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Some New MacBook Pros Causing Flickering in 24-Inch Cinema Displays?

Friday March 11, 2011 9:10 am PST by Eric Slivka

Electronista over the weekend noted a growing thread in the Apple Discussions forum regarding flickering issues being experienced by users of the new MacBook Pro paired with a 24-inch LED Cinema Display. A couple of users in our own forums have also reported the issue.

Both the 13- and 15-inch models, and likely the 17-inch model, produce intermittent flickering, brief blackouts and other periodic but noticeable flaws when attached to the out-of-sale screen. The built-in notebook display is unaffected.

Users have already tried some of the more common tricks, such as resetting the SMC, but haven't had any initial success. It also applies whether or not the AMD or Intel graphics are being used.

The Apple Discussions thread has continued to grow in the days following the original report, with at least one user reporting experiencing the issue with a 17-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple support staff are reportedly investigating the issue, having swapped out one user's affected machine specifically to examine a unit known to be experiencing problems.

Well, it appears Apple is aware of the issue. An Apple Discussions Host called me a few days ago after seeing one of my recent posts. He offered to swap my MacBook Pro for a new one so Apple Engineers can get their hands on a known bad unit. I shipped it off last night and anxiously await my replacement.

Apple officially discontinued the 24-inch LED Cinema Display last July alongside the introduction of a new 27-inch model, but the company did continue to sell off its remaining stock for some time after the discontinuation.

Update: French site MacGeneration has posted a video showing the issue. The flicker occurs at about 1:45 in the video.



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