16" MacBook Pro ghosting / smearing...

[Quu]

I wonder if this is something they can fix with a firmware update. I'm assuming this is caused by what they've done to enable the stepped down frequencies as I noticed and maybe this is just placebo that it seems to ghost less when running at 59.97Hz and it also ghosts less on the Radeon 5500M though that may just be due to the higher performance GPU having lower response times in general than the Intel GPU.

For sure I can see it though, especially when comparing my old laptop side by side with this one.

 

[Ibara]

I wonder if this is something they can fix with a firmware update. I'm assuming this is caused by what they've done to enable the stepped down frequencies as I noticed and maybe this is just placebo that it seems to ghost less when running at 59.97Hz and it also ghosts less on the Radeon 5500M though that may just be due to the higher performance GPU having lower response times in general than the Intel GPU.

For sure I can see it though, especially when comparing my old laptop side by side with this one.

There are reports of the most recent 15 inch MacBook Pro's doing the same thing (my friend says his 15 inch i9 does it). I found and conversed with a guy on Twitter earlier who had posted a slow motion video of a 15 inch doing it (link below)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1187374605993988099

 

[StONE_ROdGEr]

Thanks for all your input guys. Im really glad its not just me. For a £2,300 (minimum) machine, it feels bad. I think I'm going to have to return, even though the device is very good in every other regard. Ugh.

 

[Arise2B]

Does it happen only on external screens or with internal one as well?

 

[StONE_ROdGEr]

Does it happen only on external screens or with internal one as well?

It happens on the MacBook screen. From what I can tell it doesn’t on external displays.

 

[warfed]

Thanks for all your input guys. Im really glad its not just me. For a £2,300 (minimum) machine, it feels bad. I think I'm going to have to return, even though the device is very good in every other regard. Ugh.

I felt the same way the first few days. But after a while I got used to it and just about everything else about this laptop is great and so much better than my 2013, I decided I don't want to wait another year especially since they might not fix it until OLED displays which will also bump up the price. I'm really happy with the machine despite the screen.

 

[sat24]

I felt the same way the first few days. But after a while I got used to it and just about everything else about this laptop is great and so much better than my 2013, I decided I don't want to wait another year especially since they might not fix it until OLED displays which will also bump up the price. I'm really happy with the machine despite the screen.

I might go this route too, despite having issues with ghosting. It is only visible during scrolling on a page (worst in night mode colors - ie white text on black bgnd) and I mostly code on this machine.

hmmm...

 

[Seppolainen]

why is none of the many reviewers highlighting this?

 

[sat24]

why is none of the many reviewers highlighting this?

Not sure... perhaps they havent used the unit for as long as some of us have?

 

[StONE_ROdGEr]

why is none of the many reviewers highlighting this?

This is my frustration too. Might return, get a 13” for now and see what happens come March 🤔 butterfly keys tho 🙃

 

[Annv]

why is none of the many reviewers highlighting this?

Perhaps they are not paid for that.

 

[sat24]

This is my frustration too. Might return, get a 13” for now and see what happens come March 🤔 butterfly keys tho 🙃

I am torn. The 16" MBP I have is perfect in every way - except the ghosting. I am worried that if I return for an exchange, I might get one that *maybe* fine wrt ghosting, but may have some other issue. Given this is my 2nd MBP (first one had a creaky body), I am wary.

Choices, choices...

The ghosting doesnt bother me as much during daytime. But during night time, when everything switches to white text on black background - then it starts bothering me.

 

[Donnation]

I haven't seen this happen on mine. Is there a way to test this or replicate the issue? Just wondering if it is random to machines or if all of them have this problem.

 

[StONE_ROdGEr]

You might not realise yours does it, but that’s the kinda thing you see vs hardly any trailing

 

[Donnation]

View attachment 880127
You might not realise yours does it, but that’s the kinda thing you see vs hardly any trailing

Weird. So that's just in switching back and forth in launchpad? That looks awful. I don't see it happening on mine so I don't know...

 

[dspdoc]

Between this and the "clicking/popping" sounds, I am starting to wonder why all the reviews are so fantastic. All over the keyboard fix I am guessing. I wish Apple would work out all the kinks at the same time for once.

 

[StONE_ROdGEr]

Weird. So that's just in switching back and forth in launchpad? That looks awful. I don't see it happening on mine so I don't know...

That’s taken with iPhone photo. But it shows you the problem.

Try swiping between apps, then try on something else like your phone. It won’t look as bad I suspect.

 

[Flabasha]

I am torn. The 16" MBP I have is perfect in every way - except the ghosting. I am worried that if I return for an exchange, I might get one that *maybe* fine wrt ghosting, but may have some other issue. Given this is my 2nd MBP (first one had a creaky body), I am wary.

Choices, choices...

The ghosting doesnt bother me as much during daytime. But during night time, when everything switches to white text on black background - then it starts bothering me.

People are saying to just turn off "font smoothing" in Preferences, and it goes away. Of course, I don't have one, so I can't vouch for this fix.

 

[sat24]

People are saying to just turn off "font smoothing" in Preferences, and it goes away. Of course, I don't have one, so I can't vouch for this fix.

No, it doesnt go away (unfortunately). I responded to that thread as well.

 

[Quu]

People are saying to just turn off "font smoothing" in Preferences, and it goes away. Of course, I don't have one, so I can't vouch for this fix.

Yeah it doesn't work. It does reduce the blurring on text very slightly but the ghosting in general is still present. For me this isn't a deal breaker but it should be fixed cause on a machine this expensive this is kinda ridiculous to be honest.

 

[StONE_ROdGEr]

I think that’s half the problem. You’d somewhat expect it on a lesser machine. Not a MacBook Pro costing £2.3k at the very minimum

 

[Fravin]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1187374605993988099

Holy crap!

Will stick with my beloved 2019 16"!!!

 

[mightyjabba]

I think all of the 16" models are probably the same in this regard, but some people notice it or care about it more than others. Maybe I can see some ghosting (still can't quite tell), but I never would have noticed it if I hadn't read about it here, and I don't care about it at all.

 

[sat24]

Received my 16" yesterday.

Can you share the manufacturing date of your MBP? Mine is 2019-10-14.
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BTW, when I installed Win10 via Bootcamp and then compared the "scrolling ghosting" issue, I didnt see as much of a ghosting problem in Win10. Of course, scrolling is not anywhere close to smooth as on OSX (I did set the scroll to 1 line at a time via Mouse Settings in windows) but I dont see the ghosting much at all.

Anyone else see the same? I wonder if this is a driver or implementation issue (software).

 

[Donnation]

View attachment 880127
You might not realise yours does it, but that’s the kinda thing you see vs hardly any trailing

That's going to occur with any camera when you take a photo like that. The camera is going to pick up blurred artifacts like that because the transition happens to fast for it to capture. I can do that with literally any screen and it will look the same.

Here is my wife's MacBook Air. I guess it has ghosting too?

And my iMac 5K is also Ghosting I guess:

And an iPad Pro also has ghosts:

Its going to do that for any screen on a camera, and depending on how fast the transition is the more "ghosting" its going to pick up.