M1/M2 flickering, ghosting with external display [Merged]

[Linsen]

I have a DELL P2721Q and iMac 24(2021) and the same issue.
I read almost all posts and replies about this topic. I am pretty disappointed at Apple's arrogance. It's a shame to have an obvious hardware defect and have no balls to admit it, not mention fixing it, after a year and a half.

My solution:
Displaylink Adapter with newest chip, which offer 5k 60Hz output or 4K 60Hz*2 output, without noticeable output lag.
I got the DELL D6000 Adapter, and everything looks fine by now. Finger crossed.
I hope it's a solid solution for everyone. There is minor screen tearing and grayscale loss though.
For working is totally fine, unless you are a serious video gamer. (Who plays hardcore game on MAC?)

 

[oz_rkie]

I have a DELL P2721Q and iMac 24(2021) and I got the same issue.

I read almost all posts and replies about this topic. I am pretty disappointed at Apple's arrogance. It's a shame to have an obvious hardware defect and have no balls to admit it, not mention fixing on it, after a year and a half.

My solution:
Displaylink Adapter with newest chip, which offer 1 set 5k60Hz output, or 2 sets 4K60Hz output.
I got Dell D6000s Adapter, and everything looks fine by now. Finger crossed.
I hope it's a solid solution for everyone.
(not for serious video gamer, because there is hardly noticeable screen tearing, for working is just fine )

Hey, thanks for posting this. I have been looking into potentially display link as well but was a bit worried about the downsides (input lag, responsiveness etc). I don't use my mac for gaming at all, only work (programming) and some internet browsing. How do you find the experience for normal usage, typing, changing tabs, switching desktops, watching videos etc? Is the lag noticeable?

Also, are you able to post a link for the exact model you purchased and is it easy to install display link drivers on m1 (any compatibility issues). I am assuming since with display link, the mac is not sending a direct display signal, it completely gets rid of the issues? Also, as a sidenote, does night shift work on your external monitor with the display link solution. Thank you.

 

[Linsen]

Hey, thanks for posting this. I have been looking into potentially display link as well but was a bit worried about the downsides (input lag, responsiveness etc). I don't use my mac for gaming at all, only work (programming) and some internet browsing. How do you find the experience for normal usage, typing, changing tabs, switching desktops, watching videos etc? Is the lag noticeable?

Also, are you able to post a link for the exact model you purchased and is it easy to install display link drivers on m1 (any compatibility issues). I am assuming since with display link, the mac is not sending a direct display signal, it completely gets rid of the issues? Also, as a sidenote, does night shift work on your external monitor with the display link solution. Thank you.

Input lag is hardly noticeable for me, everything is almost the same as the direct output, only minor screen tearing and grayscale loss, when you are looking high quality video with high frame-rate .
But for working, it's totally acceptable.
I bought my Adapter at local shop. But I think you can chose the right product here(drivers for m1 Mac is also here):
DisplayLink Products | Synaptics.

 

[macerot]

That's exactly how I mostly solved my flicker. The only thing I have left is occasionally, maybe once a day, the screen will go black for a couple seconds. But that flicker and other weirdness is gone. (Studio Max now, rather than M1 MBA)

Was it the Studio Mac or the M1 MBA that you solved the flicker and other weirdness on? Did your Mac Studio also have this flicker?

 

[bobcomer]

Was it the Studio Mac or the M1 MBA that you solved the flicker and other weirdness on? Did your Mac Studio also have this flicker?

Both actually. I first solved it with my MBA, and now with my studio, I only get the blanking about once a day. (screen goes black for a few seconds, like it lost sync). I'm using the same cables and monitor I did with my MBA. But I don't use dark mode at all, and that's when it was the worst on my MBA.

 

[macerot]

Both actually. I first solved it with my MBA, and now with my studio, I only get the blanking about once a day. (screen goes black for a few seconds, like it lost sync). I'm using the same cables and monitor I did with my MBA. But I don't use dark mode at all, and that's when it was the worst on my MBA.

