MacBook Air 2013 i7 displays odd/random horizontal line

The graphics card should be able to cope with a wallpaper change, or hiding a window. That's something a PC from the 1990s wouldn't have any trouble dealing with.

Also, I had a look at ALL the MacBook airs they have in the Apple store at Regent Street and none have that problem. It's really annoying, as one of their 'managers' told me it's an OS issue and the reason I can't replicate the error on the machines in store is because they are apparently a different build. I call bulls**t.

Anyone had any luck resolving this? As mentioned in previous posts screen and logic board replacement didn't seem to have an impact. My next action is to compel them to test this on a different MBA - that should reliably provide an answer whether it's an OS or a hardware issue.

Wait a minute...

your previous post mentioned:

2. When I got home I downloaded Chrome and Evernote, without putting ANYTHING else on my machine = the error resurfaced.

Is it happening on anything other than CHROME?

Chrome, currently is ripe with bugs and problems, as the Chrome boards will indicate to you.

Verify same NOT using Chrome. Many have uninstalled Chrome due to a huge plethora of Chrome related bugs.

😊

It has nothing to do with Chrome. I don't even have it installed and I also have these lines. They already appeared when I installed OS X. So it has nothing to do with external software.

I know there is a similar behaviour with Chrome, but that's not it.

I'm getting my third new MacBook Air in a few days. I hope that this will fix the issue.

In my opinion it could also be an issue with the graphics driver.

I replied ---

Jan 25, 2014 4:07 AM (in response to asenasen)

meaning I wasn't addressing your comment.

Diagnostic on the Air is incredibly easy. process of elimination is VERY fast.

Application,

OSX (absolutely NOT possible the case)

Monitor

Logic at monitor feed or logic board.

only 3 possibilities exist......and ML or Mavericks OSX are most certainly not it.

Thanks for the observation, but my original post mentioned that the error could be reliably triggered with iBooks, not Chrome: I was able to reliably trigger the problem by opening a book in iBooks, placing the window roughly in the top right quadrant of the screen and doing Cmd+F3, which brings up a long, flickering 1-pixel thick line across the screen.

The point I was trying to make with the statement you quoted was that I wanted not to upload my old system setup in order to be 100% sure it wasn't my software causing the issue. And I was correct.

I have a test account which has no 3rd party software and the lines continue to manifest.

Holy mackerel 3rd MBA! I'm sorry to hear that - it's got to be frustrating - mine is a custom build, so I guess a long period of wait is in my future!!! Or else I could (reluctantly) switch to Pro with a similar configuration...

It doesnt have to be 3rd party software.

Ibooks ehh. Same as PDF.. NOW the question is. digital text ZOOMED in, OR scanned book image Ibook?

Either one can / will produce such a line for an instant.

Ive seen that in EVERY OSX version

.....AND in every PC OS Win7, XP, Win8, Vista etc etc.

working with 15 Terabytes of PDF files I know the line you speak of, when moving ZOOMED text around or a pic scan PDF book around

As mentioned earlier - the lines occur on various instances - it's iBooks which reliably replicates this. I have seen it in Facebook with absolutely no moving of the window - simply scrolling through images.

I can replicate it with an Apple purchased plain e-Book at 0% zoom. Exactly a title that they have in store, which seems to have no impact on their own computers.

I think there is no question about the fact that the issue is with the mac. And the nature of the artefact (1px flickering line across the screeen) is very different from what occurs when dragging a super heavy PDF which leaves 'frozen traces' on screen. And even if that was the case. let's face it - I'm buying a £1500 top of the line computer, which has the capacity to render 1st person shooters etc. I don't think anyone would accept it choking on a PDF.

Actually I wasn't referring to frozen tracks from a, for example, 1gigabyte PDF file or specifically a PDF portfolio conglomerate.

However I can assure you most certainly Ive NEVER found any computer in history, including the new Mac Pro that wont choke for a fraction of a second on a giant PDF file.

15 years of staring at and creating PDF files is proof enough of this.

Your specific indications implicate a faulty logic board on your specific unit.

Peace 😊

Thank you. The logic board and the screen have been replaced, the issue is still there unfortunately. So I am hopefully going to ask them to replace the machine. I have run out of options and patience with Apple - 7 visits to the Regent St store and no resolution.

There has got to be a hardware solution. Or they need to recall the batch - so far this has cost them about £600 in parts and god knows how much in labour, at least in my case.

It hasnt cost them anything really, you paid for service and your warranty, that means making you happy, even in the rare instance , such as your case, more than one visit is required to either diagnose and fix, or 'overshoot' the unit (meaning replace the entire Air),.....that of course is the discretion of Apple Inc,

There is no empirical evidence of any such 'batch' issue however. 😊

Obviously a hardware emulation issue exists in your unit to wit your current diagnostics were unable to rectify.

Oddly however, the Air is absurdly simplex inside and there is very little to diagnose eliminatively

It totally agree with you that it has nothing to do with zoom text or whatever. As you already said: The lines orrur on various instances (Using mission control, doing nothing, scrolling, installing OS X, using Safari, writing with Pages ...). So there is definatly an issue with this notebook.

I tried to reproduce the issue with ibooks but I had no luck with it. But I can definitely reproduce it by changing the wallpaper.

The line itself is not the only strange behaviour I'm having with the MacBook Air. In Mountain Lion, Safari had some glitches in the toolbar. This never appeard on my Mac Mini. But this issue has been resolved after upgrading to Mavericks.

Another issue I'm having with the MBA is a glitch in Mail. I had this issue on my first MBA and on my second one. I actually just took the picture. There are four small black stripes in the dropdown menu. Reprodable by opening und closing the dropdown menu. It does not always happen - just from time to time.

As I already said. Those gliches only appear on the MacBook Air. I happend on the first device, on the first device with another logic board and on the second new device I got from Apple. So I really think that this is part of the issue.

at about 38% profit margin on a mabook air i think it's fair to say that my repair and labour costs are well outside of what would be reasonably expected to occur as aftercare cost... anyhow.

hey all...reset SMC...might it solve ur problems....