Apple Working on “Black Screen” Problem for Mid 2010 MacBook Pro

Apple is aware of and working on a solution for the so called “black screen” problem afflicting some Mid 2010 MacBook Pros. The company issued a KnowledgeBase article officially acknowledging the problem for the first time on Wednesday, adding that the company is working on a solution.

MacBook Pro Black Screen
MacBook Pro “Black Screen”

“Apple has determined that a small number of MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) computers may intermittently stop displaying video on the built-in display or on an external display connected to the MacBook Pro,” the company wrote in the KBase article. “In this situation, you may also see a restart warning message before the video is lost or the display turns black or gray.”

The article doesn’t offer a solution for the problem, but it does include a note that it will be updated as Apple learns more about the problem.

CNet’s MacFixIt noted that one workaround for the problem is to use a third party (free and open source) utility called gfxCardStatus to set the MacBook Pro to only run on the integrated graphics processor. That integrated GPU is much slower than the discreet one in the MacBook Pro, but for those users experiencing this problem, slow graphics are far better than a black screen of stalled death.