Macbook Pro + Black Screen

[amestris]

Just yesterday I was using my Macbook Pro - with Word and MSN in use - until it gave me a black screen. (Good thing Word auto-saved.)

The screen wasn't dimmed and the fan (or whatever was running) was still running. So I held down the power button to shut it down. When I turned it on again - and everything was okay - I thought it might have been the battery but yeah, it doesn't explain why the fan was still running.

It's fairly new. I don't play games and I rarely watch anything on it. I'm also very protective of it and don't download much... Which confuses/worries me on why a black screen would appear.

So does anyone want to share some insight on why this happened? Is it some 'normal' thing that eventually happens, because I've been looking around and found information with regards to this black screen problem and the Macbooks of those people seemed fine..

 

[John Doe 57]

To me, this looks like possible warning signs that the Logic Board is about to fail. I've had this happen to two of my Macs in less than 3 months.

When you say its fairly new, is it still under its 1 year warranty and/or covered by AppleCare? If so, I would get that MacBook Pro into a repair shop before the problem worsens.

 

[dissolve]

Was it just the backlight that shut off? Could you still see the windows displayed on the screen, only very dim? That happened to my MBP 4 years ago...replaced the screen due to a dying backlight. Either way, if you're under AppleCare, take it to an Apple Store.

 

[ksym26]

My screen went black after waking it up last week. I'm not sure when you purchased your MBP, but for the ones that were manufactured between May 2007 and September 2008, the screen blackout is most likely caused by a logic board and graphics processor failure. Apple knows about the problem and are willing to repair it free of charge if it fails within 4 years of your purchase date even if your warranty has expired. (I purchased my MBP in December 2007. I never purchased an extended warranty nor the AppleCare Protection Plan). This will explain everything: http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2377. Don't bother calling Apple...they were no help to me at all.

I took it to the Apple store at the Glendale Galleria (Glendale, CA) the next day and when I mentioned what I thought was the problem, they tested it out immediately. I took a printout of the site listed above just in case. After testing it, the guy who helped me agreed with me. He said it will be fixed in 3-5 days because they have to order the part and that it will be free of charge. The total cost to repair would have been $1,187.50, so I was relieved that it wasn't coming out of my pocket. It was fixed in 3 days at no cost and no hassle.

My MBP works fine now, only had a few networking issues after getting it back. After doing some research, it's apparently a known bug with Macs...but that's all fixed now as well.