This looks to be either a faulty logic board or graphics card issue. I would recommend taking it in for service.
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Mid 2010 MacBook Pro Faulty Intel Graphics?
- Thread starter jihuiwen
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Finally found others
I've been having this same issue lately. I had no idea what was going on and took it in and Apple replaced the logic board. I got home and it started happening again a few days later. I took it back and they said it must be something I installed, nothing has been installed outside of factory, and that I should remember which program causes this. I'm so relieved to find others with the same issue. This is my first Mac and from what I've gathered this shouldn't happen with Mac's. I hope with all this, some resolution can be found.
I've been having this same issue lately. I had no idea what was going on and took it in and Apple replaced the logic board. I got home and it started happening again a few days later. I took it back and they said it must be something I installed, nothing has been installed outside of factory, and that I should remember which program causes this. I'm so relieved to find others with the same issue. This is my first Mac and from what I've gathered this shouldn't happen with Mac's. I hope with all this, some resolution can be found.
Ugh, add another one to the list of screwed up Intel graphics. I've been experiencing these blocky/messed up graphics periodically over the past few months with my 15'' Mid-2010 2.66 i7 (Glossy Hi-res) and it has been getting worse over time.
I've been using gfxCardStatus and the issue always goes away when I manually switch to Nvidia. You would think after all these years with graphic card issues in MBP's that Apple would get this generation right.
Will head over to the Apple store this weekend because I need to have my iPhone 4 replaced as well... it's been shutting down for no reason every couple hours (for months now even after software updates!).
I've been using gfxCardStatus and the issue always goes away when I manually switch to Nvidia. You would think after all these years with graphic card issues in MBP's that Apple would get this generation right.
Will head over to the Apple store this weekend because I need to have my iPhone 4 replaced as well... it's been shutting down for no reason every couple hours (for months now even after software updates!).
A couple more observations...
1. Sometimes, when using Google Chrome to watch videos on YouTube, I sometimes get an error message saying that Flash has crashed. If that happens on nVidia graphics, I just hit refresh and everything is fine. If it happens on Intel graphics and I switch to nVidia and refresh, everything is fine. If it happens on Intel and I hit refresh, from that point on, the video "window" effectively becomes see-through and instead of seeing the video, I can actually see my desktop beneath! Absolutely nothing I do after that will make the video visible if I remain on Intel graphics, I have to reboot.
So clearly, in this instance, the problem is with Flash and the onboard Intel video. From what others have posted about replacing their logic boards and memory and still experiencing the problem, I believe that replacing these components will not ensure the problem goes away. Perhaps we should all start bombarding Adobe with complaints, maybe that will get us some results. They may not even be aware of the problem. http://forums.adobe.com/community/flash/flash_general is where I am gonna make a post, perhaps you guys can chip-in there.
2. Once the blocky graphics / flash crash (call it what you want) problem occurs, if you take a screenshot of something, very often the saved png file is just a black abyss with nothing in it. Even if you switch to nVidia graphics to try to view the file, it's just a black nothing. If you switch to nVidia graphics and re-take the screenshot, the resulting png file is fine.
Here I don't see any connection between Flash and the problem, it's just the onboard Intel card screwing up. Perhaps we can all post on Apple's official forum as well...it HAS been several months and there's no word on a confirmed fix. :-s
1. Sometimes, when using Google Chrome to watch videos on YouTube, I sometimes get an error message saying that Flash has crashed. If that happens on nVidia graphics, I just hit refresh and everything is fine. If it happens on Intel graphics and I switch to nVidia and refresh, everything is fine. If it happens on Intel and I hit refresh, from that point on, the video "window" effectively becomes see-through and instead of seeing the video, I can actually see my desktop beneath! Absolutely nothing I do after that will make the video visible if I remain on Intel graphics, I have to reboot.
So clearly, in this instance, the problem is with Flash and the onboard Intel video. From what others have posted about replacing their logic boards and memory and still experiencing the problem, I believe that replacing these components will not ensure the problem goes away. Perhaps we should all start bombarding Adobe with complaints, maybe that will get us some results. They may not even be aware of the problem. http://forums.adobe.com/community/flash/flash_general is where I am gonna make a post, perhaps you guys can chip-in there.
2. Once the blocky graphics / flash crash (call it what you want) problem occurs, if you take a screenshot of something, very often the saved png file is just a black abyss with nothing in it. Even if you switch to nVidia graphics to try to view the file, it's just a black nothing. If you switch to nVidia graphics and re-take the screenshot, the resulting png file is fine.
