Display Chip Going?

After sitting in "Sleep" mode overnight, my 2009 15" Macbook Pro develops a strange pattern of dropped pixels which often but not always moves around (see pictures). It clears with a restart but may return a day or two later. Do I have a display chip on the way out? Does it sound serious or expensive?

The most straightforward & quickest way I know to test if bad hardware is involved (and not software or OS related)…is to boot the computer from an external storage device…preferably with a fresh/virgin install of the OS.

If after doing this the problem remains…then unfortunately it would seem a hardware problem does exist…and if so…most likely a new logic board is necessary. But on an older 2009 MacBook Pro…the cost of a replacement logic board may not be financially the thing to do (replacement logic board may cost more than the computer is worth).

But do the alternate boot test first. If you're lucky…the problem is software & not hardware.

Good luck,

- Nick

Many thanks. I suspected as much and will try the alternate boot test. I shouldn't complain, the MacPro has worked very hard over the last five years and an upgrade to the latest technology will not hurt. The trouble is that it works better than ever since putting in a 500GB SSD (which of course I can remove and use again).

The irony is that my very much older 15" PowerPC laptop still works 100% perfectly.

Meanwhile I will make sure the Time Machine disk is always up to date in case there is a complete crash.

John F said:

Many thanks. I suspected as much and will try the alternate boot test. I shouldn't complain, the MacPro has worked very hard over the last five years and an upgrade to the latest technology will not hurt. The trouble is that it works better than ever since putting in a 500GB SSD (which of course I can remove and use again).

Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan John…good luck!

By the way…one other thing to try. Try plugging in an external monitor to your MacBook Pro…and see if the "artifacts" you're seeing show up on the external monitor.

- Nick

Very Interesting. The screen scramble started to happen more and more often. I found that the problem even happened when I did a screen share through my home network, suggesting that it was not just the display chip. So I took it down to our local Apple Store where they said that if the fault could be demonstrated, I would get an adjustment on a new mother board. Before taking it down, I unloaded a large number of sensitive data files. The MacBook was plugged into an external monitor but after 12 hours the problem did not happen. So I took it home and restored the entire HD contents from the Time Machine. The screen has stayed intact since . . . .

It's been almost 8 months John…thanks a bunch for the update. And congrats on your computer!!!

- Nick

Another six months and the problem has still not returned. Amazing.

I'm guessing you found & solved the issue back in March. Congrats again that everything is stable.

- Nick