MacBook Pro (M4) display flickering after macOS 26.1 update

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing persistent display flickering on my 14-inch MacBook Pro (Apple M4, 16GB RAM) after updating to macOS 26.1 (Tahoe). Posting here to see if others have the same issue or if Apple has acknowledged this bug.

What’s happening:

The built-in Liquid Retina XDR display flickers intermittently during normal use. The flicker is clearly visible on the screen but does NOT appear in screenshots. This suggests the issue is happening at the display driver or panel-driving stage, not in the macOS UI or compositor.

My Mac:

• 14-inch MacBook Pro (M4)

• 16GB RAM

• Built-in Liquid Retina XDR Display

• macOS Tahoe 26.1 (public release)

• Serial: CWT*****F0

What I’ve tried:

• Reinstalled macOS

• Rebooted multiple times

• Booted into Safe Mode (flicker still present)

• Changed display resolution and refresh rate

• Disabled True Tone

• Disabled auto-brightness

• Disabled ProMotion and forced 60Hz (reduces, but doesn’t eliminate flicker)

• Installed Stillcolor to override dithering (partial improvement, not a fix)

Important clue:

The flickering persists even in Safe Mode, which means it is NOT caused by third-party apps, login items, color profiles, or system extensions. This strongly points to a macOS 26.1 display driver or ProMotion/VRR timing issue, especially for the XDR panels on M3/M4 machines.

Questions for the community:

1. 
   
2. Is anyone else on macOS 26.1 seeing the same flicker on XDR MacBook Pro models?
3. 
   
4. 
   
5. Has Apple acknowledged this in any release notes or internal documentation?
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8. 
   
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11. Any temporary mitigations that helped beyond the ones I tried?
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Screenshot:

(Please note: flicker does NOT appear in screenshots.)

I have attached an image of my About This Mac screen for reference.

Thanks in advance. Happy to provide a video recording (via phone) or diagnostic logs if that helps track this issue.

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[Edited by Moderator]