Why is my Macbook Screen Glitching

Anything unusual happening to one’s laptop screen is enough to cause a mini heart attack right away. Especially, in the middle of an important meeting or an online exam if your MacBook screen starts flickering, you’ll be done for. So, it’s essential to take care of this issue as soon as it starts.

Here, we’ll discuss a bunch of solutions to resolve the MacBook screen flickering problem. If the problem persists after trying one or two methods, you can move on to other procedures until one of them works. If you feel overwhelmed by troubleshooting, you may visit a professional PC and Mac repair shop to get the job done.

Before we move on, it is important to note that restarting and updating your OS are the first two solutions you may opt for. As much as restarting looks simple, it does wonders for a plethora of issues that get fixed automatically by the system.

For instance, a friend’s android phone’s audio jack stopped working and she wasn’t able to hear anything in the headphones. After panicking and trying a different set of headphones she almost gave up. That’s when I suggested restarting and as she did, the audio port started working again just fine. So, it may be a simple and easy solution which doesn’t cross our minds most times but it’s pretty useful.

Moreover, updating the operating system must be the fundamental norm of computer users because not only it resolves numerous issues, but it maintains the laptop’s overall health and performance level. Now, let’s get into the solutions you can implement

1- Fix Energy Saver Settings:

There’s a bunch of things you can change in the “Energy Saver” settings to fix the flashing issue. Inappropriate settings can make the device consume too much energy and affect the screen while the graphics card switching can also create this flickering problem that can go away once you disable the action.

Open System Preferences and click on “Energy Saver.”
Untick the box against the “Automatic graphics switching” to disable it.

You can subsequently check the display backlight settings and also customize the sleep settings to fix the issue. However, if the problem is caused by the wear and tear of the flex cable behind the display, you’d need a Mac professional to repair the MacBook.

2- Disable True Tone Feature:

There’s a feature in your Macbook that adjusts the colour settings according to the light and environment. It might be an advantageous feature in the laptop but it constantly relies on the GPU to function which may lead to screen flashing.

Open System Preferences and select the “Displays” option.
Untick the box next to “True Tone” and observe if the issue goes away.

3- Run Apple Diagnostics:

Running Apple diagnostics may allow the notebook to fix any software issues that might be causing the screen flickering problem to avoid MacBook screen replacement.

Shutdown your MacBook.
Press the power button and do not let go until you see the startup window.
Press the Cmd + D keys which will run the Apple diagnostics tool.

4- Reboot PRAM

PRAM also known as NVRAM keeps minor processes of your MacBook in check. From volume to brightness settings, it takes care of many features’ functionality. So, rebooting it might fix the problem.

Shutdown your MacBook.
Press Cmd + Option + P + R keys in harmony for 25 seconds while turning the device on.
Now, once the MacBook starts, the PRAM would be refreshed as new.

If the problem doesn’t go away, move on to the next trick.

5- Check Compatibility of your device’s GPU with macOS:

The screen flickering error could occur if your GPU isn’t compatible with the macOS. You can confirm the compatibility issue by visiting the manufacturer’s website and ensuring whether it goes with your MacBook model or not.

6- Run antivirus software:

A malicious virus could cause your notebook’s screen to flicker. You better install an antivirus and scan the whole system. Good antivirus programs catch and eliminate viruses and block further threats. Malwarebytes and Bitdefender are excellent programs you can opt for.

7- Clean cache and unwanted data:

Delete temporary files, cache and needless data that puts load on the memory and storage, affecting the overall performance of the OS, also causing the screen flickering episodes. You can use software like Omnidisksweeper and MacKeeper to detect useless files and get rid of them quickly. Restart the machine and check if you’re free from this predicament.

Final Thoughts:

There’s no exact way of telling why your MacBook screen is glitching, so you can only guess. If all the solutions listed here don’t help, then the problem could be residing in the flex cable or the logic board that calls for some professional help. So, contact your nearby PC/Mac repair shop and get your MacBook checked.