MacBook Pro M2 Pro: Phantom display causes screen flickering.

on the assumption that I still thinks the display you connected earlier is still there, try this:

some users got relief by deleting some preferences files, then Restarting.

To access the folder using Finder for the system-wide preference

Copy and paste this string into:

Finder > Go menu > Go to Folder

/Library/Preferences

then find and delete this file:

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver

-AND- To access the folder for your-user preference

Copy and paste this string into:

Finder > Go menu > Go to Folder

~/Library/Preferences

then find and delete whichever of these two files you find:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.<UUID>.plist -OR-

~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.<UUID>.plist -OR-

~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.displays<UUID>.plist

-- where [~] tilde is an active abbreviation for "current user"

-- and <UUID> is a string of hexadecimal numbers unique to your system, grouped as 8-4-4-4-8 hexadecimal digits

Restart REQUIRED after these deletions.

Here is another weird thing to try:

some users got relief by deleting some preferences files, then Restarting.

To access the folder using Finder for the system-wide preference

Copy and paste this string into:

Finder > Go menu > Go to Folder

/Library/Preferences

then find and delete this file:

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver

-AND- To access the folder for your-user preference

Copy and paste this string into:

Finder > Go menu > Go to Folder

~/Library/Preferences

then find and delete whichever of these two files you find:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.<UUID>.plist -OR-

~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.<UUID>.plist -OR-

~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.displays<UUID>.plist

-- where [~] tilde is an active abbreviation for "current user"

-- and <UUID> is a string of hexadecimal numbers unique to your system, grouped as 8-4-4-4-8 hexadecimal digits

Restart REQUIRED after these deletions.

Hi, the flickering is manifested in a quick change back and forth between resolutions. I tried some more things after my first post. I disabled AirPlay but nothing changed even after restart. But when I plugged in another screen in my hdmi port, the problems were gone. When I disconnected it, the problems returned. I am leaning towards a hardware fault and can’t think of solutions

"I am experiencing a persistent issue with my MacBook Pro equipped with an Apple M2 Pro chip, running macOS 27.0.1. [...]An apparent phantom display intermittently appears, and when it does, my MacBook's built-in screen flickers. The issue seems to be related to the Screen Mirroring feature, as the corresponding icon appears in the menu bar. However, no screen mirroring session is active, and the problem can also occur when Wi-Fi is disabled.[...]"

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A Phantom Display:

Two things, first...

A. Verify with "System Information":

1. Click: Apple menu
2. Hold Down: option key
3. Select: System Information
4. Select: Graphics/Displays

How may displays are shown?

B. Single-Out this User:

For troubleshooting purposes, create a Time Machine Backup of your Mac(for recovery purposes), and then create a new Administrator user. Then, log into the user, seeing if you still get this issue. If not, then is an issue with your current user. If so, then it is an issue with the macOS. Trash this user, once back in.

<< An apparent phantom display intermittently appears, and when it does, my MacBook's built-in screen flickers. >>

flickers once or a few times, then stops?

That is the signal that an additional display has been acquired.

if you are not using a display on a cable, turn off Airplay displays in Control center

Assisted search suggests:

1. Click on the Control Center icon in the top right corner of your screen.
2. Select Screen Mirroring.
3. Click on Turn Off AirPlay to disconnect any active AirPlay sessions.

<< quick change back and forth between resolutions. >>

that suggest you have enabled "Mirror Displays".

when you do, a compromise resolution is computed and BOTH displays are run at the same resolution. to avoid this be sure the displays are set to Extended Desktop, not mirror.

The problem persists on a new user and the system doesn’t detect the phantom display in settings. The third party software displaylink did detect it though. I have removed it since because it was not helpful.

Here the screenshot explains it better. This option comes up then disappears then comes back and so on. When it comes up the screen flickers. Reminder, my pc is connected to nothing. I have even tested without wifi enabled, with sequoia macos, with airplay off etc. The only thing that makes this go away is actually connecting to pc via hdmi.

Flickers once for resolution change but it interrupts my video and is very infuriating. I did try to turn off Airplay with no results. Screen mirroring doesn't do anything.

Even then, with matching resolutions the flicker still happens but it is obviously less violent.

There is also this reddit post that describes my problem but the solution doesn't work for me: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/1rsi46l/fix_hdmi_external_monitor_stuck_in_screen/

<< An apparent phantom display intermittently appears, >>

¿what display is it that appears?

what name is shown in the displays panel?

No sadly the display doesn't appear natively.

Wait, what ??

What EXACTLY did you observe that made you say:

"An apparent phantom display intermittently appears, ..."