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2015 rMBP 15" AMD GPU problem.

prospervic

prospervic

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 2, 2007
1,179
1,469
NYC
My nearly month-old 2.5ghz rMBP 15" is sporting a nasty defect. Whenever the AMD dGPU is running (in Pixelmator, Garageband, Logic Pro, etc) my mouse pointer becomes distorted, sometimes lines and small dots appear instead of the arrow and sometimes it just becomes distorted and flickers, leaving a trail of pointer fragments that remain on the display until I engage LaunchPad, which clears the artifacts.

There are a number of reports of this same defect on toms hardware forums from Windows users running machines with AMG GPUs. Any other 2015 rMBP users experiencing the same?
 
I experienced that same problem when running Modul8 VJ software. It's most likely a driver issue. A temporary workaround i discovered is to disable automatic graphics switching in energy preferences. That way only the AMD chip is active and the mouse cursor trails disappeared. at least for me..
 
That's interesting, because for me it's just the opposite. I get the mouse cursor trails when the AMD chip turns on!
I'm going to try your method in reverse -- use gfxCardStatus to only allow the Intel Iris Pro graphics to run.
 
thevidness said:
I experienced that same problem when running Modul8 VJ software. It's most likely a driver issue. A temporary workaround i discovered is to disable automatic graphics switching in energy preferences. That way only the AMD chip is active and the mouse cursor trails disappeared. at least for me..
Click to expand...
The problem disappeared when using the integrated GPU only, but came ROARING back when I turned on the AMD chip. Definitely a discrete graphics issue. Have an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar tomorrow.
 
prospervic said:
The problem disappeared when using the integrated GPU only, but came ROARING back when I turned on the AMD chip. Definitely a discrete graphics issue. Have an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I have the exact problem. I can replicate in system preferences, under the energy tab. If I deselect automatic switching (causing the dGPU to activate) I get weird artifacts moving the cursor. Going back to iGPU and no artifacts. Would love to know what the Genius Bar states.
 
lankox said:
I have the exact problem. I can replicate in system preferences, under the energy tab. If I deselect automatic switching (causing the dGPU to activate) I get weird artifacts moving the cursor. Going back to iGPU and no artifacts. Would love to know what the Genius Bar states.
Click to expand...

Looks like gfxCardstatus might be the culprit. After removing the software and rebooting I cannot recreate the problem.
 
I thought of that as well, so I also uninstalled gfxCardStatus, rebooted and performed a PRAM reset. Sadly, no difference -- the problem continues. All I have to do is uncheck the Automatic Graphics Switching box in Energy Saver preferences, and the mouse pointer immediately starts distorting.

Even tried creating a new Admin user account. The defect still occurs.
 
prospervic said:
I thought of that as well, so I also uninstalled gfxCardStatus, rebooted and performed a PRAM reset. Sadly, no difference -- the problem continues. All I have to do is uncheck the Automatic Graphics Switching box in Energy Saver preferences, and the mouse pointer immediately starts distorting.

Even tried creating a new Admin user account. The defect still occurs.
Click to expand...

You're right. It's back.
 
:mad: Sorry. But, it's good to know it's not just my machine.
Hopefully this time Apple will acknowledge and solve this GPU issue quickly.
 
I have the exact same problem, I don't think is the AMD GPU, because a soon as I disable the "Auto Switch" the MBP will operate only with the AMD GPU and everything is fine, I think the problem is a driver issue during the switch between cards, please let us know what the Genius Bar says about it, thanks

NOTE: It could be a HW issue but I doubt it because I've seen this reported for the first time last year with the previous MBP 15 model
 
As I said to an earlier poster, my problem starts when I disable the Automatic Graphics switching.
I'll report the results from my Genius Bar visit tomorrow.
 
prospervic said:
As I said to an earlier poster, my problem starts when I disable the Automatic Graphics switching.
I'll report the results from my Genius Bar visit tomorrow.
Click to expand...
I just tested mine with Pixelmator and only had issues while switching GPUs, if I disable auto switching and use only AMD no issues in Pixelmator. Please keep us posted
 
I don't have this problem with mine but I'm not using any of the software you've discussed in this thread, except gfxCardStatus but you already determined that isn't the culprit.
 
prospervic said:
As I said to an earlier poster, my problem starts when I disable the Automatic Graphics switching.
I'll report the results from my Genius Bar visit tomorrow.
Click to expand...

