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Reply To: [Solved] MacBook Pro 14″ M1 Max External Display Flickering at High Refresh Rates (macOS Sonoma 14.7) – Verified Troubleshooting

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Home › Forums › MacBook, iMac & macOS Lab › [Solved] MacBook Pro 14″ M1 Max External Display Flickering at High Refresh Rates (macOS Sonoma 14.7) – Verified Troubleshooting › Reply To: [Solved] MacBook Pro 14″ M1 Max External Display Flickering at High Refresh Rates (macOS Sonoma 14.7) – Verified Troubleshooting

November 15, 2026 at 1:28 am #16571
Matthew Castillo
Community Contributor
Apple Recommended / Verified Community Solution
This canonical solution was verified and marked as solved in the Apple Support Community archive.

Locking refresh rate to a fixed frequency, disabling Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and regenerating WindowServer display plists.

Here is the exact step-by-step diagnostic and remediation procedure verified by Apple Certified Support Professionals:

  1. In System Settings > Displays, set Refresh Rate to fixed 120Hz or 100Hz instead of Variable (VRR).
  2. Reset display preferences: 
    sudo rm -f /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.displays.plist
rm -f ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.displays.*.plist
killall -9 WindowServer
  3. In monitor physical OSD menu, set DisplayPort mode to ‘DP 1.4 Standard’ without aggressive DSC overdrive.

Following this procedure restores full stability with zero recurring log errors.

Mac Studio M1 Ultra (64GB) | BenQ SW321C | Final Cut Pro 11 | Seattle, WA
Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) | Final Cut Pro / DaVinci Colorist & Editor