Here I don't see any connection between Flash and the problem, it's just the onboard Intel card screwing up. Perhaps we can all post on Apple's official forum as well...it HAS been several months and there's no word on a confirmed fix. :-s
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I'm running a
2.66 GHz Intel Core i7
15-inch High Resolution Display
MacBook Pro
Mac OS 10.6.6
Just to chime in, I am seeing the same issues as others on this thread. I don't have a good way of documenting the issue because when I'm running the Intel integrated graphics the screenshots are black. I've tried running my MacBook Pro without gfxCardStatus by recommendation of a Genius at the Apple Store, but no luck. The issue always returns. Again I don't have any solutions besides constantly running the Nvidia graphics card, but I think it is important for all of us to mention the issue so that we can gain some attention. Hopefully we will find a solution.
2.66 GHz Intel Core i7
15-inch High Resolution Display
MacBook Pro
Mac OS 10.6.6
Just to chime in, I am seeing the same issues as others on this thread. I don't have a good way of documenting the issue because when I'm running the Intel integrated graphics the screenshots are black. I've tried running my MacBook Pro without gfxCardStatus by recommendation of a Genius at the Apple Store, but no luck. The issue always returns. Again I don't have any solutions besides constantly running the Nvidia graphics card, but I think it is important for all of us to mention the issue so that we can gain some attention. Hopefully we will find a solution.
same faulty graphics situation
I've been having the same issue for months now, have been meaning to go to my Apple Store to discuss. I have a One-to-One membership, so hopefully they will give me a decent chunk of time. After reading this thread, I'm relieved to know I'm not the only person experiencing this issue, but at the same time I'm incredibly disappointed that this seems to be a built-in issue that Apple doesn't have a fix for. I spent a HUGE amount of $ on my latest MBP after my trusty old PowerBook G4 finally kicked the bucket after 6 years of use. I'm a huge Mac fan and always trying to convert my PC friends and family. So I feel kind of betrayed by Apple that they would sell a high-priced product to me that has a major glitch in the system. I don't know how they are going to be able to resolve this for me. This graphics problem happens to me 2 or 3 times a day now, and it's incredibly annoying, not to mention a huge impediment to my productivity, as I do a lot of work on my MBP.
I should mention I bought my 15" MBP in August 2010, the details are:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s
Anyway, just wanted to chime in here for solidarity!
I've been having the same issue for months now, have been meaning to go to my Apple Store to discuss. I have a One-to-One membership, so hopefully they will give me a decent chunk of time. After reading this thread, I'm relieved to know I'm not the only person experiencing this issue, but at the same time I'm incredibly disappointed that this seems to be a built-in issue that Apple doesn't have a fix for. I spent a HUGE amount of $ on my latest MBP after my trusty old PowerBook G4 finally kicked the bucket after 6 years of use. I'm a huge Mac fan and always trying to convert my PC friends and family. So I feel kind of betrayed by Apple that they would sell a high-priced product to me that has a major glitch in the system. I don't know how they are going to be able to resolve this for me. This graphics problem happens to me 2 or 3 times a day now, and it's incredibly annoying, not to mention a huge impediment to my productivity, as I do a lot of work on my MBP.
I should mention I bought my 15" MBP in August 2010, the details are:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s
Anyway, just wanted to chime in here for solidarity!
screenshots of weird graphics glitch
Oh, I meant to reply to those who can't get a screenshot of their Glitch-In-Progress. Whenever my graphics start going haywire, I whip out my iPhone and snap photos. So when I finally make it in person to Apple for assistance, I can just show them in my iPhone photo library the many, many, many instances of the graphics glitch.
Maybe a Mac-Miracle will occur and they will just replace my MBP with the newest version? Wishful thinking, I know! Ah, even if that happened, there's probably some stupid glitch in there too. Now I'm just getting jaded. Thanks, Apple, you used to be my cynicism-free-zone! No more.
Bah. Still better than a PC at any rate, but I can't be restarting my laptop 3 times a day when it is less than a year old. That's just ludicrous.
Oh, I meant to reply to those who can't get a screenshot of their Glitch-In-Progress. Whenever my graphics start going haywire, I whip out my iPhone and snap photos. So when I finally make it in person to Apple for assistance, I can just show them in my iPhone photo library the many, many, many instances of the graphics glitch.
Maybe a Mac-Miracle will occur and they will just replace my MBP with the newest version?
Wishful thinking, I know! Ah, even if that happened, there's probably some stupid glitch in there too. Now I'm just getting jaded. Thanks, Apple, you used to be my cynicism-free-zone! No more.Bah. Still better than a PC at any rate, but I can't be restarting my laptop 3 times a day when it is less than a year old. That's just ludicrous.
Screen shots
queenjahmay - That is a great idea!
I did get some screen shots, here they are.
