Cinema display won't turn on

This is happening to me too. It started a couple of months ago, out of the blue, and today it won't start no matter what.

In reply to the posts by X423424X, this is not due to repetitive plugging and unplugging or the other options you suggested. In my case I have treated my display with very good care. It is happening to many clients throughout the country. It is definitely a problem with either the display or the power adapter.

It would be good to see a Mac representative step up and discuss this in a professional fashion.

This fixed my problem! Thanks!!!!

None of the other suggestions worked but when I unplugged all of the cables from the display (USB, Thunderbolt, Ethernet) then unplugged the monitor for 15 seconds, everything booted back up properly when I plugged the power back in! Thanks for the suggestion!

I found that if I leave the USB plugged in while I disconnect the displayport cable, It won't completely shut off. Then I can unplug the USB and power. This seems to work. However, if I am gone for long periods of time the monitor will need to be unplugged and restarted for it to work again.

I got this as a gift last summer and used it with my new Macbook Air. I updated the firmware right away and I was just wondering if everyone had updated their firmware as well. According to Apple that means the 1 year warranty is up. I should have traded this in for a thunderbolt display for the extra $50.

I've had my 24" Cinema display since it was new - 2008, that's 9 years. I've never used the USB ports on the back and it has worked flawlessly. I recently erased and reloaded the mac mini it was attached to and when I did, I used the USB ports in the back of the monitor for a keyboard and a mouse. Within a week the mini completely died, and the monitor went blank. When I attached the monitor to a 2012 MacPro with all USBs still connected into the monitor, it only flickered and went black. It still had power and the laptop recognized that there was a second monitor but it was black, or almost black. I could see a faint change in blackness. I unplugged the USBs and connected those to the laptop. The only way I can get my display to work is if i have it plugged into the laptop when the laptop does a COLD boot - it will not come on with a restart, or by unplugging the monitor over and over. I turned off the sleep, put it on screen saver, and it functions for now. It is darker than it was tho. Thanks for all the good tips. I think the monitor would have continued to function well had I NEVER used the USB ports in the back of it. The mini dying was just a separate problem in my view.

In case anyone else experiences this issue, my Cinema display "blacked out" as well and I tried all the above suggestions, but what worked for me was plugging the display cable via an HDMI adapter into a USB hub. Lit right up.

Re-posting this from another thread - 27" Cinema display turns off randomly

I had the same problem. The 27" Cinema Display would turn off automatically after 5-10 minutes. On turning the power off and then on again, it would come back on - if not at the first try, then at least on the second or third attempt. Additionally, sometimes the display brightness would fall significantly sometime after the display had come back on. But if the display brightness did fall, the monitor would stay on thereafter and work without any problem for the whole session! Now every time I sat in front of the computer I started wishing that the display brightness would automatically fall. This went on for a year, and out of frustration I was almost on the verge of sending it back to Apple for recycling.

Then only a couple of days ago I found that if I turned off the auto-brightness setting and manually decreased the brightness to about 3/4th the full value, then the monitor would stay on and never turn off automatically! It has only been a couple of days, but I haven't had the display turn off automatically since. Maybe this can solve the problem for some - if of course working with the reduced brightness is an option.

It seems that while the problems people in the forum are reporting are very similar, they are not exactly the same. For example, in my case reconnecting the mini-display port won't have any effect, and I haven't seen anyone else in the forum reporting an automatic drop in brightness. So don't get your hopes up, but do try manually setting the brightness to a lower value once and then see if the problem persists. I have visited this thread many times in the last year looking for hope and help. I hope this trick help you. Thanks!

I swear I just keep unplugging the minidisplay and replugging it over and over and randomly one of the times the cinema just decides it wants to turn on.

That tells me you have either defective plug or socket. I cannot say which it is. But I can tell you constantly plugging and unplugging electronic connections is hard on both the plug and socket, probably more the socket that the plug. Wires attached to a plug can break from constant bending and pulling. Worse, plugs can loosen in their mounting and possibly break solder connections to its pc board. Either way the result can be an intermittent connection, no connection at all, or sometimes stays connected if you are lucky. Sounds like what you are seeing.

I think you may need to get this professionally diagnosed.

I have an early 2011 MBP and a 27 inch Cinema Display. Sounds like I am having the same issue. So far, no solution.

If I unplug the MiniDisplay port cord (All Original Apple cables) from the computer, when I try to replug in the MiniDisplay Port cable - the Cinema Display does not activate. I must try several unplug-replug ins to get the Display to light up. Usually takes about 10 attempted unpluggings and replug attempts for the display to come to life.

An SMC reset - has not effect.

I am now on my second Cinema Display - My first display was replaced at the Genius bar - they said it had a defective "logic board". The second display - operated normally for about 6 months, but over the past month has been exhibiting these same problems. I still have a bit of time before the one year anniversay for the Display so the warranty is still valid. Given that this is the same issue that happened with the first display - I guess I will need to buy the extended warranty. Don't like the idea of having to pay to have this problem fixed on a regular basis.

I must try several unplug-replug ins to get the Display to light up. Usually takes about 10 attempted unpluggings and replug attempts for the display to come to life.

If this happened with two displays that tells me you have a problem with the socket in the computer. It must have a loose solder joint or some other mechanical problem.

Of course if you are pluging/unplugging for 10 repeated times, over the course of time, IMO, that's a good way to loosen any socket.😉

Two laptops in the household and both display the same issue with the Cinema Display. Also the first Cinema Display failure was confirmed by the Genius Bar folks to happen with one of their machines. The issue is definitely with the display.

have had my 23 " apple cinema display go bad after installing Lion. There was a power outage issue last week as well but I have a surge protector and thought that protected my Mac? 'Went on line and got a support guy to call back as a "one time exception" since I recently intalled Lion. Together we tried to restore the display going through his suggested steps. He mentioned that there was an update for Lion and cinema displays but I had everything up to date. ... 'No luck getting the display to work and tech told me to get it serviced. I live 2+ hours from Apple stores. Is it as simple as getting a larger 150 W compatible power adapter instead of my current 90 Watt one?

annie

My 27" cinema display is only 18 months old and I'm having the same problem. I took it to the apple store where they are now telling me I have to spend $840.00 to replace the entire display. I mean this is absolutely rediculous and I think Apple knowningly sold faulty monitors and won't own up to the problem. My monitor sat on my desk and started to not turn on with every plug in and would take a number of tries from two seperate laptops. I delt with it for a couple months and now is at the point where it doesn't come on at all. Power, sound, and usb all work fine but no picture. If we're all having this problem this is clearly a known issue that apple is refusing to recognize or take responsibility for. This is clearly grounds for a class action lawsuit.

******In Addition***

I just got off the phone with Apple Care and they won't even split the repair cost with me. When you buy apple products you expect to buy quality not something that just stops working after 18 months. Absolutely rediculous!

While not helping, i had the same problem today.

About couple of months back, when i had the same issue, i deleted a plist file (IIRC - com.apple.PowerManagenent.plist), and the issue was resolved. Today, however, deleting the plist file didnt resolve it. I can see the USB/Sound on the cinema display is working, however, when i plug or remove the video cable, the screens turns blue and then comes back.