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The March 2015 update of Apple's 13" MacBook Pro Retina Display, model A1502, features fifth-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and introduces the Force Touch trackpad.

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Intermittent flickering on internal display

Hello, I have gotten hold of a MacBook Pro 13" Early 2015 that someone abandoned, so I gave it a try.

I have no history of the device, but the device has a fair share of dents and scratches, so it has lived.

I charged the battery, but immediately after booting, it became apparent that the display has an intermittent flickering issue: for about two seconds, the display is normal, then it flickers for about two seconds, before turning normal again, ... and so on.

First I performed resets of the SMC and the PRAM, which did not improve anything. Then I wiped the SSD and performe a clean install of Monterey, but the same issue remained (throughout and after the install procedure).

Interestingly, when I connect an external display, either by Thunderbolt or HDMI, there is no flickering, and the machine works fine.

To exclude the possibility that the issue is related to a faulty connection, I opened the lid at the bottom and disconnected and reconnected the display cable a couple of times, still to no avail.

Did anyone have a similar issue? Any ideas about the root cause, or any suggestions on how to resolve this?

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The Thunderbolt bus requires termination. So what happens is the termination circuit fails to either engage or disengage. Here is on the edge which is why plugging in the external resolves the issue. The logic board will need repairs or replacement. A Thunderbolt to DP adapter might be the cheaper way of addressing the problem, just leaving it plugged in.

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@Dan, thanks for your comment. Not quite sure what you mean, though. Plugging in the external does not resolve the issue. The internal display still flickers, while the external one works fine (in a screen mirroring configuation for example).

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@hbierau - "Interestingly, when I connect an external display, either by Thunderbolt or HDMI, there is no flickering, and the machine works fine." This is not correct then? So the internal is always having flickering then and the external has no problems.

This then points to a bad internal display and/or the displays iDP cable. Review this guide MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2015 Display Assembly Replacement jump to Step 11 see if there is any liquid spillage in the area and carefully disconnect the cable easing it out is there and corrosion damage on the pins and also check the solder joints of the logic board connected as well. You may need to replace the display assembly.

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