Fixed: MacBook Pro Booting Black screen

Rick Akura on
Don't let the black screen stop you from doing your work! Use this brief troubleshooting guide to Fix MacBook Pro Booting Black screen.

A blank screen (black, blue, or gray) should appear once or more during startup. If you see your MacBook Pro booting black screen, something might be a miss.

Fixed: MacBook Pro Booting Black screen

A lack of any sign of activity on your MacBook Pro screen is perhaps one of the most worrying issues you can face when booting up your device. You're likely to immediately start to worry about how much it will cost to fix, but let's not panic yet. Take a deep breath, and try the tips below before you fork out for a repair or take a trip to your nearest Apple Authorised Service Provider or store.

In this guide, you’ll get 12 solutions to Fix MacBook Pro booting black screen

This article helps you fix the MacBook Pro Booting Black screen. These solutions will also work for a black screen on a Mac mini, iMac, or MacBook Air.

Jump to:

Why is my MacBook Pro booting black screen?

Nothing can cause panic during the system booting of a Mac like a screen completely going black. Should you encounter a MacBook black screen while rebooting your MacBook Pro, the following could be the causes:

  • Software or hardware incompatibility: this can occur if you recently upgraded to a new macOS or updated hardware or firmware. This is because the new updates could come with incompatibility issues, unsolved bugs, or very large disk space consumption.
  • Power issues: MacBook can boot into a black screen with insufficient or rated power.
  • Poor contact between hardware and firmware: If the contacts between hardware and firmware are damaged, loose, or dusty, the computer won't start up normally.
  • Cables not connected 
  • Third-party apps that expand the screen

But these are not the only reasons. A motherboard failure can cause some unknown reasons. Depending on the age and model of your Mac computer (Be it a Mac mini, iMac, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro), except for the black screen of death, you might see a blank, gray, or blue screen.

All in all, many troubleshooting ideas exist to fix the MacBook Pro booting black screen issue.

Fix a black screen on MacBook Pro

  1. Check if the power is on
  2. Disconnect all peripherals
  3. Adjust your display’s brightness
  4. Restart your MacBook pro
  5. Force Reboot your MacBook Pro
  6. start MacBook pro on recovery mode (start-up from macOS recovery)
  7. Reset Mac’s NVRAM settings
  8. Reset the System Management Controller 
  9. Keypress (Keyboard) Sequence
  10. Reset PRAM
  11. Boot MacBook in Safe Mode
  12. Enter Password, Hit Return
  13. Turn Off Automatic Graphics Switching
  14. Re-install macOS

How to Fix MacBook Pro Booting Black Screen 

To fix the MacBook Pro booting black screen problem, you will start with simple solutions to complex and technical solutions

Note: These solutions apply to MacBook Air too.

Fix a black screen on MacBook Pro

Solution #1: Check if the power is on

Is your power on? Is power being transferred from the socket to you Mac? Examine if your charger cable is intact and if your Mac is charging. Is the green light on? 

To rule out any power issues, listen closely if your Mac produces any noise — from the hard drive or fans. 

If your Mac was off due to power, try charging it for no less than ten minutes before attempting to power it back on.

If you still see the black screen on Mac, something else could be the problem. 

Solution #2: Disconnect all peripherals

The only accessories that should be connected to your Mac when you try to solve the black screen on Mac issue should be the charging cable and adapter.

Disconnect all the accessories and devices connected to the Mac. Remove all external devices such as printers, flash drives, phones, and other external drives.

These peripherals may start their own dialogues which could interfere with your Mac’s display settings.

If this doesn’t solve the problem, something else could be the problem. 

Solution #3: Adjust your display’s brightness

It’s possible you unknowingly pressed the brightness keys on the keyboard so your screen dimmed down. Or it could have been your cat.

Use F1 and F2 buttons to light black screen on your Mac.

Solution #4: Restart your MacBook Pro

Restart Mac

If you've confirmed that the laptop is receiving power and you've ruled out the possibility of interference from peripheral devices, the next thing to try is a simple restart. Pressing Control + Command (the symbol with four loops) + Power/Eject/Touch ID button (depending on your model) should automatically restart your device. Alternatively, hold the power button for 5 seconds to shut down your MacBook Pro, wait 15 seconds and then press the button again to reboot. Fingers crossed.

Solution #5:  Force Reboot your MacBook Pro 

You can force restart your Mac to solve the issue. 

