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New M2 Max & Lightroom — insane flickering

A

analog guy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
399
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Took delivery a couple days ago of an M2 MacBook Pro (14") — M2 Max / 12-core CPU, 38-core GPU / 64GB RAM.

I'm a heavy user of Lightroom Classic and came from an M1 MacBook Pro (14" / M1 Max, 10-core / 32GB RAM).

I experience significant (so much that it is unusable) flicker when in the Develop module — almost like a color profile is flickering on and off as I move the mouse. The white balance is constantly adjusting. My monitor is an Apple Pro XDR display.

There was NO issue with the M1 Max. If I disable GPU acceleration for everything ("GPU for display" is the baseline, so I have to turn EVERYTHING off), there's no flicker. Also, everything else becomes slow.

Anyone else experience this?

Ventura 13.2, transferred all files over from my M1 MBP, same workflow, cables, etc.

Thanks!
 
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I just set up my M2 Max 14" MacBook Pro with Lightroom Classic last night and didn't notice any of these issues. My GPU setting in Lightroom is set to AUTO (same exact settings as my M1 - I had the machines side by side when setting up), but I will double check what other boxes are checked when I get home tonight.

I do know that there are some issues with the graphics output on the M2s compared to M1. Here's a comment from Art is Right regarding using Calibrite Profiler software:

It is not Ventura, it is M2 PRO / MAX there are some changes on the graphic output that is causing issue at the moment. Calibrite is aware of this and is working on a fix.

So you may be having some weird software issue or a faulty GPU. Try turning off all other apps and things running in the background. I did notice some jittery video playback in Quicktime that was solved with a restart.
 
Thank you. After further experimentation, I notice this behavior with the *external display* (Apple Pro XDR), not the MBP's own display. The behavior goes away if I turn off "Use GPU for Display" in LR Classic, but it also heavily slows down the app.
 
Glad you figured it out. My M2 Max is showing no problems with the Apple Studio Display with Lightroom GPU set to AUTO.
 
Jamooche said:
Glad you figured it out. My M2 Max is showing no problems with the Apple Studio Display with Lightroom GPU set to AUTO.
Click to expand...
I can reproduce the issue. Not sure how to solve as disabling GPU defeats the purpose of an upgrade. A conversation with an Apple support person today was not helpful. (“Did you restart?”)
 
analog guy said:
I notice this behavior with the *external display* (Apple Pro XDR), not the MBP's own display. The behavior goes away if I turn off "Use GPU for Display"
Click to expand...
Sounds like LR is taking all of the GPU cores for its processing needs, and leaving little to drive the XDR monitor.
 
maflynn said:
Sounds like LR is taking all of the GPU cores for its processing needs, and leaving little to drive the XDR monitor.
Click to expand...
Did not happen with my M1 Max with less processing power with the same version of LR and the same monitor. I have read issues with m1 and m2 users experiencing this flicker with external monitors. Not sure if an adobe issue or an Apple silicon issue/bad gpu that only appears when stressed.
 
FWIW, Apple support had me restart, boot from safe mode, check all firmware, reinstall the OS, etc. No resolution.

They want me to either go in store (I don't have a store within 300 miles) or send it in for 3-5 day evaluation (it's my primary machine).

I'm within the 2 weeks. Debating whether to order another to see if the problem goes away.
 
analog guy said:
FWIW, Apple support had me restart, boot from safe mode, check all firmware, reinstall the OS, etc. No resolution.

They want me to either go in store (I don't have a store within 300 miles) or send it in for 3-5 day evaluation (it's my primary machine).

I'm within the 2 weeks. Debating whether to order another to see if the problem goes away.
Click to expand...
I think you just need to initiate the return process within 14 days (I would verify with Apple). Then you can keep the MacBook temporarily while you order another one to replace it.
 
It might be best to return it, for your own peace of mind.

BUT...
... I gotz a feelin' that the replacement might end up doing the same thing...:mad:
 
Fishrrman said:
It might be best to return it, for your own peace of mind.

BUT...
... I gotz a feelin' that the replacement might end up doing the same thing...:mad:
Click to expand...
I have a replacement in hand (base model M2 Max 14") — and it does, in fact, do the same thing.

However, I have isolated things a bit further. The flickering only occurs in this scenario:
* Lightroom Classic Develop module;
* External monitor connected;
* Brightness (using F1/F2 keys at maximum or 1 step below max)!

