Top 8 Ways to Fix Screen Flickering on MacBook

Apple has been gradually changing the scope of its MacBooks in the past few years. Lately, the quality control issues in the hardware and software departments have quietly hit the users. One of the glaring MacBook issues is the unusual screen flickering out of nowhere.

Screen flickering problem appears on retina and non-retina screens, with many Mac users noting that it can affect them when using Terminal or when graphics are enabled or disabled. In some cases, it’s so bad that it makes looking at the screen impossible.

The issue seems to be caused by an incompatibility between the OS, program, and GPU. If you face the screen flickering issue on the Mac, then read along as we have compiled a list of methods you can try out to fix the display.

1. Restart Mac

Let’s start with the basics. Turn off and on your MacBook using the Restart option. Every device-related issue that looks serious, but you can fix it with a restart. You’d be surprised to know how many times this works. If the MacBook screen flickering problem is software-related, you should definitely try this at first to test that.

Tap on the little Apple icon at the upper left corner and select Restart.

2. Adjust Energy Saver Settings

If you use MacBook Pro, the MacBook screen blinking is sometimes caused by Energy Saver working improperly. If you enable Automatic graphics switching in Energy Saver, your Mac will alternate between two different graphics chips based on the usage.

For light tasks, the system will opt for an Intel-integrated graphics card while the intensive tasks are handled by the dedicated graphics card. That’ll be limited only the Intel CPU carrying Macs.

Follow the steps below to disable automatic graphics switching on Mac.

Step 1: Tap on the Apple icon at the upper left corner.

Step 2: Go to System Preferences.

Step 3: Open Energy Saver and turn of the automatic graphics switching option.

3. Enter a Safe Mode

Safe Mode on macOS disables many services and puts them in a low-key mode. This affects screen parameters as well. Try entering a Safe Mode to see if your screen graphics stabilized.

Step 1: Shut down your Mac completely.

Step 2: Hold down the Shift key and turn the Power on.

Step 3: Keep holding Shift until the Login Screen appears.

Step 4: This is a Safe Mode.

By now, you should see if your Mac screen glitching continues.

4. Disable True Tone Display

Apple bright true tone display from iPhone to Mac with the 2018 MacBook lineup. The True Tone technology makes your screen colors look more natural. But sometimes its color management goes off track.

True Tone is great and easy on your eyes, but it also requires constant GPU involvement and thus might cause a flickering screen.

Go through the steps below turn off the True Tone display on Mac.

Step 1: Tap on the Apple icon at the upper left corner.

Step 2: Go to the System Preferences menu.

Step 3: Navigate to Display > True Tone and turn off the option.

5. Uninstall Third-Party Browsers

Many MacBook screen flickering issues cropped up while using Chromium or Firefox. This is because of the incompatibility with the OS. Uninstall third-party browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome completely and restart your device to check if it worked.

6. Change Display Resolution

One more trick to try is to change your screen resolution. Go to Displays in System Preferences and play around with Resolution settings. Try switching off the default option that’s shown there.

7. Update macOS

You might face the screen flickering issue after the latest macOS update. After all, Apple isn’t having a great time delivering quality updates. But note that Apple is usually quick to fix such critical issues. Update to the most recent and stable build of macOS to fix the screen flickering issue. Go through the steps below.

Step 1: Open the System Preferences menu on the Mac.

Step 2: Go to Software Update and check for any major pending updates.

If there are any, install all of them and make sure your Mac runs the latest macOS version.

Restart the device and observe if it has fixed the screen issues.

8. If It’s Hardware Issue

Maybe it’s the screen connector of MacBook’s hinge that has loosened. In this case, no other software trick will do the job for you. You will have to take your Mac to the service. Apple has a free replacement program for this issue.

Fix Display Issues on Mac

Go through the solutions above and fix the screen flickering issues on Mac. While you are at it, let us know which trick worked for you in the comments section below.