Big Sur - randomly goes screen to black.

Short update:

Since disabling "Automatic night shift" and "Automatic brightness" there haven't been any more issues, neither with open lid nor in clamshell mode (no True Tone display in 2013).

Seems to be OS related problem - maybe there will be a fix with 11.2 or .3

Just got new macbook pro M1 running Big Sur. Got it up and running yesterday. Today the screen went black.

Went to System Preferences>Display and turned off Auto Adjust Brightness and dragged the brightness bar to a setting that seemed good. Been a few hours now and no darkness.

Will watch to see if the issue comes back.

Hope this helps.

Tom

I solved this by replacing my HDMI cables. I had two brand new usb-c to hdmi cables, I switched the brand and am now using on usb-c to hdmi and the other is usb-c to (dock? Multi plug) and then just a normal HDMI. I was able to replicate the issue and isolate because I have 4 screens and two macs - I was also able to replicate the issue in Catalina - with these cables. Hopefully this is helpful to someone else. (Cables work fine by the way on Mojave) both laptops are MacBook pros one is a 2018 and the other is a 2019. The cables that I am using with out issue are :

PowerBear: 4K HDMI Cable 6 ft

Cablecreation: USB C to HDMI Cable for Home Office 6ft

I still have this issue on 11.4.

What seemed to work is manually lowering the refresh rate to 30Hz.

Otherwise, I get 60hz 4k but screen goes black every few seconds.

If anyone can confirm that this works for them as well, that would be great.

I had this same issue begin after installing BigSur in Dec, 2020 - and it had continued after upgrading to 11.1 - but just last week it looks like I found a possible cause - and no longer having this issue!

My hypothesis is that VMware Horizon Client (used for VDI to work) was fighting over the USB ports (and I'm using a USB-C to HDMI dongle to drive the monitor). Last week I installed a software update to VMware Horizon Client (now on version 2012 Build 8.1.0) and in the process it asked for permission to control the USB ports on the Mac, and I replied "No". Ever since then the monitor blanking issue is gone.

Not sure if it was denying access to the USB ports, or the software update to the VMware Horizon Client itself - but those were the only two changes made to my machine and the issue (of an external HDMI monitor connected via USB-C randomly blanking) appears to be resolved.

Further to my previous posts upgrading to 12.2.1 seems to have fixed this issue for me atleast.

2017 15inch macbook pro... I’ve been experiencing the same issue since I downloaded big sur... I don’t really use night shift and my Mac doesn’t have true tone so I believe its all down to software issues...

I have a 2018 mac book pro with touch bar and I just updated to big sur from mojave. Love mojave. No problems with mojave ever. I needed to use a newer version of xcode so I had to update. The battery drains very fast on big sur and the screen randomly goes black for 15 to 30 seconds maybe a minute and then comes back on.

Other than the random black screen and the battery draining rapidly big sur is working. In 10 minutes the battery went from 100% to less than 80%. The battery just drains instantly now. The black screen issue is quite annoying.

I do have mojave on a seagate so I can go back but that puts me on xcode 10 which is creating a problem. I also noticed the new xcode is in the applications folder and not in the developer folder under library. I deleted the old xcode in the developer folder. Just a heads up that xcode 12 installs in the applications folder and not in the developer folder.

I have not noticed a lag running big sur that other users have claimed. The interface is nicer and looks cleaner. All of my software is working after the big sur install.

The screen has randomly gone black a few times now and the battery is almost useless.

I have updated my 13 inch MacBook Pro 2019 with Touch Bar to Big Sur.

I get a similar but a little different problem than Tomas.

My computer screen goes black 2 to 3 times a week. I cannot get the screen back until I connect to the power and press the power button several times. When the screen is finally back, it initially shows a big red low battery sign in the center of the screen but after the normal screen returns, the battery level is normal. Weirdly, when the problem occurred today, the battery level shown after screen recovery apparently was correct from the first.

Although, not related issue here, I would like the power button to be able to put the computer into sleep mode as default setting.

I have the same issue on my MacBook Air early 2014 since September 2020. I was on MacOs Catalina and it happened randomly, the screen was going black and it lit up after a second, but it was enough to disconnect me from my Zoom meetings. I did a reboot, reset the SMC, and even had an Apple technician look at my computer during a phone meeting. Nothing worked, but it just went away one day. I update to Big Sur (11.1) last week and it's back, worse than ever. My batterie condition is normal, I only have 800 cycle count. It is very annoying, even more so because I can fail my exams if I leave the Zoom meeting at my university.

It happens to me very often. Bought my Macbook Pro 2020 (intel v.) last November and I never had this experience until I updated my MBP to BigSur. My screen keeps turning black often. It happens when I turn on my laptop; when I move the laptop (lifting it up); or when I adjust the screen angle. It's very frustrating. Apple really needs to address this issue. I haven't even had this laptop for a year and I'm already experiencing abnormalities.\

I also tried disabling the Night Shift and True Tone, but they haven't resolved the issue.

I have the same problem. Big Sur 11.2.2. I think this issue started happening on Big Sur 11.2.1. I did not have this issue before OS update, so that rules out any problems with my hardware.

For me, I have an external monitor connect via USB-C (PX7 Prime) running in "Mirror Displays" mode so that both my MacBook Pro and the monitor are displaying the same thing. The screens are scaled to the "More Space". I have automatic brightness and automatic night shift disabled. I also have "Optimized Battery Charging" disabled.

The external monitor will go black for 3-5 seconds then come back. But the MacBook Pro's laptop screen will not go black. If I don't have my MBP docked to an external monitor, I never see any black screens on my MBP.

I have the same exact issue. I have a 15" mid-2014 MacBook Pro and ever since updating to Mac OS Big Sur the screen will suddenly go black. A hard restart fixes the issue for a short time. Never had this problem before updating to Big Sur.

My screen is doing the same thing. Thought it was something I was doing wrong, but no. I started after I updated to Big Sur on my Macbook Pro (Late 2013).

No rhyme or reason other than it seems to be getting worse or happening more often. I'll have to confirm that.

THanks

Chris

Since the last update no more black screens. But now random restarts, with a black screen and a bunch of Chinese characters and Englisch text saying it had to reboot because of a problem. Wished I hadn't upgraded to Big Sur. Big headache.