MacBook Pro Vertical Striping Issue

[cerberus86]

definitely a problem

Not like this needs any confirmation, but I have had this problem since I bought my MBP in March. It has happened three times so far, and I have called Apple twice. First they had me reset the memory by pressing some fancy buttons on boot up. When I called the second time they had me reinstall OS X, preserving all my data of course.

Since I did a reinstall, the problem has not come back, but that was just a couple of weeks ago. They told me if it happened again I would be sending it in for repair.

 

[benpatient]

If the problem goes away when you open/close the lid or similar actions, then the problem is either firmware or software related.

That means replacing the logic board or the display or the backlight will not fix it, really.

And it means that ALL of these models can have this issue. The fact that some people keep getting new machines and it happens again, and other people never see this implies strongly that some action taken by certain users and not by others triggers the problem. That's not to say that the user is to blame, but rather than Apple is to blame for not QC'ing their hardware with their software well enough. I thought the entire argument for paying more for a Mac was that the integrated hardware/software package keeps things like this from happening, and when they happen they can be quickly (as in days or weeks, not 6 months or a year) tracked down and nixed. Apple controls the entire user experience from start to finish. This is their problem and they need to fix it. They also need to fix Leopard so that it will work with InDesign and Acrobat Pro, but that's a separate issue. Same problem, though. iPhone=Destruction of Apple.

The iPod was just a warning in the night. A harmless little toy with a limited function and a limited (but high, none-the-less) profit potential.

the iPhone with its app store and potentially gigantic user base is the future of Apple, Inc, and it will be, in the end, the death of the Mac as the best computer system in history. I hope you liked 10.4 and the original Mac Pro, because that may be the last truly great OS/Hardware pairing from Apple that you can attach a keyboard to. It also happened to be one of the last machines to be released by Apple Computer, Inc.

Ironic. Sad.

 

[stagi]

Hasn't ever happened to mine

 

[j10]

This happened to me only once on my 15"MacBookPro4,1 2.4Ghz, I restarted and it was gone.

After I upgraded my memory to 4GB and reinstalled Leopard for other reasons I haven't seen the issue again.

Are there any particular steps for this go happen?

I will like to know if my MBP is still buggy

__________________
15"MacBookPro4,1 2.4Ghz
15"MacBookPro3,1 2.4Ghz

 

[tivoli2]

If the problem goes away when you open/close the lid or similar actions, then the problem is either firmware or software related.

That means replacing the logic board or the display or the backlight will not fix it, really.

And it means that ALL of these models can have this issue. The fact that some people keep getting new machines and it happens again, and other people never see this implies strongly that some action taken by certain users and not by others triggers the problem. That's not to say that the user is to blame, but rather than Apple is to blame for not QC'ing their hardware with their software well enough. I thought the entire argument for paying more for a Mac was that the integrated hardware/software package keeps things like this from happening, and when they happen they can be quickly (as in days or weeks, not 6 months or a year) tracked down and nixed. Apple controls the entire user experience from start to finish. This is their problem and they need to fix it. They also need to fix Leopard so that it will work with InDesign and Acrobat Pro, but that's a separate issue. Same problem, though. iPhone=Destruction of Apple.

The iPod was just a warning in the night. A harmless little toy with a limited function and a limited (but high, none-the-less) profit potential.

the iPhone with its app store and potentially gigantic user base is the future of Apple, Inc, and it will be, in the end, the death of the Mac as the best computer system in history. I hope you liked 10.4 and the original Mac Pro, because that may be the last truly great OS/Hardware pairing from Apple that you can attach a keyboard to. It also happened to be one of the last machines to be released by Apple Computer, Inc.

Ironic. Sad.

I, for one, am afraid you're right. I had the same feeling when the iPhone first came out and they (seemingly, at least) pushed everything else to the back burner. I thought then that I was just being pessimistic. Maybe I still am, but sheesh. Thing is, they need the Mac to be the hub of this iGadget world they seem to be focused on, don't they? Or is it going to move to this cloud setup and it'll all be a big social networking thing through the Me Inc. (formerly known as Apple, Inc., formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc.) corporate servers? (All your Me are belonging to us...)

 

[James17]

This is slightly different to vertical stripes

Today I experienced the graphics issues shown below on my 6 day old macbook pro (2nd macbook pro as 1st one had faulty battery).

Phoned Apple Store, they told me to go up there, I did and showed the guy the photos on my iPhone, he gave me a new macbook pro. I think I've been unlucky but this is my 3rd macbook pro, please be the last, I hate travelling 30 miles by train to that Apple Store and back.

 

[Mal]

If the problem goes away when you open/close the lid or similar actions, then the problem is either firmware or software related.

Just so you know, that's not necessarily true. My wife's backlight flickers when the display dims before sleep, and pressing a key stops the flickering instantly. Doesn't mean it's software, in fact it's most likely the inverter, and possibly the backlight, in that case. I'll be sending it in to Apple very soon here to get it fixed. Just because you don't have to replace hardware to make the symptoms go away temporarily, doesn't mean that it's not a hardware problem.

jW

 

[Willis]

Btw, did you ever try hlding down CTRL+ALT/option+CMD and then press "8"?

ahh the classic trick to play in a non-apple store.. just watch the employee's faces... class!

no my friend, a restart will not help you.