If you’ve established that the Mac booting black screen issue lies in the display, force restarting the device can be a solution. (if you are not sure, skip this process). 

Force restarting the Mac can fix bugs and errors. 

Here’s how:

  1. Press and hold the Power key for about 6 seconds.
  2. Wait for the Mac to shut down
  3. Press the Power key again to start it

Solution #6:Start up from macOS Recovery

Try a forced reset. Sometimes a good old-fashioned hard restart is all it takes to fix all kinds of MacBook issues.

macOS Recovery mode

On an Apple-chipped MacBook Pro (M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max) Press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds. You should see the startup options window, which includes a gear icon labelled Options. Select Options and Continue.If the options window doesn't appeal, release the power button and press and hold it again for another 10 seconds. If you started up from macOS Recovery, you should see a utility window that includes Disk Utility. 

On an Intel-chipped MacBook Pro, press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds, then press and release the power button and immediately press and hold Command + R until you see an Apple logo or other image. If you still see a blank screen after about 20 seconds, it's time to move on. If this does recovers your screen, it's worth running Disk Utility to check for errors. If Disk Utility finds errors and repair them, restart your MacBook again afterwards.

Here's a Mac guide to use the disk utility service.

Solution #7: Reset Mac’s NVRAM settings

NVRAM stands for non-volatile RAM. 

This is a functionality that stores in-memory settings for hard drives, speakers, screen displays, primary startup disks, etc.

NVRAM reset can effectively set back to factory (default) settings for everything connected with the boot process, including those remotely connected.

To reset Mac’s NVRAM settings:

  1. Turn off your MacBook Pro.
  2. Press the Power key.
  3. Wait for your Mac to start loading.
  4. When you hear a startup sound, press and hold Cmd + Option + P + R.
  5. Keep pressing the keys until you hear a second startup sound.

Solution #8: Reset the System Management Controller 

Resetting the SMC will dump and reset settings for anything power management related. It resolves, among other problems with things like heat, sleeping problems, fans, and of course, Mac black screen display issues.

Reset the System Management Controller

To reset the SMC on MacBook Pro or MacBook Air (with nonremovable battery):

  1. Shut down the Mac
  2. Connect the Mac to power (if it is not connected). Ensure to use your MagSafe adapter.
  3. While the Mac is off, press  the Shift+Control+Option+Power keys together at the same time and hold down for a few seconds
  4. Release all keys at the same time
  5. Boot the Mac as usual and watch out what happens

When the Mac boots, hopefully, the Mac black screen will have gone away and you’re back to normal.

Solution #9: Keypress (Keyboard) Sequence

If you Mac boots, the black screen may go away and the MacBook Pro or MacBook Air may go back to normal, however, if it doesn't, try a keypress sequence to ditch the black screen.

If your Mac is powering on but the screen stays black, try the keypress sequence:

  1. Press the power button (OFF) once, bringing an invisible dialog box on the MacBook Pro black screen
  2. Press the ‘S’ button - shortcut for sleep on Mac
  3. Force a hard shutdown by holding the power button for 4 seconds
  4. wait for about 16 seconds
  5. Press the power button (OFF) to turn the MacBook Pro on again

This process is not common but has worked for many

Solution #10: Reset the PRAM

If the above two tricks failed (solution #6 and Solution #7), a PRAM reset can often be the solution to the MacBook pro booting back screen.

Mac’s PRAM is a memory that holds some settings for your Mac. 

The settings in the PRAM carry forward even if you shut down or restart Mac. If they get corrupted somehow, it can cause problems like the black screen on Mac.

This is why resetting the PRAM is a potential solution to the black screen on boot. PRAM reset is almost similar to SMC reset. To reset the PRAM:

  1. Reboot the Mac
  2. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the Command+Option+P+R keys together
  3. When you hear the boot sound again, the PRAM has been reset
  4. Let the Mac boot again as usual

Up to this point, Mac should boot again normally and should no longer have the black screen display. 

Solution #11: Boot into Safe Mode

Sometimes the black screen on Mac is as a result of corrupt information on the startup disk. A simple solution for this is to force your Mac to run diagnostics on the disk by booting it in safe mode.

To start-up in safe mode:

  1. Power up or restart your Mac
  2. Hold the Shift key until the Apple logo appears on the screen. 
  3. Let go of the Shift key and let the system start up. 

The boot is likely to take longer than normal because it’s running diagnostics during the boot sequence. Let it finish the safe-mod boot to completion.

