Weird screen dimming on '09 Macbook pro.

Whenever I'm watching netflix on my computer my screen will periodically dim for a split second and then brighten back up again. It doesn't seem to do it whenever I'm surfing the web or anything else. I've also noticed that it does it even if I have the movie on pause. I've had it for about 6 or 7 months now and just noticed it doing this about 2 or 3 weeks ago. What could be going on? Thanks!

I've noticed that on my 1st Gen macbook that I bought refurbished 3 years ago. Haven't noticed it in a while though.

Turn off the "adjust to ambient light feature" I was driving me nuts on mine.

I noticed this on mine, if I'm using it in a room with dim lights at night, it keeps dimming in an annoying way. Just like nospeed said, shutting off the ambient light feature solved it.

In the end, since I know what it is, I turned it back on and ignore it when it does it.

nospeed411 said:

Turn off the "adjust to ambient light feature" I was driving me nuts on mine.

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Its not on and I've never had it on. I'm afraid it might be something wrong with it since it just started doing this after 6 or 7 months.

its a sort of a flicker thing going one right? i was having it for like few months then the screen finally went black. i had to adjust the brightness all the way down then back up one thing, would work for a few min then it would go black again and i would have to start it all over. finally it just stopped working all together. went to the apple store and they it was the screen or motherboard. was going to cost 250 to ship to the place they fix it i said nah and went out and bought a 26 inch tv and hooked it up externally.

dwilc47 said:

its a sort of a flicker thing going one right? i was having it for like few months then the screen finally went black. i had to adjust the brightness all the way down then back up one thing, would work for a few min then it would go black again and i would have to start it all over. finally it just stopped working all together. went to the apple store and they it was the screen or motherboard. was going to cost 250 to ship to the place they fix it i said nah and went out and bought a 26 inch tv and hooked it up externally.

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What year was your macbook pro? And did it only do the flicker/go black thing when you were watching movies? And if by flicker you mean the screen goes completely black for a a split second then comes back on, then no, that is not what my comp is doing. The picture just loses brightness for a split second and then goes back to normal. I don't ever lose the picture completely. At least not yet...

Screen Dimming Problem

This is a growing problem that Apple seems to be choosing to ignore.


I'm actually having a different problem due to the Magicpad/Trackpad update.

I have a 2010 17 inch MBP i5, which started having a problem with dimming briefly and returning to the original brightness immediately. Both the keyboard and screen should dim after a few minutes of being idle, but only the keyboard stays dimmed. The screen simply flickers from bright to dim to bright again very quickly. I noticed that when it would randomly dim then brighten if I unplug it repeatedly to reproduce the flicker effect. I tested that it was the update that caused it by reformatting, reinstalling and re-updated one update at a time. When I ran the Magic pad/trackpad update it started up with the flicker again.

The only thing that makes me think it's not hardware related though is that we also have a 2009 13 inch MBP which is fully updated and rarely used as much as the 17 inch. I decided to test the update theory by watching that MBP to see if it happened. Guess what. It did. Even the previous generation 2009 MBP flickered as well.

So in the end after rebuilding my OS from scratch and installing all updates except the trackpad update, everything worked great. Unfortunately Apple released the 10.6.5 update which must have Magicpad/Trackpad drivers included because now it's doing it again. Thanks alot Apple for making my life more difficult.

So what's the deal Apple? Is this a software problem, a hardware problem or an issue with the bios? When are you people going to troubleshoot and patch this issue. I'm seeing more and more people with this problem on other forums.

Did you ever follow through on what I advised the last time you posted this same thing? See below from your post back on December 21, 2010.

Mainly I'm not expecting any help on any of the forums. I just wanted to provide the info that I have gathered and how I replicated the problem so that other people can see if that is the cause on their machines and pass that info on to Apple themselves. Maybe this will also help a lot of other users experience frustration from needlessly sending their computers in for repair. Hopefully if enough of us pass this along to Apple, they will take a more active approach into looking at this problem instead of stating that they haven't heard of this issue.

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You need to elevate this up higher - just be sure you have everything documented with proof to back up your assumptions about it being caused by software. Keep us informed and good luck with it.

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Re-posting the same thing over and over in these forums is not going to get the attention of Apple.

Screen Dimming Problem

I contacted support directly instead of going through the Not-so-genius bar. I also asked to speak to a supervisor. All they keep telling me is that they have not heard any reports of this problem and they tell me to do the usual stuff like zapping the pram, blah blah blah. I've told them that I formatted and re-installed multiple time and it always occurs after updating to now 10.6.6. Previously it was 10.6.5 and before that it was the MagicPad update specifically. I assume there are MagicPad drivers in each of those updates. That is why I am led to believe that is the culprit. Our 2009 13 inch MBP and 2010 17 inch MBP both started doing it after the updates. They are different systems with different Graphics cards and different hardware. So I still believe it's a driver issue or software related. Apple seems to want to feign ignorance of this problem. I don't know what else to do or who else to contact.

i think that it is cause it is sensing that your face is being lit by the screen so it is trying to adjust to the light from that. Mine does it and it is always annoying

So I still believe it's a driver issue or software related. Apple seems to want to feign ignorance of this problem. I don't know what else to do or who else to contact.

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I would say it's time to start writing letters to corporate headquarters in Cupertino. Go up the chain of command until you get some answers. Make sure (as I advised before) that you document everything; in other words, don't make statements without proof, provide them with who you contacted and when (dates, etc). Be polite but firm in your letters.

Screen Dimming Problem

Rabbit,

I can say with 100% certainty that it has nothing to do with light reflecting off my face, because a) the keyboard dims and stays dimmed. b) it only started happening after applying certain updates. and lastly c) per my previous posting I described a way of reproducing the problem. If I unplug and plug in the mag safe power cord you can see the screen dim when it is unplugged and it immediately brightens again even though I didn't reconnect the plug.

Chscag,

Thanks of course for any advise. I did draft a letter, and I had sent it recently. I just think it's ridiculous that in this day of digital communication and technology that we have to resort to sending a certified letter, then sit around and wait for a reply.

When I hear back I will post the response. We'll see.

When I hear back I will post the response. We'll see.

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OK, that's good. Let us know and good luck with it, here's hoping it turns out well for you.