Is it a defect? - 15" Unibody MBP screen blinking.

[kurenaiz]

My 15" unibody mbp blinks every once in a while. It's not like the flickering effect that I found in some old thread, but it's more like a blinking screen. It's almost like you quickly turn your screen off and on again, at once. It happens every once in a while and I find it pretty annoying.

Do you think it will damage the screen if I leave it like this?

 

[ViciousShadow21]

My 15" unibody mbp blinks every once in a while. It's not like the flickering effect that I found in some old thread, but it's more like a blinking screen. It's almost like you quickly turn your screen off and on again, at once. It happens every once in a while and I find it pretty annoying.

Do you think it will damage the screen if I leave it like this?

if you find it just a little annoying you should take it in and have it looked at. you paid to much for it not to be perfect. and it also could very well get worse and yes probably damage the screen overtime.

 

[HelC001]

I've noticed that too - it flicks off and on again once quickly occasionally - only on OS X though (I have XP on Bootcamp) and my friend's MBP does it too I think. I'm fairly sure it didn't do it when I first got it though, seems to be after one of the firmware updates it's started doing it.

 

[iLog.Genius]

It shouldn't. If you feel like it's a firmware issue (which I doubt) do a reinstall and that should fix it. If it were firmware, many more people would have the problem. I think it's hardware that should be looked at.

 

[gr8tfly]

Sounds like the same issue I've seen on my 17" Unibody, which seems to have been fixed by the firmware update released yesterday (so far, at least - it's only been a day). I had either a full screen or partial (like 1/4 or 1/3) which would "blink" black. Sometimes, I could actually see the redraw, but it's basically a flash of black.

If you're on the 9600, try switching back to the 9400. I only had the problem with the 9600, and it was triggered by wakeup. I also never saw it when running in BC on XP.

I'm going to make a guess that there will be a firmware update for the 15" as well (especially, since there was one in Jan., which got pulled). There are some YouTube videos of 15" UB's with the problem.

I had the option of exchanging my 17", but all the evidence was pointing to a software problem and I didn't want to risk losing my otherwise perfect machine (to dead pixels or ?). So, my feeling is to hang in there.

 

[HelC001]

It shouldn't. If you feel like it's a firmware issue (which I doubt) do a reinstall and that should fix it. If it were firmware, many more people would have the problem. I think it's hardware that should be looked at.

Well, I'm not sure that is the reason, but it's a bit of a coincidence it sorta turned up only recently for both me and my friend (we both got our laptops in the first week they were out, same spec).

 

[kurenaiz]

It's reassuring to hear that I'm not the only one with the problem, because, hopefully, Apple will deal with it soon.

One more question, do you guys also have a horizontal line appearing randomly while scrolling through websites? It's like a line breaking the page which is not fully loaded. It disappears right after you scroll it away.

 

[chris.robison]

I had this problem so I took it in. They replaced it right there, no questions asked other than what was happening with it. They know its an issue, they just check your model number and such. I had a 2.53 and now I have a 2.66.

 

[schalliol]

I have a 2.8 15" late 2008, which also has this issue at times. I find it occurs on another machine that's similar here as well. Any update folks? I really don't want the downtime to take it in, but I don't want it to be a problem later.

 

[playalistic]

A search here throws up several threads repeating the problem. Take it back and have it repaired/replaced. It is a fault with the logic board.

 

[jonny5009]

Same problem here plus the flickering issue. Just called and got a box sent. I'll post if the replacement solves anything.