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16” MBP, Display going blank (black) randomly

Basim.a

Basim.a

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 5, 2019
12
2
So, I was using my Macbook Pro when suddenly screen went black. Contacted Apple support, followed their instruction but couldn’t find the problem or a solution. After few hours I opened the lid and it worked. Then again after few hours it happened, I closed the lid and opened It was fine after that. I turned off Dynamic Wallpaper and Automatic Graphics Switching. After that everything was normal, but I wanted to know the problem. So I switched on the Automatic graphics Switching. Few hours later same thing happened. Is anyone else experiencing this issue? Should I take it for service?
 
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matram said:
Maybe this is related to discussions in these threads. The common theme seems to be that the MBP is unresponsive (black screen, no keyboard) and you need to wait for a minute and so and it is back again.

16" - keyboard and trackpad locking up - Fusion related?
issue 16" macbook. 30sec won't recognize keyboard after wake up.

Some of us are suspecting VMWare Fusion, are you running Fusion?
Click to expand...

My Keyboard & touch bar works fine, never had any issues with it. Not sure about trackpad cuz I can't see anything when it happens. Resetting SMC and NVRAM did not work. I just had to leave the laptop lid closed for few hours for it to be okay.

The system is responsive. can play music, use touch bar or keyboard. I can increase brightness and screen glows brighter but stay black /blank.

What are the chances the problem is because of "Automatic Graphics Switching" ? Do you have it on ?

Im not using VMWare Fusion.
 
I have "Automatic Graphics Switching" on, but due to the applications I run, most of the time I do not use the dGPU so the black screen / disconnected keyboard has for me happened with the iGPU.

The only thing that was "live" for me in these situation was my externally connected Thunderbolt disk which showed a stead blue light.

My impression is that some timeout is involved. Something is waiting on something and sometimes the machine wakes after a minute.
 
I took the laptop to service. They took it to run diagnosis. Will update here once I hear from them.
 
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So yeah, the problem still continues.
Should i return and get a new one? or wait for the next OS update?
I noticed this happens when the battery is below 50%.
 
I'm having this exact problem on the 16" MacBook Pro too.

Randomly, and not too often my display will go to black, the Touch Bar will stay on, and if I move around on the trackpad a bit eventually the screen will go back on. I have no idea what is causing this, and it is very frustrating.
 
It happens every time I open iMovie FWIW. And Chrome seems to be triggering it as well. I've had the computer for a couple months now, and this has only happened like 8-10 times, but seems to be getting more frequent, with it happening 3 or 4 times today.


OP what have you done?
 
Good chance it's related to the METAL driver issues with AMD 5XXX. Have run into similar with RX 5700 XT in eGPU, but have NOT run into this exact issue when using MBP16,1 with 5500M 8GB natively as the only GPU.
 
Is this the same thing that I previously encountered?

forums.macrumors.com

MacBook Pro 16 dGPU random black screen

I've had multiple 16" MBPs do the following: Machine will be fine, but randomly gets in a state where the display will go totally black (no output) when I activate an app that invokes the dGPU. If I kill or quit the app in question, the display will come back on. If I open a terminal using...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
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Reactions: slagathor001
Yes! Seems to be the exact same problem.

littlepud said:
Is this the same thing that I previously encountered?

forums.macrumors.com

MacBook Pro 16 dGPU random black screen

I've had multiple 16" MBPs do the following: Machine will be fine, but randomly gets in a state where the display will go totally black (no output) when I activate an app that invokes the dGPU. If I kill or quit the app in question, the display will come back on. If I open a terminal using...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
Click to expand...
 
Have reported for the eGPU issues I've personally run into with AMD 5XXX series. No response on those reports.
 
I've found a temporary workaround: turn off automatic graphics switching completely. It's been around a week and I haven't had the problem recur. It's no big deal since I use the machine mainly as a desktop replacement, so I'm always connected to power.
 
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