As you can see in the second one, Safari starts mixing up different tabs that are open. In that case the tab it started to mix was actually closed already (where it says LIGHTS upside-down), it's almost like it was pulling something from the cache.
queenjahmay - That is a great idea!
I did get some screen shots, here they are.
As you can see in the second one, Safari starts mixing up different tabs that are open. In that case the tab it started to mix was actually closed already (where it says LIGHTS upside-down), it's almost like it was pulling something from the cache.
Attachments
This recently happened to my mid 2010 i7 MacBook Pro. It started happening a little bit after I did the latest firmware update (along with the other regular updates) a few days ago. It doesn't happen right after turning on the computer though, only after a few hours of having it on. The problems that I ran into are the placeholder images for my top sites in Safari are filled with random graphic articles, like the flickr picture that Becko posted. Also some of my .doc and picture icons turn into these graphics, and when all this garbage data appears, folders do not open when I click them. I'm not sure if the EFI update caused this or if it's just a coincidence that my graphics card started malfunctioning at the same time. Has anyone found any fixes for this problem? Thanks
I tried to take a video screencapture using Quicktime and the graphics problems go away until a little bit after I stop the screen capture. I also tried taking regular screenshots of the glitched graphics, but the screenshots come out all black.
I tried to take a video screencapture using Quicktime and the graphics problems go away until a little bit after I stop the screen capture. I also tried taking regular screenshots of the glitched graphics, but the screenshots come out all black.
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Still?
Hi,
I got the same problem during several months. I usually got it after 2-3 hours until I reboot the MAC. And then come again after 2-3 hours...
However the problem did not happen for the last 10 days once I installed 10.6.7.
Could you confirm that 10.6.7 fixes this on your MAC too ?
Regards
Hi,
I got the same problem during several months. I usually got it after 2-3 hours until I reboot the MAC. And then come again after 2-3 hours...
However the problem did not happen for the last 10 days once I installed 10.6.7.
Could you confirm that 10.6.7 fixes this on your MAC too ?
Regards
I just spoke to Apple, and they confirmed that 10.6.7 should resolve this issue. Strangely enough, we sent one in for depot repair the other day and the replaced the logic board, probably unnecessarily. I will have to go and perform the update and see what happens.
same problem ...
Hello,
I am having the exact same issue(garbage pixels) last one week or so. I have a (Mid 2010) 13" MacBook Pro with nVidia GeForce 320M 256MB. It doesn't have additional Intel Graphics Card. My MBP is only 13 months old. This is my first Mac, and I am disappointed with Apple. I also don't have Apple Care. I first thought It was a stuck pixel problem. Now I see that it is a different issue. I have a feeling that it is a hardware issue. Because for 13 months this problem never occurred before. And it just started happening since last week. I installed Mac Lion OS 1 month ago. But everything was okay till last week. If the problem was Lion, I would have this problem shortly after I installed Lion. Anyway, I am thinking that the problem is with LCD panel. Do you think is it LCD panel problem ? When I see these few lines of garbage pixel, I click on it and they disappear. Just because of this problem I am thinking to buy a new external LCD monitor and use my MBP on ClamShell mode. Do you think having a new LCD monitor will help this problem ?
Thanks,
Tolga
Hello,
I am having the exact same issue(garbage pixels) last one week or so. I have a (Mid 2010) 13" MacBook Pro with nVidia GeForce 320M 256MB. It doesn't have additional Intel Graphics Card. My MBP is only 13 months old. This is my first Mac, and I am disappointed with Apple. I also don't have Apple Care. I first thought It was a stuck pixel problem. Now I see that it is a different issue. I have a feeling that it is a hardware issue. Because for 13 months this problem never occurred before. And it just started happening since last week. I installed Mac Lion OS 1 month ago. But everything was okay till last week. If the problem was Lion, I would have this problem shortly after I installed Lion. Anyway, I am thinking that the problem is with LCD panel. Do you think is it LCD panel problem ? When I see these few lines of garbage pixel, I click on it and they disappear. Just because of this problem I am thinking to buy a new external LCD monitor and use my MBP on ClamShell mode. Do you think having a new LCD monitor will help this problem ?
Thanks,
Tolga
I'm having the same problem with my MBP I just got in June 2011. I was wondering if it is a hardware problem is it sometime that will damage the computer over time or is it more of annoyance to the user?
Here is my original post about this problem:
Here is my original post about this problem:
same issues here - early 2010 MBP i5
I have been having the same issue since I got my MBP last year. I have the 3 yr Apple Care plan and just brought my system in to be checked a couple weeks ago. Genius Bar recommended the logic board be replaced which was done last week. I picked my computer up yesterday, got it home, turned it on and still have the same issue! I will be taking it back to the Apple store next weekend. I believe the issue is the old i5 and i7 chips that were used in last year's 15 and 17 in MBP models which I think a may be being used in the 13 in MBP for 2011.