To my surprise , I thought the Mac Studio is free from flicker and vertical lines and other weirdness since it's a newer product.

 

[oz_rkie]

To my surprise , I thought the Mac Studio is free from flicker and vertical lines and other weirdness since it's a newer product.

I think this confirms what many people in this thread suspected from day 1 that this flickering and ghosting issues with a large number of ext. monitors are a hardware level issue with the m1 (and the various m1 variants) soc.

 

[CaffeinePizza]

macOS 12.4 seems to make no difference. I still get the vertical lines on my 1080p displays that I use with my desktop PC. shrug.

 

[oz_rkie]

macOS 12.4 seems to make no difference. I still get the vertical lines on my 1080p displays that I use with my desktop PC. shrug.

At this point, I think there is enough evidence to safely say that this is a hardware level issue with any m1 based SoC. Obviously it does not manifest with every monitor but there are a large number of monitors (from various manufacturers) that the m1 and it's variants do not work well with. I don't think this issue is fixable with software, so I doubt any number of macos updates will make any difference.

The hope is that either m2 (or even m3) might have a solution, that is assuming Apple even cares to fix it, which judging by their complete lack of any acknowledgement seems doubtful.

 

[realScientist]

It seems indeed absurd. But my LG Monitor Instructed me to use the cables that came with the Monitor, so I guess there might be something special in them? 🤷‍♂️

I am currently using the cables that came with my display, yet I still have flickering (Dell U2722DE UltraSharp 27 Monitor).

 

[macerot]

Hello everyone, I have had this issue for a while. First time reporting, however. It's been 3 months for me. I have the pixelated columns issue, but mostly the burn-in and flickering issues. I have a Dell 1440p 60hz monitor model Dell UltraSharp 27 inch Monitor - U2722DE. I have had no luck with the tricks shown here like the RGB colour or limiting the refresh rate of the display. I have an M1 MacBook Air btw.

Completely forgot to mention, in my case in order to recover from the burn-in issue it takes 1-2 DAYS with the display turned off and power cable removed. It occurs roughly once a week, mostly on GitHub and Microsoft Word which I use a lot.

Does the pixelated column also gone after 1-2 days?

 

[realScientist]

Does the pixelated column also gone after 1-2 days?

Yeah, all issues with the display went away when it was unplugged from the wall and not used for 1-2 days.

 

[Josasp]

This is the oddest issue, Apple really needs to step in here and make a statement.
There's no way we can resolve this on our own.

 

[Tek5]

The only thing we can try to do is that all of us contact Apple or at least post in the official forum about this issue to give it more visibility. And yes, I know that this is annoying and time consuming, but the chance that it actually triggers a process/investigation in Apple is much higher, than posting about it on unofficial channels only (not saying that this isn‘t helpful as well, because at least it shows other people that they are not alone with the issue).

I already went through the whole Apple support process, but the only option I was given was to get a replacement Mac Mini, which I declined as it obviously wouldn‘t solve the problem.

So, if you want to do something about it, then please try contacting Apple directly.

 

[Spacegray]

Unfortunately I have the same flickering problem with my new P2723QE. It appears after some undefined time of use and can only be "repaired" by switching of the monitor for 15min or so.
I now could reproduce the problem, that seems to be a Safari or HTML caused problem, with calling one special website.
Under this link there is a review of my display (ironically) from 3dwarrior, that causes flickering on the embedded graphics and on my desktop (Safari not running in full screen mode) immediately.
So take care, it may cause the same on your external display.
What is interesting is, that when opening a new Safari folder, the flickering of my desktop seems to be at least strongly reduced.
When switching back to the review folder, the desktop is flickering again in full intensity, same as the embedded graphics in the review.

