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macOS Tahoe Bug Causes Studio Display Flickering Issues

I have a Mac Mini M4 Pro connected to an Apple Studio Display and an LG 27” 5K Ultrafine monitor currently running Tahoe 26.2. I use an OWC 5K hub for the connection to the Apple Studio Display, but noticed that the Apple Studio Display occasionally blinked when color changes or brightness changes occurred (presumably when it is adapting to external lighting and color temperature). I thought it was the hub that was causing the issue but then connected it directly to the Mini and the problem still occurred. I then removed the LG and the problem still occurs on the Apple Studio Display. I then removed the Apple Studio Display and the problem disappears whether the LG is connected directly or via the hub, so it is related to the Apple Studio Display. It has exhibited this issue since I purchased the Mac Mini in Feb of this year and is not directly attributable to Tahoe, but exhibited the problem with Sequoia and has got worse under Tahoe.

Note that my display does not flicker, it blanks for a very short time but which is very noticeable. From the article and posts here this looks as if it is an Apple Display issue. Also note that OWC checked the hub for problems and they had not seen issues with two 4K displays connected to the hub (due to an Apple Thunderbolt 5 implementation issue you cannot connect two LG 27” 5K Ultrafine displays to a single TB 5 port since these displays use 2 display channels per display).

Additional Info: When connected to a 2020 27” i9 iMac running Sequoia, the Studio Display had no problems. This would point to an issue between my M4 Pro Mac Mini and the Studio Display and is not a general problem with display.
 
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My Mac mini M4 Pro + Apple Studio Display started showing a just perceptible but distracting and annoying soft flicker right after a clean install of macOS 26 Tahoe. The flicker persisted through the 26.2 update.

At first I thought it might be generated by the APC UPS I'm using for power. So I unplugged from the UPS and plugged the display directly into a wall outlet and the flicker went away.

Indicating something in software has made the Studio Display susceptible to certain AC noise. Just a guess.
 
I've had this flickering problem for a few weeks now on my Studio Display connected to my MBP. I thought maybe the Studio Display was going bad! Good to know it's the software and Apple needs to push a fix! Here Apple had probably thousands of us thinking it was time to replace our Studio Displays!
 
Jeeve Stubbs said:
Is it just me or Apple products are more buggy today than they were 20 years ago?
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It's not just you. As the products have been become more complex and the integration has become more involved, Apple quality has fallen as they prioritize delivery dates over thorough testing.

We are the beta testers. The products become so complex and their integration with the eco system so sophisticated I think it becomes too complex with the technology and organisational problems for them to provide solutions that work. Money is not the answer, but the need for clever and sophisticated development and testing processes has exceeded Apple's current management structure capabilities and they need to rethink how they develop, test and deliver solutions. Focus and deliver and do not deliver until you are confident it works.

Apple is now no better than Microsoft, IBM, etc. For example, Meta, Amazon etc. deliver software only solutions which have always been very poor at delivering what they say when they say and we have always allowed them some degree of freedom since when Meta or Amazon deliver crap the world does not stop. If Amazon shows the wrong price, it is a mild inconvenience. If Facebook's algorithms stop working, who gives a damn. However for the people that deliver products which include physical hardware the problem is very different. When your phone does not work, or computer will not boot, that is very different to a wrong price in an Amazon product page. Think about why IBM stopped delivering hardware, now they are a software company and that gives them a wide lattitude to deliver poor quality solutions. Very few solutions deliver on their promises. Time to rethink.
 
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Being self employed, I never upgrade macOS until I finish for Christmas. Let others sort the bugs out after each major release and I’ll install .2 or even .3.

After reading this I’m going to stick with Sequoia. Everything is rock solid on my Mac Mini M4 and Studio Display and I’m not a huge fan of Liquid Glass anyway. I’ll keep checking back here and once it looks like it’s fixed I’ll probably go to 26 then.
 
Wx_Man said:
Over at the Mac Observer web site they have a complete ( so far ) list of all known iOS 26.x bugs and fixes as well as a list for iPadOS 26.x bugs and fixes. I haven’t yet found one for MacOS yet.

