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

[aednichols]

I'll try to get a video up here in a bit but I'm having some similar display flickering issues on my M1 Air. I've not seen the flickering when doing general productivity tasks or even editing photos in Lightroom, but it's almost guaranteed to show up when doing any gaming. Also oddly Planet Coaster seems like a worse offender than Cities Skylines.

My monitor is a Dell U3419W and I first noticed the issue when connecting via the built in USB C connection. I tried swapping out the connection for a USB C hub with HDMI to the display, but still get the same issue. Obviously two separate cables here, but I did order a new USB C cable for testing. It's also worth noting that I have a gaming desktop connected to this monitor without issue and do use a USB C Dell laptop for work and see no issues with either of those. However no gaming has been tried on the work laptop over the USB C connection where I see the issues.

My wife also has a monitor home from work, some random Ausus 1080p monitor. So I tried that one with the same adapter from before, but a different HDMI cable. I still have the issues on that monitor as well.

At this point I'm fairly confident it's an issue with the M1 Air. 2 Monitors, 3 Different Cables, 2 Display Adapters have all been tried and show the issue.

Edit: Video attached. Odd thing I've noticed while trying again to reproduce is that it's mostly caused by moving the mouse around, either on the trackpad or my mouse connected to the monitor itself. I did this last run on both USB C ports on the Air with the same result.

View attachment 1682931

That is very weird, thank you for posting!

The timing seems random and fairly far apart.

When my screen flickers it does so constantly and consistently, probably at 60 Hz or some multiple thereof.

One trick I found to better capture my fast flicker is to set the iPhone camera to slow mo video.

 

[david9992]

 

[aednichols]

View attachment 1683286

That looks pretty similar to my flicker.

I tried your overscan suggestion but my display does not offer that configuration when used with DisplayPort digital input.

I highly recommend contacting Apple support, they are taking these reports very seriously. I spent about an hour on the phone today with a very professional rep doing various debugging steps. He said that even if it is technically the display's fault, Apple still wants to know in order to (1) maximize compatibility and (2) possibly contact the display vendor to report the issue.

Even if this is the computer's fault, I'm OK paying this early adopter tax because the machine itself is So. Darn. Good.

 

[ejecthawk]

That is very weird, thank you for posting!

The timing seems random and fairly far apart.

When my screen flickers it does so constantly and consistently, probably at 60 Hz or some multiple thereof.

One trick I found to better capture my fast flicker is to set the iPhone camera to slow mo video.

Yeah mine isn’t nearly that often, just kinda what I showcased above. I spent some time today with Apple support and also tried a number of troubleshooting steps with little luck. I’m passing along my video of the issue and they are going to keep looking into things.

 

[david9992]

Hello guys, Finally I got my issue fixed (without turn Over Scan ON). I have bough a new docking station with chip PS186 which convert DP 1.4a to HDMI 2.0b, and a new HDMI 2.0 cable. The monitor can now work with 4K 60Hz HDR without any problem. My previous Type-C to DP1.2 cable using VL100-Q3 chip.

 

[The.Walrus]

I'm experiencing a different type of flicker with my Dell S2721QS and 13" M1 MacBook Pro.

 

[Honey_crisp]

So I have a bit of a different flicker issue, in that the laptop screen is flickering and not the monitor.

M1 MBA 512GB/8 core GPU connected via HDMI to Dell P2415Q with Apple USB-C -> HDMI adapter. Both screens open, with the Dell as an extended monitor (no mirroring).

This setup works perfectly with my 2020 13" 4TB Intel Macbook Pro. Any suggestions?

 

[aednichols]

I'm experiencing a different type of flicker with my Dell S2721QS and 13" M1 MacBook Pro.
View attachment 1684319

This looks to me like a cable based issue. Are you using the cable that came with the monitor? Have you tried reversing it?

 

[The.Walrus]

This looks to me like a cable based issue. Are you using the cable that came with the monitor? Have you tried reversing it?

That was my assumption too. Cable works fine with other machines (no flicker), and so far the problem seems to stop when I go into clamshell mode. It seems uniquely to happen when extending the display to a second monitor (but I don't have another monitor beyond this Dell S2721QS to check with).

 

[ejecthawk]

I've been able to 'fix' this by upgrading to the Public Beta for Big Sur (11.1). Not sure I'd call this an ideal solution upgrading to a beta, but I really wanted to try and get this problem narrowed down. I'm jumping into the Mac world here with this M1 and want to make sure this machine will meet all my use cases.

I just played Planet Coaster for 5 minutes straight with no flicker and got them maybe every 5-10s before. CS:GO apparently also works on 11.1 so I'm going to give that a shot to see if that game flickers here once my download completes.

Edit: And CS:GO runs without any screen issues.

 

[aednichols]

I've been able to 'fix' this by upgrading to the Public Beta for Big Sur (11.1). Not sure I'd call this an ideal solution upgrading to a beta, but I really wanted to try and get this problem narrowed down. I'm jumping into the Mac world here with this M1 and want to make sure this machine will meet all my use cases.

I just played Planet Coaster for 5 minutes straight with no flicker and got them maybe every 5-10s before. CS:GO apparently also works on 11.1 so I'm going to give that a shot to see if that game flickers here once my download completes.

Edit: And CS:GO runs without any screen issues.

I can certainly believe that it’ll take a .1 for a brand new system architecture to get stable.

