Just wanted to add this data point out there. I'll update if the blackouts start happening on the 27" but nothing yet.

I wonder how long this will take.......
I wonder if it really is a software problem.......
I wonder if there is any strategy to minimize the blinks......
3 in the last 90 seconds.......
Earlier none for 2 hours.......

We wait...... we wonder...... make that a 4th blink while I type......

sigh...........

Thanks jyang.. I was just wondering if it is only the 24" or the 27" as well, being that i just bought a new MBP yesterday and I have a 27".

I dunno what's up with Apple and their QA lately but there was never more than your normal faulty devices up until about year ago.. first the iphone4 (which I have not bought because).. then I was lucky enough to get an iPad2 and it has the worst LED bleed ever and constantly creates errors in itunes..

now, I am nervous about this issue with my new MBP and 27" display.. I sure hope not. I get the new MBP Tuesday so I'll report back.

I have a bit of a strategy that is doing better for me......

Unplugging the power cord from the monitor when I am going to be away from it for a more than a few hours. When I do this I tend to get very few blackouts for the first let's say 2 hours at least if not four.....

Why don't some of the rest of you try this and see if it works for more than just me??

-Lee

I did a reset of the pram. It seemed to have helped a bit. I still get black outs. But only a few times over a whole day. Might be worth a try. See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/26871.html. For how to perform a reset.

I also tried a PRAM reset. It helped for about 20-30 minutes, then I got a black out, followed by another 15 minutes later, then another 7 minutes later, then blackouts every 2 minutes, then every minute, then the "grand finale" super-meltdown where the whole display doubles itself and starts jittering ("seizing") and everything's a total mess and I had to disconnect.

This problem is STILL unsolved, can't believe it.

Your symptoms leading up to and including the super-meltdown (lol) are EXACTLY what I experience as well. Usually, unplugging the display cable, waiting a few seconds, and replugging it back in will fix it. I would say it even resets the whole cycle leading up to the meltdown again...

When I turn off the display for an extended period of time (at night or when I go to work) and turn it back on, all while connected to the computer that's still awake, I notice that this resets the "cycle" as well and I don't see the first blackout for at least 30mins-1hour.

I went to the Apple Store Genius Bar today so they can have a look at the MBP. They sent me back home saying "there's literally no resolution to this problem right now, but support knows about it and they're working on an additional fix for the more unique Early-2011 models that didn't get this problem fixed with the 10.6.7 update."

There you have it folks. Hang tight.

Wow... the meltdown is just too much..... This seems much more sever than the blackout blink issue (though maybe it is just the far end of the spectrum). Regardless, that seems pretty unacceptable. I fear this is more display related than MBP (but that is my opinion)......

You meltdown guys have a pretty good case for asking customer support for some kind of exchange or ??? like maybe a great deal on a 27???

Also, at least on this board I have yet to hear of anyone who had their issue fixed by 10.6.7........

@lee, i've thought about asking for a swap like that, but Apple support is very vague on the source of the issue. i keep asking if it's limited to the 24s, and they answer "we're not sure. we've had reports from other external displays too, and also combinations including USB/VGA adapters, etc..."

they're basically saying they're getting the problem from any type of display. i don't think they'd lie just to avoid us Apple display owners from rightly claiming a swap.

i don't know, how else to proceed here? i wish i knew how many people the 10.6.7 update actually helped. remember, they probably won't come back and report the good news. it's only the complainers that lurk the forums (logically)

My opinion......

Apple is all about customer satisfaction......
Customer service has more latitude then Apple Store or AC.......
The level of problem you are having (as in system becomes unusable - with admission that YES this is a problem AND with no real time table when or if this will be fixed) is certainly grounds for looking into what would make you happy.....

FWIW..... this was suggested to me along the way if I found that my current system was causing me more unhappiness than i could easily deal with......

Good Luck....
-Lee

Another update on replacing the 24":

Spoke to Apple support on the phone today for quite a bit and they released this bit of info:
-Intermittent flickering issue with 24" LED Cinema Display is an *escalated engineering priority*
-Software/firmware update will be pushed soon, *check Software Update daily*
-*No repairs or replacements* are being made for this issue (they were firm on that)

So, just gotta be patient, and no new 27" for me 😟

I hear ya........

but.....

-"Intermittent flickering" issue with 24" LED Cinema Display is one thing.......
Meltdown leading to actually unuseable is another!
IMHO of course........

Well...... let's see how the escalator ride works...... here's hoping thats all it is 🙂.......

-Lee

I am finding that if I re-plug the display port it normally fixes the issue, sometimes it takes a few attempts.. But if I let it go and not do anything it will progressively get worse and the blackouts turn into a graphic meltdown.