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2017 MBP touchbar flashing issues

danb1979

danb1979

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 5, 2015
1,383
2,283
Preston, Lancs - UK
My 2017 15"4 MBP is doing this; flashing square or line right next to the power button/fingerprint ID sensor etc

I've reset NVRAM and SMC, made no difference etc

These are the vids I've taken of it today:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GMz5zfyctXDNKqC86

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pAHKp9H2wCKQTVDt8

I've chatted to Apple Support, MBP is in warranty until 2020, so it's into my local Apple store next week to see what they make of it

Does anyone else have this issue, or had this issue recently and it's been rectified?

Thanks
 
danb1979 said:
Just to update this if anyones interested or has the same issue; so for future reference

The issue was a hardware fault; so Apple have replaced the top case, battery and touchbar, all under warranty

Works faultlessly now; no flashing of the touchbar!
Click to expand...
Hi,
Thanks for posting your experience because it looks like I have the same problem with my 2016 MBP. In my case I get a very similar white shimmering square next to the power button under the Siri virtual button. If I touch the touchbar anywhere, it seems to start working fine again but after a short time, when the touchbar “sleeps” it comes back. Also when the display is in sleep mode it reappears.

In addition, my MBP has recently started crashing during the night such that on two occasions in the last week or so, I have found it needing to boot from scratch despite being plugged in to a power source and being in display sleep only.

This MBP has already had a top case replacement by Apple due to keyboard issues so this will be the second time if it does indeed need the same thing again. Not ideal since I use the machine full time for business use...

Thanks again, at least I know it’s probably not some weird software glitch.
Craig.
 
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Morning Craig

It's certainly not a software issue, unfortunately

Like you, I use my MBP to run my business from home; fortunately I've an iPad Pro as well; that and my Apple Bluetooth keyboard; I was able to keep things going for a week until my MBP was fixed and collected

If yours is still in warranty; it needs sorting ASAP :)

Keep us updates as to how you get on

Cheers - Dan
 
I also have this issue. My laptop is my work machine. I can’t take a week off work to have this in being fixed.
 
danb1979 said:
Morning Craig

It's certainly not a software issue, unfortunately

Like you, I use my MBP to run my business from home; fortunately I've an iPad Pro as well; that and my Apple Bluetooth keyboard; I was able to keep things going for a week until my MBP was fixed and collected

If yours is still in warranty; it needs sorting ASAP :)

Keep us updates as to how you get on

Cheers - Dan
Click to expand...

Yes it’s still under warranty for another year but I just need to find the best time to be without my primary work computer for 3-5 days...again! Fortunately I have a 5k iMac and and iPad Pro but I’ll need to transfer all my working files and config over etc which is a pain.

I’ll certainly report back once I’ve had it repaired but hopefully that won’t be until over the holidays when I’ll miss it less.

AdamA9 said:
I also have this issue. My laptop is my work machine. I can’t take a week off work to have this in being fixed.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I understand all too well how you feel but honestly we all need a plan B for when things like this happen. It’s never convenient but no laptop is 100% reliable, certainly not the 2016/17 MBP!
 
danb1979 said:
Morning Craig

It's certainly not a software issue, unfortunately

Like you, I use my MBP to run my business from home; fortunately I've an iPad Pro as well; that and my Apple Bluetooth keyboard; I was able to keep things going for a week until my MBP was fixed and collected

If yours is still in warranty; it needs sorting ASAP :)

Keep us updates as to how you get on

Cheers - Dan
Click to expand...

Just a quick update - I took the machine to the Apple Retail store in Glasgow (Braehead) this afternoon and the genius confirmed it will need another top case replacement to fix the touch bar. He also said it was the first such touch bar fault he had seen. In addition, he diagnosed faulty RAM and therefore it is also getting a new main logic board. The work order shows a total of GBP 965.00 but fortunately it’s covered by my Applecare warranty so there is no cost to me other than the 40 mile round trip to the store.

The faulty RAM is somewhat surprising since I have been using the machine daily since it had the top case replaced a few months ago and although I have had a couple of kernel panics, it has otherwise been running fine. When the Genius started the RAM test it almost immediately failed and then failed again when he repeated the test so it definitely looks like there is a fault. I just hope the RAM fault hasn’t been quietly corrupting files...

So the downside of this is that I’ll need to fully reinstall the machine when it comes back since the SSD is attached to the main board, but on the upside I get essentially new laptop except for the display. I was told that this is a good time of year to get repairs done because not many customers bring machines in and the turnaround times are better than normal. The parts will need to be ordered though so it’ll still be a few days probably. I’ll update again once I get it back.

Cheers,
Craig.
 
