macbook pro turns on but screen stays black — my solution

The Apple Macbook Pro would turn on, but the screen would not.  The screen would stay black.  I could tell the computer was on because when I hit the “caps lock” key, the green light on the key would turn on and off.

I fixed this the following way (this is basically resetting the Power Management Unit — PMU):

I disconnected the computer from the power cord, and from all other cables.

I held down the power button for several seconds to turn off the computer.

I let it sit 5 minutes.

I restarted the laptop while holding down the Shift key.  This restarted the computer in Safe Mode, with the screen visible again.

After I logged in (in Safe Mode) to make sure everything was ok, I simply restarted the computer the normal way, and the screen behaved normally again.

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If that doesn’t work for you, you could try these steps, documented at apple.com:

Holding down Command, Option, P, and R to reset your PRAM and NVRAM

Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)

470 Comments

  1. my macbook pro 13″ will turn on, the keyboard lights up, and you can hear it start up. but the screen refuses to turn on, ive tried all these different steps, and it just wont, any ideas on what might be going on with it? not even the apple logo will turn on. its the whole top part of the macbook. you can hear the volume bleeps just fine. but yeah.. help?!

  2. Thank you so much Colin, fingers crossed there’s no underlying issue and it stays fixed, you’re brilliant, God bless you.

  3. I did the whole shift thing and also Command+option+p+r but the first method worked for about 6 seconds but the other methods didn’t work at all. SO when i used the shift method i could see a screen with a bottom loading bar and than it turned black again. Now every time i try to do the shift thing nothing appears anymore. Any tips?

  4. Screen would not function after sleep

    MacBook Pro Mod. A1229 running Sys 10.7.2 & Mac Software

    Screen would not ‘light’ after a sleep period (about an hour).
    Neither touching the SPACE BAR nor pressing the mouse button had an effect on the screen. However, pressing keys indicated a computer response.

    Manual SHUT DOWN by holding power key for 10+ seconds.
    Restart was somewhat normal but Apple Logo and ‘activity’ wheel appeared slightly larger than normal and not the same brightness contrast. After initial period the screen went ‘blank’ but there seemed to be some computer function – response to certain keystrokes. Subsequent retries produced the same result.

    Based on Apple Support & Mac Support groups:
    1. SMC reset
    2. PRAM reset
    3. Boot Safe Mode

    No change.

    Restarted holding Command/S to get UNIX start. The screen did function properly (my knowledge of UNIX is limited – I did NOT attempt a fix from this prompt).

    Restarted from the ORIGINAL DVD that came with the machine and the START UP was NORMAL and the SCREEN was NORMAL. This DVD was an install DVD so I used QUIT from the menu bar and the system was still functioning correctly.

    Subsequent tests of the SLEEP/WAKE cycles produced normal results with no screen problems.

    There are still no problems after two subsequent use periods with normal shut downs and normal start ups.

  6. The second method works for me but the screen still randomly goes black. I had a friend who works at the genius bar look at it and they couldn’t find any problems. Originally it would only go black when I tried to wake it from sleep mode, now it just occasionally goes black while I’m typing a paper or browsing the internet.
    Is there something I need to do that will permanently fix this problem?

  7. I had this problem with sleep/wake mode and screen being black. Discovered it was happening when I had my HDMI cable plugged in when I closed the book. After calling apple support and them not having any solutions, I just unplugged the cable before closing the book. But, yesterday my screen was blinking off and on – never had this happen before. No cable plugged in. I moved the mouse and it stopped. closed the book at bedtime, and it opened black. Unplugged, took out battery, plugged in and hit start. Could hear it start, but black screen. Tried start up with PRAM reset, and safe mode reset, no response. Next I tried the Command/s at startup and still nothing. Wait….keyboard has lit up, but nothing else. Key board went off. Well, off to the apple fix it shop.

  9. I called Apple service under my Apple share plan, and although it had been expired for almost a year, I had reported the problem to them prior to the expiration of my plan. I explained the problem and also told them that the problem could be with a faulty video card that was under a class action suit. The company that manufactured these parts messed up, so someone filed a class action law suit against them and won and all the owners of computers they were put into were sent a letter and Apple replaced them free of charge. But I did not get a letter. So, Apple sent me to a Apple repair place with the computer to be diagnosed specifically for this problem, at no cost. If it was not this part, I would pay the diagnostic fee. They just called and said I was right and that is the problem and Apple will replace it free of charge. This faulty video card appeared in Mac book pro 15 & 17″ computers manufactured 2007, 2008 models. Mine was a refurbished computer I bought from Apple. Hope this helps anyone else out there get results.

  11. It happened to me while running Windows under Boot Camp. Once I got my MacBook back up I went to the energy saver and set both to “Never” to minimize the chance of black screen while I was working. I Downloaded the latest update to Snow Leopard. I wasn’t sure if the update included new drivers so went to and downloaded the patch. Finally I changed energy saver back to defaults.

  14. YOU SAVED MY LIFE!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOO UNBELIEVABLY MUCH!! Almost had a mental breakdown because I thought my laptop was shot, until I found this forum! I can’t thank you enough!

  15. Thanks It worked and my wifes computer is up and running, From what she told me she unplugged the camera and didnt close it right.

  17. thanks!!!!! I’m about to cry when I can’t fix my mom’s laptop but then I saw your article and it was really a BIG HELP! 😀

  18. The Apple Macbook Pro would turn on, but the screen would not. The screen would stay black. I could tell the computer was on because when I hit the “caps lock” key, the green light on the key would turn on and off.

    I tried the control, option P R and got no results . Keyboard still lights up and cap and number buttons and sound. No other lights and just no response.

    Help!

  22. Hi, thanks so much, both of my kids computers had this issue and now thanks to you both are fixed. I really appreciate it 🙂

  23. Colin,

    One million thank yous. This is the first thing I read and in 5 minutes I was back on Mac. My brother is a tech guy he said I need to turn my Mac off more often. It’s ggod for the computer. I realized when he said this that I had not turned my computer off for about a month!

    Thanks again! I’m very grateful.

    Stacy

  24. So i purchased a new battery for My dual core 2.8Ghz Macbook pro that will be 3 years old in October.

    The battery would hold a charge of roughly 30 min at this stage.

    While the bottom was off, I cleaned the fans with some dust destroyer / compressed gas duster (where there was a lot of dust) put the new battery in and closed it back up.

    When I went to boot the computer back up I hear the chime but the screen doesn’t come back on (stays dark). I have taken it apart and checked all connectors – All is the way it was before.

    I tried Resetting PRAM (no change), the computer won’t boot up in safe mode either (or I think it does, the screen just doesn’t come on).

    Any advice / suggestions?

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