Macbook Air M3 - Low Brightness after wakeup!

Same her, just bought my MacBook Air earlier this month, and am experiencing the same problem others report in this forum [running Sonoma 16.6.1 OS]. Wonder if the new Sequoia OS fixes the problem?

Same problem as everyone else. Since it seems like a lot of people have this problem, do we have to wait for an OS update to see the fix. It should come earlier. I have to shut down and start up every time I get on computer now, which is ridiculous.

I have this issue too. I bought this M3 MacBook Air in June and it happens occasionally when it wakes up from a long nap in the past 2 months. I have to restart it every time.

Same problem on my brand new MacBook Air, running Sonoma 14.6. Lots of fun fumbling thru a dark screen to find the brightness adjustment and nudge it. For all their user experience expertise, Apple really seems to have dropped the ball and missed this in release testing(unless they just don't care or it's somehow twisted into being a "feature").

I am having this issue as well. M3 MacBook Air on Sonoma 14.6.1 (23G93). After a wakeup (not every wakeup), the display is very dim, Function keys unresponsive, and the Brightness slider is missing from Settings - see screen shot here.

If I put the machine to sleep when this is happening, I briefly see a '+' image in the top right corner of the MacBook display. When it gets in this condition it seems the only way to get out is to restart.

I'm now running OS 15.1, seems to have rectified this situation.

Happy for you. Same issue here on macOS 15.1 and 15coughTw0

If the display is only slightly dimmed, then you can uncheck the "Slightly dim display on battery" Display System Setting (you need to click the "Advanced..." button to access this setting).

If this is not the problem, then you can try clearing the NVRAM settings using the following command in the Terminal app (safe for both Intel & M-series Macs):

sudo  nvram  -c

This command will prompt you for your admin password. Nothing will appear on the screen as you type the password, so press the "Return" key to submit the password. You may see a message about not being able to clear some options such as Computer Name which is Ok. You will need to restart the computer in order for the system to grab the default NVRAM settings.

Did you install the latest Sequoia 15.1.1 update patch yet to see if that fixes the problem? @tavbooks said it worked for them.

If not and my earlier suggestions do not work, then you can adjust the brightness using the following method......Cover the camera with your hand & let the display dim. Once the dimming stops dropping, adjust the brightness while still keeping the camera covered. This has prevented my organization's MBAirs running Sonoma from dimming the display (at least when running on battery).

Otherwise you need to open a support ticket with Apple so that Apple is made aware of the problem. Apple cannot fix what they do not know about. Plus Apple needs information from those affected to try to reproduce the problem so they can develop a fix.

This appears to be a problem that goes back for years. I think Apple is in denial. Although sometimes it seems to be OK. Go figure.

Can someone please fix this? It's driving me crazy!