My experience mirrors yours exactly. Looking forward to your report tomorrow.
 
An Apple Store Genius ran a tests on my MacBook Pro. Turns out the problem wasn't the AMD GPU after all, but a faulty display! Normally they would've taken it in for repairs, but when I explained to the Apple rep that I had noticed the mouse pointer problem a couple of weeks ago (when it was still within the 14 day return window), but mistakenly thought it was just a problem with websites, he took pity on me and swapped out my machine for brand-new one. When I get home I'll check it out to see if this new one is problem free.
 
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Thank God. I was scared that its another Graphics issue. But so many others experiencing this same issue - It means they too have display issues?
 
prospervic said:
An Apple Store Genius ran a tests on my MacBook Pro. Turns out the problem wasn't the AMD GPU after all, but a faulty display! Normally they would've taken it in for repairs, but when I explained to the Apple rep that I had noticed the mouse pointer problem a couple of weeks ago (when it was still within the 14 day return window), but mistakenly thought it was just a problem with websites, he took pity on me and swapped out my machine for brand-new one. When I get home I'll check it out to see if this new one is problem free.
Click to expand...


Hmm, I'm skeptical that it's a display issue. Let us know how the new one goes.
 
UPDATE: This new one is presenting the same defect, except now it occurs whenever the graphics card is switched -- either way. (I made sure to test it out before restoring from my clone backup, so that I'd be using a "pure" machine.)

Now I'm really bugged -- should have followed my intuition and opened it right there in the store in front of the Apple employee. Now I can't get another appointment to take it back until tomorrow afternoon. :mad:
 
It sounds like a hardware issue. If it was software everybody would have the problem.
Maybe they got a bad batch and you just got another item from the same batch as a replacement.

To me it does not sound like a display issue but like a GPU problem. Usually if you overclock a GPU or it gets too hot these are the kind of errors that show up first. An errornous chip or heat problem. If it was the display, it would be the same with either GPU.
They also would have to replace the logic board. Just replacing the whole damn thing is the best solution anyway.
 
prospervic said:
UPDATE: This new one is presenting the same defect, except now it occurs whenever the graphics card is switched -- either way. (I made sure to test it out before restoring from my clone backup, so that I'd be using a "pure" machine.)

Now I'm really bugged -- should have followed my intuition and opened it right there in the store in front of the Apple employee. Now I can't get another appointment to take it back until tomorrow afternoon. :mad:
Click to expand...

Since you've not moved any data over to the new machine, where is it occurring? Have you installed any apps on it at all? How are you engaging the M370X, like what GPU strenuous app are you using to make it switch over?
 
Last edited:
Quu said:
Sounds unbelvia


Since you've not moved any data over to the new machine, where is it occurring? Have you installed any apps on it at all? How are you engaging the M370X, like what GPU strenuous app are you using to make it switch over?
Click to expand...
I tried two things: first, I switched to discrete graphics in Energy Saver preferences. Immediately the defect occurred. Second, I re-downloaded and re-installed Pixelmator from the Mac App Store. As soon as I opened an image, the discrete GPU fired up and the defect occurred.
 
prospervic said:
I tried two things: first, I switched to discrete graphics in Energy Saver preferences. Immediately the defect occurred. Second, I re-downloaded and re-installed Pixelmator from the Mac App Store. As soon as I opened an image, the discrete GPU fired up and the defect occurred.
Click to expand...

Definitely a hardware issue. I've not had anything like that on mine at all.
 
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