2015 Retina Macbook Screen Flicker

I've done a fair amount of research on Apple communities but almost all of the problems I've read about involve a 15" 2012 macbook pro, which from what understand, has faulty graphics switching.

I've yet to encounter another person with a 2015 MBP Retina with this same problem.

Anyone?

Apple has "SORT OF" acknowledged the problem.

Hey guys ...

I had a early 2011 17 inch macbook pro. This one had the same problem you guys were mentioning. It was so bad that apple had to bring out a free replacement program for the affected macs.

MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues - Apple Support

I got my logic board replaced in 2015. Now a month back my macbook pro conked off again. The program had already expired by then. So I thought i would buy a new one. Went around looking and found that the touch bar macbook pro isnt to my liking. I love the magsafe connector and the ports. So i went around looking for a refurbished macbook pro. And this is what i stumbled into.

https://www.apple.com/sg/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

Notice how both the laptops are the same spec but for the discrete graphics card which is almost S$160 (US$118) cheaper.

I think apple knows the discrete graphics is giving problems, its just that they wont say it out in the open!!!

I thought apple would have dealt with the issue by now ( Refer: 2011 macbook pros with discrete graphics). How come the other manufacturers dont have this problem. Apple have been having this problem ( when it comes to discrete graphics) consistently since 2011!!!

I would recommend you guys to sell your working macbook pros asap & salvage whatever money you can get for it. Or wait till they come up with a free replacement program but it wont do you any good as that logic board will conk off in a year's time ( from experience).

Hope this helps you guys in some way.

Thank You.

PS: I was very careful not to overheat my MBP after i got it replaced. I Reapplied thermal paste. I switched off automatic graphics switching, had the GFX status software running ( for monitoring the temperature and the graphics switching) and still my MBP died on me (I got 6.5 yrs out of my MBP)

My friend had a early 2011 15 inch macbook pro with discrete graphics which had the same problem. He too used the free replacement program and got the logic board replaced. His too conked off one week before mine did.

1. I am still in love with apple products When it works, IT WORKS!!

2. I would still buy a mac but i would think twice before i buy one with discrete graphics.

3. I almost bought the above said discrete graphics mac. Its only when i saw the price difference i started doing my research and I stumbled onto people having problems with them.

4. Now I am contemplating whether to buy the touch bar mac to be on the safe side or to buy a refurbished non-discrete 2015 macbook pro. I do medium gaming on my mac ( Yes i am stupid to game on the mac but my work restricts me from taking my PS4 everywhere), so i need a laptop on which i can game satisfactorily. I love the MAC OS over windows is why i wanna stick to the MAC.

Same problem!

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics: Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB and the AMD Radion R9 M370X

OS 10.11.1 with the the firmware upgrade from July 22 2015

One way to fix this issue is switching GPU to integrate only. It works with gfxCardStatus. Unfortunately don't know how to fix it with dynamic switching.

Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015

OSX El Capitan 10.11.1

R9 M370X

I have the same problem with my Macbook pro mid 2015 i7 with AMD video card.

When it is flickering it also restarts all the time. In the Applestore they told me it is a software problem but after reinstalling everything the problem is still there. When I bring it in for repair I have to wait for 2 or 3 weeks. Also the problem is not occuring all the time.

So after consulting other apple store manager who suggested me to first take the backup and try to reinstall the OS. If that doesnt help then the only option is to clean the logic board. I have taken the backup and reinstalled the OS. The flickering has been stopped since reinstalling the OS. It has just been couple of days. But it hasnt happened once. Will update the status after a week.

My "flicker" occurs intermittedly when my MBP wakes up from sleep. I've tried shutting down completely, which usually solves the problem, but the flicker and pixelation occurs every 3 or 4 times waking from sleep mode. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have a 13" MBP

So it's been 2 weeks if I taking backup if everything and reinstalling the OSX, the screen hasn't flickered once. It must be the amount of data stored on the drive or something related to the disk space which must have been causing the flickering.

Exactly the same problem. It occurs When I try to log in. 1 week old mbpro (bought on feb-2017). 😟

Is it a hardware or software problem?

What to do ? Shoul I Wait on a software update or bring it to Apple store back ?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics: Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB and the AMD Radion R9 M370X

OS 10.12.3 Sierra

I am a new Mac user. So I have a question to you.

Did you clean install or re-install ?

I tried reinstall and I had all my files on disk after re-install. I dont know why.. Reinstall should to format disk or not ?

Thanks.

I did clean install and I have same problem still but a little bit better .

It happens/flickering now only while the Apple logo is showing when Mac OS is starting up.

Problem repeats only when I turn the "Automatic graphics switching" on in Energy saver. If I turn off this option, then there are no problems.

I think a software update should solve this problem for my case.

I can say Clean install helped.

Same thing happened to my pro late 2105.

Flickered and freezed after waking up.

The weirdest thing is that there's no problem while connecting external screen monitor, my windows10 have 0 problem and functioned smoothly. (I've boot Win10 while connecting the external monitor.)

MacBookPro Retina 15" mid 2015 El Capitan 10.11.4

Hour of screen flicker madness.

Screen blacked out, then white with vertical lines one side, then flickering.

Flickering high frequency - nearly unusable but not as mad as the video posted by Randyexplozion (page 4 of this thread) - this flickering is too high freq to catch on video.

Second display (Dell) connected operates normally. At some point after plugging in the second display the MBP screen has come back and eventually flickering has now stopped. All well for now!

longtime lurker in this thread. i just installed sierra 10.12.3 on my mid-2015 15-inch pro and it appears to have solved the issue for me. the screen used to flicker every single time the machine switched between integrated and dedicated graphics, but now everything functions smoothly. just glanced at the changelog for the update and it says...

This update:

Improves automatic graphics switching on MacBook Pro (15-inch, October 2016)

it seems to have done the trick for my 2015 model. hope it's as easy a fix for everyone else!

As of today, with all software up to date, these fun little white lines are definitely showing up on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015). As a designer who makes his living from this machine, this is a huge hit.