27'' LED Cinema Display flickers when powering MBP and dimmed down
The 27'' LED Cinema Display flickers (backlight flickers) in the following situation:
* The display powers an MacBook Pro (e.g. later 2010).
* The MacBook Pro is fully charged (i.e. power is not used for charging).
* The MacBook Pro performs some GPU intense task (moving the mouse over the dock with magnification enabled).
* The brightness of the display is dimmed down to one of the lower settings (one or two "bars").
The problem disappears if the MBP is powered by an independent charger.
We reproduced the problem with two different MBPs (13'' and 15'') and two different displays.
Same problem here! I bought two brand new 27 inch Cinema Displays, one for work and one for my home office. Both showed the problem. I returned both, go replacement displays and both show the same problem. I am using them with a 13 inch MacBook Air late 2010. I use them with the MacBook's display lid closed and powered by the Cinema Display. The problem only occurs when the display brightness is at 1 to 5 bars. From 6 bars on everything is fine. I also noticed that the flickering is stronger when I USE the computer, i.e. dragging around windows, typing, etc. When I just look at the screen, the flickering occurs more sporadically. The flickering looks like a short switching off of the display light (a few milliseconds).
I just tried the hint suggested in this thread and indeed, when I open the lid and have the MacBook running on batteries (not powered by the Cinema Display), the flickering is gone! So it really seems to be dependent on that.
Please fix it, Apple! This is not acceptable for a premium-quality display! We have already done a good job narrowing down the conditions under which the problem occurs. You should easily be able to reproduce the issue like this:
- use a MacBook (e.g. new MacBook Air) and turn it on
- plug in all three cables provided by the 27" Cinema Display (power, DisplayPort, USB)
- close the lid of the MacBook and re-awake it with an external keyboard so the Cinema Display will be the only display in use
- wait a few hours for the Cinema Display to become warm (not sure if this is a necessary condition but it could be)
- then, use the computer under low-light conditions and ensure the brightness is at 5 bars or less
--> You will see the problem.
By the way, the recent Cinema Display firmware update (to address the audio issue) did NOT solve this problem.
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