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Late 08 Macbook Pro screen flickering
- Thread starter smokedog
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Swiftly moving between both extremes of brightness on my first 9C84 would often result in the flicker showing up around level-2 and then subtle variations as you moved higher. The flicker would often "die-down" after a period of time to the point that it was not as 'immediately' noticeable as before *but* I was still picking up the feeling that there was some subtle interfering of the display going on (eyes not able to consistently focus on text - feeling of staring "through").. hence why I feel that regardless of the brightness level there were still issues that my eyes were picking up causing me problems; and one of the reasons I strongly advise anyone with the issue to 'exchange' as I can categorically state that my new system seems perfect in regards to display and comfort of use. Just to have a display that when reading text feels completely steady and does not have the sensation that it is vibrating at a level that your eyes are making out as discomfort is a joy.
I should also add that just being able to use the full gamut of brightness levels without problems makes so much more of a difference to the use of the unit as well.
If you have the flicker problem - as some other poster suggested - do not accept the unit as it is much more than simply low-end-brightness-flicker that goes away after a few minutes! I originally looked for excuses that I would "just use higher brightness" levels or some other excuse, simply to not exchange or seek a refund. In the end I am glad I did as the difference between a good display and the original is immediate when you have been experiencing the flicker-issues.
Slightly off-topic but still regarding my problem 9C84 unit - I also had what I felt was a battery issue in terms of full charges never showing above 2:30ish remaining hours in battery display. My new unit shows 4+ hrs when fully charged and light browsing. I also had a problem with the unibody (slight) in that where the pulsating light is on the front of the unit, the hole was not "punched out" cleanly and its zig-zaggy nature was reflected when the light throbbed. Very happy I now have no such problems!
My screen has started flickering too
Generally when it's just come out of sleep (which is a whole other problem - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1760972&tstart=0 -
Either on battery or mains - and even with the brightness on full.
I am going to wait until it's persistent enough that I can be sure it shows up when I take it in.
Generally when it's just come out of sleep (which is a whole other problem - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1760972&tstart=0 -
Either on battery or mains - and even with the brightness on full.
I am going to wait until it's persistent enough that I can be sure it shows up when I take it in.
what kind of flicker do you have? like a refresh rate 'pulsing' 'vibrating' flicker?
From the first time I tried setting my late '08 MBP to "Better Battery Life," I had a flickering problem where the top 1/3 of the screen would flicker black two or three times per second, particularly after waking the machine from sleep.
I never had any issues with flickering on the "Higher Performance" option.
I sent it in for repair and got it back yesterday. I think the problem has been resolved. Here is the Service Description on the service details sheet:
016-0014 RESEAT:Cable/Connector
016-0027 RETURN:WithinSpec
605-1687 PCBA MLB BEST
607-4144 PURCH ASSY AP FCC X9 PC SHLD H
608-0152 MIC 98
620-4630 ASSY DISPL DRP&SLD DVT M98
If anyone knows what any of the parts are, I'd appreciate it if they could enlighten me! I wonder if the PCBA MLB is the Main Logic Board.
I never had any issues with flickering on the "Higher Performance" option.
I sent it in for repair and got it back yesterday. I think the problem has been resolved. Here is the Service Description on the service details sheet:
016-0014 RESEAT:Cable/Connector
016-0027 RETURN:WithinSpec
605-1687 PCBA MLB BEST
607-4144 PURCH ASSY AP FCC X9 PC SHLD H
608-0152 MIC 98
620-4630 ASSY DISPL DRP&SLD DVT M98
If anyone knows what any of the parts are, I'd appreciate it if they could enlighten me! I wonder if the PCBA MLB is the Main Logic Board.
Ctrl-shift-eject will reset the screen and stop the flicker temporarily.
As a person who spends about $4-10K personally on Apple products per year, and authorizes about $350,000 in corporate purchases, I am getting sick and tired of the shoddy quality in the past few years.
