MacBook Pro 2019 - menu bar above keyboard is flashing light repeatedly

[podbay]

Welcome to these forums Cathleen. As you can see podbay did not reply with the outcome of his visit to the Genius Bar so non of us having a personal experience with this problem or a solution for it the answer is uncertain. From the articles other members have posted links to, it seems like a software problem but in podbay's case none of the fixes worked permanently. My guess is it's probably a combination of software and the strip itself. My wife has a 2018 MBP with the touch strip and so far no problem. So, it's not a universal problem but when it does occur top deck replacement seems to be the only answer. Do have a look at pm-r's post #2 in this thread. There may be a solution that actually works for you. If so do please let us know. If not, well, $400.00 is still cheaper than a new Mac Book.

First, my apologies for not replying with the solution to my problem. My bad, and I hope to not do so again in any future post.

My MacBook has Apple Care until early 2023, so I took it to the local Apple Store. The technician told me it would need to have the keyboard section of the MacBook replaced with a new one. This was done, it took about a week for them to replace the old keyboard, and since them I have not experienced the flashing. I was told that w/o Apple Care, it would've cost upwards of $800 to fix it.

 

[podbay]

I am having exactly the same problem.
So... is it a hardware problem or software? Can I do something to fix it, or does it have to be repaired?
It's so annoying, the flashing bar, that I actually can't work with it doing the flashing.
Thank you,
Cathleen

Catherine: Please see my response to Rod's reply to your question. - Podbay

 

[Rod]

Ah well, there's your answer Cathleen.

Thank you so much for getting back to us Podbay with the results of your visit to Apple. I apologise for my wording, I should have said, Podbay did not reply with the outcome of his visit to the Genius Bar yet.
I realise these things take time, especially Apple repairs. I'm just glad you had Apple Care.

Cathleen, it sounds like a top deck replacement is Apples only solution but that doesnt mean there aren't others. My inclination would be to check for options with Apple, if necessary get the replacement done then sell or trade in the MBP towards a new device.

Do make a full backup of the device using Time Machine or similar prior to getting repairs done. That will make transitioning to a new device much simpler and/or protect your data should something go wrong during repair.

 

[podbay]

Cathleen: Also, please accept my apologies for calling you Catherine. I should be paying more attention to my posts! - Randy (aka Podbay)