Q: 2015 Retina Macbook Screen Flicker

I found it was Google Chrome browser that was causing flicker in my Macbook Pro Retina 13 Mid 2014, tho it could be Shockwave or something else Chrome is running.  Started in early 2016, and happens every few weeks.  I just quit Chrome and start it again.

Went to Apple service, they diagnosed faulty GPU, new logic board - no problems now! Thank you Apple

It's a well-known problem.

As with all Apple hardware problems, they will never fix it - Apple are fully aware of the problem internally, but their policy is to drag their feet for 2-3 years knowing the problem will go away.

In many cases even if the motherboard is replaced you still get the problem - this is exactly what has happened to me.

Apple's own software on the preferences panel to turn off the discrete card, is useless of course.  As a workaround if you are stuck with one of these machines, you can get the free software at gfx.io (written by an ex-Apple guy) which will properly allow you to set the card to be only the cheap Iris video card.  You can then "use" the machine, nice work paying $1000 extra for a totally useless fancy video card.

Apple will never bring a solution (maybe in 3 years when they know 5 whole people will apply for the solution), so just forget it.  Sometimes in life you get totally screwed out of a few thousand bucks - this is such a case.  Apple win.

I tried gfxCardStatus and it says my Macbook Pro Retina 13" mid-2014 doesn't have dual GPU's.  I guess that's why I only see this problem once in awhile, and its always because of Google Chrome.  When I turned off the Chrome preferences advanced "Use hardware acceleration when available", it started using tons of CPU and the Macbook got very hot, even with high fan.  So turned it back on and all is happy.

i have the same issue but i may have fixed me issue. (maybe) hasn't done it since i done this. how i fixed mine is to uninstall java. i use chrome seems like chrome is sending information to java and saying there is an available java site of the same site because it seem like it happens more often on youtube and other sites that have both versions of the code. java is more hardware intensive  then html 5. sense chrome uses hardware acceleration if needed. so jave switches the graphics card quickly so it cases the blink in the display. you can cause the blink if you spam the save energy with graphics card. since you are quickly switching the card it blinks. so for me i think java is the cause. and i understand java is important to many people. codeing downloads software and more geuss we just have to spam oracle or google for a update if that is the problem. but it seems to fix mine.

I have the same model with the same problem,

I went to Apple 4 times, they tested no problem, but finally they change the mother board. the problem was still there.  today I finally found a way to stop the madness. 

I first thought it was the HW, I went back to apple, they replaced the mother board, but the flash (intermit blackout) was still there.  The engineer that the black out flash was caused by switching Graphics card. and I saw that gfxCardStatus can monitor the GPU Change.  so I downloaded it.  I found out that IT IS TRUE, it only flickers when GPU keeps jumping, some Sites or apps, are buggy, and causes the auto GPU Switch to jump from card to card, causing the screen to flash. 

The engineer told me if I don't want to see the screen flash, just turn the auto switching off, and it will stay on the AMD card (which uses more power) but I want to stay on the internal card. I am sure a lot of you are having this problem!   I would recommend to use gfxCardStatus, and you can choose which card you prefer to use, or monitor which apps jumps from card to card

I have the 2015 MB Pro and it started flickering several times an hour, and has crashed twice in the last 24 hours. If it was flickering before this, it was not enough to notice, but now, it is a lot. It does not matter if it is plugged in, or on battery. I don't think I have ever seen a flicker when connected to an external monitor.

Even i had this issue couple of days back. Now it stopped flickering. However if this problem persists do clean install of your os X.

1. Create a bootable usb (8 GB or more) after you have downloaded the os x file from the mac app store.

Create a bootable installer for OS X - Apple Support

2. Create a full backup of your mac.

Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

3. Install os X

How to reinstall OS X - Apple Support

4. Restore your mac

Hope this is going to help you solve your problem.

Cheers!

Have you tried forcing the Graphics to stay in one mode? Just a guess, but maybe the flicker is related to graphics switching, I remember having that issue on my old 15" and I started using gfx status(i think) to select and see what mode it was in.

I had this flicker until I saw a post recommending turning off auto graphics switching.  Settings>Energy Saver>uncheck Auto Graphics Switching which is at the upper left hand corner of the page.  I have not had a single flicker since I did this.

any idea what to do when i can't force it into one mode as i don't have two?

i have a mid 2015 Macbook pro that began doing the flicker thing on monday that so many others have had issues with. It doesn't happen in safe mode, doesn't happen when plugged into an external monitor and also doesn't happen when i move the mouse or if videos are playing.

Ive been on the phone with apple care for 2 hours trying to fix it.

Ive done a full restore on the mac, re installed everything and its still happening. I've tried the wifi turn off trick, didn't work. Ive done the CMD/OPTION/R AND P reboot and it still hasn't worked.

I ran a diagnostics and it says nothing was found.

Its booked in at the genius bar tomorrow, - any idea what the outcome will be?

On Graphics/displays it reads

Intel Iris Pro:

  Chipset Model: Intel Iris Pro

  Type: GPU

  Bus: Built-In

  VRAM (Dynamic, Max): 1536 MB

  Vendor: Intel (0x8086)

  Device ID: 0x0d26

  Revision ID: 0x0008

  Displays:

Color LCD:

  Display Type: Retina LCD

  Resolution: 2880 x 1800 Retina

  Retina: Yes

  Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

  Main Display: Yes

  Mirror: Off

  Online: Yes

  Built-In: Yes

  Online: Yes

  Built-In: Yes

honestly, this happened to me 2 or 3 times when I first bought the MacBook around late August last year. After the El Capitan update, it went away on its own. I'm not sure if the update is the reason for the flicker going away, but I do know that I didn't do anything specific to fix it, so I think it's an issue with new hardware getting used to being used.

hmmm interesting, ill try downgrading

update.

So i installed the sierra beta running system - glitch/flicker still happens.

i then wiped that and installed yosemite - glitch/flicker still happens

el capitan - still happening i guess ill just take it to apple tomorrow n have them tell me i need a new logic board or something crazy.

Is it likely they'll recall these in a year or so? if a lot of people are getting this issue, like they did with the 2011-2013?

If I do this, it will use the AMD gfx which uses more power, right?

I would prefer to use the internal gfx as the standard gfx since most of the time i am not working with programs that require the AMD gfx.