I had a black screen after 2 hours of use of a new stock 3.3ghz/2tb/M390 machine, no added memory. I had done the restart after the latest OSX install. I called support and went through a few tests, but never got anywhere. It would chime and then do nothing else. The support woman told me to return it for a new one since it was stock and I could just exchange it. It's been a week now and no problems on the new one.
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Uh oh...black screen on new late 2015 iMac
- Thread starter JohnSFO
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Mine just had a similar problem. 3.2GHz i5 with 1TB Fusion drive. 16GB of RAM (8GB Apple, 8GB OWC). I put the machine to sleep and it would not wake, only displayed a black screen. Diagnostic utility reports no problems. I'm thinking it's some problem with El Capitan, personally. Probably fixed in a later software update. If the diagnostic utility doesn't report problems I'm not going to waste my time exchanging it for another that will probably exhibit the same symptoms.
I'm still hoping it's software related too, but I am back to report a 2nd black screen incident. I started the thread over 2 months ago (11/8/15) and yesterday it finally happened again. Went up to the computer, tapped the keyboard and the screen did not "wake up." From an angle (in the corners) I could tell the screen was lit and the computer still running, but I couldn't do anything. My only action was pressing the button on the back to shut it down and then press again to restart. And now it's running fine again.
Like last time I don't feel enough has happened to warrant any major fixes/changes. Everything else about the computer is running really well. I'll keep an eye on it though and if the black screen becomes a regularly thing I'll take more action.
Interesting. have been running mine (4GHz/1TB SSD/395X/32GB Kingston ram) for about 3 weeks straight now and have not had this problem once. it's the most stable computer i've ever owned.
That's unfortunate
. Let us know how it works out. So far I haven't had another instance of the black screen. I've had problems with other Macs in the past with the energy saver setting that lets the drive spin down...so I turned that off and haven't had a problem again (so far). I'm not suggesting that is a possible solution, but since we don't have an actual solution yet it can't hurt to try.
I do have my computer set to never sleep, though I do use a screen saver at 5 minutes and display off at 10. Really hard to trouble shoot this problem. Still hoping it goes away with software updates.
I called apple and they advised me to reset pram and SMC, which turned out to work.
Thanks for the advice. I'll try this when and if the black screen happens again.
Gosh. I've had exactly the same thing happen, but, touch wood, only once. Mine is late 2015 3.2ghz iMac. The screen went black once from a cold start. Basically, I got the chime and it stuck. The screen was black, however I could see that the backlight was on. I don't recall seeing a mouse cursor either.
It happened the day after it had been delivered. I felt very panicky about it, however, I powered it down and restarted and it booted up just fine. I also called Apple and ran through Disk Utility, Apple Diagnostic. Plus, he remote-screened to check it over. Everything came back clear. I hardly dare say it, but it has not black-screened since.
I really empathise with how stressful it is when something like this happens. Like a lot of other people, I don't have a lot of money and my computer is really the most valuable item I own. It is really rubbish when things feel uncertain and you can't even isolate what has caused.
I hope you don't experience another black-screen and it all works out for the best.
It happened the day after it had been delivered. I felt very panicky about it, however, I powered it down and restarted and it booted up just fine. I also called Apple and ran through Disk Utility, Apple Diagnostic. Plus, he remote-screened to check it over. Everything came back clear. I hardly dare say it, but it has not black-screened since.
I really empathise with how stressful it is when something like this happens. Like a lot of other people, I don't have a lot of money and my computer is really the most valuable item I own. It is really rubbish when things feel uncertain and you can't even isolate what has caused.
I hope you don't experience another black-screen and it all works out for the best.
It has happened to me twice that the screen remained dark (although the cursor was showing) after an upgrade of OS X.
The solution was simple: reboot in safe mode and let the install program finish, after which the iMac could be rebooted normally. Best ever iMac for me...
The solution was simple: reboot in safe mode and let the install program finish, after which the iMac could be rebooted normally. Best ever iMac for me...
You're on warranty, right? Not sure where you live, but if you lug it into the store it should not be an issue. Probably faster than screwing around and trying to make it run again....Was switching between users on my brand new Late 2015 5k retina iMac and the screen went to black. Nothing but a hard restart would bring the machine back to life. A long press on the back button shut it down, so I know it was still on. Another long press brought up the Apple logo and the start-up chime. That was about 4 hours ago and the black screen hasn't returned...yet. I fear if it's happened once it's just a matter of time before it happens again.
An online search for the problem brought up loads of similar experiences for past iMacs, but I haven't been able to find anyone else reporting this for the late 2015 iMacs.
I have a Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015; 3.3 GHz Intel Core i5; 16 GB 1867 MHz DDR3 (8GB bought from Crucial); AMD Radeon R9 M395 2048 MB; running El Capitan 10.11.1.
I've never seen so many ideas out there about fixing the problem. It runs the gamut from wipe hard drive; reinstall software; get a new video card; unplug everything and plug it in again; try a different keyboard; unplug Time Machine; reset PRAM; remove new RAM, and many many more. I'm not ready to do anything until it happens again, but just wondering if it's happened to anyone else with a late '15 iMac.
Thanks!
P.S. And of course it happened on day 15 of ownership, so an easy return probably not in the cards.
