Big Sur Screensaver activates in the middle of active session

Heya - I got the same issue on the new Mac Mini M1 with Big Sur 11.1.

To get back into my account (from the screensaver lock-up) the following procedure works for me:

• Press Cmd-Ctrl-Q (the normal lock-screen command)
• (dont log in, but) Select Cancel (-> Mac goes to Sleep)
• (Wake up Mac by) Pressing an arbitrary key or moving the mouse
• Log back in

Hope that helps you too, cheers !

I have the same problem and had the same answer from the support : wait for next update.

Two more clues (for apple… !)

• It seems to happend after more than 12 hours
• I think i heard a "bip" at least twice before the screen saver starts (sometimes a headphone is plugged so i can't say it happens each time.

I also have a new MacBook Air 13 M1 running Big Sur 11.0.1 and I'm experiencing the exact same issue. I have a MacBook Pro (2019) also (Big Sur 11.0.1) > no issue with the screensaver. On MacBook Air I have two admin accounts and I don't use an external monitor. I have set screensaver to "never" and also tried to adjust the "require password x minute after sleep or screen saver begins" setting from "immediately" to "1 minute" > no help. I'm experiencing the issue on both accounts. Usually it helps to login to the other account and then switch back to the other, but not always. A few moments ago I was logged in to my other account that seemed to work ok but when I tried to login to the other the screen saver kicked in immediately and I was unable to even see the desktop. In this case nothing helped and I had to restart the computer. Extremely annoying bug that makes using the computer very difficult.

Tried and closing the lid seems to work, thanks for the tip. I just plugged in the laptop to power and after 5min or so the screensaver kicked in in the middle of the session. Before plugging in I had used the laptop for some time (on battery) without issues.

Yes, I have recently gotten a new Mac Book Air and am experiencing the same issue. After some time being logged in, a screen saver activates. A quick fix has been the close lid and open it again. .... Maybe this is a feature? A horrible feature?

Looking on google, this doesn't seem to be a new problem with Apple. I saw posts asking about this going back to 2005. However, I have been using Macs for years and have not experienced this issue. My guess is they fix it as it appears. We shall see.

i have the same issue on m1 mac mini. unfortunatelly it does not have a lid :) ... the power button only works half of the time, so the other half of times i have to hard shut down the computer and start again. thats really annoying. just installing the new actualisation, but its not mentioned in the notes... soprobably wont help :-/

I can confirm this is still happening on MacOS 11.1 :(

I have screensaver disabled on all 3 user accounts on my 2020 M1 MacBook Air, and the screensaver will come on occasionally while I am actively using my Mac on the admin account (can't speak for others).

The screensaver cannot be exited with keyboard or trackpad activity.

Closing and reopening the lid does work to exit screensaver and resume what I was doing.

I have a MacBook Air 13 M1 with Big Sur updated to 11.1. Didn't have this problem initially but started getting it after I turned on hot corners (not to screensaver but to other functions). Had to use Touch ID button or close the lid to recover. Now I've turned off all hot corners and the problem seems to have gone away.

Try turning off all hot corners.

No hot corners or screensavers enabled.

for some user It seems related to having multiple users logged in.

It's not just not the macbooks that are having this issue. I'm on a M1 Mac mini.

My way of getting out is by using the combination of CTRL + CMD + Q and then switching user.

I had hot corners enabled on both user accounts. Tried disabling them on both accounts, didn't help. I almost always have two users logged in at the same time but haven't yet tested if logging out the other user would help.

In my case - brand new MacAir, M1. I have 4 accounts on it. The screen saver was switched on only at one of the accounts - not at the admin one (which is the mine). Anyway, the screen saver appeared on my account as well - although I never set it on. Terrible!

I had my screen go to a new screensaver today in the midst of typing an email. Was thankful to see this info here and closing the lid did restore me to my home page where I could log in again. Any word on the “fix”?

11.2 seems to have fixed this issue… but there are still two issues on my Mini M1

#1 - the screens are still not managed properly (I have two dell screens.) and when I switch from user1 to user2 (without unloging!) The screen resolutions are NOT correct and I have to set them again using the system preferences (not only resolution but also arrangements. BORING.

#2 - Still have mouse deconnections from time to time (I have disabled Handoff just in case… seems to solve the issue for some people)

Wait and see… The mac mini M1 is still a fantastic machine dispite these desagrements

Roland