iMac Flicker

[rmathewson]

The hardware listed below is running macOS 11.7.10 and has recently developed an occasional screen flicker (a few times per hour.) Is this a sign of something on its way out? Is further diagnosis warranted?



Hardware Overview:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac15,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 3.5 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 32 GB
System Firmware Version: 478.0.0.0.0
SMC Version (system): 2.22f16

 

[Raz0rEdge]

If this was a Macbook, I would've said that the cable was fraying. But for an iMac, you are either looking at a display failure or GPU failure. GPU failure seems to manifest as lines or pixelation across the screen. Also random shift in color is another symptom. If the entire screen is just flickering, it could be either the backlight or the display itself.

The "iMac15,1" moniker covers the Late-2014 and Mid-2015 iMacs, so you're approaching 10 years on the Mac and you might want to start thinking about what your next Mac is going to be.