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My M1 iMac's desktop goes black for a split second every few minutes. This only affects the desktop; any open windows are not affected.
I'm running OS 15.0.1; my desktop image is the original one that came preloaded with the Mac.
I have a feeling this could be something to do with Stage Manager, but could be entirely wrong about this.
iMac 24″, macOS 15.0
Winston Churchill wrote:
My M1 iMac's desktop goes black for a split second every few minutes. This only affects the desktop; any open windows are not affected.
There are other users reporting this issue with Sequoia 15.0.1 on different Mac models.
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I'm running OS 15.0.1; my desktop image is the original one that came preloaded with the Mac.
Test a different macOS desktop image or one from your Photos Library.
I have a feeling this could be something to do with Stage Manager, but could be entirely wrong about this.
Test with different Stage Manager settings and/or disabled.
Report this issue to Apple via Feedback.
It will help us get a good idea of what is causing your problem if you provide a report of your system, that way we do not have to play 20 questions with you. The report we are requesting does NOT provide any personal information and is extremely safe to use. Please navigate towww.Etrecheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Once you have you downloaded the app and installed it, please run the report and save it. This report will help us get a good idea what has been installed on your system and help us be able to diagnose what may be wrong.
When you have your report, you can attach it when you reply to this message and we can then review it and help you determine what is needed to get your system running well again.
For instructions on how to download your EtreCheck report and attach it to your reply to this message please click How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community It is helpful to us if you download the report to your Desktop.
There are some things that really concern me, first is there is no evidence that this computer is backed up. This is REALLY bad as it guarantees at some point you will lose valuable data. However backing up does not affect the flickering you are experiencing. If you are not familiar with Apple's app for backing up it is called Time Machine and you need to begin addressing this before you lose some or all of your data! You can learn about Time Machine by clicking Back up your Mac with Time Machine. Time Machine requires an external HD to backup to, many experienced users on these forums prefer the OWC Mercury Elite Pro. In your case a 2TB model would be fine and is currently only $140.
What I suspect is your display may be failing, in order to have this diagnosed correctly you need to take the computer to your local Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider as they have the correct tools available to test. If you have AppleCare on the computer this is good, however if you did not get AppleCare that would mean you will have an out of pocket expense if my hunch is correct. Before taking the computer in, PLEASE handle the backup issue first!
In the event that you do not know of any Apple Stores or AASP's in your area, please click the Support link in the upper right of this web page to begin finding them.
Best of luck!
It seemed pointless to use Time Machine since all my documents are synced with iCloud, and only recent instances are kept locally. Let me know if I'm wrong, but I assumed Time Machine wouldn't back up files only referenced on the drive.
I have another older Intel Mac with a drive large enough to keep all my documents on. It also syncs with my iCloud but keeps all my documents on the drive, not just recent ones. I have this Mac backed up to external drives using Time Machine. I only use this Mac for this purpose but only switch it on when I want to update the data on it and let it run its backup. Since it only gets switched on every week or so, it's not ideal, but if there's a better solution when my principal Mac doesn't have enough space to accommodate all my documents, I'd be interested to hear it.
I intended to get an M4 iMac (when they were released) with a 2TB HD, which will enable me to do back-ups directly from my principal Mac.
I'm not convinced about the failing display, though. Could a display really fail in such a way that the visual portion of the failure is restricted only to parts of the display that are showing the desktop at the time? The image below is simulated. I couldn't possibly grab a screenshot when the desktop goes black, but this is exactly how it looks when it does.
Mine was doing it before OS 15, I'd been waiting for a major update in the hope that it fixed it.
I'll try another desktop pattern to start with (I'll try one thing at a time). It might have something to do with the light/dark mode feature of that particular desktop image.
iCloud is NOT a backup solution, Time Machine is. iCloud is used for syncing documents, photos, music etc. across your devices. iCloud does not backup Mac OS or it's setting so not using Time Machine or any real backup solution is an error that should be corrected to truly safeguard your system. Of course it is your system and if you don't want to back it up, that is your prerogative.
The failing display is just a hunch and as I mentioned you should take the computer into an Apple Store or independent Apple Authorized Service Provider to be professionally diagnosed. While help forums are useful we cannot test thoroughly for hardware issues. We can look at reports that provide some hints and also helps if there are software issues but the hardware really needs to be stressed which only a tech can do with tools to stress the hardware so if there is a hardware problem it will be uncovered.
Buying a new iMac when they are released is one solution, to honest though you may want to also look into the Mac mini and an external display. Just something to think about if you haven't considered it.
So, I swapped out the "Hello Yellow" Desktop theme for another stock theme that doesn't have the day/night feature. This seemed to resolve the issue initially, but after a while, I noticed the split second of blackness again behind my open windows. I've seen this twice in around 10 hours of use since, whereas before the desktop change, it happened 12-15 times an hour.
I'll continue to try things and report back if I have time. I'm also going to take a look at memory usage.
Many thanks for responding
Desktop flicker