My issue went away after a SW update (running beta...) and as for lugging my iMAC around there's not that many stores around here in Sweden and tbh for 2.5k€ I expect my **** to work and for someone in a white coat to come and fi it right at my desk =)
This issue is not limited to 5K iMacs only. My Late 2013 rMBP also had a few black screens with cursor in the past. If I had to say, it happened maybe 5-10 times to me in the last 2.5 years. Holding power button to turn it off and then turning it on has always helped, but it's extremely annoying when it happens.
I bet that it's OS X issue that is not related to hardware.
PS. Switching users animation is extremely bugged as somebody has already pointed it out.
I bet that it's OS X issue that is not related to hardware.
PS. Switching users animation is extremely bugged as somebody has already pointed it out.
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Hi all,
First, sorry for my English. I am from Spain and my English is not one of my virtues. If you don´t understand anything (I wish any), ask me, no problem.
I bought an iMac 5K late 2015 (1Tb FD and R9 M390 version) on December. A few days later started the problem with the black screen. When I started it up on cold, the screen kept black (black but turns on) and you only saw the cursor in the corner. You can move it, but only it.
I had the problem with the sleep mode too. They are 2 different problems I think (perhaps with any relation), because when I returned from the sleep mode the screen kept black too, but in this case turns off.
I called Apple care, I did eeeeeeverything you have just explained (reinstall Osx, reset PRAM, SMC, etc.) Nothing of them resolved the problems. Finally I carried my iMac to the official technical service. They did every Apple hard test with no results, they changed my screen and my motherboard, but the problems persisted. They came to my house to see how it was installed at home, perhaps searching any fault, but I don´t have any strange thing and no extra and no devices incorporated. They saw everything was OK and they said me that they couldn´t do anything more for my computer.
I started a fight with the retailer to return my money and after months I got it.
With my money, I bought another this week, thinking it could be a bad product and I had bad luck. I received it on Wednesday, and today, the problem has appeared again. I am desperate with this. It cannot be bad luck, and probably it is a manufacturing defect of Apple or an OSX bug.
There is no info about this in spanish forums, no info in spanish, the only info I could find about it was in this forum, so please, have any of yours resolve this problem definitively? Is an OSX problem? I don´t know what to do, if I should keep the iMac and wait for an OSX update or return it to the Apple store. I love this iMac because its screen is amazing and I wouldn´t like to return it if the problem has any real solution.
Thank you very much!!
First, sorry for my English. I am from Spain and my English is not one of my virtues. If you don´t understand anything (I wish any), ask me, no problem.
I bought an iMac 5K late 2015 (1Tb FD and R9 M390 version) on December. A few days later started the problem with the black screen. When I started it up on cold, the screen kept black (black but turns on) and you only saw the cursor in the corner. You can move it, but only it.
I had the problem with the sleep mode too. They are 2 different problems I think (perhaps with any relation), because when I returned from the sleep mode the screen kept black too, but in this case turns off.
I called Apple care, I did eeeeeeverything you have just explained (reinstall Osx, reset PRAM, SMC, etc.) Nothing of them resolved the problems. Finally I carried my iMac to the official technical service. They did every Apple hard test with no results, they changed my screen and my motherboard, but the problems persisted. They came to my house to see how it was installed at home, perhaps searching any fault, but I don´t have any strange thing and no extra and no devices incorporated. They saw everything was OK and they said me that they couldn´t do anything more for my computer.
I started a fight with the retailer to return my money and after months I got it.
With my money, I bought another this week, thinking it could be a bad product and I had bad luck. I received it on Wednesday, and today, the problem has appeared again. I am desperate with this. It cannot be bad luck, and probably it is a manufacturing defect of Apple or an OSX bug.
There is no info about this in spanish forums, no info in spanish, the only info I could find about it was in this forum, so please, have any of yours resolve this problem definitively? Is an OSX problem? I don´t know what to do, if I should keep the iMac and wait for an OSX update or return it to the Apple store. I love this iMac because its screen is amazing and I wouldn´t like to return it if the problem has any real solution.
Thank you very much!!
@Galapaguillo ... I had this issue when I updated from 10.11.2 to 10.11.3.
As stated in the post I have below, an Apple Senior Advisor had me boot into Single User mode and enter the code that shows in my post. After I did that the problem was solved and hasn't reoccured again. Hope this helps:
As stated in the post I have below, an Apple Senior Advisor had me boot into Single User mode and enter the code that shows in my post. After I did that the problem was solved and hasn't reoccured again. Hope this helps:
Hey guys,
I got the same problem here. I already did some of you recommended before and now I am reinstalling the OSX El Capitan. If not solve my problem I will try follow the last recommendation by BigMac.
I got the same problem here. I already did some of you recommended before and now I am reinstalling the OSX El Capitan. If not solve my problem I will try follow the last recommendation by BigMac.
Hey me again,
So, I reinstalled the MacOSX and it took couple of hours of my day, and this didn't solve the problem at all.
And then I did the command line steps and it finally solved my problem without I have to remove any extra screen cable or other devices plugged in... Thank you @^^BIGMac !!
So, I reinstalled the MacOSX and it took couple of hours of my day, and this didn't solve the problem at all.
And then I did the command line steps and it finally solved my problem without I have to remove any extra screen cable or other devices plugged in... Thank you @^^BIGMac !!
Thanks for this. I ran into the black screen this morning and ran this command after booting to Recovery mode on my late 2015 iMac. From recovery mode I ran disk utility which was necessary to unlock the File Vault protection on the iMacs drive. Then from the Recovery utility I opened Terminal from the utilities menu and cd to the mounted Macintosh HD volume and cd to the path you noted and ran the command. All is good now. Thanks so much for this.