M1 Macbook Air Dim Screen Waking from Sleep

Dim screen when waking from sleep using battery power:

  1. open the lid
  2. press the power button
  3. brief flash of the log-in screen then screen shuts off
  4. press the power button again and computer wakes up, logs me back in, but the screen is apparently at the lowest brightness setting
  5. Can recover to normal screen brightness by adjusting either of the brightness function keys. After that, can continue working as normal.


Does not happen when connected to AC power.



2020 M1 Macbook Air

16GB

1 TB

Big Sur 11.6.1

System Firmware Version: 7429.41.5


Posted on Nov 27, 2021 8:20 AM

Reply
3 replies

Nov 28, 2021 8:38 AM in response to Darby Brown

Hello Darby,


Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you’re having trouble with the brightness on your Mac. We’re happy to help.


We suggest reviewing this article: If your Mac display is slow to reach full brightness - Apple Support


You may also want to try updating your macOS to see if the issue persists: Upgrade to macOS Monterey - Official Apple Support


We hope that helps.


Take care.

Nov 29, 2021 6:15 AM in response to bailier

Thank you, bailier.


To clarify - it's not "slow" to reach brightness. It's just extremely dim until I press either screen brightness adjustment key. Then it resumes (more or less) it's previous setting. I left out one important observation in the above timeline, it's now #2.

  1. open the lid
  2. rather than waking on opening the lid, the screen stays dark.
  3. press the power button
  4. brief flash of the log-in screen then screen shuts off
  5. press the power button again and computer wakes up, logs me back in, but the screen is apparently at the lowest brightness setting
  6. Can recover to normal screen brightness by adjusting either of the brightness function keys. After that, can continue working as normal.


The article recommends turning on the ambient light sensor. However, I leave it off on purpose as a steady screen brightness is crucial to my work. Still, I'll test it and let you know.

Also - I can't yet upgrade to Monterey as it is still undergoing testing with some systems I rely on.


Thanks, again.

Darby

Dec 12, 2021 3:50 PM in response to bailier

This reply follows the earlier reply to bailier. The same issue with a very dim screen on waking happened again. This time the laptop was plugged in. (Previously, it only happened when disconnected from the mains and not connected to another monitor.) I've attached an image that shows the screen brightness relative to the second monitor just next to it. The problem is intermittent and this is the first time it has happened while plugged in.


To wake the computer, I press the power/Touch ID button. it woke with the screen at the lowest brightness setting per the image below. It was sleeping for several hours. I tried to video it, so I put the computer back to sleep, woke it again, however it worked normally. Nothing has changed with the OS - still on 11.6.1.


Thanks for any help.



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M1 Macbook Air Dim Screen Waking from Sleep

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