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Final update (hopefully) - I got the MBP back on Dec 30th which was a fairly quick turnaround given that they needed to order a specific main logic board to match my custom configuration. Cosmetically it looks pristine and so far has been working just fine. As expected I had to restore my cloned drive which was a bit of a hassle since the machine came back with macOS Sierra on it which doesn't properly support APFS. I ended up having to install Mojave as a fresh install which updated the recovery partition with a version that supported my APFS backup drive. That then allowed to me to hold down the Option key at boot to select the external drive to boot from and then run SuperDuper to restore to the internal SSD. That's the short version of the story as I tried a few others things first before I realised what the problem was.

Cheers,
Craig.
 
danb1979 said:
To update; this is a 30sec video of the issue that crops up when the MBP hasn't been used for a few mins:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oRtSF85X81LZVsGe7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/C5QdQamw4XxvePBq6

I'm booked into see a local Apple rep about this and hopefully they'll be able to give me an idea re the issue and what to do from there

No one else had this issue?
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1549017424][/doublepost]I have the issue and the sticky keyboard. The flashing is now ALL the time and enough to light a room!!!
 
Hey there! Sorry for my english ,I'm french; But I have the same issue like you with the flashing square on my 13" MPB 2018 and if one of you know an answer, i would ask what about the price of the replacement of the touchbar ? Bc mine isn't under warranty anymore
 
I have been "overlooking" the flashing touchbar for many weeks / moons now, along with the occasional unexplained shutdown or restart — and now my retirement community is in COVID-19 lockdown and the nearby Apple store closed for the time being. I had also used plastic tape to reattach one "command" key, now a the "f" key is coming loose! I am happy to hear these are all known issues. I'll need to keep my backups up-to-date and perhaps see if the machine can be shipped in for repair.
I appreciate knowing my problems are not unique.
 
So, i brought mine in an Apple Store; and for your information the cost of the repair was 480€. But with the consumer's law it was free in EU. Just in case of future users would know.
 
I have been having this issue for some time and as above Apple said it needed a new top case etc at a cost of £594 (inc. VAT) as it was 6 months out of warranty. I tried to get it fixed from the retailer AO.com who I bought it from under Consumer Law and was told that I couldn't as Apple did not say if it was an inherent fault or not. I spoke with Apple and they also said they couldn't say it was an inherent fault. The word 'inherent' seems to be key in being able to get it repaired under Consumer Law so I would be very interested in how you managed it Zaniao?
 
2019 with same issue here - apple care, went in for repair, and as someone else mentioned new battery, topcase and touchbar.
 
tkim said:
2019 with same issue here - apple care, went in for repair, and as someone else mentioned new battery, topcase and touchbar.
Click to expand...
This seems such a common issue that Apple should be providing this repair for free. My MacBook is out of warranty and I find it hard to spend this much to fix it. Would almost rather wait and just buy a future M1 Mac
 
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I would like to share my issues with you. My Touch Bar flickering (as you can see in the attached file) it's so annoying. Whenever I close the lid my laptop restarts itself the error log says "sleep/wake hang detected, debugger panic". Have anyone experienced the same issues?

 
daszka said:
I would like to share my issues with you. My Touch Bar flickering (as you can see in the attached file) it's so annoying. Whenever I close the lid my laptop restarts itself the error log says "sleep/wake hang detected, debugger panic". Have anyone experienced the same issues?
Click to expand...

Wow did it progressively get worse? I've been dealing with it on my 2016 MBP for some months now. It flickers for me when it's in "dim" mode or display is off, from the Touch ID to the zero '0' key. Drives me crazy. Already got the top case replaced a few years back for the butterfly keys issue.

Luckily I've never experienced crashes like others have said, I can probably count on my hand how many times I've shutdown or restart over the past year; only when I have to for updates
 
Same issue here, started happening a while back and given my MBP is out of warranty I've been ignoring it ... well actually I say ignoring it, but found that if you have the touchbar open/expanded it tends to go away. Obviously it does come back, but so far I've managed to live with it.

Oddly enough I too had the butterfly keyboard issue during lockdown and even though I spoke to Apple support who said they would replace the keyboard FREE of charge, I was stuck abroad in the EU under strict lockdown and ended up getting it changed locally which was a mistake as the after market replacement keyboard didn't last and I probably invalidated the Apple repair.

Anyhow, am reluctant to go take it to Apple service as it's out of warranty and knowing it will likely cost considerably to fix. About the "inherent fault" wording concerning the under EU Consumer Law i.e. whether it's valid, not even sure if this is a thing here in the UK any more post Brexit so am even less keen to try this unless there are more peep report this issue and press Apple like was done for the butterfly problem.

Gosh I really don't know what to make of all these issues, I like my Mac but I just didn't expect so many "known" problems to surface :(
 
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