Level 1

15 points

Black screen after Macbook Pro update to Big Sur

I downloaded Big Sur right when it came out a couple of nights ago; it already had problems downloading and I should have waited longer but was so excited i finally managed to get it to download the next morning and then it asked it restarted for the install but never turned back on and was stuck on a dim dark black screen, plugged in, for hours..

Then I closed the screen but the black light was still illuminating the apple on the back of my 2014 13' MBP. I opened it back up andpowered it down. Then tried restareing but got nothing but the black screen, no apple logo.. I have since also tried all of the following:

Shut down your Mac, then turn it on and immediately press and hold these four keys together: Option, Command, P, and R. You can release the keys after about 20 seconds, during which your Mac might appear to restart.
Resetting SMC with Shift , Control , andOption (Alt) on the left side of your keyboard
Option-Command-R or Shift-Option-Command-R to start up from macOS Recovery over the Internet

All of that lead to nothing. Genius Bar Reservations are hard to obtain during covid times. Please help!

Thanks :)

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 14, 2020 11:31 AM

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15688 6

26 replies

Nov 18, 2020 3:15 PM in response to Lasse Jensen1

After a day of full Big Sur activity and functionality I am now back to black screen issue after a reboot this evening. Sorry if I got anybody’s hope up. This update is acting so weird.

Merlini

Level 1

7 points

Nov 21, 2020 7:21 PM in response to Morridinges

Thank you this was the only way to get my machine back up - absolutely annoyed. Now i want to know if apple will replace our I/O boards?

Pol23 Author

Level 1

15 points

Nov 17, 2020 4:17 AM in response to Pol23

I just got my 2014 mbp working again and wanted to share how I did it. In the end it was a shift+command+R after tapping the power button. Held it for a couple minutes. Then left it for a couple hours. Then turned it off and left it off the whole night. Turned it on the next morning and it turned on to finish installing Big Sur.

Nov 17, 2020 5:06 PM in response to Pol23

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.

Nov 18, 2020 1:01 PM in response to Morridinges

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

Nov 19, 2020 2:36 AM in response to Pol23

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.

Nov 19, 2020 4:38 AM in response to Pol23

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...

putnik

Level 4

1,185 points

Dec 10, 2020 3:35 AM in response to Pol23

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]

shavyvan

Level 1

4 points

Nov 19, 2020 7:51 AM in response to Pol23

My MacBook 12” Core M (2015) 1.1GHz couldn’t survive during the Big Sur update too. In fact, the MLB is completely broken.

ame1nc

Level 1

4 points

Nov 20, 2020 1:26 AM in response to Pol23

Apple posted this as solution: https://support.apple.com/de-de/HT211242

RAINYHC

Level 1

8 points

Nov 23, 2020 11:35 AM in response to Pol23

Same issue here with MacBook Air Early 2015

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Black screen after Macbook Pro update to Big Sur