Black screen, keeps making the turn on noise, keyboard sometimes lights up.

My Macbook Pro is totally messed up. It flashed, and the screen went black, but the keyboard was still lit up. I tried to restart it using the power button and it's like it won't turn off. The keyboard lights will sometimes come back on. so I let the battery drain, and when I plugged it in and tried turning it on, it just kept making the start-up noise every 20-ish seconds. It's really weird. I'm thinking that it needs to go to the repair shop, but I was hoping maybe someone had a miracle solution. Thanks for any help.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 13.5

Posted on Dec 21, 2023 1:01 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 22, 2023 1:13 PM

FYI, you should never post your system serial number online since it is considered personal information. I provided a link to an Apple article where you should enter the serial number to retrieve its model information & warranty coverage.


It appears you have a MacBook Pro 15" (2019) model.


Disconnect all external devices in case one of them is causing a problem.


Try increasing the screen brightness, but may not be possible if the Touchbar is not ready yet. Look closely at the screen (best to do so in a dark room) to see if you see a faint Apple logo in the center of the screen while it is booting. If you see a faint Apple logo or other signs of a video signal, then the display backlight is not working which is a hardware issue of some sort or maybe the brightness has gotten turned down.


You can try an SMC Reset (read the instructions carefully since the process is different for 2018+ models) and a PRAM Reset (hold the PRAM Reset for two chimes if possible, many times it only one chime is possible). A successful PRAM Reset should restore the backlight settings to default.


Try connecting an external display to see if you can get any video on the external display. You may have to try to put the laptop into ClamShell mode (requires the charger & USB keyboard & mouse to be connected as well). It is not always easy or even possible to get video to an external display especially when the Apple laptop is having problems.


If this does not work, then you can try a firmware "Revive" which resets the T2 security chip & system firmware.


I don't have a lot of hope that any of these suggestions will help since it will probably be a hardware issue of some sort. The Logic Board on these 2018-2020 Macs tend to have a high rate of failure (especially the 2019 models and even more so with the 16" model). In fact I rarely recommend my organization have the 2019 models repaired.


The last step is to have Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider examine the laptop to provide you with a repair estimate.


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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 22, 2023 1:13 PM in response to themightylibrarian

FYI, you should never post your system serial number online since it is considered personal information. I provided a link to an Apple article where you should enter the serial number to retrieve its model information & warranty coverage.


It appears you have a MacBook Pro 15" (2019) model.


Disconnect all external devices in case one of them is causing a problem.


Try increasing the screen brightness, but may not be possible if the Touchbar is not ready yet. Look closely at the screen (best to do so in a dark room) to see if you see a faint Apple logo in the center of the screen while it is booting. If you see a faint Apple logo or other signs of a video signal, then the display backlight is not working which is a hardware issue of some sort or maybe the brightness has gotten turned down.


You can try an SMC Reset (read the instructions carefully since the process is different for 2018+ models) and a PRAM Reset (hold the PRAM Reset for two chimes if possible, many times it only one chime is possible). A successful PRAM Reset should restore the backlight settings to default.


Try connecting an external display to see if you can get any video on the external display. You may have to try to put the laptop into ClamShell mode (requires the charger & USB keyboard & mouse to be connected as well). It is not always easy or even possible to get video to an external display especially when the Apple laptop is having problems.


If this does not work, then you can try a firmware "Revive" which resets the T2 security chip & system firmware.


I don't have a lot of hope that any of these suggestions will help since it will probably be a hardware issue of some sort. The Logic Board on these 2018-2020 Macs tend to have a high rate of failure (especially the 2019 models and even more so with the 16" model). In fact I rarely recommend my organization have the 2019 models repaired.


The last step is to have Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider examine the laptop to provide you with a repair estimate.


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Black screen, keeps making the turn on noise, keyboard sometimes lights up.

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