MacBook Air M1 - Black Screen

Question

MacBook Air M1 - Black Screen

I restored my device to delete some trash files, but It immediately turned off and showed the Apple logo and then there was an exclamation point in a circle with the text of "support-apple.com/restore." I looked for that link I found out that I needed another mac to "revive/restore" the mac cause it had some problems with the Firmware. However, I don't have any friends with Mac to do that, so I went to a Certified Apple Technical Service in my country, cause Apple doesn't have an Official Store. I told to the genious bar the problem I had and he told me that he was gonna do the repair and it'll probably take around an hour, I was ok with that, thinking that he was a professional since it is certified by Apple. He started doing everything but then he told me that the Mac was restarting a lot, so he was going to disconnect the battery to "stabilize" the Mac, after disconnecting the battery he plugged the Mac to the outlet and told me that it was supposed to turn on, even without battery. After doing that the Mac started but the screen wasn't working anymore, we could hear the chime but there was no image comming from the screen. He connected the battery again to see if it works, but it didn't. He event tried connecting to an external monitor but it wasn't working either. After that he told me that he had to do more tests and diagnostics, but it was gonna cost me a lot. It didn't make sense to me, since I came with a problem that was really easy to solve.

So I found a far friend who had the same MacBook as me, and I tried the Apple Article steps and figured it out to revive the MacBook, It was certaintly working, since I could hear the chime and the VoiceOver was on the setup mode, selecting language and everything. BUT THERE WAS NO IMAGE COMMING FROM THE MAC. I tried to connect it to an external monitor and the Mac recognized it cause it extended the screen and the mouse was working but there was no image comming from the MacBook

What can I do?!

MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

Posted on Jul 12, 2025 01:15 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

157,296 points

Jul 12, 2025 03:07 PM in response to eskeleeeeeerr

From what you’ve described, it sounds like the "Apple Certified" technician may have caused damage during the battery disconnection or handled the Mac improperly during the DFU process. The key clue is that your Mac is booting, responding to VoiceOver, and extending the desktop to an external monitor—but with no internal display output whatsoever.

AFAIK, that typically means your Mac’s logic board is functioning (CPU, SSD, RAM, firmware are good), but the internal display path is either physically damaged or not getting a signal.

Use a flashlight and shine it directly at the screen while the Mac is on. Look closely—if you see faint UI elements or the Apple logo, the backlight circuit may have failed* This is sometimes caused by a short or poor reconnection of the display flex cable.

Doing a full restore with the Apple Configurator would be the "last resort" option, if you can get this worked out with another Mac. Sometimes revives can bring the firmware back to life but leave the OS in an unstable state, particularly if the display system files are corrupted or mismatched.

Finally, even though you're not near an Apple Store, reach out to Apple Support online or by phone and explain that this issue began after a certified technician worked on your machine. If you have any paperwork or proof from the service visit, mention it. Apple tends to take poor handling by certified partners seriously, and you might get an out-of-warranty exception or escalation if they see it was potentially caused by a technician mistake.

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Answer 2

Jul 12, 2025 04:01 PM in response to Tesserax

Thank you very much for your response!

I did the flashlight thing and the display is completely black

I received the Service Order and it specifically says that the MacBook came showing an exclamation sign, but after disconnecting the battery and trying to turn it on again, the MacBook was no longer emitting image, even connected to an external display!

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