 

[okgoogle]

Hi everyone. I have the issue with Macbook Pro 13" M1 since first few days bought the Dell S2721QS

I've trying to speak to Dell and they insisted me to buy Dell Type-C to HDMI Dongle (expensive dongle). I'm using Apple's USB C Adapter - HDMI, USB C and USB 3.0 A dongle. Which I think should be the same as Dell's dongle.

Maybe I shall share the videos here and see whether the issue i am having same as yours.

1.

This monitor has the vertical lines

2.

Monitor unplugged from any device, the ghost image still there

3.

Plugged into another laptop, the ghost image remain.

I only experience this issue if using the monitor for long hours i.e from 7am - 9pm. The ghost image will occur around 8/9pm at night.

 

[oz_rkie]

Hi everyone. I have the issue with Macbook Pro 13" M1 since first few days bought the Dell S2721QS

I've trying to speak to Dell and they insisted me to buy Dell Type-C to HDMI Dongle (expensive dongle). I'm using Apple's USB C Adapter - HDMI, USB C and USB 3.0 A dongle. Which I think should be the same as Dell's dongle.

Maybe I shall share the videos here and see whether the issue i am having same as yours.

1.

This monitor has the vertical lines

2.

Monitor unplugged from any device, the ghost image still there

3.

Plugged into another laptop, the ghost image remain.

I only experience this issue if using the monitor for long hours i.e from 7am - 9pm. The ghost image will occur around 8/9pm at night.

Unfortunately, this is not a DELL issue, this is an M1 issue. There are some things that can 'reduce' the impact and/or frequency of this issue but currently there seems to be no way to eliminate it.

Here are some things that have worked for me (and others in this thread).
- Try lowering the blue light/overall brightness of the screen.
- If there is freesync/gsync turned on, try turning it off
- Try using a DisplayLink adapter (i.e. the video signal to the monitor does not go from the mac m1 to the monitor directly, rather displayLink will manage it).
- Other's have suggested using different cables, etc. Personally, I've tried several combinations of cables, adapters (expensive, cheap, manufacturer provided, 3rd party etc etc.) to no avail. Your mileage may vary
- If all else fails, try playing monitor lottery to see if you managed to buy a monitor that the mac m1 likes or alternatively buy a windows/linux laptop if possible.

 

[okgoogle]

Thanks for sharing. I figured it's M1 issue too. Alternatively i think try getting a non 4K unit, friends using S2721DS don't seem to have this kind of issue.

 

[macerot]

Yeah, all issues with the display went away when it was unplugged from the wall and not used for 1-2 days.

Have you tried this?

Force RGB Color on M1 Mac

Force RGB Color on M1 Mac. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

 

[44sunsets]

Today I bought a fancy 8K HDMI cable, a short one HDMI 2.1 8K @144Hz 16Inch.

Don't ask me how, but trying to replicate the flickering (the situations that would trigger it), my display did not flicker. Even the vertical bands that appeared in the screen running MacOS in dark mode (or programs with dark/black interface) didn't showed up.

My display is solid rock now. Been testing it in this last couple of hours.

I too thought my new 8K HDMI 2.1 cable had resolved my issue, but unfortunately the problem returned after a few weeks of trouble-free use. It's really strange, sometimes I won't have the flickering/ghosting issues for a few weeks, other times I have it several times in one week. No pattern to it that I can detect, sigh...

 

[zarino]

Has anyone here tried reporting this to Apple support / taking their Mac to a Genius Bar? I must admit, I haven’t yet, but before I do, I’d be interested to know what they might have already said to other people in the same situation?

 

[Tek5]

Has anyone here tried reporting this to Apple support / taking their Mac to a Genius Bar? I must admit, I haven’t yet, but before I do, I’d be interested to know what they might have already said to other people in the same situation?

