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Photoshop CC flickering on Macbook Pro? [2014]

Community Beginner ,
Jan 15, 2014 Jan 15, 2014

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Hey guys.

 

So I got a new Macbook Pro less than a month ago, mostly for drawing and such. I've encountered a problem, though, and that is that when I use Photoshop CC, the screen flickers! Not the entire screen, but the window in photoshop. This seems to only happen if I'm using my tablet, as well.

 

I spoke to Apple several times about this issue but they told me that there was nothing they could do and that I should speak to Adobe. They just linked me to some updates that didn't work and that was that.

 

I've seen many, many, MANY people having this issue on the Macbook Air, but they have a fix now. I haven't seen so many people with the Pros having this problem, but there are a few, such as here:

 

http://forums.adobe.com/message/5955871

 

Sometimes it doesn't flicker, but most of the time it does. I've updated everything that I could think of. This is causing a real problem though; it's nearly impossible to work on any project at all anymore!

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

May 12, 2014 May 12, 2014

The Genius bar can't do much (they're not developers, much less QE) -- you're looking at driver level bugs that Apple's video driver engineers need to fix, or possibly a bad GPU/motherboard.  Hopefully it's just the driver and Apple can fix it in the near future.

If the flickering happens on other units of the same model, then it is most likely the video driver, which will have to be fixed in an OS update.  Did the Genius Bar guys document the problem in RADAR for Apple's engineers to investigate

...

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Adobe
Jan 15, 2014 Jan 15, 2014

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Which OS version?

And we haven't seen widespread problems with MacBook Pros.

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 15, 2014 Jan 15, 2014

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OSX 10.9

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Jan 15, 2014 Jan 15, 2014

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10.9 also has some known GPU issues on certain GPU models.

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Community Beginner ,
Nov 22, 2014 Nov 22, 2014

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I have the same problem. I just installed Photoshop CC 2014 trial on my MBP retina and while scrolling even moderately fast, the right half of the canvas area flickers to black. I was using Ps CC on Macbook Air before this without issues. Thank God I used the trial and found the problem before paying for the subscription! It has made Ps basically unusable for me. Please fix this! My config is:

OSX Yosemite v10.10.1

Model Name: MacBook Pro

  Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,1

  Processor Name: Intel Core i5

  Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz

  Number of Processors: 1

  Total Number of Cores: 2

  L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

  L3 Cache: 3 MB

  Memory: 8 GB

  Boot ROM Version: MBP111.0138.B11

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Community Beginner ,
Nov 22, 2014 Nov 22, 2014

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So I seem to have found a way around this. I went to Preferences > Performance and disabled 'Use Graphics Processor' and restarted Photoshop. Now the flickering is gone. Though I don't know if disabling the Graphics Processor will affect performance otherwise.

Update: Under Preferences > Performance > Graphics Processor Settings > Advanced Settings , I set the Drawing Mode to 'Normal' and that fixed the flickering as well.

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LEGEND ,
Nov 22, 2014 Nov 22, 2014

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To work around problems is precisely why they provide those different settings.

It's good you've found a setting that works and facilitates your use of the graphics processor.  A lot of features depend on that now.

-Noel

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Community Beginner ,
Nov 22, 2014 Nov 22, 2014

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Thanks for helping out!

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New Here ,
Aug 20, 2015 Aug 20, 2015

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Yay thanks this worked for me too!

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New Here ,
Apr 03, 2021 Apr 03, 2021

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the advanced settings worked for me thoo. Thanks so much! 

 

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 23, 2016 Mar 23, 2016

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I have a macbook pro 2015 brand new. I have narrowed it down to my problem the top bar flickers in the middle of the screen ONLY when I am zoomed in using the clone tool pressing ALT is the trigger it happens between 600 and 800% zoom. My computer has been to Apple and nothing wrong,Adobe remoted in and couldn't figure it out and agreed to give me a refund. I WANT THIS TO WORK CORRECT

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New Here ,
Jun 23, 2017 Jun 23, 2017

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Hi there, I bought a brand new macbook pro 2015 like yours a month ago and I'm having EXACTLY the same problems as you described. Did you find a solution? Help

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New Here ,
Aug 20, 2017 Aug 20, 2017

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Exactle the same issue here. Does anybody have a solution by now?