 

[TwinCities Dan]

Kids,

If you are having intermittent problems, please understand that these can take a long time (like months or more) to find and fix. In order to fix something, they first have to find a way to make the problem keep reoccuring in a predictable manner and then instrument the system so that they can see what is actually going on when the problem occurs. If they can't make it reoccur on a predictable basis, then the only way it's going to get fixed is by pure luck.

Exactly, I had my business exec's running iBook G4's (never had logic board problems) then I upgraded them to MBP 15's (No screen problems) just because some users have experienced problems I think it is a bit premature to bash Apple saying they make junk and they don't care about anything but iPhones blah blah. As soon as they can isolate the problem it will be fixed, they don't want any bad press either, it will be fixed asap. It sounds like this issue is easily resolved with a restart, I hardly think that it deserves the "Don't buy them, they're junk" replies I've been reading. Yes, Apple has a lot on their plate right now but they will get to it. Have some faith!

You may proceed to flame the fanboy now...

 

[PDE]

Pismo!!!!!

Of course apple computers have always had problems:

Off the top of my head, I can remember the powerbook 5300c and 190 logic board failures, the Powerbook G3 wallstreet sensitive rubber coating and overheating (especially the one with the higher bus speed, the wallstreet 13" graphics issue and graphics cable defect/pinch, the wallstreet hinge failures, the powerbook G4 titanium inverter defect that caused flickering, the powerbook G4 titanium peeling paint, the powerbook G4 alum white spots of screen caused by something in the bezel pressing against the LCD, the powerbook G4 last generation LCD horizontal lines, the overheating and whining of the first generation of macbook pros and their poor displays with unevenness, grain and what not, the LED generation of macbook pros with yellowing, uneven illumination and now this etc etc etc....there are more, but these are off the top of my head.


The computer I trust the most is my sweet PISMO powerbook G3. It's a real trooper that always boots and always works flawlessly, even after EIGHT (!!!) years. Amazing. I doubt Apple will ever make one like that again.

 

[losguanacos]

its crap

lol this **** happens to me as well but not too often. i dubbed it the 'curtain effect'

 

[Darkroom]

The 20" and 23" Cinema, 24" iMac, and 30" Cinema are some of the best consumer-level displays in existence. Only very expensive professional-level LCDs are better.

i'm on my 3rd brand new 24" iMac, and apple is sending me a 4th because this so called "best consumer-level display" is riddled with color casts, uneven backlighting and bleed-out, as were the previous ones... same issue over and over...

these new cheap macbook pro screens don't surprise me... apple's quality is not even close to what it use to be, but they still charge premium prices... it's a joke!

it's really good to see macrumors making these issues front page news... i like Engadget a lot, but they would N*E*V*E*R whisper any foul words towards Apple INC.

 

[skiesforme]

I have some graphic bug from time to time. Looks like that:
<snip>[/QUOTE]

I saw this once... But I guess it was becz of HDMI switchover...
Apart from that I am on my 3rd machine which STILL has the vertical light stripes issue... But I am too sick of changing it again and setting it up from scratch... blah !! :(

 

[qwertzui]

sad collection:

http://sites.google.com/site/verticalstripesissue/

maybe it helps a little to spread this gallery...

 

[rockland]

I have to say that of course no computer company can be perfect, and any OS contains billions of lines of code. The problem is not so much that, it's that Apple appears to be cutting corners in its mad rush to make as much money as possible. It's a classic business-bad-behavior. The demand for Macs among us fanatics is what the economists call inelastic: in other words, it would take a WHOLE lot more abuse and trouble for us to start switching to... what...? Dells??

Since they (rightly) have a fanatic fan base, they can allow themselves to charge a premium for the beauty and hardware-software integration that makes up the Mac experience.

But the problem is, they KNOW we're not going to go away, so they start growing too fast, cutting too many QA corners, etc., calculating that the cost of pissing off a few malcontents is well worth the increased profits IN THE SHORT RUN. The deeper problem is that their stellar brand image is getting more and more chipped, and brand images don't change overnight. In other words, there's a LONG-TERM cost to the too-fast releases, the poor QA, the too-slow response to issues like this one.

I think, the occasional mea-culpa to the fanbase, the occasional recognition of how we (Apple) like to be held to the highest standards, would be nice. What turns people off is an image of arrogance. As in, "we don't care, we don't have to... we're Apple!" (Apologies to Lily Tomlin...)

(BTW, the screen issue appears to be not the screen but something else, cuz when I took a screenshot of the vertical lines it did not show up.)

 

[BenRoethig]

Has Apple ever responded "in any formal matter (sic)"? They usually fix their bugs quietly...eventually. Except when they don't.

And that's becoming more and more common unfortunately. Also, they seem to try to sweep problems under the carpet rather than deal with them.

Yeah it's like Apple use to never have any issues at all unless of course you count.

