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jtsang777

Cancelled
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
92
6
When I wake up from sleep (opening up the lid) i sometimes see this distortion. See attached image. The apple store couldn't find the problem. Is this likely software or hardware issue?
 

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pedrom

Suspended
Jan 30, 2016
100
110
Did you give it a bath, or something? :)

Does it happen on a "guest" account, safe mode, etc?
 

jtsang777

Cancelled
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
92
6
Did you give it a bath, or something? :)

Does it happen on a "guest" account, safe mode, etc?


Nah, I didn't give it a bath. It does happen to another account as well. Haven't tried it in safe mode yet. Apple support is escalating this issue to the engineering team. Hopefully I will hear back in a couple of days.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,615
10,920
Does this happen after login in? Could you use different camera to take the same photo to make sure this is not related to camera itself?
 

jtsang777

Cancelled
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
92
6
Does this happen after login in? Could you use different camera to take the same photo to make sure this is not related to camera itself?


This only happens when I open the lid from sleep. I don't think taking another picture is going to be any good as I see this screen distortion with my own eyes on the MacBook Air screen.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,615
10,920
This only happens when I open the lid from sleep. I don't think taking another picture is going to be any good as I see this screen distortion with my own eyes on the MacBook Air screen.
So, could you check if keyboard feels hot, and cooling of your MacBook Air works normally?
I suspect such effect seen on your bare eye is related to unusual heat.
 

jtsang777

Cancelled
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
92
6
My MacBook Air's keyboard feels cool to the touch when this screen distortion happens.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,615
10,920
My MacBook Air's keyboard feels cool to the touch when this screen distortion happens.
Uh, even though Apple Store staff could not find the problem, could they see such weird effect with their bare eyes?
And, I know this is unlikely, but what if you try to change desktop wallpaper? :confused:
 

NBJohnson

macrumors newbie
Mar 1, 2016
1
0
Uh, even though Apple Store staff could not find the problem, could they see such weird effect with their bare eyes?
And, I know this is unlikely, but what if you try to change desktop wallpaper? :confused:

I can assure you if a camera can see this effect (as it's not a refresh rate issue or something like that) that anyone can see the effect with their bare eyes.

You're looking way too deep into this. It's not the ops eyeballs, it's not the camera he's using, it's a software issue. Just startup with CMD+R, run a reinstall, and you'll be fine. It's not his wallpaper either and it's not hardware as the problem would manifest differently.
 

Panch0

macrumors 6502a
Feb 23, 2010
684
9
Virginia
That looks a lot like the distortion I see if I press on my screen with a finger, although MUCH larger. Are you waking the computer from sleep after traveling with it in a bag? If so, is it possible that something is jammed against the back of the screen?

Does the distortion appear if you just close the MBA, leave it on your desk then open the screen to wake it?

If it only appears after moving, how's the weather? Extreme cold might distort the display, but it would clear pretty quickly as the system warms up.

How long does it take for the distortion to clear after the MBA wakes up?
 

jtsang777

Cancelled
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
92
6
This issue happens sometimes not all the time but at least twice a week.
[doublepost=1456852032][/doublepost]
That looks a lot like the distortion I see if I press on my screen with a finger, although MUCH larger. Are you waking the computer from sleep after traveling with it in a bag? If so, is it possible that something is jammed against the back of the screen?

Does the distortion appear if you just close the MBA, leave it on your desk then open the screen to wake it?

If it only appears after moving, how's the weather? Extreme cold might distort the display, but it would clear pretty quickly as the system warms up.

How long does it take for the distortion to clear after the MBA wakes up?
Usually my laptop is just on my desk. I live in warm weather so I don't think weather is the issue. But it seems like sometimes after I close the lid wait for 20 seconds and then open the lid I see this distortion but it happens in a split second before it goes away.
[doublepost=1456852110][/doublepost]
I can assure you if a camera can see this effect (as it's not a refresh rate issue or something like that) that anyone can see the effect with their bare eyes.

