touchbar blank

On my new 16" MBP, I have had the touchbar go dead and blank on me a few times. Sometimes, switching to a different app will "reactivate" it, but twice now, it has remained dark and unresponsive until I reboot. Logging out and back in does not fix it, only rebooting.


I normally have it set to display Fkeys, and to display the Control Strip when fn is pressed, so it shouldn't be a result of an app with no touchbar support, but it might be a misbehaving app that's killing it. When it's happened, though, it happens when I'm not actually looking at the touchbar, and I notice it only because I was about to use an fkey or control strip button (thanks to the touchbar having zero tactile feedback, I always have to look at it before tapping it—but that's a separate gripe). So I have no idea what may be happening that triggers it.


I tried the suggestions in this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8444910. They have not helped. Killing touchbar-related processes caused those processes to restart, but did not revive the touchbar. The Apple Diagnostic Test found no hardware issues.


This is happening rarely and randomly enough that it's really hard to methodically approach tracking it down. After a reboot, it can go days without ever cropping up. I keep the machine running but asleep when I'm not using it, and normally reboot only when I need to for an install or update, or if something's misbehaving.


Is there any point in taking this to an Apple Store at this point? Since the diagnostic found no hardware issues, and it always comes back after a reboot, I'm suspecting a software issue, but I just don't have enough information with which to narrow down the possibilities.


Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro 16", macOS 10.15

Posted on Jan 12, 2020 8:57 PM

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Jan 12, 2020 9:33 PM in response to MarquelleDavianMcKean

Mark McKean wrote:

Is there any point in taking this to an Apple Store at this point? Since the diagnostic found no hardware issues, and it always comes back after a reboot,
Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro 16 inch is a new product. Many users answering questions here may not be familiar with issues normally

associated with this ultra new notebook. Contact Apple please.


Try these standard trouble shooting steps first.


Go step by step and test.


Startup in Safe Mode:               https://support.apple.com/lv-lv/HT201262

Repair Disk (Storage device)     https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/repair-a-storage-device-dskutl1040/mac

Reset PRAM:  Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Reset  SMC:   How to reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support   Choose the appropriate method.

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touchbar blank

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