Thunderbolt Display Goes Black Even After Firmware Update

overskyet wrote:

pink-fish: I'm sorry you are dealing with the same issue. My display was working perfectly again for a few more weeks and then two days ago the display went black again. I have ordered a thunderbolt cable which should arrive this Monday, June 22, 2015. gnarlsbailey, is your display still working correctly since you purchased a new thunderbolt cable? I'm hoping this is the solution, even though I hate to have to use the only thunderbolt port on my display just to have my display work as it should. pink-fish, I will post another update after my new cable arrives to let you know if it worked!

Good luck!

Still working perfectly! Hopefully you have the same result.

have been a long time advocate of Apple products. I go back to the Classic Computer. But my most recent Apple purchases have been a bust. I have two 27" Thunderbolt displays that have gone to black...the display went out. As I checked online as I normally do for a trend, I noticed that many people were having the same issue with this monitor. One of my monitors was made in February of 2014 and the 1 year warranty just ended. Apple wants to charge $800 to repair a $900 display. First, shouldn't the display last more than 1 year? Apple ideas are great i.e. Macbook Air, iPhone 6, Thunderbolt Displays, Ipad, iWatch In my opinion the quality is lagging behind the innovation. — feeling ****** off.

Update on Apple Service - So Apple was able to repair one of my monitors. They installed a $200 Logic Board. The second monitor I was told would need a more extensive repair, approximately $800 plus labor for a new LCD! Now keep in mind I can buy a new display for $999. When I arrived to pick up the monitors I told Apple to just put the second monitor back together and that I would not have it repaired. Oh well. upon arriving back at my studio I connected both displays, just for the **** of it! Attached is a picture of both displays working for the past 4 days. Has Apple become the old shady mechanic that's trying to make even more money off of the repair/parts business?

I saw an old post that suggested turning off the automatic adjust brightness for the monitor. I tried it 2 days ago and so far so good and no more issues, but it could just be a coincidence and I have now jinxed myself. ;-)

I had exactly the same problem which started to be frustrating for me since Yosemite upgrade. The only solution was to unplug for a moment thunderbolt cable. I couldn't find any reason for this. Some days it was working perfectly and than suddenly goes to black screen. Sometimes it were a series of black screen. I installed firmware update. Black screen again. Search through apple support center - without success. Today I've got mad with this black screen every few seconds. But I found Your experience presented here. I had to read it in Macbook pro 13' (2011) own screen because I couldn't on apple monitor. I used new cable and it really seems to be working properly. But it seems to me that it is something wrong with the original cable or with the electronic device where this cable is connected inside of the display. This seem to be a factory mistake - and Apple being the best company should offer a free or low price service for this issue (like car company). It can happen like this. But VERY SAD THING is that Apple Support is not trying to do anything for years. There are a lot of posts like this concerning black screen on the Apple thunderbolt display - but I havent found ANY post from Apple. Does it mean "Do it Yourselve it is Your problem"? Do they really treat me and the rest of This Issue Community like stupid buyers who have the only right to pay price? By the way - the newest MacBook 12" do not support Apple 27" display. So this is another signal that which shows like Apple is treating their customers. Have You seen such information mentioned in CAPITAL letters somewhere in the shop? - No, it is surprise for You. So, if You are planning to buy new MacBook 12" - then do it with new Display because Your old 27" Apple thunderbolt display will go to garbage... This is my really big disappointment since I totally moved whole my family to Mac hardware from Windows systems.

Hey everyone,

I have the same issue with the TB Display turning black and staying black then. Sound is working but Display stays black. Sometimes it works for one or two days and other days it just takes 5 minutes to kill the Display...

Changing the TB cable did not solve the Problem.

I tried all of the Troubleshooting steps I could find on the web (including Resets, Firmware update and Hardware Diagnostics...)

As the Display is not under warranty anymore, I don't see a Chance that it might be repaired or replaced by Apple.

Did anyone receive Feedback from Apple? This Problem with the 27" TB Display seems pretty common in the discussions section...

Or does anyone know where this issue might come from?

Thanks

I had this issue for well over a year until I stumbled on a workaround about two months ago.

