My MacBook screen went black and now the screen won't turn on

I've got a problem with this too. I have performed the SMC reset and the NVRAM/PRAM and no difference. When I turn it on, I can hear the start up sound but the screen doesn't change. If I close the mac and wake it up again, there is a chance that the screen will turn on but it will remain a dark grey and completely blank. This is a macbook Pro Late 2013, OSX 10.11.2. Should I get a genius bar appointment or is there an easy fix? I can not access anything from the boot including hardware test, safe mode etc..

Hi blue-eyes Dragon. Is the screen lighting up at all or is it completely black? If no light check with a flash light or hold to light when on to see if you can see anything on the screen> This would mean the the back light for the LCD is bad. If this is not the case and you have a dark grey screen, you can turn on by holding down Command R which should bring you to the recovery screen. There you can go to Disk utilities and run a permissions repair or check you hard drive and or repair it. If it shows the drive is not repairable You would have to erase the drive and then go back to recovery and reinstall you OS. If you have access to an external monitor with mini dvi you could check to see if that shows the startup screen. If non of this works, you can go to the genius bar and they will make an evaluation as to what is wrong.

The screen does turn on only sometimes. So far it will not turn the screen on if I turn the computer on, but if I close the lid and reopen it, there is a chance that the screen will turn on. But it is completely blank. With a torch, I can not see anything on the screen. If I command + R at start up the screen is still black. The external monitor doesn't show anything at all either.

Hi blue-eyes Dragon. You could have multiple problems. . If when using an external monitor you get a grey screen. That would mean that you have a problem with your LCD. When you started up using Command R. Were you holding down the Command R keys and then pushing the start button. Then continue to hold down Command R until you see a grey spinning asterisks or the recovery menu. There is also a chance that your built in keyboard is unresponsive. Which would not effect the start button, but would effect any keyboard commands. If you have access to an external keyboard , you could try it. Also at the top of your keyboard are a row of keys. I think F1 and F2 control screen brightens. Try tapping on the F2 key and see if the screen comes back. Also on the front of the Macbook there is a light that comes on as you startup and then goes off after startup. When you close the lid , does the light come on and then go off when you open the lid? If it stays on or pulses you ether have a problem with the switch for sleep mode or the ram. Usually if it's ram you will get a series of beeps, but not always. Hope some of this helps.

Life saver - couldn't work out how to get beyond the apple light and black screen then - with a lot of fingers on the Command (⌘), Option, P, and R keys the start up sound chimed out four times and I was back in the game!

After spending an hour trying to reboot and 30 minutes on the phone with technical support I now see it's not black just very dark. The first part worked and allowed me to sign in but not the second, anything specific you did?

Hi all, I've just found this post as i seem to be having similar problems, i have a 2009 white macbook which i got cheap off my cousin as it had a broken screen. Replaced the screen and everything was fine, gave it to my gf and she was very happy. I then noticed that when it was meant to be asleep (flashing front light, no fans etc) i could see it and stream music from it in iTunes on my macbook. My cousin did say that the battery died very quick even when it was left overnight asleep it would be dead. So i thought that the problem was that it wasn't actually sleeping which is why the battery wasn't lasting.

So after some researching i decided to try the pram and smc reset to sort out and hard ware issues which are causing it not to sleep. Since then i now have the backlight problem, the screen is on and can be seen by a torch, restarting seems to get the screen and apple logo on after a few minutes (which i think is slow but does come on by the time the login screen appears) the brightness buttons do not function, when backlight screen is on), I've gone through this thread and any others i can find, reset the smc and pram several times, taken the battery out and hold down the power button, re-seated the ram which worked for someone i read, restored the OS but running out of ideas.

Any other ideas would be grateful 🙂

2007 MBP---

One day black screen.

Replaced the logic board. Black screen, no chime.

Replaced the LCD last night. Black screen--no chime.

Fans are running, sounds coming from within--but no visible screen.

Have not tried th flashlight thing in a dark room. But with new logic and screen, I am baffled.

Any ideas?

thxc,

gm

I've had a nerve wrecking two days of this problem. It started with my Mac turning on (caps light worked) but no chime. I did the control option p r thing, and got it to boot with a chime, but no backlight or key back lights. Looked around for repair options.

then I tried plugging in a VGA Projector via a Minidisplay-VGA adapter, and the screen came back.

Thanks for the help everyone else, and hopefully this helps someone else.

Same problem! When I saw your post I looked for the last web page seen:

- "Adobe - Download Adobe Flash Player"

Five minutes before my "problems" began. I've just uninstalled it and I'll see, but I'm pretty much confident, as weird as it may be...

I used to have this problem as well!

The problem seemed to be a driver from an app called AirParrot.

As I followed the instructions (see below) and deleted those drivers everything went back to normal.

Try this if you installed that app on your mac!

Best of luck to everyone finding a solution.

Instructions to manually uninstall AirParrot drivers:

If your trial is already expired, this can be done manually. To do this, press Shift+Command+G to bring up the Go-To-Folder option. In that search bar, type in /System/Library/Extensions and remove the "APExtFramebuffer.kext" and “AirParrotDriver.kext”. Move those files to the trash.

Once you do that, press the Shift+Command+G again and this time type in /Library/Extensions (they are different locations on a Mac). Again, remove the "APExtFramebuffer.kext" and “AirParrotDriver.kext” file by moving them to the trash.

Help, please! The screen has gone black on my 2013 MacBook Pro (13 inch Retina display). I've tried all of the troubleshooting suggestions I found online (PRAM, SMC, flashlight, etc)...the only change is that the screen will go from black to grey, but nothing else happens. Took it to the Apple Store, and they said I need a new display to the tune of $450... Ouch! I hate to spend that much on a 3 year old Mac. This is my first Mac and I don't have any spare parts, nor technical ability to do the repairs myself. Any other (less expensive) suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I did just recent update Adobe Flash Player in order to complete required online training. Might that be causing the problem? I don't have an external monitor...should I take the Mac back to the Apple Store and ask them to connect to an external monitor to see if they can uninstall Adobe Flash Player?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)

I found a video on youtube that showed this problem (which I also have). they removed the lcd screen bezel and messed with the inverter wires and then could not reproduce the problem. my problem just fixed itself after shutting the screen a few times, then it finally stayed on so I'm leaving the screen opened to the same spot so I can get work done. I ordered a monitor cable for an external monitor in case it comes back and I have to rewatch that video to get to those wires and reseat the connectors and adjust the wires. I was able to use lights shined onto the screen to manage just a bit when the screen was dark. the computer works, the back light is just not working. hope this helps.

hopeless, I did all the mentioned ways but it didn't solve my problem and the screen continues black. Sometimes if I plug my MacBook to an external TV it does work but again and again it becomes black. After couple of days I cleaned the HDMI port with a clean and dry tissue, surprisingly little dust and debris have come out and the screen starts to work. It has been a week since I cleaned the port and my MacBook screen works perfectly.

Hope my experience would help some of you. Thanks to all for their inputs

Just reset SMC and problem gone. I open my Mac book Pro disconnect the battery cable press start button for 15 seconds connect the battery and press star again and voila problem gone for good and believe me I was trying everything almost gave up, Was thinking in buy a new one but.....Thanks