You're looking way too deep into this. It's not the ops eyeballs, it's not the camera he's using, it's a software issue. Just startup with CMD+R, run a reinstall, and you'll be fine. It's not his wallpaper either and it's not hardware as the problem would manifest differently.
I already did a reinstall of El Capitan after formatting the hard drive and starting over and still see this issue.
[doublepost=1456852150][/doublepost]
Uh, even though Apple Store staff could not find the problem, could they see such weird effect with their bare eyes?
And, I know this is unlikely, but what if you try to change desktop wallpaper? :confused:
I already changed the wallpaper and this issue still happens.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,615
10,920
This issue happens sometimes not all the time but at least twice a week.
[doublepost=1456852032][/doublepost]
Usually my laptop is just on my desk. I live in warm weather so I don't think weather is the issue. But it seems like sometimes after I close the lid wait for 20 seconds and then open the lid I see this distortion but it happens in a split second before it goes away.
[doublepost=1456852110][/doublepost]
I already did a reinstall of El Capitan after formatting the hard drive and starting over and still see this issue.
[doublepost=1456852150][/doublepost]
I already changed the wallpaper and this issue still happens.
Not Hardware issue, and not software issue. Uh. This is a tough problem. You say you can only see it in lock screen, not even in desktop. Such distortion like the first post shows is serious enough. I have no idea for now.
 

jtsang777

Cancelled
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
92
6
Not Hardware issue, and not software issue. Uh. This is a tough problem. You say you can only see it in lock screen, not even in desktop. Such distortion like the first post shows is serious enough. I have no idea for now.
Even if I do turn off Require login after sleep I still see the issue on my desktop.
[doublepost=1456887163][/doublepost]
Not Hardware issue, and not software issue. Uh. This is a tough problem. You say you can only see it in lock screen, not even in desktop. Such distortion like the first post shows is serious enough. I have no idea for now.
I think it might be an issue with El Capitan as I did downgrade to an older time machine backup to Mavericks and the issue doesn't come up.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,615
10,920
Even if I do turn off Require login after sleep I still see the issue on my desktop.
I would like to suspect more on hardware issue than software issue. I also live in warm place, but my MacBook Air screen does not have any such distortion so far. Weather factor is not so relevant in this case.
I would not hope different Apple Store Genius Bar could provide different hardware test result, but if I were you, I will travel to one more Apple Store to see if I am lucky to get a screen replacement.
[doublepost=1456887425][/doublepost]
Even if I do turn off Require login after sleep I still see the issue on my desktop.
[doublepost=1456887163][/doublepost]
I think it might be an issue with El Capitan as I did downgrade to an older time machine backup to Mavericks and the issue doesn't come up.
So you say Mavericks does not show such issue? Are you using El Capitan 10.11.3 now? Or an older version of El Capitan? I am using 10.11.4 beta 4 now.
I don't know if it is possible, but I might seek chances to replace display driver on El Capitan if I realise this.
 

jtsang777

Cancelled
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
92
6
I used Mavericks for about 2 hours. Noticed no issues with distortion. Then went back to my time machine backup of El Capitan 10.11.3 and issue comes back again.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,615
10,920
I used Mavericks for about 2 hours. Noticed no issues with distortion. Then went back to my time machine backup of El Capitan 10.11.3 and issue comes back again.
Looks like your machine does not welcome El Capitan anyway.
Could you just stay at Mavericks and wait until you buy a new laptop? If you really need El Capitan, you could try to contact Apple again with those findings.
 

jtsang777

Cancelled
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
92
6
Looks like your machine does not welcome El Capitan anyway.
Could you just stay at Mavericks and wait until you buy a new laptop? If you really need El Capitan, you could try to contact Apple again with those findings.
I will stay on Mavericks until Apple engineering gets back to me and find a way to resolve the problem. I was asked several questions before they look into this problem into more detail. Hopefully I'll hear back from them soon.
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,120
10,106
Same issue with my 2012 MBA. Only happens with El Cap. I even restored El Cap as new and the issue remains. Only occurs if my lid is closed for more than 25 minutes, but its every single time I open the lid after being closed for 25+ minutes. So it happens a dozen times a day.
 

jtsang777

Cancelled
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
92
6
Apple engineering asked me to install a new partition with no third party software added. Issue still persists.
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,120
10,106
Apple engineering asked me to install a new partition with no third party software added. Issue still persists.
It's definitely el cap related. I've reformatted my drive half a dozen times. But if I got back to Yosemite. Issue disappears.
 
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