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My new macbook pro's screen goes black when I'm using it

My laptop is only about 5 months old. In the last few weeks, when I'm surfing the web, the screen just goes black and I have to reboot. It's not going to sleep, it's not a momentary thing. The only way to navigate out is a reboot. Anyone have any idea what this is or do I have a lemon on my hands? I don't want to have to send it in to applecare if it's just a minor thing I can fix.

Many thank!

powerbook, iphone, macbookpro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Dec 11, 2010 9:28 AM

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31 replies

Dec 23, 2010 12:31 PM in response to amina13

My macbook is 2 months old. The display has started going black, the machine shuts down and won't start back up until it cools off. The laptop gets very hot at the hinge. I took it to MacKPak for warranty repair. They said they couldn't duplicate the problem and charged me bench time. I started it up when I got home (150 miles round trip) and it got warm and shut down. It seems to be OK when I using it to send and receive email, but if I work on the internet, or play a game (not on line), it will shut down. Maybe I bought a "no-gaming" model 🙂. I'm told the heat isn't unusual, however this gets almost too hot to touch, burns my lap. Any suggestions?

Dec 23, 2010 12:40 PM in response to Toni Robinson

Toni Robinson wrote:
I took it to MacKPak for warranty repair. They said they couldn't duplicate the problem and charged me bench time. I started it up when I got home (150 miles round trip) and it got warm and shut down.


I definitely would call your MacKPak and share with them your return experience, all is not right; especially after charging you for their failed diagnostic.

Might be cheaper to ship it to them.

Dec 23, 2010 1:15 PM in response to amina13

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2377
http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1727530&tstart=15&start=0

I see the support.apple announcement lists 2007 - 2008 machines, but the same video hardware is in use today. I was told by a Genius that the video hardware can in-theory "float" under certain operating temperatures. This in turn can cause the display-saver (automatic black screen) to switch on, or it can activate Sleep as well. I had this problem for a while. I had to boot and reboot to get the display to operate steadily. If I suddenly "picked up" my Mac it would "go black" as well.

Apple has to "test" your hardware in order to replace it (free of charge).

While I was waiting for my appointment to test it, I noticed the problem slowly went away.

Message was edited by: NA Smith

Dec 23, 2010 1:25 PM in response to Toni Robinson

Download iStatPro and figure out what resources are being used so heavily that your Mac gets so hot. These days Macs have loads of RAM and effective CPU/hard-drive, so hardware shouldn't be an issue. I would wonder if any aftermarket software's bottling up the works. Sometimes it is as simple as a stuck printer que. Maybe even the Activity Monitor can tell you...

That said - these aluminum units are way too hot to have on your lap, no matter how efficient they are! CPU temps at 60 or 70 or even 80 degrees should be OK, but sustained 80+ is scary.

Message was edited by: NA Smith

Jan 8, 2011 12:22 AM in response to amina13

my mbp was also only around 5 months old when the exact same problem happened. If an audio was playing at the moment the screen went black, it became a loop that played over and over. the only way to turn it back on is rebooting it. All i did was contact apple with my applecare, and they told me to send the machine to the local apple store. The technician told me it was a problem with my logic board and have a brand new one replaced within 3 days. Now it's working fine! 🙂

Message was edited by: John Doublewood

Feb 7, 2011 12:58 PM in response to eww

My MacBook Pro is 9 months old. The display started going black, keyboard stops responding and the only way to recover is a reboot, like some of you described. But it doesn't seem to happen all randomically. I observed it is more often with certain apps: iPhoto and Photo Booth. Although it happened once with Photoshop.
Maybe because these apps demands more video memory?

Message was edited by: dtabach

Feb 8, 2011 12:31 AM in response to amina13

I just got my MacBook pro back from the Genius bar where they replaced the display because of a sloppy laptop hinge. But when I got it back I noticed an irritating blinking in the display. The screen blinks-out to black very quickly and only once, but it happens every few minutes. So over time, it is very annoying and noticable. I noticed the problem after the repaired hinge because the Genius Bar returned my MBP with the video reset to the "Better Battery Life" Energey Saver setting. I noticed the blinking before the repair, but had resolved the issue by setting the energy saver setting to the "Better Battery Life" setting, which apparently switches a different video chip into use. But now I am reminded that my MBP, still under support warrantee, has a defect. And I want it fixed before my Apple care expires.

To be clear, the issue is, when I switch the Energy Saver Settings to "Higher Performance", the intermitant screen blinking stops entirely. But int the opposite setting the screen blink issue returns.

For a long time this problem didn't affect me because I generally leave my MBP in the Higher Performance setting. But now I am aware of it and the problem is chronic and repeatable when the "Better Battery Life" energy saver setting is set.

It seems the the late 2008 model MBP has a hidden warrantee issue related to the secondary lower power video subsystem. And after a Google search, it seems that this problem affect a lot of users.

I plan to return to the Genius Bar and hope that a logic board replacement will address my issue.

I have reported this issue as a bug, to Apple.

My new macbook pro's screen goes black when I'm using it

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