Q: 2015 Retina Macbook Screen Flicker
-
Nov 29, 2015 10:46 AMby markedmondson,I am also suffering from this exact problem. Originally with a late 2013 MBPr, which had the problem from the outset, it took me almost a year of fighting Apple (2 full logic board + display replacements, clean OSX installs to prove it was not software related, several visits to the Genius Bar, local reseller and numerous long calls to AppleCare) to get acceptance and a replacement unit.
I received that replacement 2015 MBPr this week and it amazingly suffers the same problem.
This originally lead me back to believing that it could be a software issue causing the flicker, it's the same pattern as the posts above, put the machine under stress and the discreet GPU switches to the dedicated and there's a millisecond flicker, usually the top half of the screen. However, this is a fresh install, minimal software and I ran the last machine through clean installs.
The only conclusion I can draw is this is a deeper routed OSX problem, perhaps they haven't figured out how to perfectly hand off the screen from one GPU to the other and the result is the occasional flicker. I'm dealing with it for now as the amount of effort exuded on getting them to validate the replacement wasn't worth it.
-
Dec 1, 2015 9:49 PMby RandyExplozion,
Fresh out of the box today at 6:30pm - Monday, December 1st, 2015 and doing this before 11:12pm.
I had traded a same specs MBP in earlier today which was doing the same thing.
The earlier MBP had el capitan.
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
Yosemite
2.5 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2048 MB
-
Dec 9, 2015 8:27 PMby clementwcm,I also started getting this problem with my late 2013 MBP after upgrading to El Capitan. Never had a problem with Mavericks or Yosemite. Have to settle by disabling automatic graphics switching for now. Appears to only happen when the integrated graphics (Intel Iris Pro) is used.
-
Dec 9, 2015 11:16 PMby wtlucky,I have the same problem with my newest 15.5-inch MBP retina mid-2015. Recently It happen many times per day. And I have done nothing, I just coding the code. It seems doesn't need to change the GPU. So why this happen? I am going to reinstall my OS this weekend and check if the problem is still there.This is really a bad experience when I am coding.
My MBP Info
El Capitan
10.11.2
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
Processor 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2048 MB
-
Dec 10, 2015 9:54 PMby clementwcm,Try disabling automatic graphics switching anyway from the energy settings. Sometimes OSX will still try to switch to discrete graphics when it feels there's slight increase in graphics load. That happens to my Macbook pro during browsing when you think there ought to be no need for switching to discrete. If this solution doesn't help then your problem is a different one then the one described here and could be hardware related. Let me know how you go.
-
Dec 11, 2015 2:57 AMby wtlucky,Thanks for your advise. Today I have tried disabling automatic graphics switching anyway from the energy settings. In this case it still has the flicker problem. And I also try the gfxCardStatus application. When I set both the Discrete Only and Dynamic Switching type. The problem still exist. But if I set the Integrated Only the problem was gone. So It will be the discrete graphic card's problem. I bought such an expensive laptop and I can't use the discrete graphics. This really makes me angry. This weekend I will try to reinstall my OS. If the problem still there, I think I should go to the Apple Store and ask genius for a reason.
-
Dec 11, 2015 3:03 AMby clementwcm,It seems that for 2015 models using the discrete AMD graphics leads to the problem while for late 2013 models it's using the intel iris pro that leads to the problem. Surely something is wrong with El Capitan. I am also having issues with detecting external monitors. With Yosemite I have had no such problems at all even though the interface gets a bit laggy with transparency on when multiple monitors are used. I am thinking of downgrading but it's just too much hassle for now....
-
Dec 11, 2015 10:25 AMby Username not found,wtlucky wrote:
Thanks for your advise. Today I have tried disabling automatic graphics switching anyway from the energy settings. In this case it still has the flicker problem. And I also try the gfxCardStatus application. When I set both the Discrete Only and Dynamic Switching type. The problem still exist. But if I set the Integrated Only the problem was gone. So It will be the discrete graphic card's problem. I bought such an expensive laptop and I can't use the discrete graphics. This really makes me angry. This weekend I will try to reinstall my OS. If the problem still there, I think I should go to the Apple Store and ask genius for a reason.
From the previous posts on this thread, I don't think Genius will be able to help you. People even got replacement laptops and the problem still persists. It feels like this issue was caused after Yosemite though, as I don't recall having it before.
-
Dec 25, 2015 9:11 AMby applenovice22,I have a similar problem on my Macbook Pro Retina mid 2012 but it had only started a few months ago, noticeably after upgrading to El Capitan. The problem is not as severe as the example shown in the video above and would normally start after waking up the computer or after starting or restarting it. It would eventually go away after around 15 minutes.
I first thought that my machine was getting old until I start googling about the problem which led me to here. For me I think it's a software issue.
-
Dec 29, 2015 3:37 PMby Nakwenda,Same problem here with these specs:
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 10.11.2
Here is a video of the flickering:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oViKaiSVwlM&feature=youtu.be
