MacOS Big Sur, MacBook Pro 15 Late 2013, Thunderbolt Display

Thank you. I'm glad I'm not alone or imagining things. I only wish I'd seen your post earlier!

I've had a very frustrating 24hrs trying to get Big Sur to work properly with my setup of MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) and 27" Thunderbolt display. The upgrade appeared to fail and booted to a black screen.

• I reinstalled BS through (Command-R) and that didn't work.
• I reset the NVRAM - no change.
• Many restarts later, I discovered that it worked in stand alone mode when there were no external devices.
• There were no issues with returning from sleep mode.
• The Thunderbolt monitor works as normal but only if connected after MacBook has booted normally. On restart, boot will fail if still connected.

Many resets/restarts, shutdowns later, I have concluded that the issue is starting with the Thunderbolt display connected (and with it my ethernet connection and thunderbolt 2 connected Time Machine drive).

Since the Thunderbolt display is obsolete, I can't see Apple doing anything about its firmware. I hope they can find a work around as it's a pain having to reconnect every time.

I will report this to Apple as well.

I have the same issue with the same configuration (minus Bootcamp):

Upon startup:

• When my Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display is connected:
  • My MacBook immediately has the blank, blackish, backlit screen.
  • The Thunderbolt Display is completely black (not backlit).
  • I hear the Startup chime twice with a brief pause in between.
• When my Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display is not connected:
  • Startup is successful.
  • I can connect the Thunderbolt Display after Startup and both screens work as they should.

My configuration:

• MacBook Pro 15 (late 2013)
  • Processor: 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
  • Monitor: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2 GB
• Apple Thunderbolt Display 27"
• WD My Passport for Mac 2TB

I disconnected external devices and re-installed Big Sur. It made no difference.

-Phil

-Phil

I've been working on this issue with Apple ever sense upgrading from Catalina to Big Sur with my 2013 MBP and 27" Thunderbolt Display. Today they closed the case because they state that no other instances of the Thunderbolt Display not working on boot up have ever been reported. So....Apple is done with this. At least in my case.

Hi,

I have exactly the same issue when my Macbook pro 13 retina late 2013 connected to my thunderbolt display.

I have opened a case with apple support. Been waiting on the phone for 2 hours to get senior support then I guess there is some automatic funtion on my iphone that disconnects the call after 2 hours. Will try to reach support again when they are less busy.

Update: Apple Support v helpful. After a comprehensive set of tests, I was passed onto a senior advisor who double checked and did a data capture exercise including the past history. It's still about the Thunderbolt Display being connected during the boot process.

They should now have all the evidence from my predicament now and will be sending onwards for further assessment.

I would guess you are probably right about the firmware update being the issue not Big Sur. Who makes your Thunderbolt display? Have you checked their website support for any updates/ notices for Big Sur?

I have the same exact issue, my MacBook Pro is (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), same graphic chip with you.

No matter I upgrade the OS from Catalina or clean install to Big Sur, same issue...

I worried if it's my hardware problem, but right now I think it should be Big Sur problem.

Hope Apple can fix it..

During my first try of installing macOS Big Sur, I reinstalled Catalina and noticed a similar black screen issue. However, I was able to correct it by doing a Restart + PRAM reset (i.e. Command + Option + P + R). Then I double checked with my Apple Thunderbolt Display connected by doing another Restart and I was able to successfully boot into macOS 10.15.7 (Catalina) without a black or blackish screen.

Last Saturday, I installed macOS 11.0.1 aka Big Sur a 2nd time using what I had learned from my initial experience. Thus, I plan to stick with it because I know that Apple will deliver an update to fix many of these issues. However, I do have a bootable USB drive with macOS Catalina as my backup plan in the event things get worse.

I can confirm the same Big Sur black login screen issue occurs on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) when the 27" Apple Thunderbolt display is connected at power on (my normal "home office" configuration).

When display cable is disconnected, the system boots normally to login screen.

If you try to connect the display cable prior to login, the login window will freeze and you need to reboot.

If you connect the display cable after login has completed, the external display is recognized and works normally.

I reverted my MBP back to Catalina via Time Machine and the same annoying display behavior now occurs under Catalina - it did not do that before. I suspect that some upgraded firmware is to blame.

No amount of PRAM or SMC resets seems to fix the issue.

Did you try reset P-ram after revert back to Catalina?

advise by Taylor above the thread:

During my first try of installing macOS Big Sur, I reinstalled Catalina and noticed a similar black screen issue. However, I was able to correct it by doing a Restart + PRAM reset (i.e. Command + Option + P + R). Then I double checked with my Apple Thunderbolt Display connected by doing another Restart and I was able to successfully boot into macOS 10.15.7 (Catalina) without a black or blackish screen.

Sleep/PowerNap functionality also is affected after reverting back to Catalina. I went to lunch and came back to a black screen again. Needed to unplug the Thunderbolt display after powering down & booting up.

Tried PRAM and SMC resets - no luck at all. I continue to suspect that bad firmware was loaded during the Big Sur upgrade.

Update: Earlier today, I finished a call with an Apple Care senior advisor regarding the black screen issue with macOS 11.0.1 Big Sur.  I reproduced the issue, captured logs, and sysdiagnose information that was upload to Apple's servers. Then the advisor generated a request to engineering and they have 5 days to review the issue based on the data provided in the request.  Finally, Apple Care senior advisor scheduled followup call regarding the request to engineering on November 24th. Thus, I'll update the thread with any information I receive from Apple.

--

Think different and code well,

-Conrad