Screen Flickering with Small Lines on MacBook Air M1 (2020)

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Screen Flickering with Small Lines on MacBook Air M1 (2020)

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing a persistent screen flickering issue on my MacBook Air M1 (2020) running macOS Tahoe 26.0. Small lines appear on the screen and keep flickering on and off.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

Restarted the Mac multiple times
Booted in Safe Mode

Unfortunately, the issue still persists. Has anyone faced something similar or have any suggestions on how to fix this? Could this be a hardware issue?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 26.0

Posted on Oct 1, 2025 8:50 AM

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Answer 1

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Allan Jones

Level 9

77,876 points

Oct 2, 2025 8:55 AM in response to kshitij180

Do the artifacts show on both battery power and wall power, or only one?

There are two at-home tests that make help with diagnosis:, but won't fix:

—While the computer is on, gently move the display assembly back and forth on its hinge while watching the screen. If the patterns are intermittent while the screen in in motion but are stable when it is not moving, that suggests a worn display cable.

— Attach an external monitor. If the patterns do NOT show on the external, that narrows the fault to the display assembly itself. If the pattern repeats on the external, that suggests a failure of the video hardware on the logic board

Regardless, those issue need professional attention. I know of no home fixes. The display assembly is one sealed unit; damage to or failure of any component requires an entire new assembly. Display components, even the cable, are not individually replaceable.

Have Apple evalute at least. With parts and labor, Apple display replacement appears to start around US$500, so this maybe good time to shop for a new Mac if Apple's eval says the disaply assembly needs replacing.

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