MacBook Pro 2017 Graphics issues

nstan

Honorable
Jan 11, 2015
2
0
10,510
Hey all,
So the MacBook Pro in question is pretty young in age, and I've run Malwarebytes on it for a while. I seriously doubt any virus or malware is on it. However, certain problems have arisen now on multiple occasions. After having visited (weirdly enough) the University of Pittsburgh's virtual tour website, the MacBook Pro will start freezing up and the screen will flash with many different colors. Also occasionally patches of scrambled pixels will also pop up on the screen.

The way this has been fixed before has been sometimes resetting the PRAM alongside booting into safe mode, with multiple reboots usually being needed. I'm just wondering if anybody could help me understand this issue more, whether it be software or as I suspect hardware related. I'm not too clear what the root issue of the problem is, but I think you guys can figure it out. Thanks!

P.S. I can provide plenty of more info/specs if needed, though I am currently thousands of miles away from the computer in question so I may be slower in responding.
 
Solution
CPU and GPU temps idle and under load? Assuming it has a dedicated GPU. You can find out with software like HWinfo, I believe they have a mac OS version. It's free.

Pixels of different colors randomly showing up is called artifacting, which is normally caused by the GPU. This is a sign of GPU driver issues, GPU overheating, or GPU instability. I doubt GPU instability is the cause but the other two are possible.

So im thinking temps or driver/software issues. I would reinstall the GPU's driver if temps are okay. If that doesn't help post a screenshot of HWinfo's monitoring screen preferably when the issue is occurring if you can. My last resort would be a clean reinstall of the OS.

Dunlop0078

Estimable
Herald
Feb 13, 2014
351
1
5,260
CPU and GPU temps idle and under load? Assuming it has a dedicated GPU. You can find out with software like HWinfo, I believe they have a mac OS version. It's free.

Pixels of different colors randomly showing up is called artifacting, which is normally caused by the GPU. This is a sign of GPU driver issues, GPU overheating, or GPU instability. I doubt GPU instability is the cause but the other two are possible.

So im thinking temps or driver/software issues. I would reinstall the GPU's driver if temps are okay. If that doesn't help post a screenshot of HWinfo's monitoring screen preferably when the issue is occurring if you can. My last resort would be a clean reinstall of the OS.
 
Solution