MacBook Air 2019 black display after upgrade/reinstall

strohsje wrote:

Thank you D.I. Johnson. Have done this 3 times but with no luck. Internal also external display keeps black/off.

Checked out any known shortkey with no luck. The system sound comes one time and after that it looks like the system is on the logon screen, because voice over keeps saying username or password. But don't know what dialog is showen :-(

You can try connecting an external display and try putting the laptop into Clamshell Display Mode (need external display & power adapter & USB mouse & keyboard connected, then closing the display lid). This may not always work to display the login screen.

You can try looking very closely as the built-in display to see if you can see any very faint images on it, perhaps even dimming the room lights. If the backlight is bad, then you may be able to discern what is on the screen with extreme difficulty.

You may need to log in blindly before you may be able to use the external display or to mirror the internal to it. Intel Macs are a bit easier here, but T2 Macs like yours can be difficult when the built-in display is not working....you should be able to log in & eventually get video to the external display where you can use the laptop.

Unless the brightness is at its lowest, your laptop most likely has a hardware issue with the built-in Display Assembly. Surprisingly it is not always possible to adjust screen brightness until after logging in, but a PRAM Reset should have cleared any brightness setting resetting the brightness to system defaults.

You can try a DFU Firmware Revive, but this requires access to another Mac currently running macOS 15.7+ Sequoia or macOS 26.x Tahoe (with Sequoia you will need to use the Apple Configurator v2.19 app). Occasionally this has allowed me to get access to an otherwise inaccessible Mac including one where nothing was displayed on the screen.

I hope you have good backups.

If this laptop does have a hardware issue, then I do NOT recommend any repairs for multiple reasons....the money spent on repairs is much better put towards a new laptop. Also, when you prepare to get rid of this laptop you can follow the instructions in the following Apple article so that you destroy the data on it as well as disassociate your AppleID/iCloud from it.

What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support

• Connect the MBA to its power charger.

• Disconnect all external devices, monitor included.

• Engage the caps lock key so that it is lit.

• Press and hold the power button until the caps lock key turns off - prob 10-12 seconds.

• Wait 1 minute, then press the power button to reboot the computer.

Does anything change?

If your Mac starts up to a blank screen - Apple Support

"Thank you - Tried this more than 10 times. Nada, Niente, Nothing. Checked two different external display models with different inputs (HDMI/DP/USB-C). Nothing :-( But the system is running - but don't know in which state. And also don't know which password is requested."

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Black Screen After an Update:

My 2017 MBP's screen when black 11 times. It was during the years of COVID; as a result, I had to send this in via mail. Apple granted me a free (equivalent US $3K) upgrade. Why the black screen? The cable became loose between the screen and the LogicBoard --nothing but. With all that credit, my 2020 MPB is set to expire soon(from updates). Nonetheless, I got a hunch it's a hardware error, or maybe just not the correct cables.

Using the Proper Cables:

As for which cables to use, use a 4K HDMI and this adapter: USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter - Apple

With it, you'll have a female USB-C port for the power adapter; a USB-A port; and an HDMI port Be certain you are using the correct charger. Go to: https://checkcoverage.apple.com/products, and locate your device. Clicking the device, Model Number would show, and you can go here to order the adapter you need: Chargers & Adapters - Mac Accessories - Apple. Use All Apple: Over the years, I find that going Apple-for-Apple (Brand-for-Brand) is always best when using my Apple products, especially when it comes other charging.

Hi,

Did you try to resetting NVRAM as well as SMC, also T2 Security chip?

“MacBook Air 2019 black display after upgrade/reinstall: Hello folks, after upgrade my MacBook Air 2019 from 14.8.7 to 14.8.8 the internal display is still black. Adding external display, it showed for one time the current login mask. After trying to reinstall the system, both display goes black and never show anything.[…]”

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Mirror this:

So, what happens when you connect an external HDMI monitor to it? Plug it in a hold down command and press F1. With power on, that would mirror it.

strohsje wrote:

Still I was wondering that the MBA starts by hitting any key on the internal keyboard.

This is Apple's idea of a "feature" that was introduced with the M-series MacBooks. Despite powering the MacBook off (Apple menu > Shut down), the MacBook remains in a low-power state and will respond to a keypress, trackpad press or opening of the lid and will "power on" instantly (it was never fully powered off due to this "feature").

I've said this before and I'll say it again...if I, myself specifically turned off a device, light, power tool, my car or whatever else, I turned it off because I wanted it off.

If you want to have fun, try turning off your MacBook (as Apple themselves recommend doing before cleaning it) to clean your keyboard or track pad. I instead have to use a separate third-party app to disable the keyboard to clean it without registering potentially error-prone inadvertent key presses.

Cleaning the track pad is yet another hoop to jump through...