2015 15” MacBook Pro Microscope Footage

AshX

I tested a 2015 15” MacBook Pro Intel graphics laptop on MacOS Catalina recording under Carson Microflip microscope with an iPhone 240 fps slow motion footage. Below you can find 3 videos. The first two are on the “New tab” gray gradient in Safari. The third is of the light gray wallpaper in the Apple settings.

Safari gradient #1

Safari gradient #2

Light gray wallpaper

My analysis:

Blue pixels are consistently chipped. I received this laptop for free and it isn’t in great condition. No idea what caused this
Gray dithering very apparent. Looks identical to the iPhone 5 dithering on gray
I noticed “lightning strike” style flashes on portions of the video on gray. I have to go back and do a new edit to see if I can catch it. Not sure what that could be. It was visible to my eyes while recording (transistor leakage?)
On Safari new tab page certain colors are pulsating, or appear to be to my eyes. This is similar to what I saw on the 13” M2. My working theory is this is FRC or another type of panel driven dithering, and requires 960 fps slow motion to detect it more clearly
I believe the dithering on the gray wallpaper is GPU based, but again this is just an assumption based on iPhone 5 comparison. Someone would have to test the iPhone 5 on earlier software (not iOS 9) to determine whether this is panel based or was rolled out via an iOS update, and therefore conceivably GPU based
Or the gray dithering is panel based and connected to the gray color flicker. This is hard to isolate without better tools and a flicker free Mac screen, which does not seem to exist

Overall I’m quite pleased with this very basic testing. It confirms that dithering is indeed occurring on this device and matches symptoms I have personally had, and I know symptoms many of you also had on this once believed “safe” device.

Donux

AshX Does it mean it has no PWM on the device you have tested ?

Also, would you be able to test it on linux mint, or any other distro by booting OS from live USB stick ? - I have personally booted linux mint, but do not have slow-mo device to test anything. Only can say everything works on linux mint out of a box, just like mac os x. Even wifi transmit power can be adjusted without problems. So if it would also mean that this OS shows no symthoms of dithering, it would be a great machine to run linux on.

Also would be good to add these arguments in recovery mode, just in case it makes any difference:
sudo nvram boot-args="dither=0 enableDither=0 iomfb_RuntimeProperty_enableDither=0"

lillo9546

AshX Thanks for this. I wonder if you had the chance to find a laptop device that you could use everyday without any of those issues (better if Macbook, but I won't believe they made those kind of products)

macsforme

I would be curious to see whether dithering is present under the microscope when scaling is set to something other than the standard 2X. There was some information suggesting that doing this disables parts of the rendering pipeline and increases comfort. Also, when I used one of these comfortably for a few years, it was configured this way (I believe "looks like 1680x1050").

AshX

Donux

I will test this. I figured it would be useful to try to connect it to my Thunderbolt Display. It is on MacOS Catalina 10.15.7 which I believe people had issues with. Perhaps I should downgrade to Mojave, first?

I will try those commands. Is there a command in Terminal to confirm dithering has been disabled, like Stillcolor?

As far as PWM I did detect gray color flicker, but I will check with 1/50,000 shutter speed instead to confirm or deny. I’m willing to do a Linux boot if someone can link me to a guide to do it. This panel is falling apart and the battery is gone…I got this from someone who was going to throw it out, so it’s in rough shape.

AgentX20

AshX It is on MacOS Catalina 10.15.7 which I believe people had issues with. Perhaps I should downgrade to Mojave, first?

I always had trouble on my MacBook Pro (Intel 2013 vintage) if I upgraded beyond Mojave.

Donux

AshX Regarding OS, I have no clue what is better. I am using without any workarounds latest OS apple allows to update to macbook 2015, which is probably Mojave. I know there are workarounds to install even latest OS, but I did not go into this territory yet. As for linux, it is quite simple, just need to download iso image from linux mint website - https://linuxmint.com/download.php (default cinamon eddition). Then download UNetBootin - https://unetbootin.github.io/ and create USB key (8 BG would be enough). Then put the USB key into macbook pro 2015 and turn on the power of this machine while holding ALT or Option key. This will bring up option to boot from EFI, and then just follow live USB prompts. It will boot without installing, and it will fully work, so testing is possible without making changes to the system.

Also, those nvram boot arguments, need to have "csrutil disable" executed before on recovery boot on mac, otherwise parameters are less likely to work.

And those HDMI cables should not be used with old macbooks. Those were never designed to run monitors. It was rather a solution for TV like presentation on projectors or TVs. Generally you can not expect anything good with HDMI.

AshX

AgentX20

People swear dithering was increased with Catalina. My last Mac was on Mojave and I used it until 2024. Haven’t been able to find one that works since.

AshX

lillo9546

Still trying. Currently testing a 13” M2 MBP and a 13” M1 MBA. So far the MBA is more tolerable than the MBP, but neither are suitable for anything more than a quick Google search. I will be testing different MacOS versions on both devices as I attempt to find a workable solution.

Donux

AshX I personally keep switching and the act of switching helps for short period of time. Now I am on the burnout cycle after using macbook air m2 for full 2-3 days. Macbook pro 2015 on another hand is a good thing to switch to, but applying all possible settings and nvram flags. Also, significant part that helps at least when working witin chrome is - disabling hardware accelaration. Also, and know people who I have given my old monitor such as PD2705Q, are not using it anymore 🙂 So, its a wide spread issue. What is on the positive horizons:

Lenovo ink based dual screen laptops
And for macbook users Ink based monitors

This is what I will be focusing on. And of course in this forum there are a lot of hardcore gamers I believe, so they are not accepting this as a solution. Well, at least lenovo duals screen with OLED on one side and ink on another would be superb deal for them. Not sure if this has been manufactured already, it seams like this is just concept product. I have personally subscribed to their news on it, so they know I am their potential customer. Ink based solution will be a full close for analysts, programmers, office workers. Besides, if you get portable screen, you can take it to the office and use it, no need to negotiate with Big Brother in IT department for those working in big organisations.