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M1/M2 flickering, ghosting with external display [Merged]

fastson

fastson

macrumors newbie
Oct 30, 2021
28
18
Zest28 said:
Yet on my previous Samsung display, it did 60hz on my M2 MacBook Air and 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro without a single problem.

There is also not a single issue on my Apple Studio Display at 60hz.

Looks like an Eizo problem.
Click to expand...
..and a Dell problem, and a LG problem, and a BenQ problem.... and there are Samsung monitors with this problem. There was even a report on this very forum from a user which had experienced flickering on his Apple Pro Display having this problem.

Sometimes it does not show up very often, like with my LG monitor, it takes weeks of uptime for it to show.

100% Apples fault.
 
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Z

Zest28

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2022
2,581
3,931
fastson said:
..and a Dell problem, and a LG problem, and a BenQ problem.... and there are Samsung monitors with this problem. There was even a report on this very forum from a user which had experienced flickering on his Apple Pro Display having this problem.

Sometimes it does not show up very often, like with my LG monitor, it takes weeks of uptime for it to show.

100% Apples fault.
Click to expand...

You'd be quite surprised how some problems can be even caused by other things. My Samsung display wouldn't run at 60hz at first properly and I thought it was this Apple computer. Turned out that trying different HDMI adapters fixed the issue.

If someone had a problem with the Apple Studio Display, then his display was broken and he should have got it replaced by Apple. Because this doesn't happen with normal Apple Studio Displays.
 
fastson

fastson

macrumors newbie
Oct 30, 2021
28
18
Zest28 said:
You'd be quite surprised how some problems can be even caused by other things. My Samsung display wouldn't run at 60hz at first properly and I thought it was this Apple computer. Turned out that trying different HMDI cables fixed the issue.

If someone had a problem with the Apple Studio Display, then his display was broken and he should have got it replaced by Apple. Because this doesn't happen with normal Apple Studio Displays.
Click to expand...
Yeah, people seems to have spent money on different cables and docks but the problem always comes back.

As long as it lives up to HDMI 2.0 or 2.1 ( 2.1 only relevant on M2 Pro I suppose? LOL cheap Apple.) spec it should be fine.
 
L

Linsen

macrumors newbie
May 10, 2022
8
3
At present, all manufacturers are not willing to adapt to each other.
If you must use Mac computers at work(such as me), I hope that you will not only tell us about your problems, but also tell us about the brand of monitors that have not had any problems in your long-term use(over 3-6 months at least). This is very helpful for people who don't want to buy an Apple monitor.

For example:

NO List:
DELL P2721Q (via USB-C)
DELL P2723QE (via USB-C)

YES List:
DELL S2722QC (via USB-C, High resolution mode)
WACOM Cintiq 13/16 Pro (via USB-C)
 
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L

Linsen

macrumors newbie
May 10, 2022
8
3
Time: August 2023

Good news for DELL users:

I purchased the S2722QC in the first half of 2023, and found no flickering problems; and replaced the old P2723QE with a new one in August, and there is no flickering problem in the process of using it with the M1 Mac.

Maybe DELL replaced the chip in the new batch of monitors to solve the M1 Mac compatibility problem.

If you have a DELL monitor and it is still within the warranty period, try contacting Dell to replace it with a new one (the latest chips should be installed), it may solve the problem.
 
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Chuckeee

Chuckeee

macrumors 68040
Aug 18, 2023
3,060
8,721
Southern California
I had a flickering issue with a Dell SE3223Q monitor (4K 31” 60Hz) attached to my Mac mini M2 pro via the 6’ HDMI cable supplied with the Dell monitor. Switched to a shorter (3’) higher quality HDMI cable (Eareyesail 8K HDMI 2.1) and the flickering problem went away.

This is the 2nd I had an issue with the cable that came with the a Dell monitor. (Last time it was the USB-C cable that came with a Dell U2720Q)
 
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binbinbin

macrumors newbie
Sep 8, 2023
1
0
After a lot of tossing and turning, I may have found the cause, which is a browser problem. Changed to Firefox now and everything works fine after reverting to dark mode. For example, open the youtube music page (black background). The reason I found the cause was because I realized that in photoshop it doesn't blink, so that points to the browser.:)
 
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compukortschnoi

macrumors member
Aug 9, 2015
32
1
binbinbin said:
After a lot of tossing and turning, I may have found the cause, which is a browser problem. Changed to Firefox now and everything works fine after reverting to dark mode. For example, open the youtube music page (black background). The reason I found the cause was because I realized that in photoshop it doesn't blink, so that points to the browser.:)
Click to expand...
Give it time.

I have never used any browser other than Firefox and still have the problem.
 
