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

@OUM230279 I can also confirm that the updated firmware has also been updated in macOS 10.15.7 Catalina for my MacBook Pro Late 2013. Thus, I can boot the machine with the Apple Thunderbolt Display connected and it works as expected (i.e. no black screen). I concur with @ddkpe that one needs to install the update by disconnecting from Apple Thunderbolt Display. Finally, I'll wait until early January or February 2021 to install macOS 11.1 Big Sur to give me some time to research what application that I use have been updated for it.

--

Think different and code well,

-Conrad

ALL SORTED...

I spent hours on the phone with Apple Ireland about this issue last week and they remotely took over my Macbook Pro and did loads of unfathomable tech stuff as I watched, including taking time-stamps of actions they did, as they occurred in real time.

They rang me to let me know that they were about to release macOS Big Sur 11.1 and that the engineers had inserted some coding to hopefully sort my/your issue.

They rang again tonight and asked me to download, install and restart to test it, and they waited while the install occurred etc.

And it works.... Macbook now happily reboots with Thunderbolt monitor attached, etc

Feel free to send me £10 notes in brown envelopes to show your eternal gratitude ;O)

Happy Christmas one and all.

Giles

Strangely, in the reboot immediately after installing "the fix", my Apple Thunderbolt display audio & video were also not working - no "Display Sound" output, and System Preferences > Sound and FaceTime would hang. A second reboot seems to fix this - camera & sound now work for me. No PRAM or SMC reset required.

👍🏼Big Sur 11.1 fixed my issue, too. I am able to both Restart and Shutdown/Start with my Apple 27" Thunderbolt display connected.

My original issue: I could not start my MBP with the Apple 27" Thunderbolt display connected. I had to disconnect it, start, then reconnect it. I did not have any other issues.

Model: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)

Processor: 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2 GB

-Phil

For those still interested. I got my setup working as normal. I unplugged the power for my Thunderbolt screen from the shielded adapter and plugged it straight into a wall socket. Booted up MacBook and plugged screen in - and camera , usb sockets and speakers working as they should (all dead before on 11.1 latest upgrade) - so far. Cannot believe it was just that power setup? Go figure - but there you go.

Nope cables fine. I tried previous set up again, plugged into shielded extension cable adapter and it regressed as before, plugged back into wall and it was fine. It must be the shielded adapter? No idea - worked fine before Big Sur upgrade - but happy it is working.

Yes, I did. MBP2016. I did not see any reference to the Thunderbolt screen issues on release notes but upgraded anyway. I had to disconnect all peris and Thunderbolt screen to do the 11.2 install as the system just hung the first time I tried it.

Once 11.2 installed, I connected all peris back up and the Thunderbolt screen. After re-connecting USB devices etc and restarting a few times I was back exactly where I was before on 11.1 - a flaky set-up that I treat very carefully - so no real surprises. I still cannot get the in-built screen camera to work properly, which I have now 'replaced' with a USB-connected 1080HD cheapo.

So unless you want to waste an hour or two, or see something in the release notes that relates to your setup, this upgrade will not sort the issues as some and I have described above regarding the Thunderbolt screen.

Upgraded my 2017 5K iMac 27" to 11.2 today. Thunderbolt ports are no longer reading external displays. System Information shows no devices connected, even though the connections were not touched. Both displays run on their own power. Prior to the upgrade—running 11.1—I had a 2010 iMac (running Sierra, Thunderbolt to Mini DisplayPort) connected via Target Display Mode and a 7" mini touch display (Thunderbolt to HDMI).

Still troubleshooting a fix.

Found a solution, albeit a silly one at that. I had my setup plugged entirely into a surge protector, as one does when working with expensive equipment. This was causing the problem, at least for this issue.

> Shut down external displays

> Shut down main iMac

> Unplug Thunderbolt cables from external displays

> Unplug main iMac from surge protector

> Plug main iMac into a wall socket, leaving the external displays plugged into surge protector

> Boot main iMac

> Boot external displays

> Plug external displays back into Thunderbolt ports

Hoping Apple figures out a permanent solution, considering I now have to reposition half of my office to accommodate for the short power cables that iMacs come equipped with.

Apple finally acknowledged this problem.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211242

Much of this we already tried. Anyone get further with Apple Support?

Hear hear! I can now boot without disconnecting again.

There's still another issue over graphics remaining but I can live with that for now.

FYI, it's the "dedicated" Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display.

Thanks for letting us know. Don, Nevermind. :) I typed my response and then refreshed the thread and sort of figured that out.

Hi Mike. What about performance on big sur with MacBook pro 15 late 2013? Thanx.