They list 77…..SEVENTY SEVEN…known iOS bugs with fixes. 26 is an unmitigated disaster on all Apple platforms. If you’re able and haven’t yet upgraded to 26…go right now and sign up for a free Apple Beta Test account. After you do that turn off ALL automatic updates in Settings/General/Software Updates. Reboot or log back into your device and go back to Settings/General/Software Updates and look for the new toggle “Beta Updates”. Toggle that “On” and let it cycle for a second. You will then see a choice of Tahoe or Sequoia. Choose Sequoia. After a second or two you will see only Sequoia as a choice. That’s it . You’ll never see another nag screen for Tahoe until you turn off the “Beta Update” switch. You’ll only ever get Sequoia updates….not 26.

For those unfortunate enough to have either willfully upgraded or were forced by Apple here is the link to the Mac Observer page with all of iOS 26 fixes so far.

www.macobserver.com

All Reported iOS 26/26.2 Bugs and Issues with Fixes

iOS 26.2 brings new features but also widespread bugs, including installation failures, battery drain, overheating, connectivity, and app crashes.
www.macobserver.com
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Macs arent like iOS, you can downgrade, there’s zero need to go through all those steps, just reinstall sequoia if you want
 
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Backtothemac said:
100% happening on mine. I was planning on contacting Apple for mine. It happens every 30 seconds or so. Really bad in Safari especially. It is driving me crazy!
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Good idea. After I posted that I wasn’t going to update from Sequoia to Tahoe I did wonder the same thing. I have AppleCare on my Mac Mini so if I update after all and get this issue, I could call support as you suggest.

The only problem with that approach is support are often very “hammer to crack a nut” and I could see them suggesting wiping and reinstalling the OS when we all know it’s likely to need a firmware update to fix this.

If you do call Apple, please post how you get on!
 
DownUnderDan said:
Well false alert then. Dirk with his sample size of 2 monitors, can't see any problem.
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The article felt like it was written like there was some doom scenario with Studio Displays. Judging by the amount of comments of people not experiencing it, I’d say that’s not the case.

Not claiming in any way that the problem doesn’t exist. Just wanted to counter the click bait journalism that goes on these days.

If anyone from Apple is reading these posts and somehow concludes that the problem occurs more on (for example) Mac minis then maybe they can fix it faster.

Just to make you feel warm inside, I’d like to repeat that there is no issue with my Studio Displays connected to an M4 15” MBA.

Happy holidays!!! 🎄🎅🏿
 
I have added an additional note to my earlier post on this to the effect that my Apple Studio Display had no issues when connected to my 2020 27” i9 iMac running Sequoia. The problem only started when connected to my M4 Pro Mac Mini and it is interesting to observe that the Mini when connected to my LG 27” Ultrafine does not show the problem. It is a problem between the Mini and the Studio Display. I have not tested the Studio Display connected to either of my MacBook Pros (16” M1 Max, 14” M4).
 
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Dirk Pieters said:
The article felt like it was written like there was some doom scenario with Studio Displays. Judging by the amount of comments of people not experiencing it, I’d say that’s not the case.
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As is the case with most bugs found in non-beta software, it is a problem that affects only certain system configurations and possibly only certain combinations of configuration options and user actions. This is literally the case with every single problem that occurs with every single OS on the face of the Earth. If this were a more common problem than that, it would (or at least should) have been caught ages ago.

Apple has paid spokespeople whose job it is to apologize on their behalf. No need for you to do so for free.
 
jakey rolling said:
Apple has paid spokespeople whose job it is to apologize on their behalf. No need for you to do so for free.
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FWIW, I don't see Dirk apologizing for Apple as he explicitly stated that he is not denying that other people are seeing the bug. FWIW, I am not seeing the problem on my ASD with an M4 Pro Mini running Sequoia.

When tracing down a bug, knowing where/when a bug doesn't show up is as important as knowing where/when it does show up as that narrows down the possible root causes of the bug. A similar issue with the ASD is buzzing from the power supply.

One bug that annoys me involves using the RPN mode on the calculator where unary functions such as 10^x strip off the sign of x before evaluating the function and then re-apply the sign afterwards. For example, 10^(-1) results in -10 as opposed to 0.1.
 
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