Yes, I did report it to the Apple Support already (Genius Bar makes not much sense in my case, as I would‘ve to bring in my Mac Mini and ultrawide display, plus I would somehow need to find a consistent way to reproduce it, which for the life of me I can‘t). They wanted to see some images/proof for it, which I provided and then they also wanted to have a screensharing session to check it for themselves (the intention was to see, if the issue is only related to the GPU, thus that it is independent from the monitor).
Obviously they couldn‘t see it with their own eyes aside from the material I provided and thus the only thing they offered me was a replacement Mac Mini, which I declined, as this won‘t solve anything.

I wrote this already in a post earlier, but I can only encourage you to contact the Apple support and also post it in the official forum, that this issue gets some visibility. Otherwise I don‘t have much hope, that Apple will even think about looking into it.

 

[zarino]

they offered me was a replacement Mac Mini, which I declined, as this won‘t solve anything.

I guess this comes down to whether we think this bug is inherent in all M1 chips, or is only present in a flawed subset.

I mean, just running the numbers – if Apple’s sold tens of millions of Macs over the last two years, the majority of which will have had M1 processors – and if we assume only 1 in 100 of those Macs gets used with an external monitor, that’s still hundreds of thousands of people seeing weird ghosting/pin striping on their monitors. Surely, if it affected all M1 Macs, at that scale, we’d have heard more about it by now, even in just the Mac/tech press?

Maybe it is possible for hundreds of thousands of people to experience the issue but, because of the sporadic nature of the artefacts, they all just shrug it off, like we all did the first few times it happened. Hmmm…

Playing the hardware returns roulette with Apple again and again until either they manage to provide a Mac without the bug, or they give up, sounds like a massive pain. But I worry, unless we all do it, they won’t take this seriously.

 

[oz_rkie]

I guess this comes down to whether we think this bug is inherent in all M1 chips, or is only present in a flawed subset.

I mean, just running the numbers – if Apple’s sold tens of millions of Macs over the last two years, the majority of which will have had M1 processors – and if we assume only 1 in 100 of those Macs gets used with an external monitor, that’s still hundreds of thousands of people seeing weird ghosting/pin striping on their monitors. Surely, if it affected all M1 Macs, at that scale, we’d have heard more about it by now, even in just the Mac/tech press?

Maybe it is possible for hundreds of thousands of people to experience the issue but, because of the sporadic nature of the artefacts, they all just shrug it off, like we all did the first few times it happened. Hmmm…

Playing the hardware returns roulette with Apple again and again until either they manage to provide a Mac without the bug, or they give up, sounds like a massive pain. But I worry, unless we all do it, they won’t take this seriously.

You have a point, but there are some additional things to consider. First, this issue is not happening with 'every' external monitor. There are some models that have no issues with the display signal the m1 sends, especially newer ones that have thunderbolt interfaces. Some other monitors do have these issues with the m1 though (and in many cases these very same monitors that people have been using with non m1 machines without issues for years). So in terms of numbers, I guess it is a subset of a subset.

The other factor (imo) is that a lot of Apple users seem to be somewhat ok with 'minor' issues they have with an apple product. I come from a mostly windows/linux world and at first this came off as very bizarre to me as to why a consumer would be ok with a faulty product. Even in this thread and some other threads detailing this issue, I've seen users with the flickering issue essentially saying 'I've used this work around, and now it does not happen as often, so I am ok with it as it does not bother me'. I found this a bit odd, you paid a decent price for this product, why would you be ok with such a glaring issue in it. Unfortunately for users like me with a hard dependency on xcode, its a tricky situation. I am hoping that m2 will not have this issue.

From an apple point of view, I do think that they absolutely know about this issue. They also know that it is a hardware level issue that they cannot fix in the current m1 and it does not affect enough people for it to be financially viable for them to fix, so its in their best interest not to officially acknowledge it.

 

[Fravin]

I guess this comes down to whether we think this bug is inherent in all M1 chips, or is only present in a flawed subset.

It wasn't that bad after BigSur update that brought variable refresh rate.

It's software related, somehow.

Sincerely, I rather flickering than BSOD...