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Some 2013 MacBook Air Models Exhibit Severe Flickering With Photoshop

Friday June 28, 2013 10:37 am PDT by Jordan Golson
Customers on both the MacRumors and Adobe support forums are reporting severe flickering when using some 2013 13" MacBook Air models when using Adobe Photoshop, particularly the larger brush tools.

Adobe representative Chris Cox posted on Adobe's support forums that he believes it is a driver or GPU issue, or possibly a problem with the LCD driver circuits. Additionally, he says Adobe has not been able to reproduce the issue, suggesting that it could be a particular run or series of MacBook Air models that are running into issues.

When we file a bug with Apple that we cannot reproduce ourselves: Apple ignores it.

Apple needs to hear from customers who experience the problem, and needs details on exactly which systems have the problem.

We will continue to research this, and if we find a system that reproduces it, then we can file a bug with Apple and have some hope that they might investigate.

Also, thanks for the video - that is definitely a driver or GPU issue, though with that kind of flickering I'd also suspect the LCD driver circuits.
New chipsets, like those in the new MacBook Air, occasionally have sporadic quality control issues. Some MacBook Air owners are reporting issues with Wi-Fi and Apple has issued a 'capture' order to Genius Bar representatives to take broken machines and send them to Cupertino for further analysis.

Adobe advises affected customers to contact AppleCare so the problem can be diagnosed and, hopefully, quickly resolved by Apple. Some reports have suggested that upgrading to Mavericks solves the problem, indicating a possible software issue.

[ 123 comments ]

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3282868
82 months ago
"It just works" :p
Rating: 29 Votes
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theheadguy
82 months ago

Am I the only one that thinks it's amazing that an AIR can even run a full version of photoshop? Seems like just yesterday we were blown away that Jobs could fit one in an envelope, now we expect it to handle high end graphics applications.


It's sad that your expectations are so low. This is not a $300 netbook.
Rating: 15 Votes
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plasticsman
82 months ago

Kinda unsure why this is considered front page news. The amount of people with a 2013 Air (announced just days ago) using Photoshop might be around the 500-600 mark.


I have this problem on the Air and I appreciate that it was put on the front page. Apple and Adobe need to get this fixed without turning the blame on each other!
Rating: 11 Votes
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filmbuff
82 months ago

It's sad that your expectations are so low. This is not a $300 netbook.


Thankyou! The MBA is many times as powerful as high end laptops from ~5 years ago. Why couldn't it run photoshop? Even HD video is doable albeit not ideal.
Rating: 10 Votes
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devinher
82 months ago
Am I the only one that thinks it's amazing that an AIR can even run a full version of photoshop?

Seems like just yesterday we were blown away that Jobs could fit one in an envelope, now we expect it to handle high end graphics applications.
Rating: 9 Votes
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lkrupp
82 months ago

Ugh I really wanted to buy one of these and now they got me all jumpy. Sigh...


I've never paid attention to this sort of stuff and have never been jumpy about buying an Apple product. Never, in my over 30 years of using Apple products have I EVER experienced any of the glitches reported by that ethereal "some users" crowd. The instantaneous nature of the Internet these days makes stuff like this look common when it is not.:confused:
Rating: 8 Votes
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MuffCabbage
82 months ago
Whats an Apple launch without hiccups like this?
Rating: 7 Votes
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plasticsman
82 months ago

I just think it's amazing anyone would want to.

13" isn't big enough for a palette monitor.


People connect big monitors to their air all the time. Why wouldn't we? Its a small powerful machine. And if traveling, can make some quick fixes.
Rating: 7 Votes
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iChrist
82 months ago


New chipsets, like those in the new MacBook Air, occasionally have sporadic quality control issues.


No....

Macs very commonly have quality control issues.

It's ridiculous that they can't even release an incremental upgrade without major issue. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
Rating: 7 Votes
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Krauser
82 months ago

1st gen. hardware + unstable drivers. What do you expect? A production ready machine, or what!?

Why should I expect any less from a company who markets their machines as the best of the best and charges top dollar from them to boot.

Is it acceptable if your new Porsche constantly stalled on the highway based on the grounds that it was a new model year? What do you expect? A production ready car?
Rating: 6 Votes

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