How to stop MacBook’s screen from flickering
There has been lots of complaints everywhere about Apple MacBook’s screen flickering (see AppleDefects.com, MacNN Forums, Engadget, etc.) People out there report scary stories about going to warranty guys three or four times and still experiencing the same annoying issue. The problem seems to be a bad screen inverter (whatever that is), and after changing that thing the flickering usually stops. As I’m too lazy (or maybe being afraid of being without my computer for a month), I’ve tried to find a DYI way to stop my MB’s screen going wild ;-)
So, the problem seems to be… overheating. Intel Core Duo processor is a “hot” one so it can reach huge temperatures when on high load (up to 60 ºC). Of course, there’s a fan to keep it cool, but it’s upper threshold is set to a big value by default so it turns on only when your machine reaches 55 ºC or so. Anyway, there’s a way to lower that threshold so your computer will keep himself below 45 ºC and the flickering will stop.
Here are the steps:
- Download Fan Control from VersionTracker
- Install it
- Go to System Preferences, click on Fan Control
- Set the “Lower Threshold” to “45.0 ºC” and “Base Speed” to “3300 RPM“. By using these values your fan will turn on when your processor’s temperature reaches 45 ºC, also it will run a little bit faster
- Additionally you can install CoreDuoTemp so you can monitor your processor’s temperature all the time
Hopefully this will stop your MB’s screen from flickering and will prevent other problems that would occur because of a high temperature. However, I am not sure if it is “healthy” for a fan to run at 3300 RPM for a longer time so I’d suggest for you to get your computer to the AppleCare or some other warranty place. They are the ones who are responsible for this issue anyway.
UPDATE: looks like it doesn’t work as expected :( My laptop is now at the shop, the screen inverter (or whatever causes the flickering) is to be changed. No Mac for a month or so.