Again, this issue did NOT occur with my M1 Max MBP 14"; however, I read that some people did/do experience flickering with their M1 Max, so I thought it might be a case of a bad GPU.
 
Jamooche said:
I think you just need to initiate the return process within 14 days (I would verify with Apple). Then you can keep the MacBook temporarily while you order another one to replace it.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I believe you are correct.
 
I'm not sure if this is a related issue, but I was just watching some old 1080p and 4K videos I took a while ago and if I fast forward or rewind around a lot, the video becomes jittery. I'm using Quicktime to view them. I've never had this problem before on any Mac before the M2 Max. If I quit the video and re-open to the same time section it's fine, but randomly if I am searching around a lot for a specific part, it can become jittery.
 
It may not necessarily be a problem on Apple's side, but rather on Adobe's turf: flickering in Lightroom on Macs has been reported for a number of years now. The advice tends to be to either turn off GPU or switch back to an older version.

Of course, could be an interplay between the two causing issues.
 
Herbert123 said:
It may not necessarily be a problem on Apple's side, but rather on Adobe's turf: flickering in Lightroom on Macs has been reported for a number of years now. The advice tends to be to either turn off GPU or switch back to an older version.

Of course, could be an interplay between the two causing issues.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply.

Turning off the GPU makes LRC run slower than my M1 Max... which would mean zero reason to upgrade. GPU acceleration for LRC tasks makes a notable improvement over the M1 Max, also using GPU acceleration.

For now, running the monitor at 14/16 brightness seems to do the trick in that I get GPU acceleration without flickering. May have to recalibrate my monitor.
 
Herbert123 said:
It may not necessarily be a problem on Apple's side, but rather on Adobe's turf: flickering in Lightroom on Macs has been reported for a number of years now. The advice tends to be to either turn off GPU or switch back to an older version.

Of course, could be an interplay between the two causing issues.
Click to expand...
I tested this scenario with a base model M2 Max MBP — same, repeatable flicker.

I did further isolate the problem:
* LRC Develop module, with GPU acceleration on;
* External monitor attached (Apple Pro XDR for me — happens with the MBP open or closed);
* Brightness set to 15/16 or 16/16 (max) brightness with F1/F2 keys.

That it only happens with GPU acceleration on suggests a chip issue (my copy(-ies) or otherwise).
However, that the OS brightness affects things suggests it is macOS-related.

Not sure where to go from here.

Is there anywhere one can set the default brightness value for a monitor? The internal Retina display *always* starts at 50% when opening the lid, and I need to change it.

Also, given the above I'd love to set the brightness of the Pro XDR to <=14/16.

Thanks!
 
Hi, glad I found this. I have a new Mac mini (M2 Pro 32GB 12-core) with a XDR display. I am not a heavy user of Lightroom but I do need it often. I just got this problem for the first time. It seems like I have this problem after the latest Apple update of the Mac mini.
 
Setting the Brightness to 14/16 solved the problem for me. Thank you !! They should find a solution for this, we paid a lot for this setup.
 
Hesitant to resurrect this thread but can't ask any other way - Did your flickering issue go away? Do you still have to keep brightness down? Interested as I'm expecting an M2 Max MBP 16" and I'm expecting to be using LRC a lot with a Studio Display (different display I know, but still..)
 
Yes, I also did the latest Lightroom update and I still got the flickering. Of you lower brightness to 14/16 it should already stop. I don’t know if the problem is at the side of Apple or Adobe…
 
OK thanks. I'm not sure I'd want the brightness to max. But I'll see if I get it.
 
I tried all the suggestions to no avail. Additionally restarted both MacOS and Lightroom, nothing will stop the flickering. My goal was to have all the controls on my 32" 4K monitor with the image on the MPB 16 which has much better color accuracy. Hopefully this is a software bug that Adobe or Apple can fix. My son's MPB 14 with the M1 Max doesn't have the problem. If this is a bug in the M2 processor, probably caught between a rock and a hard place.

MPB 16 M2 Max, 96GB
 
After quite a bit of testing with my 16-inch M2 Max MacBook Pro with 96GB RAM on a Studio Display, I haven't noticed any flickering at all in the LRC develop module, with GPU set to 'auto', even with brightness set to maximum.
 
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