Black windows in Safari and Mail in Ventura OS

I got this issue after update to Ventura, currently I have version 13.3. It happens in Safari for some websites. It's interesting, if I switch from Safari window to another app, and Safari is in the background, then the Safari stops showing black screen and shows normal website. But if I switch back to Safari and start moving mouse then everything goes black again.

I know that starting in Safe mode runs an fsck disk repair, and it probably deletes some system caches as well; possibly one of those things had an effect on the issue. Even so, it is unlikely to fix whatever underlying issue actually triggers the problem, so it is possible that the problem will return at some point.

MacBook Pro M1 Max - 64GB - Ventura 13.4.1

Thanks for posting this.

I have the exact same issue. I initially did a clean installation and installed the bare minimum apps that I used in my old Macbook Pro. Since the problem persisted, I then went to the Apple store and they did a firmware update, reinstalled macOS again, but that didn't resolve the issue.

As an example, see the attached Safari screenshots. I tried to open this post with Safari and Brave :) I am also posting some other webpages I opened with Safari.

I honestly don't understand why Apple is ignoring this obvious issue with OS/Safari. Restarting one's laptop should not be the "remedy" when it comes to a $6K laptop.

Frustrated here as well. I'm a scientist and this flares has flared at extremely inopportune times.

2021 14" MBP, 32 Gb RAM, Ventura 13.4.1. I do sometimes use an external screen but this happens even after a fresh boot without it. Yes, many windows open in Safari, and Mail open. I don't use Maps, though (ironically) when I logged in here to comment (in Chrome for obvious reasons) the security window showing the Map of suspicious login was black. Mail sometimes seems to stop allowing me to type, but my typing is actually happening (just not displaying) as others have reported. I'm always in Dark mode.

I use two additional Macs, both Intel, a 15" MBP and a Mini, that don't experience this issue.

Just some more info for the thread: I've been experiencing the black / partially black windows in Safari for a couple of weeks now, and just got my first crash as a result. (Weirdly, I was not asked to send a report to Apple upon restart.)

New 14" MacBook Pro, M2, 16 GB, Ventura 13.5--I've been using the machine for around five weeks. I recently updated to 13.5, but was experiencing the problem before the update as well.

FWIW, at the time of the crash, I had fewer than ten tabs open in Safari, and only a single Safari window. And I don't use Mail on this machine--so it seems lightweight Safari use alone is enough to produce the problem.

I think everyone who reported this is using M1/M2. It does not mean it’s a hardware issue. After all, the OS is compiled for Apple Silicon which is completely different from Intel.

Someone suggested it was an issue with caches, I think they are onto something.

As far as I can tell my MacBook Air is “cured” (for now) and I didn’t really do anything.

We ran Apple Diagnostics, booted in Safe Mode, and also ran Disk Utilities tests in Recovery Mode. No hardware issues were detected and this has not been solved. Did anyone talk to Apple Support or bring the Mac(s) to a Genius Bar?

FWIW, I've been using the same hardware since November of 2021 (M1 Max MBP), and I never experienced this issue in Monterey. For me it started happening immediately after installing Ventura. Correlation doesn't necessitate causation of course, but I doubt this was simply "coincidence".

One person reported that it stopped after upgrading to Sonoma.

But others said it disappeared without doing anything. That’s what happened to me.

Do you use Apple Mail? Try quitting the app whenever you can.

Hi, joining in.

Have had this problem ever since I've got M2 Max 14" MacBook Pro this February. The described problem (webpages in Safari covered in black partly or entirely, sometimes flickering when scrolling, sometimes not) have been with me all the way, and didn't go away when I've installed Sonoma (currently at 14.0, will update 14.1.1 later but so far I doubt it'll help).

Can't say it's a dealbreaker for me since I use Chrome concurrently, but definitely not pleasant since I've to reboot the browser and close all of the opened pages to get rid of it.

I have exactly the same computer and exactly the same problem. Ironically I couldn't get the page to reply to your post to load on Safari and had to switch to Firefox.

Do you find it matters how many tabs and windows you have open in Safari affect it?

Like you I have found rebooting temporarily solves the issue. This sure sucks though due to all the bookmarks I have in Safari. Sigh.

I wish Apple would deal with this!!!

I just found your post, as I have been experiencing the same issue ever since updated my M1 MacBook Pro to Ventura. I'll add that this behavior is intermittent for me, sometimes a window in Safari or Mail opens normally, sometimes they open black. I also get intermittent black windows in Maps. Also, sometimes the windows aren't black, but just "glitchy" with weird graphical anomalies.

All of that said, I'm curious if you found any solution? I've been trying to ignore this hoping it would resolve itself with a subsequent OS update, but the issue persists...