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16" MacBook Pro ghosting / smearing...
- Thread starter StONE_ROdGEr
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I've been using my MBP16 daily since Dec. I have to say when I am doing serious work I really don't notice it - the use cases are typing/coding and browsing through tabs, but deliberately. However, when I am in leisure mode like endlessly scrolling Reddit in Dark Mode - I get an 'uncomfortable' feeling. Because your eyes are not really focused on any one part of the screen but just looking at the monitor as a whole, you feel it more. Regardless, I've not yet thought 'This monitor is trash and unusable' - rather just slight discomfort. Honestly I log on to these forums intermittently and remember - oh right my laptop has this issue - but otherwise during daily use I don't notice it enough to start investigating what is the issue. That's just my impression on the level of issue this is for normal use - it's about a 2/10 for me, where a dead pixel would be maybe a 4 or 5/10 and would really bother me.
Hi.
Hate to have to put a post in this thread but I have too.
Got a mac 16 Tuesday this week, have not really had the time to set everything up for music production. Installed Logic pro and Maschine yesterday.
And first thing I notice is the "playhead" that is a white line sweeping from left to right in the music project looked like it was pulsating from white to light blueish. This was in Maschine software. It also looked "sluggish/smeary" when it it was moving.
Strange I thought. However I open Logic and press play in a project and it is the same there or almost more worse. If you pause it at sometimes the playhead stays slightly blueish. Looks almost like a graphics bug. Went on the phone with Apple support and they told me to do a Time Maschine and try and reinstall OS to see if it continues.
However I started googling the issue and I noticed many where talking about this gosting issue. I was not aware of this issue before today. Now when I play in the projects I can clearly see that the playhead leaves white smudge when it moves.
The pulsating white to blueish feels like a graphics bug but everything else looks fine.
I have 20 days left to ask for a replacement/money back. Should I ask for money back and wait. Or keep the mac and hope for software/firmware fix?
Btw, my 13 inch Early 2015 does not have this issue whatsoever. When playing in both maschine and logic the white playhead looks sharp, smooth and not smudgy at all.
Hate to have to put a post in this thread but I have too.
Got a mac 16 Tuesday this week, have not really had the time to set everything up for music production. Installed Logic pro and Maschine yesterday.
And first thing I notice is the "playhead" that is a white line sweeping from left to right in the music project looked like it was pulsating from white to light blueish. This was in Maschine software. It also looked "sluggish/smeary" when it it was moving.
Strange I thought. However I open Logic and press play in a project and it is the same there or almost more worse. If you pause it at sometimes the playhead stays slightly blueish. Looks almost like a graphics bug. Went on the phone with Apple support and they told me to do a Time Maschine and try and reinstall OS to see if it continues.
However I started googling the issue and I noticed many where talking about this gosting issue. I was not aware of this issue before today. Now when I play in the projects I can clearly see that the playhead leaves white smudge when it moves.
The pulsating white to blueish feels like a graphics bug but everything else looks fine.
I have 20 days left to ask for a replacement/money back. Should I ask for money back and wait. Or keep the mac and hope for software/firmware fix?
Btw, my 13 inch Early 2015 does not have this issue whatsoever. When playing in both maschine and logic the white playhead looks sharp, smooth and not smudgy at all.
All MBPs have ghosting, even the 2015s according to tests shown here, but it's not as noticeable as on the touch bar models, which improved some aspects of the screen but made this one worse.
The amount of ghosting isn't a bug, it's spec for these models, so waiting for it to be changed means waiting for a new model with a different screen. If it bothers you enough, you may as well return it.
The amount of ghosting isn't a bug, it's spec for these models, so waiting for it to be changed means waiting for a new model with a different screen. If it bothers you enough, you may as well return it.
I returned it. If it bothers you (which it has to some extent as you’ve found your way into here) - return it. If you can live with it and otherwise have no complaints, then enjoy your machine! Don’t get stuck with buyers remorse. These are not cheap items.
Thanks, I will give it a few days and se if really bothers me. I also think I had an extra bad day and the scale just tipped over for me.
My father is currently spending his last days in the hospital because of cancer, so guess I took out some anger or something on this small but annoying issue.
I’m sorry to hear that 😔.
For what it’s worth, we’re expecting the 13”/14” announcement this month (potentially). The 13” has a similarly (but not as) bad screen, refresh rate wise, but not as bad. This is what I’m holding out for.
Yeah, would be nice if Apple confirmed that the displays have issues.
I can give a call to Apple support tonight and see if they want share some info.
I've been working in technology for nearly 30 years and I don't notice it. Sorry!
Its one of those issues which, if you've not noticed-it, really isn't an issue. Which doesn't help those who do notice it 😐
Just got off the phone with Apple Tech support. They could not find this issue in their "problem databank." But the support was very understanding in the issue and was completely on my side even if this problem is not a major one. However she was going to take the issue further to the engineers and see what they have to say. I will get answers Thursday this week.