I have been having the same issue since I got my MBP last year. I have the 3 yr Apple Care plan and just brought my system in to be checked a couple weeks ago. Genius Bar recommended the logic board be replaced which was done last week. I picked my computer up yesterday, got it home, turned it on and still have the same issue! I will be taking it back to the Apple store next weekend. I believe the issue is the old i5 and i7 chips that were used in last year's 15 and 17 in MBP models which I think a may be being used in the 13 in MBP for 2011.
So I went to the Apple store yesterday. They did a completely wipe of my system and then installed Lion (instead of Snow Leopard) which I was using and my computer has been perfect since! Not one graphics glitch at all. Now, I'll just have to see if it stays this way but I'm pretty psyched right now!
Sorry for the bump, but same problem over here.
The thing is I already had my logic board replaced twice and I should have the fixed logic boards, but recently my integrated card is the one causing distorted graphics. When I force discrete, everything goes back normal.
This doesn't happen all the time though and usually when I close the lid and open it again, I can use the Intel chip with no problem until the next restart.
The thing is I already had my logic board replaced twice and I should have the fixed logic boards, but recently my integrated card is the one causing distorted graphics. When I force discrete, everything goes back normal.
This doesn't happen all the time though and usually when I close the lid and open it again, I can use the Intel chip with no problem until the next restart.
Thanks for the tip about closing and opening the screen. Seems to be working for me. I am having a similar problem and it sounds like we're not alone. There is another thread here: Here though it doesn't seem to have much activity. The problem described at the start of this thread seems different from the one I'm experiencing.
Just started getting this issue now, running Mountain Lion 10.8. 2010 17" MacBook Pro. Same thing - IntelHD Graphics cause the screen to go haywire. Did anyone ever get a concrete solution to this? I've had the machine 2 years and never seen anything like it until now
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Closing the lid also resolves it until I restart and the problem starts up again.
Come to think of it I never really restarted my Mac very much in 2 years. Though I've been shutting it down and restarting it more in the last week with Mountain Lion and not seen this until tonight.
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I found some info from Apple:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377
Anyone think it relates to this?
Also, to confirm closing the lid resolves the issue until the next restart.
I think the reason I never noticed it in two years was because I never really restarted my Mac, just put it to sleep by closing the lid, so I have no idea how long this issue could have been going on for without realising it!
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Closing the lid also resolves it until I restart and the problem starts up again.
Come to think of it I never really restarted my Mac very much in 2 years. Though I've been shutting it down and restarting it more in the last week with Mountain Lion and not seen this until tonight.
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I found some info from Apple:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377
Anyone think it relates to this?
Also, to confirm closing the lid resolves the issue until the next restart.
I think the reason I never noticed it in two years was because I never really restarted my Mac, just put it to sleep by closing the lid, so I have no idea how long this issue could have been going on for without realising it!
This hast just started happening to me too. If I turn automatic graphics switching on (activating the Intel card), the screen becomes garbled and the only way to fix is either by closing the lid or holding down the power button to turn the machine off.
It seems like this is a widespread issue, and logic board replacements don't necessarily remedy the problem. To me it sounds like an issue with graphics switching.
Whatever it may be, I doubt we'll see a solution to this.
15" 2010 2.4GHz i5. Running Mountain Lion.
EDIT: I can confirm that downgrading back to gfxCardStatus v2.1 (found here) solves the screen flickering issue introduced by v2.2.1.
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anyone found a solution??
this is driving me nuts.
i use mission control a lot, and lately this graphics issue has started affecting that.
when i swipe up, the screen goes black and my device actually reboots.
swiping left to right to change desktops does not seem to be affected, but definitely when 3 finger swipe up.
after all the reading it just doesn't sound like there is an actual solution to this (someone tell me i'm wrong).
i use gfxcardstatus and used to keep it in integrated which seemed to work for the most part for a long time, but lately the problem has re-risen and become more regular.
hoped it would be solved with mountain lion.....yeah...no
bout to scrap this device and get a new one, is that really the only option??
this is driving me nuts.
i use mission control a lot, and lately this graphics issue has started affecting that.
when i swipe up, the screen goes black and my device actually reboots.
swiping left to right to change desktops does not seem to be affected, but definitely when 3 finger swipe up.
after all the reading it just doesn't sound like there is an actual solution to this (someone tell me i'm wrong).
i use gfxcardstatus and used to keep it in integrated which seemed to work for the most part for a long time, but lately the problem has re-risen and become more regular.
hoped it would be solved with mountain lion.....yeah...no
bout to scrap this device and get a new one, is that really the only option??