Macbook Pro Screen flickering: need help!!

I have a Macbook Pro 15 inch Core i7 mid-2010 computer and it boots up with a white screen with a few lines. When it is doing something it flickers with some of the screen visible. I think it is the screen because it boots up just fine but most of the time I have to hook it up to an external display. Attached are a couple of the pictures of what it looks like. I tried resetting the PRAM and tried reseting the battery and hard drive. Note this is not just an Issue with the Mac OS X. It is also with any operating system including when it first starts. I was wondering what I should do. I pretty much tried everything and I am really computer savvy.

Please re-submit your images, but this time either provide a link or trim them down to where they'll fit forum standards. The images you submitted are too large, way out of focus, and can hardly be viewed.

Also, if your machine is still under warranty, I suggest contacting Apple and make an appointment to have it looked at.

Post back to this same thread.

images

Sorry about that. I have 3 images and the links are below. I really do not want to turn my macbook pro because of the waiting time and possibly the cost. I build computers and I am really good with all of this stuff and if it is just the screen I can replace it. I am starting to think it is the video card and that will require me to turn it into apple. Also I do not know if I would need the original hard drive and RAM because I have upgraded all of that stuff. I just posted here to see if any one knows what this means.

http://mjbrancato.com/personal/IMG_0971.JPG
http://mjbrancato.com/personal/IMG_0978.JPG
http://mjbrancato.com/personal/IMG_0979.JPG

OK, thanks for posting the links to the images. That's much clearer and easier to view.

It does appear that it may be graphics related which probably means a trip to your local Apple store.

Attach an external monitor or TV to the machine. Does it do the same thing? If it does, you've narrowed it down to the GPU. And if it is the GPU, that means a new logic board. A new logic board can be expensive but if it's under warranty, Apple will take care of it.

Thank you

I have hooked it up to an external display and I have been using it like that. It does not have the same problem. It works perfect when hooking it to an external display. I am thinking it is either the internal display or possibly the GPU switching mode for the internal display? I hope it is the internal monitor because I can easily fix that and it would be cheap. I am not really great in understanding all about the GPU. Is it possible that the GPU can still be messed up even if it can display on an external display? Once again thank you for the help. I will probably take it in tomorrow but it has been bugging me so much. I just do not want them to take it or charge me when it is the LCD screen because I can replace that myself. And I do not have stock parts in my Mac so I do not even know if it is still covered under warranty.

I do agree with you though. If it is GPU related I will take it in to the store. But if it is the LCD I will just replace that myself. Do you happen to know if it is just the LCD seeing as the GPU can push video to an external display?

If it works OK with an external display, the GPU is OK. It's unusual for a display to act like that but I guess anything is possible when they go bad.

But again, if your MBP is still under warranty (you said it was a mid 2010 model) I would let Apple handle changing out the display. Is there any reason you want to do it yourself? (Your MBP is warranted for one year.)

Thank you so much for your help. The only reason why I do not want to turn it in is because of the wait time. But is the display under warranty? And lastly, I do not have stock ram and stock hard drive. Is that fine? Because the original hard drive has Windows 7 on it for my college and its for my second mac book pro. Those are the only issues. But if it is practically free then Yes i will have apple take care of it for me thank you.

Don't worry about the stock memory or hard drive. It's the display that Apple has to be concerned with. Memory and hard drives are user upgrades on a DIY basis and do not impact the warranty. As far as in service wait time, it depends on how busy the store is. Generally, they can swap out a logic board and display in one day. Of course, again that depends on how busy they are.

Be sure to make a complete backup of your hard drive before taking it on in. Use Time Machine to backup to an external drive.

Also, before you make a decision on how you want to handle it - know this - the display is replaced as one solid unit (the entire lid assembly). It's not like a typical laptop where you can just change the display panel by popping off the bezel. The entire assembly is glued together and it's neigh impossible to separate the glass from the rest of the panel.

Additionally, you may be thinking that you just have a bad inverter - that's not likely to be the case here as this display is LED backlit and does not require a step-up transformer like a typical CCFL backlit display.

I can't imagine a scenario where this would be a "cheap fix".

Lastly, make sure you book an appointment in advance (you can usually do that by finding your local Apple Store through the Apple website). Apple Stores tend to be pretty busy and it can be a multi-hour wait without an appointment.

Oh wow. Thank you so much. I did not even know this. I switched to mac starting march 2009 so im new to this. usually i replace the parts myself. I will for sure take it to them. I popped in my spare hard drive because i need the other 2 - 500gb hard drives for my use. If you havent noticed I am a really technoligical advanced person and I always try to keep 2 macs online and my ipad2 and of course my iphone. If one goes down i tend to get really mad. It makes me look bad when I try to fix everyones computer. Ok so I see you as someone knows what they are doing. You are really smart. How long have you been an Apple customer? and/or mac user? Wow i really appreciate all the help. This saves me a possible 1799 for the logic board (high end 15inch model).

I've been using Macs since early 2007, but have been working professionally in IT for more than a decade - and playing with hardware for the better part of my lifetime

Nice. Do you consider yourself a apple fanboy? and i been using a computer since i was 5 (17years year-to-date). Touch typing since I was about 15. And at 15 I started programming. Since then I fix computers for free. I joined the US Marines as a Data Network Specialist where I work on switches and routers. I am considered really good at computers and everyone always comes to me. I also have worked on servers and hardware and software and networking and now I am working at an associates in web development. So pretty much accross all of IT. It is nice to find other people that knows alot to share knowledge and to become more successful.

twiggz89 said:

Nice. Do you consider yourself a apple fanboy? and i been using a computer since i was 5 (17years year-to-date). Touch typing since I was about 15. And at 15 I started programming. Since then I fix computers for free. I joined the US Marines as a Data Network Specialist where I work on switches and routers. I am considered really good at computers and everyone always comes to me. I also have worked on servers and hardware and software and networking and now I am working at an associates in web development. So pretty much accross all of IT. It is nice to find other people that knows alot to share knowledge and to become more successful.

Click to expand...

Very cool. Thanks for serving.

I like my Apple products, but haven't always been a fan. I cut my teeth on Commodore computers (particularly the 64 and later, the Amiga). When I was in college, I moved over to Microsoft and eventually got an MCSE and have been working in Windows network administration since. I've always had a special interest in hardware, and originally intended to get an EE degree. But it just so happened that I started my career during the "dot com bubble" and at the time, the demand was in IT - and that's pretty much how I ended up where I am today.

Thank you. And wow you have come along way and have alot of experience. I heard about commodore 64's. I do however have an IBM PC XT it runs IBM dos and its so old.