MacBook Air won't start - chimes but screen black

I had this problem once before and actually just had it again. This is going to seem weird but what was happening was my display wasn't triggering when the computer was turning on. So what I did was take my cell phone and turn on its flash light. Shine the light through the apple symbol on the back. Through the display you will be able to see your login screen. Login while you are shining the light through the apple. Once you login to your secure screen the display will load and it should turn on the display for you. I hope this helps.

I honestly thought this was a joke but this actually worked. I put my phone flashlight on the highest setting and pointed it at the Apple symbol on the back of the computer. It shines THROUGH to the back and you can see a small part of your screen. I kept it on and eventually the display lit up on its own!

Hey Jwoland!

I had the same problem about a month ago and it happened to me again today. the first time it happened i called apple and got it fixed.

1. turn off the computer

2. hit the power button and immediately after hit the Option, Command, P, R all at the same time.

3. the computer will shut down again

4. once you hear the chime again let all buttons go and the computer should start up.

I am currently on hold to speak to a apple representative to resolve this issue for good!

Good luck!

try disconnecting the power cord and powering the unit off unscrewing the bottom case and locating the battery...once located disconnect the battery cord...with a spludger tool or with fingers but be careful... plug in the power cord and power the unit on .....once the unit powers on shut down the unit once the unit shuts down disconnect the power cord again be carful...reconnect the battery cable and screw back on the bottom case.........another solution is to power on the mac let it sit for about 2 minutes and reopen the screen it may cut back on this will leave you without the option of accessing boot features but at least youll be able to operate your mac

Hi I had the exact same problem.I contacted Apple support by phone who went through several recovery/ start procedures all without any solution.They suggested I take my macbook air to the Genus bar in order to investigate further.I complained my laptop was purchased on the 13 December 2014 and am very concerned of its early failure!

I am pleased to say Apple exchanged my air for a new one.I might mention I will not be updating this laptop to Yosemite.

My advise go to the Genus Bar.

Let me shed some lights for those who having this problem. When you power on and hold option+cmd+p+r and your screen start to work it’s just your Mac limiting the use of graphic to allow to boot. If it’s keep having to boot this way you have a bigger problem. Your gpu may be over heating or going bad. display lcd and/or cable bad. Here’s are ways to test for your those problems.

If holding down those key combo and your screen stay black.

1. Connect your MacBook to hdmi monitor or tv. Boot it up. Do you get display on tv? If not your gpu is bad. Take it to Genius Bar to get it replace if still under warranty.

2. If display work on hdmi. If not under warranty hold power button to power it down. You can listen to back of MacBook to hear a faint fan noise shutting down. If not under warranty open back cover and disconnect the battery. Reseat the lcd cable on right side. Reconnect battery and try powering it on. If it work then you may have a bad connection cable or lcd.

3. If this issue happen after an update you may have a corrupted one. Power on and hold cmd+r to get in recovery mode to run diagnostic. If screen still black try with hdmi. Or plug in your MagSafe wall adapter and hold down shift+ctr+option+power for 10 sec and release all keys. Try again. If screen still black try the option+cmd+p+r again. If still not work then your gpu is probably bad.

If none of the troubleshooting above work for you then more then likely your gpu went bad. It’s not a diy replacable part as it’s solder in your logic board. The whole logic board need to be replace which will likely cost as much as buying a good use MacBook.

Bottom line if gpu is bad you will have a nice paper weight or door stopper as it’s not economical to replace the board. All is not lost you can sell it for parts and use money toward a new MacBook. 👍-1F3FB;

Hello, this response is a few years late, but I recently had this issue with my 2013 MacBook Pro and I was unsure where to post the answer to this question.

Symptoms:

My computer would start up, fans would run, Apple logo would light up and chime would sound, but no display. I could see the backlight of the screen was on (different color black on LED screen), but nothing would actually display on the screen.

Things I tried:

I tried all the hard resets and even went into the Apple Store to see if they could find a fix. The only thing they said they could do for me was replace the display (costing half the original price of the laptop or more).

What worked:

I opted to not purchase the display and I wanted to transfer all of my data from my laptop before making a decision.

I decided to hook up my laptop to an external display (another separate monitor) to see if I could at least view my files.

THIS FIXED MY SCREEN. As soon as the HDMI cable was plugged in and I restarted my computer (held down power button until display was clearly off, pressed power button again to start "normally") my display suddenly worked again.

NOTE: I had this issue again several months later, and my screen was once again saved by simply plugging in an HDMI cable.

I don't know how or why, but plugging in an HDMI cable saved me from buying a whole new laptop.

None of the command functions worked for me. Any other codes before we eliminate all Apple products ever? If Steve were here....

Reset SMC. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Choose the method for:

"Resetting SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own".

Best.

OMG - I tried everything else online - and this solution worked. Thanks!!!! 🙂

AWHYTE23....... really great tip! Never heard this anywhere else that’s pretty genius shining a light through the Apple logo! So I did that and after trying the option, command, P and R there is a file picture with a? In the middle to where the login bar normally is. The file win the ? is flashing. Any ideas?