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compukortschnoi

macrumors member
Aug 9, 2015
32
1
Chuckeee said:
I had a flickering issue with a Dell SE3223Q monitor (4K 31” 60Hz) attached to my Mac mini M2 pro via the 6’ HDMI cable supplied with the Dell monitor. Switched to a shorter (3’) higher quality HDMI cable (Eareyesail 8K HDMI 2.1) and the flickering problem went away.

This is the 2nd I had an issue with the cable that came with the a Dell monitor. (Last time it was the USB-C cable that came with a Dell U2720Q)
Click to expand...
I was curious and ordered this cable from the USA (Amazon in my country did not have it). Unfortunately, I can't quite share Chuckeee's positive experience: My flicker problem was not solved by this cable, at most it got a little better, but that can also be imagination and relativize itself in the long run.
 
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oz_rkie

macrumors regular
Apr 16, 2021
177
165
Can safely assume at this stage, is that this is a hardware issue in apple silicon.
 
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compukortschnoi

macrumors member
Aug 9, 2015
32
1
oz_rkie said:
Can safely assume at this stage, is that this is a hardware issue in apple silicon.
Click to expand...
I can no longer help feeling this way either. I am glad that I have found a good workaround for myself. Nevertheless, this must be fixed in the future.

Heavens, the moving login screen from Sonoma already greets you with this flicker! As if Apple wants to annoy you. 😡
 
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gromy

gromy

macrumors newbie
Sep 27, 2023
1
0
I went from an Intel based Macbook Pro 16" that never saw any of those issues after years of usage to then a Macbook Pro M1 and after that a Macbook Air M2 and both silicon laptops had the issue.

Monitor is a LG 38WN95C-W, connected via thunderbolt (tried TB3 and TB4 but no diff).

As a workaround I noticed that switching to 120hz over 144hz often solves the issue.
 
Farsider

Farsider

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2014
630
308
London, UK
Dell P3421w owner here. Have used this monitor with a 2018 Intel Mac mini since 2020, perfect performance. Just bought a M2 Pro Mac mini and when paired with this same monitor, now I have the flickering issue.

I use the USB-C cable that came with the monitor (it's quite long) Exactly the same symptoms as in this post. The 15hz like flicking problem persists across reboots and power cycles. No lines or image retention though. Monitor was still flicking when I plugged in other devices to it too.

I plugged it back into my M2 Pro Mini using a much shorter USB4 cable and the problem rectified itself. Now I'm back with the original Dell OEM USB-C cable and it's still fine.

I suspect there will be a next time.
 
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R

racingclub

macrumors newbie
Sep 19, 2015
5
3
I've been grappling with display issues ever since I paired my MacBook M1 Pro with a BenQ EL2870U monitor via an HDMI-to-HDMI cable. Replacing the monitor was not an option for me, as I didn't want to invest another $1K.

Fortunately, I found a cost-effective solution that might help others facing similar problems. Based on recommendations I came across in this forum, I purchased a $14 USB-C to DisplayPort cable to test the setup. Since making this change, I haven't encountered any display issues.

I'm sharing this here in case anyone else is looking for a way to resolve similar display issues without breaking the bank.
 
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majkom

macrumors 68000
May 3, 2011
1,941
1,249
Is there list of monitors that do not flicker with m macs?? If not, can those of you that do not experience flicker with their monitors post it here?
 
O

oz_rkie

macrumors regular
Apr 16, 2021
177
165
racingclub said:
I've been grappling with display issues ever since I paired my MacBook M1 Pro with a BenQ EL2870U monitor via an HDMI-to-HDMI cable. Replacing the monitor was not an option for me, as I didn't want to invest another $1K.

Fortunately, I found a cost-effective solution that might help others facing similar problems. Based on recommendations I came across in this forum, I purchased a $14 USB-C to DisplayPort cable to test the setup. Since making this change, I haven't encountered any display issues.

I'm sharing this here in case anyone else is looking for a way to resolve similar display issues without breaking the bank.
Click to expand...
This does not work, as has been posted several times in this thread. The flicker will return at some point.
 
R

racingclub

macrumors newbie
Sep 19, 2015
5
3
compukortschnoi said:
Exactly. I've tried half a dozen USB-C to HDMI and half a dozen USB-C to DP cables. The flickering kept coming back.
Click to expand...
I just reported what I experienced. Never since I bought the M1 (since 2021 launch) had more than 24 hours without screen flickering with my BenQ external monitor. This is the first time. I'll update if it comes back again.
 
C

compukortschnoi

macrumors member
Aug 9, 2015
32
1
racingclub said:
I just reported what I experienced. Never since I bought the M1 (since 2021 launch) had more than 24 hours without screen flickering with my BenQ external monitor. This is the first time. I'll update if it comes back again.
Click to expand...
If that's the case, I'm heavily interested in which cable EXACTLY you bought.
 
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