-Powerbook logic board failures
-iBook logic board failures
-Powerbook Titanium monitor bezel breaking
-Powerbook Titanium paint chipping
-G4 Cube power button problems
-G4 Cube case cracking
-PowerMac G4 towers that sounded like a wind-tunnel

I'm just saying that people who think Apple's quality use to be any different are just trying to remember the good old times while forgetting the problems that existed back then.

We're talking about pre-Ive systems. When he took over designing things is when the QA problems started. As he's tried to cram more stuff into increasingly smaller spacers, more things have gone wrong.

 

[mbensen]

i know the same problem on iphones 1.0! but only newer iphone 1.0!

over hundreds of iphone gone through my hands while restoring or something else and i saw A LOT, maybe more than the half of the iphones have this problem! i try to make a photo of it.

 

[queshy]

15" MacBook Pro: Most problematic Mac ever.

Agreed. By far, though, it's the original CD MacBook Pro that came out at MacWorld.

Least problematic? Mac Mini + Mac Pro. When you go with Apple, anything involving a screen will probably be messed up somehow, lol.

 

[swagi]

While my 15 inch Santa Rosa MBP doesn't exhibit this issue with its LED, I do have a host of other problems that I've never had before with a Mac. Honestly, I wish Apple stuck with PPC. However, don't get me wrong though, I love all the perks (Windows software, virtualization, performance etc) of these Intel chips that just weren't possible on PPC.

I do know a Penyrn MBP owner who does have this issue, as well with other issues similar to my own.

Every PPC I've ever owned or used was the best. My only real lemon was my iBook, but even that was just one problem PPC Mac out of many perfectly fine ones. My G5 is a tank and never had an issue. *knocks on wood*

I regret never getting a Powerbook and I miss my iBook.

Long live the Powerbook and iBook.

*hugs his G4 Powerbook*

Actually I have to agree. Been an owner of a Dual USB iBook (only issue being a rotten HDD after falling on the floor) and my precious Powerbook.

Bought 4 CoreDuo iMacs (first iteration). First machine: Vertical stripes on the display (currently 25 - now replaced with new Aluminium iMac), second fault optical drive (runs very loud), third annoying fan spinning. 3 lemos out of 4.

Well, the new Penryn iMac looks to be o.K. but I'm wary

 

[djinn]

I wonder what kind of problems Jobs has with his MBP.

 

[Bubba Satori]

If the problem goes away when you open/close the lid or similar actions, then the problem is either firmware or software related.

That means replacing the logic board or the display or the backlight will not fix it, really.

And it means that ALL of these models can have this issue. The fact that some people keep getting new machines and it happens again, and other people never see this implies strongly that some action taken by certain users and not by others triggers the problem. That's not to say that the user is to blame, but rather than Apple is to blame for not QC'ing their hardware with their software well enough. I thought the entire argument for paying more for a Mac was that the integrated hardware/software package keeps things like this from happening, and when they happen they can be quickly (as in days or weeks, not 6 months or a year) tracked down and nixed. Apple controls the entire user experience from start to finish. This is their problem and they need to fix it. They also need to fix Leopard so that it will work with InDesign and Acrobat Pro, but that's a separate issue. Same problem, though. iPhone=Destruction of Apple.

The iPod was just a warning in the night. A harmless little toy with a limited function and a limited (but high, none-the-less) profit potential.

the iPhone with its app store and potentially gigantic user base is the future of Apple, Inc, and it will be, in the end, the death of the Mac as the best computer system in history. I hope you liked 10.4 and the original Mac Pro, because that may be the last truly great OS/Hardware pairing from Apple that you can attach a keyboard to. It also happened to be one of the last machines to be released by Apple Computer, Inc.

Ironic. Sad.

Agreed. I wish Apple would spin off the computer biz. Mac Inc.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

I've had this issue on my Macbook along with the case cracking for the last 18 monts, although the LCD isn't that bad it's still very frustrating...

 

[egor]

Agreed. I wish Apple would spin off the computer biz. Mac Inc.

I really can't see this at all. Macs make money and are still growing - why would Apple sell a growing business just because it has a faster growing business? That would be mental, especially considering the iPod and iPhone may actually contribute to sales of Mac.

The Mac business would have to stop growing first, for Apple to consider being less diversified (the sale of the Mac division, afterall, would bring in money that Apple would likely have little use for going by their current reserves).

 

[Unspeaked]

I believe he meant spin it off into its own entity, like Palm does with hardware and software.

I think there's already some division between the Mac, iPod and iPhone, but not this severe...

I really can't see this at all. Macs make money and are still growing - why would Apple sell a growing business just because it has a faster growing business? That would be mental, especially considering the iPod and iPhone may actually contribute to sales of Mac.

The Mac business would have to stop growing first, for Apple to consider being less diversified (the sale of the Mac division, afterall, would bring in money that Apple would likely have little use for going by their current reserves).

 

[Nitrocide]

15" MacBook Pro: Most problematic Mac ever.

I know this is an "old" post but... so true, sadly, as it could also be IMO the Best Mac ever without the issues.