Unresponsive MacBook
The display on my MacBook has suddenly gone black, and it seems unresponsive. When I try starting it up, it still chimes, but the screen just stays black. What has broken?
This is a hardware failure that requires a repair by an Authorized Apple Service Provider for certain. If you have access to an external display, you might be able to get it to start up using that, sufficient to run its hardware diagnostics at least. If that works, it may give you the ideal opportunity to make a backup of everything that’s important on its internal storage before it goes for repair.
The fault could be in the display itself, or more likely in the cable connecting the display to the rest of the MacBook’s internals, a known Achilles heel. Although Apple designs those to minimize the chance of failure, with repeated opening over the years they will eventually fail. Checking and replacing them is a lengthy and intricate process best left to those who know what they’re doing, and official spare parts.