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2016 MacBook Pro Window Shadow Artifacts

I bought a 2016 model w/ TouchBar, it had issues so I exchanged it only to find that the replacement has the same problem. I don't believe it is limited to just these two machines, but perhaps just going unnoticed as the artifacts are very small and only show up occasionally. If I turn off graphics switching and just use the AMD (450) - I don't think the issue exists. It's only when graphics switching is enabled under energy savings.


So, the issue is little dots / rectangles / artifacts in the drop shadow areas of some windows... sometimes. It's intermittent. The easiest way for me to replicate it is to leave graphics switching enabled, shut down the computer... turn it on, and immediately open Finder. 50% or more of the time there will be artifacts under the Finder window. If it doesn't show up there, open the connect to window and try to connect to another computer via SMB. That window has this issue almost always if you open it upon startup. Beyond that, it seems to happen randomly.


All that said, I don't believe the issue to be with the Radeon 450, but rather the integrated Intel HD graphics. Has anyone else experienced this- or would you be willing to test it?


Also, the Store models at Best Buy don't exhibit to issue upon startup like mine does- but there's also runs a bunch of demo software which probably makes it happen perhaps at different times... Not sure yet. Thanks for any feedback...

Posted on Jan 10, 2017 4:27 PM

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8 replies

Jan 27, 2017 7:16 AM in response to mattd313

Thanks for replying. I was in touch with Apple Care last night and she seems to think it's software, not hardware. I tend to agree given that it's had issues in 4 of 4 machines I've tested. I swapped mine out for a new one at Best Buy, the new one had the same issue. Then I went to the Apple store and was able to replicate the issue on both of their machines spec'd like mine.


I have 2 or 3 days left on my return policy, and I don't know if this is something that could get worse, or if it's just some bugs they need to work out (STILL).


Anyone else with these issues?

Feb 1, 2017 10:30 PM in response to mattd313

I have this issue as well. As the OP noted, for me it appears in the shadow under small pop-up windows (like the 'Connecting to server' one). I can also reproduce it reliably when bringing up the Spotlight search window right after start-up. Again, the issue goes away if the discrete GPU (in my case, the 455) is used.


Has anyone found a solution to this ??

2016 MacBook Pro Window Shadow Artifacts

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