It is getting worse and worse. Cool innovation without quality build isn't worth squat. I hope someone at Apple with power understands this.
As a person who spends about $4-10K personally on Apple products per year, and authorizes about $350,000 in corporate purchases, I am getting sick and tired of the shoddy quality in the past few years.
It is getting worse and worse. Cool innovation without quality build isn't worth squat. I hope someone at Apple with power understands this.
My eyes just get tired too quickly with this screen. My MBP is a refurb that I purchased from Apple.com, so I'm all good if I want to take it in to the Apple store I guess. I am generally more picky about screen flicker than a lot of the folks I know, and this one feels like the old days of using a CRT with the refresh set at 75Hz or below. I usually needed 80Hz to be happy. I'm not going to be able to keep my MBP if they can't fix it.
I had been using a mid-2008 15" MBP before this from work (matte) and never had this problem. My eyes are just hurtin' here! I love this MBP, but I just can't take the screen. The problem is that I'm not sure that the Genius will see the problem if I take it in.
Not sure what to do at this point. I'll probably take it in, despite it being a bit of a drive to the closest Apple store. I sure hope that they can make it all better!!!
Oh, and I have the 9C84 screen.
I had been using a mid-2008 15" MBP before this from work (matte) and never had this problem. My eyes are just hurtin' here! I love this MBP, but I just can't take the screen. The problem is that I'm not sure that the Genius will see the problem if I take it in.
Not sure what to do at this point. I'll probably take it in, despite it being a bit of a drive to the closest Apple store. I sure hope that they can make it all better!!!
Oh, and I have the 9C84 screen.
where do you check what display model number you have? also is this screen flicker issue problem happen sporadic? i seem to see it very faintly but then it goes away.
Wirelessly posted (Nokia 5800 Tube XpressMusic : Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.4; U; Series60/5.0 Nokia5800d-1/10.0.010; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 ) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413)
I'm surprised nobody has said it was caused by the screen's inverter. That's the cause of the large majority of screen flickering problems, although I'm not sure if LED-backlit screens have such a thing.
I'm surprised nobody has said it was caused by the screen's inverter. That's the cause of the large majority of screen flickering problems, although I'm not sure if LED-backlit screens have such a thing.
I havent read this tread in its entirety. However, I have been experiencing the flickering/ pic distortion as many of you have been experiencing, so I went in to the apple store today, and asked for a resolution to this issue. The proposed fix to this issue is to have your logic board replaced. Ill comment further, when I get my unit back sometime next week. I asked for the inverter, and the genius said that the inverter isn't the problem, but he said that he would replace that too, if it put me at ease. He had the exact same problem on his personal unit, and he swapped the logic board, and that solved it.
Im curious as to see what happens. I hope this solves it, because I rely on my MBP like crazy. Rendering on the 2.4 just doesn't seem as fast as it does on the 2.8 MBP, but it was a week w/o the computer either way.
That's surprising.
Usually, if the flickering occurs when you tilt the screen back and forth, they replace the video cable. When the flickering happens randomly for no reason, OR if the screen goes black because the backlight isn't on, but you can still see an image on your screen if you look hard enough (or shine a flashlight on your screen or perhaps through the Apple logo on the laptop lid, then it may be the inverter.
They'd swap the logic board if they were desperate for ideas (or if the "Genius" is lazy
), but if it was the video card (like what happened with defective Nvidia video cards), there would be no picture at all, even if you plugged in an external LCD. The problem wouldn't be a backlight issue, it would be a video issue where no image is displayed at all.
I'm experiencing this issue for the second time. They replaced the inverter one year ago, which resolved the issue until last month when it occurred again.
It flickers randomly throughout the day, so it's always difficult to convince Apple of the repair because they can't witness it first-hand.
It flickers randomly throughout the day, so it's always difficult to convince Apple of the repair because they can't witness it first-hand.
