MacBook Pro (2016) black screen after unplugging from LG 5K Display

Exactly the same here. The MBP wakes up (keys are backlit, slight glow on screen), but the screen remains blank (black) and is not responsive to key or trackpad entry. I have to hold dower the power button and reboot for it to work. Opening up lid before disconnecting the LG monitor seems to be the only "fix."

Hopefully this is something that can be fixed through an OS update at some point, if there is not another solution.

I have been had this problem. Only happens when I am plugged into an external monitor - the LG 38UC99 - never when just running the stand alone laptop. I stumbled on what seems to be a fix for me. I think the 2016rMBP has a issue switching from the dynamic to integrated graphics chip when wake from sleep while connected to an external monitor. I installed a simple little program called gfxCardStatus. When connected to an external monitor, I select the option to use only the dynamic graphics chip - the integrated chip cannot power the external monitor. By preventing the laptop from using the integrated chip when connected to my external LG monitor, I no longer have this black screen problem. Hope this helps.

I use my 2016 MBP 15″ 2.7 GHz Radeon Pro 455 in clamshell mode via an Apple USB-C Digital AV adapter driving a Dell U3415W external display via HDMI and an external Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

I get frequent system hangs wherein unless you open the lid of the laptop and allow the internal display to wake up before disconnecting the AV adapter, the internal display never wakes up and I am forced to either plug the laptop back into the external display and restart gracefully or, if I've disconnected the adapter and run to a meeting, cold boot the Mac by holding own the power key.

Annoying to say the least - it’s been reported to AppleCare and been looked at by no less than 2 Apple Geniuses - the suggestion was I was using an unsupported monitor! Come on, it's a display not an esoteric firewire 800 audio interface!!

I will test over the next couple of days to see it’s fixed in 10.12.5 which was released today (Download macOS Sierra 10.12.5 Combo Update)

Regards

James

Posters on this thread are using a special mode called "Closed clamshell mode". As the article below states, there is a ceremony for closing the display, and another for opening the display.

Use your Mac notebook computer in closed-display mode with an external display - Apple Support

.

Same here. Unplugging the MacBook Pro when the lid is closed and then opening the lid again produces a black screen (where I can see the mouse cursor).

Force reboot does not always work for me, back to the black screen when I login as the previous user. Closing the lid and letting the computer inactive for several minutes seem to work, you go back to the standard login page.

Unplugging the computer when the display is open and active never causes this problem.

Having the same issue except that even opening my lid doesn't help. Such a cluster F by Apple. They design a laptop to function off a single cable, but neglect to ensure it works properly when unplugging that cable!!!

So glad I found this thread. This issue is incredibly annoying! Didn't know about the work around so I suppose that will do for now. But def would prefer if Apple fixed the issue. This seems like a major oversight, especially when you consider the price you pay for the new Macbook Pros and LG 5K screen. Also seems to go against the Apple ethos of "it just works". I'm noticing that these small but important details are becoming more and more frequent!

Thanks Grant, those suggestions are somewhat helpful - I'll admit that I haven't tried sleeping my MBP before disconnecting the USB-C-to-AV adapter.

Another issue is that even though I wake the internal display before disconnecting, upon disconnecting the whole laptop will lock up - keyboard / touchbar / display non-responsive. This happens even after a clean install on a secondary partition of MacOS 10.12.4 and an NVRAM + SMC reset.

Is the LG 5K an unsupported display? The one they prominently put on display throughout the keynote that introduced us to these POS MacBooks (it's a sham to call them Pros). I have the same exact issues. To the point where plugging in/out my 5K is a game of heads or tales on wether I'll need a cold boot when I open up the lid.

Good to see that after 6 months this issue remains. For reference I'm on a 2016 Macbook Pro 15" Touchbar with Radeon Pro 450, macOS Sierra 10.12.5, connected via Thunderbolt 3 > HDMI adapter, to an Acer monitor.

I have the same problem when disconnecting my 2017 MBP 15" with Touch Bar. When I open the laptop back up it's alive and the touch bar shows the setting to extend or mirror display. Choosing either option doesn't do anything and I always force shut down and then start back up. On occasion where I remember to open before undocking - when I reconnect I have a problem with the attached display which appears as a reduced gamma. Meaning some of the colors show as a pink color as you would see in out of gamma areas in a photoshop file against a specific color profile. Reboot fixes this too.

Monitor is the Dell U2515H

I have the same problem & also agree that small annoying problems are becoming more frequent, and not just apple laptops but also with iphones. I think apple has over extended themselves with different products and updates that quality control & testing are stretched to far to cover all the different hardware and software.

My newer mac and iphone suffers far more glitches then older models. This unresponsive screen when unplugging from monitor is just one of many.

No helpful insight, just to say I have the same problem with a 13" MacBook Pro running 10.12.3. I find the workaround works, but is lame. The problem is 100% reproducible every time.