Thanks alot!

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New Here ,
Mar 27, 2014 Mar 27, 2014

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My mbp with retina has the problem too.Just use zoom tool or hold the space when open a file and press f key in the full screen.It will appear black block flickering.OS X is 10.9.2

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New Here ,
Apr 03, 2014 Apr 03, 2014

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Having the exact same issue

iOS 10.9.2 retina macbook pro with Adobe Photoshop CC
Screen flickers black whenever I use the zoom tool and patch aswell specially if I use the patch and I move the mouse quickly

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Explorer ,
Apr 23, 2014 Apr 23, 2014

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This is happening on my end as well. Moving text, painting, etc. causes the display to flicker. I tried diffrent Graphics Processor Settings in the preferences, but did not notice any improvement.

Adobe, please fix this bug!

  Model Name:          MacBook Pro

  Model Identifier:          MacBookPro10,2

  Processor Name:          Intel Core i7

  Processor Speed:          2.9 GHz

  Number of Processors:          1

  Total Number of Cores:          2

  L2 Cache (per Core):          256 KB

  L3 Cache:          4 MB

  Memory:          8 GB

  Boot ROM Version:          MBP102.0106.B03

  SMC Version (system):          2.6f59

  Hardware UUID:          EF7971A8-72BC-5B94-A0C6-357BEEC5AF9D

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Apr 23, 2014 Apr 23, 2014

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You need to talk to Apple about your display driver issues.

There is little Adobe can do to fix bugs in Apple's display driver code.

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LEGEND ,
Apr 23, 2014 Apr 23, 2014

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Do the alternate GPU settings (e.g., Drawing Mode) help?

For anyone trying alternate settings, make sure to fully Quit the application after changing the setting and before testing.

-Noel

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Explorer ,
May 12, 2014 May 12, 2014

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Negative. Changing these settings had no significant effect on the issue.

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Explorer ,
May 12, 2014 May 12, 2014

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So it's Apple's responsibility to modify their display drivers to work with Adobe products?? That doesn't make sense since this is most likely a hardware vs software issue, and in this case, the software came AFTER the hardware.

I'm no engineer, but I would think that it's Adobe's responsibility to ensure their software works with Apple's hardware.

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Explorer ,
May 12, 2014 May 12, 2014

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Chris Cox I've been to the Apple Genius Bar for a troubleshoot. The same issue exists on other systems. Can you provide me with any concrete suggestions to get this issue resolved? Specific points I can bring up at the Genius Bar that could possibly lead to a solution or hardware inspection/replacement?

My computer is still under AppleCare and I'm paying Adobe for my Creative Cloud membership.

Apple and Adobe just keep blaming each other, while their customers are stuck in the middle. That is not a solution.

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May 12, 2014 May 12, 2014

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The Genius bar can't do much (they're not developers, much less QE) -- you're looking at driver level bugs that Apple's video driver engineers need to fix, or possibly a bad GPU/motherboard.  Hopefully it's just the driver and Apple can fix it in the near future.

If the flickering happens on other units of the same model, then it is most likely the video driver, which will have to be fixed in an OS update.  Did the Genius Bar guys document the problem in RADAR for Apple's engineers to investigate?

And yes, it is Apple's responsibility to make sure that their APIs and drivers work correctly.

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Explorer ,
May 12, 2014 May 12, 2014

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I have the issue with a Mac mini on OSX 10.9.2 - it's almost becoming unusable, using pretty 90% of the tools the screen flickers black really quickly. zooming in and out, marquee tool...

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 09, 2015 Jun 09, 2015

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I've got the same very issue on my new (mid 2015) MacBook Pro 15 and the latest version of Photoshop CC.!

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New Here ,
Jun 25, 2015 Jun 25, 2015

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Also having this problem, macbook pro 15, whole canvas flickers black while moving the canvas, extremely annoying.

I've tired all the different drawing modes, happens on all of them. Using a window rather than a tab seems to stop it.

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