LED Screen Flicker

I agree with extremls, all of these new MBP's seem to do this. Some people may not notice, but for those of us who work in Photoshop/dreamweaver/flash/ any creative application under mixed circumstances, it will become annoying. You will notice this shimmer/flicker/throbbing right away - it is very obvious, especially on darker grey backgrounds. Every single one that I have seen so far (6 in total) does this.

Mine doesn't appear to flicker either. I've put a gray background and didn't notice any flicker - maybe I'm missing something, but to me this is a great display.

Well New York is quite far from California, Robbie Rodrigues's location. I mean.... different batches...
Sounds as though at minimum a very large number of the units have the problem.

Thank you, that's the best advice ; - )

You're welcome. 😉

I still think it's a bad batch that slipped through Q&A before leaving manufacturing... I do video and photo editing, and I know my unit is flawless.

I'm having what seems like the same problem but its more like the screen goes black in fact it's black right now while I write this. Only a day old. Hmmmm. Disappointing.

Ok, so I went back to the mac store, got yet a 5th unit, each time, I have plucked a different unit from a different store. This unit also has the flicker, most noticable in the Aperature trial. I am hard pressed in the belief that they (all the MacBook 15.4 2.4ghz models) have the throbbing/flicker/shimmer. It's like a horizontal throbbing.

I can't believe the whole LA area would get bad ones. I think that some people notice it and some people do not. It's so weird!

I just returned one MBP 2.4 tonight because of some uneven colors between the left and right side of the screen.

New one seems better in that regard, however its flickering like crazy. Seems to flicker mostly on the left side. Does it on battery and plugged in. Does it only after I dim the screen. Ambient light sensor turned off. Fully bright, no flickering. Dim it just once from full brightness, flicker. Flickers until about half brightness and then I can no longer see any flickering, but it's also too dim to work at that point, so I'm probably just not seeing the flicker anymore because its dim.

Frustrating. Might have to take another trip to the Apple store tomorrow.

Macbook Pro 2.4ghz 15" Santa Rosa Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Toby, This is an inherent problem with the Santa Rosa MacBook, I am on my 5th one, and all of them have had the flickering/shimmering issue - it's more noticeable with darker colors, dark grays and blues, but all of them seem to do this. I honestly believe that it is not necessarily a design problem, but a refresh rate issue with the screen - Hopefully Apple can address this by a software update / firmware update. Every single macbook pro, 2.4 ghz, that I've seen has done this. If anyone is telling you that theirs doesn't, perhaps they just haven't yet seen it or had the proper circumstances to have seen it.

I think they all do this.
Im not returning mine though, it has no dead pixels and is solid other than the fact the screen has the flicker under certain circumstances.

Let's hope apple can fix this with a firmware update ;- )

-Rob

Does yours flicker more in the upper left hand side? It seems to be the strongest on mine in the upper left hand corner and the entire left side. Right side doesn't flicker. Yes, same here... it's dark blues/grays mostly.

I'm toying with the idea of returning mine but I'm going to go check out the display models at the apple store more carefully. I swear the previous one I just returned (same model) didn't flicker, but the screen on that one was horrible color wise.

I can deal with a slight flicker vs. the color problem the other one had.

Hi Toby,

They all flicker -every last one of them! It is so very hard to tell at the apple store because the apple stores are retail-bright - I even tested mine at the store, with extreme scrutiny. The MBP that I have right now, does the flicker at home in my studio, under normal lighting, not bright apple lighting.

I think that even if you return it, you will have the same problem when you get home. It couldn't just be bad batches either, because we're in L.A. and your in Illinois ? They are all over the place 🙂

Mine doesn't seem to do it on either side, it's the whole screen, under dark colors, with a variance of brightness settings. The less bright the setting, the more likely you are to notice the problem.

-Rob

Please write apple to let them know! That's the only way they'll do anything....

Hoped very quick can have the good news.

Hi everyone,

I have dealt with similar issues from the original MBP1.1 and 2.2 and am assuming I will experience the same as you are when I upgrade in the near future. Due to other concerns I do not install third party utilities to try to correct this but have resorted to carrying a 1"± strip of construction paper to cover the hinge area blocking the light sensors. I do a lot of video editing and became extremely annoyed at not only screen flicker as the colors on the screen changed but whenever I would open a page like these forums with a white background the backlit keyboard would dim to the point of almost being off. The sensors should be moved so the display's ambient light doesn't interfere.

I was wondering if someone would try this and let me know if this would work on the new machines.

Thank You

Sweet Polly

My 1 day old 2.4Ghz 15.4' MBP flickers too. I hope Apple can fix this with firmware updates, I'd hate to have to send it back and wait another 2 weeks for a new one.

2.4Ghz 15.4' SR MBP Mac OS X (10.4.9)