 

[ejecthawk]

Well I think I spoke too soon. I also posted on Reddit and another user mentioned the same thing with WoW and asked I try that game on 11.1. So I downloaded it and gave it a shot and the issue was back. Though it didn't seem quite as bad as Planet Coaster. I tried Planet Coaster to see if the issues were back there and sure enough once I loaded up the game my screen started flickering again.

 

[burni]

For two days of full working day use, the DVI cable didn't flicker but then about 1 hour ago it returned

Since it hasn't fixed it (although its been less frequent) I'm going to go back to DP as I've had sleep wake issues on the external screen with the DVI cable that I didn't get with DP. I'm using a Cable Matters DP hub which is a single cable including power, DP, ethernet and USB3 A ports. Will have to put up with bouts of flickering for the time being until there's either a fix or I buy a new monitor.

 

[hassan987]

I'm experiencing a different type of flicker with my Dell S2721QS and 13" M1 MacBook Pro.
View attachment 1684319

Me too! I get it so frequently that my mac mini M1 is proving difficult to use! Using an HDMI cable and NEC EA275UHD 27" 4K monitor

 

[ejecthawk]

Not much of a surprise but a new USB C cable did not correct my issues. Still have the flickering, but hey at least I now have a right angled connected to my laptops making cable management a bit easier!

 

[ejecthawk]

Following up here, last week the 11.1 Beta 2 came out and it looks like this one has actually fixed my issues. I've been able to play Planet Coaster and Cities Skylines on several different occasions the past few days even after reboots and have not seen the flicker come back.

I know in this beta there was a FW upgrade, wonder if that had anything to do with the improvement. It's certainly possible the 11.1 Beta 1 was able to clear some caches or something like that to get things working temporarily and then Beta 2 actually fixed the issue.

 

[Jakwob]

I’m getting quite a lot of battery drain when I plug in external monitor, both through usb c hub and via a usb-hdmi cable. About double drain in use and overnight will drain about 10%. Anyone else getting this?

 

[burni]

I’m getting quite a lot of battery drain when I plug in external monitor, both through usb c hub and via a usb-hdmi cable. About double drain in use and overnight will drain about 10%. Anyone else getting this?

Yes, but my old MBP has always done this too. I assumed it was normal but thinking about it, especially on M1, why should the battery drain so much quick when a screen is plugged in. Is there any way to log what is using the energy?

 

[SHates]

After spending most of the day on Saturday with Apple Support, their conclusion is that it's an issue with M1 and TN displays. Although I can see above some are getting it with IPS ones too (my IPS displays are rock solid).

Strangely after trying out some different colour profiles, the issue has calmed down a bit.

 

[scruztaylor]

After spending most of the day on Saturday with Apple Support, their conclusion is that it's an issue with M1 and TN displays. Although I can see above some are getting it with IPS ones too (my IPS displays are rock solid).

Strangely after trying out some different colour profiles, the issue has calmed down a bit.

I had an LG that was fine but this Samsung 4k curved monitor is having issues. Seems to be a big problem when most the screen is black or Im playing a video in a window.

 

[Moosebear]

So I just hooked up my old 2005FPW Dell monitor and here's what I get. Is this impossible on my new M1 Mac Pro? I'm connected with a new ZMUIPNG Hub with an HDMI adaptor going into a VGA cable to this old monitor. I'd rather not replace it, if it can be made to work. I'd call Apple but that takes so much time, typically. As you can see on the left, the OS recognizes the monitor, at least. Changing to the various resolutions available makes no change.

Any suggestions? Should it be sold for $50?

 

[QbetaStudios]

Also been experiencing this intermittent vertical lines issue and some left images. Macbook Pro M1, the monitor is a 27"1080p 144Hz IPS from Acer VG0 line.

 

[murdink]

Same issue here, I would have posted a video but aednichols's, david9992's and QbetaStudios' ones are on point.
I've been using the same monitor with a PC and even a 2017 MBP with the same USB-C to DP cable for years with no issue.
When I'm able to reproduce the issue, fiddling with the color profile does help but eventually it comes back.
I've noticed that more often than not the problem occurs with shades of grey in the background.

My monitor is an Acer Predator XB281HK 4k60Hz.

edit: the fact that I'm able to make the problem (temporarily) go away by changing the display's settings does lead me to believe that it's a display issue, but then again why does it only happen with the ARM MBP?

 

[jerryk]

View attachment 1695500

So I just hooked up my old 2005FPW Dell monitor and here's what I get. Is this impossible on my new M1 Mac Pro? I'm connected with a new ZMUIPNG Hub with an HDMI adaptor going into a VGA cable to this old monitor. I'd rather not replace it, if it can be made to work. I'd call Apple but that takes so much time, typically. As you can see on the left, the OS recognizes the monitor, at least. Changing to the various resolutions available makes no change.

Any suggestions? Should it be sold for $50?

VGA monitors is old. 1080P resolution limit. Also, uses an analog signal which is not handled well by a lot of modern systems. You can get a newer 24" monitor with digital I/O for under $90.

 

[g.p]

Having the same issue. M1 MacBook Pro and a 4k 60Hz DisplayPort external display. I tried 2 cables, both show that issue and both work fine with a Windows PC. The problem comes and goes and I also noticed that the problem temporarily goes away if I fiddle with the color settings. I reached out to Apple, still haven't a solution.