M1 MacBook Air external display keeps waking up

I have an M1 MacBook Air connected by USB-C to an LG 27UK850-W 4K monitor. The screen has been waking up frequently when the MacBook is asleep. It never exhibited this behavior with my previous computer, a 2018 15" MacBook Pro. Both computers are running macOS 11.0.1.


Basically what will happen is I will put the computer to sleep, and then every ten minutes or so the screen will "wake" but not fully "turn on." So the backlight will come on, but the screen will remain black, and then it will turn itself back off after a minute.


Doesn't seem like something that would be harmful, but it's definitely a bit annoying. If I remember to switch the monitor to a different input, it stops waking by itself and continues to charge the MacBook over USB-C, so that's been my workaround. Just curious whether anyone else was experiencing something similar?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.0

Posted on Nov 24, 2020 8:12 AM

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Posted on Jan 16, 2021 4:29 PM

Same problem with my Mac mini M1 with an LG 27UK850 over USB-C. Happened when I had an Intel MacBook Air attached to the same monitor over USB-C as well.


I have not been able to find a fix. It's extremely annoying because it lights up my whole room in the middle of the night.

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Jan 16, 2021 4:29 PM in response to Jeremy K.

Same problem with my Mac mini M1 with an LG 27UK850 over USB-C. Happened when I had an Intel MacBook Air attached to the same monitor over USB-C as well.


I have not been able to find a fix. It's extremely annoying because it lights up my whole room in the middle of the night.

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Jan 23, 2021 10:30 PM in response to Jeremy K.

An easier way (update to macOS 11.2 RC):

1.Run command in terminal: sudo pmset -a tcpkeepalive 0

2.Run command in terminal: sudo pmset -a powernap 0

3.Make sure these options is not checked: "System Preferences->Battery->Optimized battery charging" and "System Preferences->Battery->Power Adapter->Wake for network access"

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Nov 29, 2020 3:12 PM in response to Jeremy K.

Hey! I’ve got the same problem with my Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Pro.


It really, really annoys me! Especially because I’m sleeping in the same room as I‘m working, and this also happens during nighttime.


Just because I‘m curious, have you ever installed the program TimeMachineEditor?

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Jan 17, 2021 8:24 AM in response to Jeremy K.

Goto system prefrences->battery->power adapter-> Check the "prevent the mac into sleep" and uncheck "wake up for network access". Slide "turn display off after" to never.Then cmd+ctrl+q esc.I solved it in this way.If it still wakes up automatically, it may be the compatibility of the monitor, or M1 MacBook in the final analysis.

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Dec 16, 2020 1:29 PM in response to Jeremy K.

MacOs 11.1 seems to solve some display issues (Macbook Air M1 + LG 49WL95C-W) but now the big problem is monitor constantly waking up and power off every 2/3 minutes when I put the MacBook on Sleep. So, I have to completely shutdown the Mac every time. Any solutions about this?

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Jan 7, 2021 2:35 PM in response to CoolAsPuppy

I might have stumbled upon a fix, this might have something to do with a display driver or color profile not loading over usb-c.


I installed LG Calibration Studio and stopped having the issue, this app also seems to load the LG HDR 4K color profile. The calibration studio app can also be uninstalled and the color profile will stay.


I also noticed an improvement in colors and contrast on my monitor. They were a bit washed out previously compared to my MacBook Pro Retina 2014 connected to the same display via thunderbolt to display port cable. The MacBook Pro Retina 2014 loaded the LG HDR 4K color profile automatically.



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Jan 9, 2021 2:46 PM in response to SupportLaurens

Hey, I actually did this to try and control my audio from my keyboard but now every time I close the lid of my m1 macbook air my monitor goes to sleep!


Here's what happened.

  • I tried to install SoundSource (a sister app of Loopback), but it didn't install correctly.
  • I booted in recovery mode and switched to reduced security.
  • I booted up again and I was able to then install a kernel extension. Even with that installation, I still wasn't able to open SoundSource (it was still asking me to do the "allow" thing)
  • I uninstalled SoundSource and switched the security mode back. Now my external monitor goes to sleep every time I close the lid of my mac, and won't wake up unless I disconnect/reconnect the HDMI.


Any ideas on what I can do to fix this?


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Feb 4, 2021 9:21 AM in response to Jeremy K.

Same issue here with a Dell U3421WE connected via USB-C to my new MacBook Air M1. And when returning to my computer this morning, I've had "hundreds" of notification messages telling me to properly disconnect an external hard drive - see screenshot. Totally annoying! I'm asking myself whether I shall return the Dell oder the MacBook ...

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Dec 11, 2020 5:59 AM in response to Jeremy K.

Hey, I have the same issue with a MacBook Pro m1 connected to an LG 27UL850-W. Macbook is in clamshell mode.


I have tried turning off deep sleep mode on the monitor, the deep sleep mode cuts off power to the usb-c charging and hub functions but this doesn't seem to help.


Wondering when Apple will fix this.

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Jan 7, 2021 8:52 AM in response to Jeremy K.

i am also having exactly same issue with my m1 air and lg 27gn950 with usb c to dp cable but when i use hdmi everything seems to work perfectly no issues at all.actually the m1 macs have issues with usb c connection to monitor but with hdmi it is mostly working well. hoping, the new upcoming macos11.2 will fix these issues.

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M1 MacBook Air external display keeps waking up

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