Weird graphics issues...

[davidg4781]

I was moving a file from a Finder window to my desktop and my screen flashed some weird looking stuff on the screen. I was able to take a screen shot, but is this something I need to be worried about? It never happened on my 2006 Core Duo MB.

This is a 2010 13" MBP, btw, 2.4GHz, if that helps any. It's running OS X Lion with everything up to date. It does have AppleCare. Should I take it to Apple?

 

[Astroboy907]

I was moving a file from a Finder window to my desktop and my screen flashed some weird looking stuff on the screen. I was able to take a screen shot, but is this something I need to be worried about? It never happened on my 2006 Core Duo MB.

This is a 2010 13" MBP, btw, 2.4GHz, if that helps any. It's running OS X Lion with everything up to date. It does have AppleCare. Should I take it to Apple?

You can try taking it to apple for diagnosis, but if it has not happened again in any form I would not be too worried. If it happens again, take it in.

 

[davidg4781]

Any idea what could have caused that? I'll try doing the same thing to see if I can replicate it.

 

[pragmatous]

I'm guessing graphics card. In your case the CPU maybe. Graphical artifacts could also be bad memory. I would take it in for sure and get it looked at.

 

[davidg4781]

How does that work with AppleCare if it's a major issue like a CPU or GPU? As far as I know it has the original RAM but I did replace the hard drive. Should I put the original in before taking it to Apple?

I'll also show the picture to them because it happens pretty fast.

 

[drambuie]

The 13" MBP does not have a discrete GPU. The Arrandale GPU is on the CPU chip. Also, it uses system RAM. This looks like a hardware fault, but the only way to be sure is to take it to Apple. You may end up with a new logic board.

They won't worry about the hard drive as it's user upgradeable, however, if they replace the drive or the whole MBP for some reason, you'll end up with an OEM drive in place of yours.

 

[fullojellybeans]

Isn't it a software problem since it shows up on a screenshot?

 

[pragmatous]

I don't know. I know for PC's it wouldn't be a problem as the techs know hard drive has nothing to do with video.

You could always say it came with the laptop when you bought it. Play dumb.

I'm not familiar with apples warranty so I can't really answer it

How does that work with AppleCare if it's a major issue like a CPU or GPU? As far as I know it has the original RAM but I did replace the hard drive. Should I put the original in before taking it to Apple?

I'll also show the picture to them because it happens pretty fast.

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I'm guessing he took it with a camera.

I've seen this before with PC's and it's usually either video RAM (or RAM if the video card uses shared system RAM) or video card. Also even the display itself could be a problem.

You can easily tell if it's the display if you hook it up to a external monitor, clone the display, watch both displays and see if it happens on both or not.

Isn't it a software problem since it shows up on a screenshot?

 

[davidg4781]

I used command+3 to take a screen shot.

 

[JoshGlzBrk]

I've seen this a few times before. It happened to my 2010 mbp but I never really figured it out. It seemed to only happen on intel graphics.