MAMP not starting Apache server on El Capitan 10.11.1
I ran into the same problem as well after upgrading Mavericks to El Capitan. Mysql did start, but Apache failed starting. I'm running MAMP 3.0.5 (regular version).
I managed to fix this issue by renaming a file in the folder /Applications/MAMP/Library/bin. Rename envvars to _envvars and restart Apache. This made Apache running again on my machine.
Ok im new here but i figured it out.
sudo apachectl stop
Just ran that command.
Try copying the pre update version of your httpd.conf file and restarting apache as recommended above.
sudo cp /private/etc/apache2/httpd.conf.pre-update /etc/apache2/httpd.confsudo apachectl restart
This worked for me. I had issues getting MAMP (Pro) to start Apache and when it was running it took a while to shutdown Apache, which is odd since it didn't start.
I blame El Capitan, always blame the captain if things go wrong. Except Captain Morgan, that's your own fault.