Macbook 2016 HDMI output flickering

Really interesting, on several points.

How the store engineers can't replicate the issue I do not know. My best guess is that they simply don't give it enough time to see a flicker. The other option is that the monitors they have actually exhibit the fault. We should always ask for the specific make and model they test on. I asked for the same by email to the engineering team here on the uk 4 days ago. Total radio silence.

Re : the IO board potential fault. It's got some legs as as this ifxit tear down shows there is a tiny bit of silicon on the cable. Interestingly this is different to the 2015 model.

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+MacBook+2016+Teardown/62149

Also meant to say wow about the 2016 MBP's are also having the issue. Now I didn't know whether to expect this or not. As the MBPs are running thunderbolt they've got some quite different video support. At the same time most of the current USB-C video adapters I believed to just be pinning out straight HDMI using that weird Alt-mode feature of the base USB-C standard, as such using most of them at the moment I guess triggers alt-mode and not the thunderbolt video carrier.

Either way... a lot of angry new owners of the very pricey new MBP will be exactly the sort of push that will help us all get a fix.

Finally an update on my own sierra latest beta trial. I've got through a full day at home with my 1440p Dell. No flicker at all. On the negative I couldn't get any connection to a 1080p Dell at work. Might have been another issue though.

The 10.12.2 developer build (16C48b) seems stable and flicker-free so far with my LG ultrawide. Am on 6 days uptime - though there was a similar story when I installed 10.12.1 and the problem did come back.

@tomthebeard ... This is getting a bit off topic but... Alt-Mode isn't in any way weird, it's a way to repurpose the signal pairs to cary things in addition to USB. Thunderbolt 3 is another of the various alt-modes on USB-C, along with HDMI, DisplayPort and MHL. That and the Thunderbolt signal is in turn a mashup of PCIe and DisplayPort which get demuxed downstream by your hub/dongle/monitor. In short it's not that different.

But yes, you'd be right in thinking that the vast majority of dongles out there in the wild will be using the DisplayPort or HDMI alt-modes rather than the Thunderbolt one, at least for the time being.

Thanks for the explanation on Alt-mode Sam, I think that when I say 'weird' these days it just means I don't know enough about it 🙂

Today I will be doing a full day on the may works 1080p Dell. Will report back on the results.

Interestingly i managed to run Quicktime to screen capture the flickering. Screen was definitely flickering but on playback of the QT file there is no flicker evident?!?!?!

@relin that's what I'd expect. Quicktime capture should not be affected by the flicker as it's capturing the GPU's internal rendering of the display rather than the end result once the signal has passed through a bunch of interfaces and wound up on the screen.

Well today I got through an entire day without a hint of flicker in my works Dell monitor. So far my own beta trial is looking pretty successful.

I just received my MacBook Pro 15 inch (Late 2016). What a beautiful laptop. This is my first Mac. I'm hoping it can replace my old windows desktop. I connected two 24 inch Dell monitors (U2415, 1080p). Within 20 minutes one screen started going black for a second and then coming back on. I eventually unplugged it. And the remaining monitor started doing the same. I've installed the most recent beta (3) and I still experienced the issue. My last resort was to reset the SMC. I hope this clears the issue.

I'm running the MBP closed with a USB-C to DisplayPort cable.

On update to my previous post, resetting the SMC didn't not fix the issue.

Congratulations on your new shiny MBP!

You mention USB-C to DisplayPort. I do not see any Apple approved adapter to do that. Only USB-C to VGA or HDMI.

Have you tried an Apple certified adapter?

Same problem here. Macbook 2016 original apple AV multiport adapter on different external screens

I wold recommend trying a new 4K hdmi cable. Resolved the issue in my 2016 new Mbp touchbar- using multi port adaptor worked fine with - 4K Samsung, lG and lower res monitors. I did this a Best Buy with the Apple reb in tow. Both were very helpful. I bought the 9 dollar insignia brand 4K cable at Best Buy. Flicker gone!

Hope that helps others

Thanks. I'll give it a try!

Hello I have the same issue. Had it with the dongle, and now also with an Acer 4k USB-C display with no dongle. The only workaround that works for me is resetting the computer every time it sleeps, which is a pain. This is a big issue hope it gets fixed soon. I'm going crazy!

I bought two the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapters from Apple. Thank goodness they lowered the price by 30 bucks!

I've been using them with my two 24 inch Dell monitors and so far no more black screen flickering. If something changes, I'll update this thread.