Black screen after Macbook Pro update to Big Sur

I have a machine here that has the exact same problem, gives me a black screen and nothig works after updating to Big Sur.

After some reversed engineering I found a temporary fix to get the machine working again:

• Open the MacBook up
• Disconnect the IO-cable that runs from the morherboard to the IO-board on the left side of the machine (when upside down), it's the connectors that have the little metallic shields on them that are held down by T5 screws)
• Start the MacBook as you normally would and it should boot now
• Reconnect the IO-cable with the machine running
• Close the machine back up and do NOT restart or shut down your machine
• Happy computing

Mind you, this fix will cause your WiFi/bluetooth to not work. Manually reloading the Kernel extensions for WiFI/Bluetooth have not helped, maybe another terminal wizz can help with this step?

Anyway, I hope I helped you get up and running again, be it with some bumps in the road...

I know it's only a temporary fix untill Apple comes up with a permanent one, but it might help you out if you really need to have your machine back up and running for the time being.

thank you Morredinges, your solution worked. I had exactly the same problem, and I went through apple support, and basically was expecting to bin my macbookpro.

I have a Macbook Pro 13" Mid 2014

I did the following

• Open the MacBook up
• Disconnect the IO-cable that runs from the morherboard to the IO-board on the left side of the machine (when upside down), it's the connectors that have the little metallic shields on them that are held down by T5 screws)....this is really straight forward
• Start the MacBook as you normally would and it should boot now
• Reconnect the IO-cable with the machine running
• Plug in a network cable, (I have a USB adapter)
• Let the update finish
• Reattach the IO-cable
• Close the macbook (put the cover back on) and reboot
• Everything works fine....happy days.....no thanks to Apple support but hey, and extremely helpful user was kind enough to share and everything is fine now

I had a similar experience with my iMac (2020 i9). The screen never turned on (completely black). I ended up removing upgraded memory that I had previously installed (a month ago) and place the original stock memory back in. After that, it booted up and the screen turned back on.

Hi all (Macbook Pro 13" Mid 2014 here),

I have had the exact same black screen (totally dead, no response from keyboard etc.) for two days now.

I have tried all the things mentioned here and on other boards, but with no luck.

I too had a SD card in the Macbook and an external HDMI monitor connected, when I tried to upgrade.

Then suddenly this evening it came on when I tried to power it on again (at that point I had given up and planned a visit to a repair shop tomorrow). It then struggled its way through the installation and just now it completed it and is up and running! With Big Sur. Everything is working again!

So, I know exactly how you feel if you have a case like I had. I knew it was dead. But I was wrong.

I can't really tell what made the difference, but something tells me, that it probably has to do with uncharging and then charging again (just a hunch).

Anyway, don't give up hope.

2015 MacBook Pro 15” i7 2.8ghz IG I get the black screen after update. Led backlight on but no screen. External monitors on thunderbolt2 and HDMI work. Apple said it needs a whole new screen out of warranty replacement... That is nonsense this is a FW issue only happened after the update. I use the onboard screen when not at my desk. Now I can not all because of the update. They need to fix this as soon as possible.

I have tried all of that as well. PRAM and SMC resets.... I have the exact same issue on a mid-2015 MacBook Pro 15” 2.8 GHz quad core i7 with the IG and 16gb ram,

do your external monitors work? Mine do. Just not the onboard black screen, with black back lit led display. Which I can dim or make brighter. No picture at all. Diagnostics is impossible and so is restore since can’t see the screen, can only use it as a tower now... very very frustrating. Only change was going from Catalina to Big Sur... big let down...

I can now comfirm that switching out the IO-board from a MacBook that has NOT had the update will fix the issue.

My broken MacBook now runs Mac OS Big Sur without any problems with a replacement board in it.

You will need an A1502 IO board, be carefull - there are 2 different types. One with and one without an EMI shield on it. Eventhough I believe they are interchangeable, you might as well choose the right one for your device just to be sure.

Extra note: the IO-board taken from the machine that did not work now runs fine in a machine that has Mac OS Catalina on it.

I will not be updating that machine to Big Sur.

This issue was going to cost me @ apple 831 CAD$ to fix.. I obviously did not accept that "repair" cost I brought it to a local repair shop and it so far (pre-pay) is costing 432 CAD$ still obscenely hight cost for a 35$ part on an OS Update that has supposedly:

1. gone through beta testing,

2. was a supported version on the Mid-2015 MacBook Pro 15" retina IG...

For those affected, it may be that only a firmware update is needed. My 2013 13" MBP has 427.0.0.0.0 and runs Big Sur ok, but is also blocked now from future updates.

You can check your version in About this Mac>System Report>Hardware, or get an app like Silent Knight, that gives the lowdown on your computer protection update status.

[Edited by Moderator]

Hey Morridinges,

Thanks hopefully this helps others.. They seemed to remove that other post, but I got it in my e-mail, they might auto delete links.. getting a sourced IO board would be easy.. now I wish I waited.. but a month is a long time when you don't know what's coming.. the repair was already underway I was just fet up and left it with the shop, it's been there a week and a half.. no doubt they're waiting for the part.

thanks again, next time I know, never install an update on Friday the 13th ;P

Hey Sab,

They removed it because the information would be "potentially harmfull" to users computers...

Eventhough I understand where they are coming from with the message, the irony in this message is laughable.

They released a software-update that harmed an insane amount of MacBooks, and now they block a fix for it...oh well.

At least you got the message :)

Hey Putnik, I tried flashing the machine back to an older EFI update but that did not fix the problem for me.

I ended up having to exchange the IO-board to fix the issue.

Thanks for the tip though! :)

2013 MBP same thing for me. Only way to get the screen to come back (for me) is to connect via HDMI to a tv and reboot w/ shift/control/opt/power. Then it works until i inevitably haver to let it sleep or power down. Repeat.... Worth a shot... they are winning and i probably will be buying a new one as this is my lifeline for a virtual job in covid.

| Hi, only want to tell, my MacBook Pro 15" End 2013 works well without any problem! Hope, you will get a solution !!!

a.g.

That has to be the most useless reply ever.