Sonoma: Macbook Pro (M1 2020) Touch Bar is not working after update (Flickers during restart then once logged in, it disappears)

I upgraded to Sonoma and experienced Touch Bar strobing after upgrade. I reinstalled it again thinking I had a bad build. After fresh install, Touch Bar strobed until it went dark. Now I don't have an escape key which is irritating. I've tried everything online to fix it to no avail. In addition my activity monitor crashes every time I open it!

I had the same issue right after updating my system to Sonoma. Right after updating my touchbar was black with no icons or lights. I continuously restarted and did a couple of hard resets on the computer. The touchbar then finally came back on and worked. However since the upgrade, sometimes the touchbar will disappear again (going black with no icons) when I restart my computer. I then have to do a couple of restarts and hard resets for the touchbar to reappear. Hope they can fix it ASAP.

its End of December 2023 now - is this issue fixed @apple support. I have a MacBook Pro with Intel chip - and a Touch Bar

MoTahboub wrote:

I upgraded to Sonoma yesterday on my Macbook Pro (M1 2020). Touch Bar keeps flickering during startup (looks like it is glitching) then once logged in, it disappears. What could be a issue?

Tried safe mode, tried sudo pkill from terminal, and everything else online.

Could this be a hardware failure because of Sonoma?

Im pretty sure since so many people are having this issue after installing Sonoma that it is software related. My touch bar worked perfectly before the Sonoma update. It is slowly driving me mental.

I am having this same issue since Sonoma. I was told there was a fix in the latest update, I updated and the issue still exists. The strobing touch bar happens when I open my MacBook from sleep, then 50% of the time it will glitch out and turn off the touch bar, 25% of the time it will work as normal then turn off randomly, and 25% of the time it will completely crash the OS and restart laptop (and every app I had open). I went back to Apple and am now being told its hardware. I am sure it is software related.

i'm experiencing the exact same problem! i've been trying to return my computer back to ventura (or whichever software it was on before sonoma) this is very very very infuriating these devices cost WAY too much money (even more if you have apple care) just for simple functions to not be working properly / as promised when we users update to the newest software

I have a Macbook Pro 2020 with an intel processor. After upgrading to MacOS Sonoma, my touch bar is lit up, but my volume buttons are not working which is very frustrating. I tried resetting the SMC (system management controller) Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support, it did not work.

the Option + Shift + Ctrl + power fixed it for me. Thank you

Hey,

Did you already find a solution?

So my Touch Bar was full of blue spots a few days ago and now it turned completely black after the update.

It is still functioning when I touch it but just the lightning is not working at all, completely black :(

So annoyed and stressed at the moment haha! Should I go to an Apple Store or something?

Kind regards,

Jhamel

I am having the same issue. I installed Sonoma awhile ago, however recently my Touch Bar started flickering. This is my main machine, so I use it a lot. The specs are the following: M1 MacBook Pro, 256GB of storage, 16GB of ram.

2 weeks into the Touch Bar flickering, it just went dark. It still registers touch, however nothing shows up on the Touch Bar.

I would believe this to be a hardware problem, possibly related to the cable that connects the Touch Bar to the motherboard. I don't want to get the full top case of my laptop replaced, because it might be better to just buy a new laptop, because I have already gotten the display replaced.

This morning I had 16" 2019 Intel MacBook Pro with a perfectly fine TouchBar. I updated to Sonoma a few hours ago and since then have not been able to get the TouchBar to light up. It does work, as I can kinda guess where the icons should be and adjust the Mac's brightness and volume, but the TouchBar remains pitch black. I also tried the SMC reset, the PRAM reset and the Kill commands in the terminal, but nothing has worked.

So no, I believe it is not a hardware issue, cause it was perfectly fine just before updating the OS.

Perhaps there are not enough users with this issue for Apple to take notice, which makes me wonder if it is either a "chance" or lottery thing during Sonoma's installation process, or a rare combination of factors that only a small group of users share, or if indeed this is affecting all TouchBar users under Sonoma but only a few are posting about it. If that were the case, it is a major fail that a heavily touted functionality like the TouchBar is crippled by an OS update that remains unfixed as long as it has.

I had the same problem and reset the controller SMC with this procedure Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support fix it.

I had the same problem and jumped through all the hoops to no avail. Then today I realized that the Sonoma upgrade turned the Touch Bar zoom on, which impacts ability to interact with it. To turn it off (or see if it's turned on) go to Settings > Accessibility > Zoom > Touch Bar zoom (last option, toggle switch off).