Screen Flicker with External Monitor

Update:

I've switched the HDMI port I'm using on my TV to one of the other standard HDMI ports. Previously I was using the HDMI/DVI port since my previous MacBook Pro used a DVI to HDMI cable.

I'm not sure what the differences between those two HDMI ports are, but the display flicker is much improved. It still happens, but it's very infrequent now. I would say it's down from once every 10 or so seconds to about once every 10-15 minutes. At least at first.

I've also noticed that over time (within the span of an hour) it starts to happen a bit more frequently.

Sometimes it's not even the whole TV that's flickering. At times it's just the bottom half or the top half.

I wonder if it has anything to do with how hard the graphics processor is working, or how hot it gets. I haven't tried taxing it very much besides online Flash video like YouTube.

Have the same problem and Apple is not doing anything about it. Just started being a Mac user just a month ago.

I hope they do something about this FAST.

I tried connecting my MBP 13 2011 with a moshi HDMI adapter to an HP 22 inch monitor. Flickers eternally.

Help Apple.

I had an HP monitor that would flicker at times... it took me forever to find out why... my cellphone was too close to the monitor, I moved the cellphone and the flickering stopped. I now have a 226BW and it does not have this problem. BTW the cellphone also causes my clock radio to buzz sometimes.

Update:

In case anyone is wondering, the "Thunderbolt Firmware Update" released today (June 27 2011) does NOT fix the display flicker problem.

Please fix this problem, Apple! I'm not going to buy a new TV so that my MacBook Pro displays the image properly! It worked perfectly fine on my 2006 MacBook Pro.

Confirmed, Heronymo is right, applied the firmware update and almost immediately upon rebooting, my 24" Cinema Display attached via Thunderbolt did the sideways wiggle of the bottom 1/4 of the screen.

I've been trying to be the patient one on this thread, "yes apple knows about it", "yes, apple is working on it", "yes they'll get a fix to us" but you know what? I'm really really sick of a $3000 computer and a $900 monitor blinking on and off and shifting to the side.

FIX THIS APPLE!!!

Just curious... Has anyone tried an external display under Windows? I don't even know if that port works under Windows but perhaps it's worth testing. I'll do this when I get home later under Bootcamp with Windows 7.

I doubt I'll see any difference, it's probably the firmware that needs to be updated and not the OS.

This seems not to be a Thunderbolt issue but something Apple has inadvertently created in its new OS release.

Just an observation here, using a MBPro15": by lowering the external monitor resolution from 1900x1200 to 1600x1200 (lose a lot of "real estate", of course) eliminates flicker on my Cinema Display. This suggest overload, but it's a new problem, to something that APPLE HAS INADVERTENTLY CREATED for those of use who rely extensively on external monitors (I use two, one a the office and one at my home, too).

Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,2

Processor Name: Intel Core i7

Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz

Number Of Processors: 1

Total Number Of Cores: 2

L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 4 MB

Memory: 4 GB

Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s

Boot ROM Version: MBP61.0057.B0C

SMC Version (system): 1.58f16

Serial Number (system): W80513NCAGZ

Hardware UUID: 989D3FC0-AAC8-5729-8C21-D7268A0FE0EC

Intel HD Graphics:

Chipset Model: Intel HD Graphics

Type: GPU

Bus: Built-In

VRAM (Total): 288 MB

Vendor: Intel (0x8086)

Device ID: 0x0046

Revision ID: 0x0018

gMux Version: 1.9.21

Displays:

Display Connector:

Status: No Display Connected -----> NOT SURE WHY THIS IS STATED ..... A DISPLAY IS CONNECTED (USING IT NOW)

Thunderbolt: No hardware was found.

Interestingly, after setting the display to 1600x1200 and then 1600x 1000, I went back to 1900x1200, and the flickering ceased. This might also provide temporary relief to others, and a clue to APPLE about where to look for a solution.

DS

Interesting. I'll have to try this at home. My max external resolution is 1080p since I'm using a TV, but I'll try setting it to a lower setting and see what happens.

I notice that the amount of flicker changes at different resolutions, but it's not until I go all the way down to 1024x768 that it disappears completely. Interestingly, at that resolution, the refresh rate was 75 Hz, higher than all the other resolutions (60 Hz).

Hmm so looks like, as David said, that it's some sort of overload problem. Higher res = more power (or otherwise) output?.

I really hope Apple fixes this soon.

I tried switching from DVI to VGA using a displayport to VGA adapter, but that didn't help. And the monitor's native resolution (1920x1200) was not available under VGA.

New iMac 27 inch user here with the Apple 24 inch external display having the same issue. I really hoped that last firmware was going to fix it, but it seems worse. I buy Apple stuff to avoid this kind of issue. Grrr.

Come to think of it, I have never needed to post anything here before.

If Apple Customer Care is reading this thread please let us know this is being fixed ASAP!

could I ask everyone here to call AppleCare to report the issue? When I called (twice and one genius bar appt) they acknowledged the problem, but if everyone here also called perhaps it would get more attention?

Complaining to each other is comforting but perhaps calling apple would be more helpful?

I'm considering my 3rd call....

Good idea! I'll do that today. I called them initially, but they just directed me to the Genius Bar, which had no solution for me either. I'll call them back and tell them it's sitll not working properly.

Perhaps we should also fill out bug reports on the feedback pages to cover all the channels.

MacBook Pro

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

iMac

http://www.apple.com/feedback/imac.html