I just leave my MBP (15" Retina late 2012) OPEN on my desk and mirror the displays, keeping LCD's brightness all the way down. Hard to believe this is what fixed it for me, but it's been over two months now with zero failures of the Thunderbolt, with several sleep and wake cycles throughout every day.

I tried just about everything short of replacing the built-in cable, because Apple tested everything and declared the cable OK. I reset everything, Apple replaced the logic board in the MacBook, deciding it was an "image persistence" issue (?). Fortunately that was free, but it didn't correct the problem.

I suppose that when Apple was trying to replicate the problem they probably never closed the MBP. As it turns out, this is what prevents the problem altogether for me.

I thought maybe it was a heat issue, but for a couple of years it worked fine with the MBP standing vertically on an elevated stand, closed, and upside down so its air vents were pointed up. It's not hot in my work area. Since I decided to leave it open the problem has completely disappeared - and for nearly two months now. If I close the MBP, the Thunderbolt will stay on and function for varying amounts of time, but always fails within 36 hours and continues to fail after that.

Admittedly, keeping the MBP open on my desk is not ideal even with its brightness all the way down. This isn't a solution, just a surprise workaround that worked for me. I don't like the open MBP sitting on my desk, but considering I was about to replace my 3-year-old $1,000 display like many of you, whatever. I really hope it helps some others.

In early February 2016 I bought a new Late 2013 Mac Pro with 64 GB RAM, AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB, and three 27" Thunderbolt displays. From the beginning I have had the problem of one of my displays going black. I have been in contact with Appel Care about it since August 2015. Since then they replaced the graphics card(s) several times, replaced the logic board, and even replaced the computer in December. Apple has replaced the logic board and graphics cards in the new computer twice. I just got the whole set back from the Genius Bar repair folks yesterday and the problem repeated this morning. In all of the many times the computer has gone back to apple they have not been able to reproduce the problem. I am extremely frustrated at this point.

😢

Hey everyone,

I have the same issue with my Thunderbolt Display going black. It seems that it got worst since I installed El Capitan. I read about replace the cable but it seems that it won't solve the issue. I updated the firmware when they released the last update but it worked well for a few months only. My computer is a macbook pro 15" early 2011. This is very frustrating, specially because I've been using apple for more than 15 years and the display is not that cheap.

In early February 2015 I bought a new Late 2013 Mac Pro with 64 GB RAM, AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB, and three 27" Thunderbolt displays. From the beginning I have had the problem of one of my displays going black. I have been in contact with Appel Care about it since August 2015. Since then they replaced the graphics card(s) several times, replaced the logic board, and even replaced the computer in December. Apple has replaced the logic board and graphics cards in the new computer twice. I just got the whole set back from the Genius Bar repair folks yesterday and the problem repeated this morning. In all of the many times the computer has gone back to apple they have not been able to reproduce the problem.

I went to the store on Monday as directed by Apple Care to “either replace/repair the displays” the store did not even look at the displays. instead, I was told to buy another TB cable ($49) and plug all the monitors in using that. I have done what was asked and one of the monitors has gone black I am extremely frustrated at this point.

Update on the Thunderbolt-going-black problem...

My Thunderbolt monitor attached to my MBP (Mid-2012 Retina 15") started to go black again. The only thing that will turn it back on is to pull the lightning connector from the MBP and plug it back in. It got so bad recently that it wouldn't stay on for more than 30 seconds at a time.

I took both the MBP and the Thunderbolt to the Genius Bar and they WERE able to replicate the issue right away and repeatedly. The Genius ran some tests (but it passed), but he was convinced it was the lightning connectors on the MacBook Pro (not the monitor). So, for $320 I had them "fix" the MBP, and picked it up today. They replaced the logic board.

After about 10 minutes of operation, the monitor started blinking. It has never blinked before, only gone totally black. It's now doing that too. Presently it has stayed on for an hour or so...but I'm taking it back to the store. I bought the MBP and Thunderbolt brand new in 2012 so they are out of warranty, but this is the second time I've had it in for this problem and both times they "fixed" the computer (first time under warranty) and the problem returned. I should note that the issue NEVER occurs with the LCD screen, only with the external Thunderbolt monitor.

Guess I'll be dragging BOTH back over the Apple Store tomorrow.