After:
apt install update && apt install upgrade
and reboot the laptop I find the black screen with the grub> label.

I can access the distro after performing the following commands:
grub> set root=(hd1,gpt2)
grub> linux /boot/vmlinuz-*********** root=/dev/sda2
grub> initrd /boot/initrd.img-**********
grub> boot

I try to install-reinstall grub (as I was able to do on other occasions) by doing:
sudo update-grub (also tried sudo update-grub2)
sudo grub-install /dev/sda

But when I restart I get the grub> label again.