Buyer beware 😅 I bought this Mac Pro at a price I should’ve known was to go to be true, got home turned it on and it lit up & it wasn’t blue or black, then I saw this ….. what does it mean and what can I do??? I’m optimistic and there’s a way for any to get a second chance on life 😅🤪 I’m asking for help with suggestions
[Edited by Moderator]
Original Title: Optimistic buyer
iPhone 16 Pro Max, iOS 26
You really should provide the exact model of the laptop. You can get this information by using the Apple check coverage page here:
View Coverage - AppleCare & Warranty
If this is a MacBook Pro 13" (2016 or 2017) non-touchbar model, then most likely the internal SSD has failed which is very common with this model. If it is this model, then I really do not recommend spending any more money on it as there are multiple known & even several little known hardware issues with them.
In fact, if it is any USB-C Intel Mac I would not spend any money it for multiple reasons.
Definitely try the suggestion by both @Niel and @BobTheFisherman just in case the previous owner erased the device, but did not reinstall macOS onto it.
so IF you have updated firmware:
power off, then
hold Command-R Startup.
If you get something sensible, but different from the blinking question mark, you likely have Recovery system available.
That changes Everything.
The A1278 designation refers to MBPro models from mid-2009 to 2012. If your laptop is actually 2010-2012 model, then it may have access to Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R (this is only possible if the laptop at one time had macOS 10.12.6+ installed so the firmware has this capability). This will be the easiest option to reinstall macOS if you don't have access to another Mac with a model designation from 2007 to mid-2020.
If the laptop is the 2009 model, then you can use any retail version of the OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard upgrade DVD (one with a picture of the cat on it) to get started with macOS. We can provide more details on how to upgrade to later versions of macOS.
If the laptop is a 2010 model, then you must use the gray OSX recovery DVD which originally shipped with that laptop from the factory since the retail upgrade DVDs are unlikely to be compatible as a 2010 laptop had a customized version of Snow Leopard. If you have the gray recovery DVD for this specific model 2010 laptop, then we can provide more details on how to upgrade to later versions of macOS.
If you have access to such a working Mac, then let us know and we can provide more specific details on which version(s) of macOS you can download & create a bootable macOS USB installer if Internet Recovery Mode doesn't work and if the installation DVD options are not available or applicable.
FYI, ignore most of what you will find online as it will not work for reinstalling macOS using various hacks or Windows utilities.
My apologies…. The model number is 1278 MacBook Pro, i’m the second launched 2010, so of course, my default is YouTube and they had a lot of good information. I have a Windows and I have to convert in order to create a bootable version installer, And some people are saying that I can install it through iTunes and all these different options and I’m not as computer savvy as I would like to be because I’m just not finding what they’re talking about as far as like you know it’s peanut butter no jelly situation, The tech geek on YouTube was phenomenal. I was able to get the flash drive converted and it’s ready to go. I just don’t know where to get the download because a lot of the avenues are nothing but their ads and stuff so it’s nothing in my computer. I just wanna go to one spot where I can put it on there and then like go from there, if I can find it on YouTube
How do I troubleshoot a Mac Pro with a lit-up but non-functional screen?
