Macbook pro retina flicker

Nevermind, the issue keeps happening, but I have figured out a consistent way to reproduce it:

It only happens if I put the machine to sleep by closing the lid. Then it does all its flickering after waking up and never seems to stop (it doesn't flicker continuously, but does it sparingly).

But if I turn it off and back on, no issue.

It's a huge incovenience though, but a somewhat acceptable workaround.

That's what I did the first time. I brought in a video but they couldn't reproduce it there. So they kept it for a diagnostic that, naturally showed no problems. So last Thursday I took it back in. They gave me the same genius who continued to treat me like I was making it up even though I had a new video.

She hates when I refer to the communities because "anyone can post on them and they all have very different problems, you can't be sure they are speaking about the same problem ad you." Which is a valid point but I think pressing your finger over the F2 button to stop the screen flickering is a bit too specific to be a different issue.

Anyway, she still said apple isn't aware of any specific flaw causing this problem, but this time she sent it out to the repair people. Its apparently had its logic board replaced and I'm hoping to pick it up later today (after 5 days). What are the chances I'll still be having problems?

Pretty high, most people that just had the logic board replaced seem to have problems come up again within a few weeks. I had both the clamshell and the logic board replaced and haven't had a problem since

I actually started getting this problem _after having_ my logic board replaced. I have an MBA11" (2012); the screen flickering varies, but at times renders the computer virtually unusable.

@the42ndfl00r - This is Apple's MO for many years now... to deny awareness of a problem widely known about on their own forum. And yes, they hate it when you mention the forum, which really begs the question about why they provide the forum to begin with. Seems to me that it would be trivial for a good lawyer to prove in the eyes of the law that they had knowledge of issued widely reported on their own forums.

The geniuses at my Apple store (in the SF Bay Area) know all about the problem and didn't dispute it for a minute even though my MBP didn't exhibit the flickering when in the store. I did show them video. The first time they replaced the logic board but the problem came back after a few weeks. The second time they said I had a much better chance of the problem being fixed if they replaced the screen & clamshell in the store instead of sending it to Apple's central repair place. I told them (and showed them video) about the finger above F2 thing and they said they knew all about that too - the problem is caused by a trapped connector in the hinge on the left hand side of the screen. Bridging the gap re-makes whatever connection is damaged. I've had the computer back about a month now and so far so good.

@davidbsmith - That is great! Maybe the quality of genius is inversely proportional to the distance from Cupertino... here in Arlington, VA, quality is typically not great (though I've had exceptions).

Well I'm in the Chicagoland area... The countdown for the flicker to return is on.

I had the flicker problem but it was most noticeable on the toobar at the bottom and in web pages. Your milage may vary but for me it involved a re-install and a restore from a cloned disk.

1. Cloned my machine to an external HD using Carbon Copy Cloner.
2. Reinstalled the latest OS
3. when asked to migrate I did from my external HD BUT!!! what I did was specify what to clone over. I ended up cloning everything but the System Settings from my old machine. I had tried it with different settings and only when I copied over the System settings did the flicker return.

It seems there is some old setting in the previous OS that is not happy with the newest version (probably some graphics drive issues). Everything else cloned OK (accounts, apps, docs, etc).

I wanted to add this is since I did find a solution to my own flicker problem and it might help others.

G

Flicker problem just started on my MBPR today. I put my thumb between the key board and the screen (the gap just left or right of the hinge). By joing the connection between the screen and the central keyboard the flickering went away. It is clearly a wiring/grounding issue. If I tilt my computer to the side of the power cord, the flickering also seems to stop. Something came loose and is now shorting the screen causing the flickering. All programs seem to run at 100% regardless of the flickering.

@davidbsmith: Which Apple store was this ? I am afraid of the geniuses not believing me as it happens randomly - I can't seem to reproduce the problem on demand. Someone else I know - in London - had this problem and the genius told him that if he couldn't reproduce the problem in store that meant the problem was with something the user was doing that was outside of Apple's control and hence not fixable by them ...

@harshw I had an intermittant flickering problem with my MBA; I recorded a video of the screen in action and went to the Grand Arcade Apple in Cambridge (UK). Showing them the video was enough for them to take it in and replace the circuit board and screen clam shell.

FWIW - I believe there was also an issue with Chrome causing flickering; you may want to make sure it isn't that.

@harshw: I went to the Corte Madera store in Northern California (Bay Area). I went two times, and neither time would it show the problem at the store. But because I had video of the flickering the geniuses completely accepted that the computer was defective and took it in for repairs without question. The first time they sent it to Apple's central repair place for a new logic board, which did not fix the problem. The second time they suggested keeping it in store and putting in a screen/clamshell assembly. That seems to have fixed the problem - I've had the computer back about 7 weeks with no sign of flickering. One of the geniuses in the store said that the problem is a wire or connector from the computer to the screen that runs through the left hand hinge and can get trapped, which is why bridging the gap with your finger (the so-called F2 effect) stops the flickering. As an aside, I was lucky - my first screen was an LG which suffered from the ghosting problem. The new screen is a Samsung, which does not have the ghosting problem.

This issue is now well enough known that all Apple geniuses should be on top of it and should take your word if you have video of it. Good luck!

@davidbsmith @DK__: I booked an appointment with the Genius and went in today - the person was quite helpful. I explained that I had a video of the problem but no way to reproduce it. I also noted that the problem also occured on Windows - the genius said that ruled out software as the cause. He's ordered some parts for me, in the next 3-4 days I should be able to go and give the laptop for repairs. It seems once he saw the video he knew exactly what was happening - thanks for suggesting I take the video along.

All I am hoping now is that I dont get an LG display with IR issues 🙂

I bought a custom MBP 2.6 GHZ with 512GBSSD and 16GB RAM. All in all it is the nicest computer I have ever owned which is probably around 100 and its about #20 in Apple computers. Its Fast CPU,SSD, and Video chip, display is great. I used my old MB Air, 2011 the other day and the display looked dim,washed out and unlcelar in comparsion, before the Retina MBP I thought it was fine.

I do howerver get this random flicker. It usually is quite infrequent, and it might go hours without doing it. Sometiems it will do it once or a few times and stop. I never notice it watching Netflix movies but I have noticed both when in bed and on a desk. It doesnt seem to relate to tempature. At this point it really isnt enough of an issue to worry about all I have noticed it twice since I have been writing this which is a lot. I wonder if I should go talk to an Apple Store now, or wait and see if it gets worse. I might point out that it never did it for the first few months and the machine fell off the bed in and has a very small dent at the top of the display. Flexing the display does nothing to cause it. I will run a flight sim under Win 8 which loads of the video processor and CPU and see if that makes any diference. Anybody have any suggestions?