After it finishes starting up, restart again to leave the safe mode and start normally to see if the Mac black screen problem has been fixed.

Solution #12: Enter Password, Hit Return

This surprising alternative works when the Mac booting black screen problem persists.

All you need to do is enter your regular login password as usual and hit the Enter/Return key; the Mac boots up as usual and then you’re good to go. Try this out, it might work for you:

  1. When the Mac boots into the black screen, enter the password your login password on Mac as usual
  2. Hit the Enter/Return key

If this works, you’ll know rather quickly because the black screen will give way to the regular Mac OS desktop.

Solution #13: Turn Off Automatic Graphics Switching 

This solution works for black screens on dual-GPU MacBook Pro only.

Some MacBook Pro models have dual graphics cards that switch automatically. Sometimes, those models can boot directly to a black screen. 

Automatic graphic switching

Often, to remedy this issue you’d simply disable automatic graphics card (GPU) switching on MacBook Pro:

  1. From the  Apple menu choose “System Preferences” 
  2. Go to “Energy Saver”
  3. Toggle the switch next to ‘Automatic Graphics Switching’ to turn that off
  4. Restart the Mac normally

Solution #14: Re-install the macOS

This is the last resort.

If all these solutions do not work, there could be a bigger problem than simple hardware and software solutions. Re-installing the macOS can solve the issue once and for all. 

You can decide to either install the same MacOS product or acquire a new macOS and install it on your Mac.

Watch: MacBook Pro 14 & 16 (2023) - 20 Things You NEED to KNOW!

Wrapping Up 

Did any of these solutions help you fix the MacBook booting black screen issue? 

We’re glad you read this article up to here :) Thank you :)

If you run into this unusual issue with your Mac, use one or all of these solutions to sort out the problem. These solutions work for MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac Mini. 

Do you need any Mac products? You can get all Mac products that you may need here, including Office for Mac and Windows for Mac!

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FAQ

Here are some commonly asked questions and their answers related to MacBook pro starting on black screen

How do I fix a black screen on startup Mac?

  1. Check if the power is on
  2. Disconnect all peripherals
  3. Adjust your display’s brightness
  4. Restart your MacBook pro
  5. Force Reboot your MacBook Pro
  6. Try to start up from macOS Recovery
    1. Press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds, until you see the startup options window, which includes a gear icon labeled Options. Select Options, then click Continue.
    2. If you never see the startup options window, release the power button, then repeat step 1.
  7. Reset Mac’s NVRAM settings
  8. Reset the System Management Controller 
  9. Keypress (Keyboard) Sequence
  10. Reset PRAM
  11. Boot MacBook in Safe Mode
  12. Enter Password, Hit Return
  13. Turn Off Automatic Graphics Switching
  14. Re-install macOS

Can you fix black screen of death on a Mac?

Yes. In most cases, you can fix the MacBook black screen of death using the solutions we're highlighted in this article. For example, Sometimes the black screen on Mac is as a result of corrupt information on the startup disk. A simple solution for this is to force your Mac to run diagnostics on the disk by booting it in safe mode. Also, If your Mac is on yet the screen stays dark, have a go at pressing the power button once, then press the S key. That is the easy route key to take care of the Mac. Then, hold down the power key until the Mac turns itself off. Stand by 15 seconds and plug it back on.

Why does my MacBook pro turn on, but the screen is black?

It could be different reasons:

  • peripherals (incompatible)
  • Software or hardware incompatibility
  • Power issues: MacBook can boot into a black screen with insufficient or rated power.
  • Poor contact between hardware and firmware
  • Third-party apps that expand the screen

Why is my Mac stuck on a black screen with Apple logo?

Here's what usually happens: Your Mac shows an Apple logo when it finds your startup disk, which is usually the disk built into your Mac, then shows a progress bar as the macOS startup or installation process continues. As the startup continues, you should see a progress bar, with or without the Apple logo. This screen might alternate with a blank screen several times. If you're installing macOS, the Apple logo or progress bar might persist for much longer than usual. As installation continues, the progress bar might move slowly and pause for long periods. That's why Apple recommends beginning macOS installation in the evening—so that it can complete overnight if needed. 

but sometimes the Mac is stuck on a black screen with the Apple logo could appear. This could be due to incompatible peripherals, power issues, software incompatibility, poor contact between hardware and firmware, viruses (yes, virus), and more. Use the solutions we've provided above to fix this issue. 

Tags: Troubleshooting