Maybe I have a extremely bad screen on mine but with some scrolling back and forth in a Logic pro Project I almost experience a slight motion sickness from the blurr/smear.
Everybody who have this issue on their Mac 16's please contact the support so they get the issue in so we maybe can start seeing some change in these panels.
I'm thinking power to the customers, right?
Maybe I have a extremely bad screen on mine but with some scrolling back and forth in a Logic pro Project I almost experience a slight motion sickness from the blurr/smear.
Everybody who have this issue on their Mac 16's please contact the support so they get the issue in so we maybe can start seeing some change in these panels.
I'm thinking power to the customers, right?
Wow, how'd you have time to personally test every unit that's shipped so far? Thanks for putting in that work.
All of the evidence in this thread indicates that all of the screens are about the same in their response time. You don't have to test every unit to reach a reasonable conclusion from that.
You do need a much larger sample size than just this forum to say that all the screens "are really bad" with any actual confidence though. This forum is not anywhere close to being representative of all units out there. Whenever a new product comes out this forum basically turns into an IT help desk. The people with perfectly working machines don't come here in any significant number. I'm just against the "we, this group of users, have a problem, so ALL UNITS are automatically bad" stuff some people here go on about with no actual canvassing or reports from outside of the usual forums like these that are largely frequented by all the same audience of people. This forum as of the posting of my comment has 200ish members online and has about 2800 total visitors. Not exactly a sizeable enough group to act like some of these issues are affecting every unit like every post tries to make it out to be.
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I don't think so, but you're welcome to your uncertainty. It's not just people who have the problem showing up. People who have no issue with this personally get the same results when testing as those whom it bothers. Please share when you find a counterexample, though.
Here is mine with the smudge. Would be nice if someone who has a unit where they don't see an issue could just record a bit and compare from this video.
The smudge is far worse IRL.
The smudge is far worse IRL.
That is 100% normal...
also is it just me or does dark mode make this effect more noticeable?
Just returned mine, could not deal with the smearing/ghosting. Also noticed other problems with GPU pulling 20watt while having an external monitor. Mouse lag while connected to monitor also.
Damn shame on such a powerful rig. I will lurk around here and order again when all the stuff is worked out by Apple. Hopefully I will get a display that is not that extreme again.
Damn shame on such a powerful rig. I will lurk around here and order again when all the stuff is worked out by Apple. Hopefully I will get a display that is not that extreme again.
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Hi guys,
I just got my MBP 16" just a couple weeks ago (end of feb)(my upgrade from the early 2015 RMBP 13"). Immediately I can tell that text is a bit smeary when I scroll. The panel otherwise looks fine: no dead pixels etc...but the ghosting seems a bit off. I tried doing some of the "tests" people have used here. Is this normal to current lot of MBPs? or is mine particularly bad? From the color caibration properties from "Color LCD" profile, it seems my batch is A044. Manufacturer is 610, manufacture date is D9935D80.
This is what I am able to make out:
Here is a couple of gifs at different sizes/qualities that more represents what I am seeing.
thanks
V
I just got my MBP 16" just a couple weeks ago (end of feb)(my upgrade from the early 2015 RMBP 13"). Immediately I can tell that text is a bit smeary when I scroll. The panel otherwise looks fine: no dead pixels etc...but the ghosting seems a bit off. I tried doing some of the "tests" people have used here. Is this normal to current lot of MBPs? or is mine particularly bad? From the color caibration properties from "Color LCD" profile, it seems my batch is A044. Manufacturer is 610, manufacture date is D9935D80.
This is what I am able to make out:
Here is a couple of gifs at different sizes/qualities that more represents what I am seeing.
thanks
V
Got my third replacement today. The very first unit I received was perfect however the screen itself stopped working after 3 weeks. The 2nd one had horrible ghosting/smearing and Apple sent out another replacement (the third one which I just received) - Apple allowed me to keep the previous unit for a few days for testing + transferring data which means I could test the screens side by side.
The third unit: Identical to the first one, ghosting is not an issue; attached in an image for your reference.
What sucks is that the third unit came with a ding next to he headphone jack (not really a ding; more like something went wrong during the chamfering process).. Apple is willing to replace this one too however I'm afraid I won't get the right screen again.
Left: Old unit (2nd)
Right: New unit (3rd)
The third unit: Identical to the first one, ghosting is not an issue; attached in an image for your reference.
What sucks is that the third unit came with a ding next to he headphone jack (not really a ding; more like something went wrong during the chamfering process).. Apple is willing to replace this one too however I'm afraid I won't get the right screen again.
Left: Old unit (2nd)
Right: New unit (3rd)
That looks significantly better than mine. Both your left and right looks better than what i see on mine (pic above).
You both have me stumped. How is any one of those UFO test results different from the other two?