It sounds like we're talking about two or three different (but similar) ;-) issues here. As I understand it, LED backlit LCD displays do not require an inverter. The CCFL backlit displays do (which is why the previous poster had to have their inverter replaced and not something else). This (like all the other roads) will probably lead back to the logic board replacement, as long as I can get it to reproduce the problem for the Genius.
Oh, someone asked about how to tell what screen you have:
1. System Preferences
2. Displays
3. Color
4. Pick a profile from the top section and click Open Profile
5. On the window that opens, scroll down to and click line item 13
6. Look at Model
Oh, someone asked about how to tell what screen you have:
1. System Preferences
2. Displays
3. Color
4. Pick a profile from the top section and click Open Profile
5. On the window that opens, scroll down to and click line item 13
6. Look at Model
i can easily recreated it every time, by copying files from my network.
led backlights have a power management module (12v or 16v) dont remember but it obviously isnt getting straight power feed or is tied in with optical / hdd power rails causing this annoyoing flicker.
Agreed, I have to say that I've never seen this issue with the mid-08 MBP (2.5GHz, 15"). I did upgrade my HD to a 7200 RPM 320 GB (WD Black), but I've used a 7200 RPM drive on the previous MBP as well with no issue. I still think that I should get it repaired or replaced as needed. As it is now, I'll never be able to use it for longer than 10 or 15 minutes at a time without my eyes really starting to strain.
I'm not debating it is happening, I am asking if this was considered to be within spec? This is the answer I got from the Macmorons over at the Apple store when I told them that the negative black issue on my MB was not right. "It is within spec." So I gathered that substandard quality was within spec. That's my point.
you can have the whole notebook replaced. its not going to fix this issue permanently unless apple redesigned the power module for the led backlighting.
I noticed it on mine just purchased from Amazon. Really torn on what to do. There was a similar issue years ago on the 15" Powerbooks. The nice thing is Amazon's return policy is great. The bad thing is it will be 2 weeks before I would be able to order a new one by the time they get the RMA, process it, return the funds etc. Don't want to go the repair route... man totally bummed...
Oh and to add to the 00009C84 mix I too have this display. She's going back to Amazon ASAP.
If the next one comes back like this I am done with this revision. I should have learned my lesson years ago to never buy a Revision A. I know it's like an old wive's tale but this always seems to happen to me on Revision A. You'd think I'd learn... I thought by waiting a couple months they'd sort out the kinks but I guess not. Also the build date on mine is week 4 2009. So only a couple weeks ago and still not resolved. I am not holding out hope the replacement coming from Amazon is going to be any different.
If the next one comes back like this I am done with this revision. I should have learned my lesson years ago to never buy a Revision A. I know it's like an old wive's tale but this always seems to happen to me on Revision A. You'd think I'd learn... I thought by waiting a couple months they'd sort out the kinks but I guess not. Also the build date on mine is week 4 2009. So only a couple weeks ago and still not resolved. I am not holding out hope the replacement coming from Amazon is going to be any different.
I have an appointment with a "Genius" Wednesday evening. Stay tuned...
Question: If I am not satisfied with the customer service solution, am I still within the return window for apple.com? Oh, I guess that I should mention that I purchased on 2/6 and the MBP was delivered on 2/13. If they go by the received date, I am within 14 days still (until this Friday). In the end I just want a perfect MBP. Is that too much to ask? Maybe I should've just bought a last-gen 2.6 GHz like I was tempted to do in the first place.
Question: If I am not satisfied with the customer service solution, am I still within the return window for apple.com? Oh, I guess that I should mention that I purchased on 2/6 and the MBP was delivered on 2/13. If they go by the received date, I am within 14 days still (until this Friday). In the end I just want a perfect MBP. Is that too much to ask? Maybe I should've just bought a last-gen 2.6 GHz like I was tempted to do in the first place.
I seriously am debating doing that at this point. I just don't want the hassle and trouble of Rev A issues....