Apple’s most recent MacBook Pro models with the new Thunderbolt port are apparently causing at least some users headaches thanks to flickering external displays and even system lockups.
A forum thread on the Apple Web site details problems users are experiencing, such as system freezes, and flickering issues with a 24-inch Cinema Display. Users are reporting the issues with the 13-inch and 15-inch models.
“I just purchased a 13-inch MacBook Pro i5 and I’m getting momentary black screens and intermittent, rapid horizontal shifts when connected to my 24-inch LED Cinema Display,” one forum poster said. “The issue does not occur with my previous 2009 MacBook Pro.”
A video showing the flickering screen issue made its way to YouTube. Jump to the 1:40 mark to see the black screen problem in action.
Another forum poster commented “If I boot up a VM using Fusion the temperature will spike up above 90 degrees and the machine will lock up most of the time. The machine appears locked (cannot move the mouse at all and keyboard is unresponsive). I can SSH into the machine still and it still is running however.”
There is some speculation that the issue is related to the Thunderbolt port that was introduced on the latest MacBook Pro models. The port supports Apple’s Mini DisplayPort video connector, as well, which is used for external displays including the company’s own 24-inch Cinema Display.
Apple is apparently aware of the issue but hasn’t announced what it plans to do to fix the problem, or when users can expect to see a fix in place.
[Thanks to Mac Rumors for the heads up.]