2019 MacBook Pro with touchbar - screen ghosting and flickering

[eoren1]

Our 2019 13" MacBook Pro with touchbar has suddenly starting ghosting and slightly flickering. Began yesterday with the safari red/yellow/green dots visible on the screen even after I quit Safari.

Tried SMC and PRAM resets. Contacted support who recommended Genius appointment but said this was not a known issue.

I thought I remembered a display problem with these touchbar MacBooks so figured I would ask here.

Of course, 6 months outside of AppleCare+ now.

 

[chabig]

I think you need to take it to Apple for service.

 

[chrono1081]

Dots like this are often indicative of a graphics card failure, or sometimes a display cable if you're lucky. They sometimes can appear too if the machine is truly over heating (like if it's being used on a blanket and the vents are blocked).

 

[eoren1]

Dots like this are often indicative of a graphics card failure, or sometimes a display cable if you're lucky. They sometimes can appear too if the machine is truly over heating (like if it's being used on a blanket and the vents are blocked).

I may have not been clear - I'm seeing a faint ghost like image of the Safari window after I quit it. I tried to do a screenshot and the ghost image does not appear making me suspect it's a hardware issue.

I wasn't sure if there was something about the display cable on these touchbar MacBooks that was felt to be faulty and which I could mention at the Genius appointment next weekend.

 

[chrono1081]

I may have not been clear - I'm seeing a faint ghost like image of the Safari window after I quit it. I tried to do a screenshot and the ghost image does not appear making me suspect it's a hardware issue.

I wasn't sure if there was something about the display cable on these touchbar MacBooks that was felt to be faulty and which I could mention at the Genius appointment next weekend.

Oh ok, yea that does sound hardware related. Hopefully it can be repaired relatively cheaply.

 

[Fishrrman]

There are several LONG threads about this, but...
...they all pertain to users of m-series MacBooks (not Intel-based).

Some things to consider (and change settings)

Do you use "dark mode"?
Do you use "night shift"?
Do you use "true tone" (if available)?
Do you set to "automatically adjust brightness"?

Are you connecting via USBc?
Are you connecting via HDMI?
Are you using a different type of connection?

What make and model number of display are you using?

 

[eoren1]

There are several LONG threads about this, but...
...they all pertain to users of m-series MacBooks (not Intel-based).

Some things to consider (and change settings)

Do you use "dark mode"?
Do you use "night shift"?
Do you use "true tone" (if available)?
Do you set to "automatically adjust brightness"?

Are you connecting via USBc?
Are you connecting via HDMI?
Are you using a different type of connection?

What make and model number of display are you using?

So this is all on the internal MacBook display but can test out with external and see - interesting idea...

 

[eoren1]

Tried to connect to two externals and the displays were fine but the internal laptop screen continued to show ghosting.

When I turn off the laptop, you can make out the ghost image of the bottom dock until the laptop is completely off (visible in the black screen just beforehand)

 

[mrfunnypenguin]

I wasn't sure if there was something about the display cable on these touchbar MacBooks that was felt to be faulty

I think you are talking about the flexgate scandal. The camera and backlight cables were too short on the late 2016 - 2017 models thus making them develop rips over time, however the display data cables were long enough. Apple did extend the length of the camera, and backlight flex cable in 2018 which solved most of the issues. I have a 13" 2019, and have not had any issues with it yet.

Another issue is sand or other small particles getting under the cables and damaging their insulation, which was the cause of the pink vertical line issue.

I have also heard of the issue where heat makes the screen weird. One solution is to clean the fans, and change the thermal paste.

This generation of MBP has many display issues lol