MacBook Air Black Screen after macOS Catalina Update

BLACK SCREEN OF DEATH

I am having the same problem with my Macbook Pro (2017 model). I just took it to the Apple Store and the technician was not surprised when I told him the problem. He made an appointment for an Apple Tech to call me tonight at 6pm to fix it on the phone.

How does an OS update do this kind of damage?

I have been with Apple for 30 years, but it's time to move on. They have lost the plot.

I plan to get a Chromebook and save myself this type of horrible problems.

For me, it seemed to be some old extensions that were causing the issues. I've seen some commenters say that by removing any 32-bit applications, it seemed to do the trick.

It seems that Apple's intention to do away with 32-bit applications may have been the root cause for many of these issues.

I had this same issue. Upgraded to Catalina and after my 2019 Macbook Pro went to sleep, it would wake up with a black screen. I could play with the finger print login, play/hear Spotify, etc but see nothing but a black screen. I went through 3 apple support calls with the typical solutions to NVRAM reset, SCM reset, repair Disk Utility....none of this worked.

I read the comments below and took a risk with deleting 3rd party kernel extensions in the Library/Extension folder. Deleted all extensions prior to 2019 (i just bought this mac in July), and rebooted the Mac. The issue was instantly resolved.

Very irritating that I went through 3 separate calls with support, they also had me download maleware software to scan my mac (i've never used this type of software in my 15 years of using mac products). The solution was posted in these comments below, and you would think that support would know of this solution...

I brought it over to an Apple store for them to play around with, telling them it was the Catalina update that bricked it and it was fine before. Now it's a 2013 Macbook Air and not my primary computer so i didn't really have high hopes of Apple tech team and knew their favorite response for anything over the sun is "it's the logic board". So i just got off the phone and of course he tells me it's the logic board. $625CAD to fix for a 7 year old laptop... ya right.

As I posted earlier in this thread, I had the problem where once the MacBook Air (2012) went to sleep, I was stuck with the black screen and had to crash out to restart. I was able to wipe it clean, reinstall Mojave, clean out the extensions and the 32-bit apps and re-install Catalina. That was successful, and it has been working okay ever since. If you can’t crash/restart by holding down the power button, have you tried draining the battery to see if you can restart that way? Then you could follow my path.

Really, this “logic board” excuse doesn’t hold water. How come so many people’s motherboards “failed” in the same week, after just coincidentally upgrading to Catalina?

Update to my first post: this morning again the screen stayed black. Dvd-player was unplugged, but this time my trackpad was plugged in. Unplugged it, and the screen immediately came to life, in a split second, and everything was completely functional. Strange. Again: is this a clue?

Apple had to replace my entire display - and charged me for it.

Try this: turn your laptop on. Wait 10 seconds. Press down your cap locks key and see if the little light on the key lights up. If it lights up, then the update screwed your display.

To test that, close the display about 75% and peek to see if it comes on. If it does, you have the same problem I had and need a new display, and apple will charge you for it.

Pretty much the same here. I wondered if it was related to a bad relationship between my Mac Air and my iMac Fusion machine, which came thru the Catalina download unscathed. But, honestly, I've become too lazy to use the iMac. The audio on the Mac Air is fine, and occasionally I can get a glimpse of the screensaving color landscape thru the dark curtain. Then all is darkness. And every time I drive to Milwaukee Apple Store, they seem to condemn the ailing machine I bring but are kind enough to safely dispose of it in exchange for my buying a new machine. Amazon is selling reconditioned Airs for $500-$600, and a Prime Membership practically guarantees satisfaction or return it--thru Feb. Moreover, none of my previous 4-5 Macbook Airs lasted as long as my present one. With protracted daily use, the life of one of these small computers--which follows me everywhere--isn't more than 5 years.

I update to Catalina a day before and yesterday I was not able to access the laptop. The screen flashes and goes off. But my touch bar is working fine and the voice commands are working fine. I took my laptop to the Apple center and they are stating that its an Screen Back light issue and the entire screen needs to be replaced which is 650$+ taxes. I did all the preliminary tests which I am aware of. And when I told them many have similar issue, they are stating they are not aware of any such issues from Apple and the OS is all fine. I had a small dent which happened in March 2018 and they are stating due to that dent the laptop is not working. I told them its been 2 years I have had that dent and it was working perfectly fine until I updated the software. And they are not in a position to accept that and they are saying it might be a coincident. So far I just asked them to restore to the old OS version and give it a try. Hopefully that should work as I have seen it many other Apple Community forums. I just need to wait now. If anyone have solved this issue, kindly enlighten!

Niv619,

I am in the process of this EXACT same situation. I have a 2015 macbook pro retina that was working perfectly and in immaculate condition until I installed Catalina. When I tried to use it yesterday, just keyboard lights and no screen. Apple support ran me through a bunch of tests that made my computer very warm to touch, but no screen. At the apple store, the technician said my computer is pristine, there is no water damage, no damage at all, and that I need a new display for $400. However, this morning, my screen worked briefly before it turned off again. Apple support (the supervisor) was no help and said that the only issue is that I should pay asap to get it fixed. She totally dismissed my concerns that it was a Catalina issue and said, "I highly doubt that"., but after reading these posts it seems like it probably is. Have you had any success with your macbook pro? how did you resolve this issue? Please help!

thanks!

All I can suggest is what worked for me on my macbook air. After trying many approaches, I eventually reverted my macbook to the previous OS level (Mojave?) using a downloaded image on a flash drive. I don't recall if I first reverted to factory settings. However. I ignored the screen and just pressed the appropriate keystrokes to do a boot from a drive. then I restored from time machine (IF - the old timemachine backup wasn't overwritten after your Catalina install...).

Anyway, once I had the computer in a roughly pre-Catalina state, with the screen working, I deleted/removed ALL 32 bit applications (including uninstall packages for Adobe), and in fact took off all apps that might conflict with Catalina. I think I removed all extensions too. I then took a time machine backup. Then I downloaded Catalina and did a clean install. After it appears stable, reinstall any non-32-bit apps you might need. That worked. And I haven't had any issues with Catalina on my MacBook Air since then.

If you check through this whole discussion, you will find the exact steps I took. BTW - my Macbook Air is late 2012 I think - anyway, it was listed as able to upgrade to catalina. I think I removed any partitioning that Catalina might have done as part of this process to reinstall Mojave.

Hope that helps.

DON'T pay for a new screen - the Apple support folks don't know what they are talking about, and never joined in this discussion to my knowledge.

Mine is a MBP 13" mid-2019, 4 USB-C model and it went to black screen of death just now when trying to update to the latest Catalina (from only one rev behind). I unplugged the power and plugged it back in, heard the noise that acknowledges power is applied, so I know it isn't dead. I held the power button a long time and eventually the Apple logo came, as well as the progress indicator for the macOS update in progress.

I had this same issue but on start up. It will get through the load screen and go black. If it does start and goes to sleep it will not wake.

For me it was an outdated extension.

Shift + S on start up will confirm if it's in the system or hardware. If you can boot in safe mode then we know it's something in the OS and not hardware related.

I like a user above went into library>extensions and deleted anything before 2019. this resolved the issue for me. Im really confused how any of it got in there because this was a fresh install with a clean drive for me. But that's what solved it.