M3 MacBook Air screen is dim after opening lid

same thing happening with my 13" m3 MacBook Air. It only happens when it's plugged in. If you close the lid with the power not connected, leave it closed for about 5 seconds, then attach the power cable (while the lid is closed), wait a few seconds then open the lid the computer will wake with the screen dimmed every time. Does the same happen with you?? Were you able to get this issue fixed?

I am having this issue too. It happens randomly. One time the screen was completely dark but the keyboard was lit up. Most of the time the screen is about 10% lit up. The F2 button for brightness does nothing! I've tried closing the lid and waiting a few seconds to try again. I end up having to restart it. It's the only thing that I find works.

kmarnold10 wrote:

I understand the M3 MacBook Air doesn't have NVRAM, so I haven't tried your suggestion to clear/reset it. Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support. Please let me know if I'm wrong about that.

There is no traditional PRAM Reset available for an M-series Mac. However, there is a Terminal command line method to do the same thing of clearing the NVRAM. I posted the instructions earlier in this thread. Those instructions to clear the NVRAM is safe to use even on an M-series Mac (I have personally used it multiple times to resolve some odd boot issues on M-series Macs).

Keep in mind that you should not actually try to configure any NVRAM settings you may find online using the command line since 99% of those instructions are for Intel Macs.....many of those configurations will not work on an M-series Mac and may prevent an M-series Mac from booting until the setting is deleted.

Make sure to check/enable the option "Slightly dim the display while on battery power". This is an option in the Battery System Preferences/Settings. On macOS 13.x+, this setting is a bit hidden....it is easiest to locate if you use the System Settings' "search" feature.

Oops, I meant that setting should be disabled or unchecked.

You can try clearing the NVRAM in case there is some display related setting is configured or corrupted. Use the following command in the Terminal app (safe for 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. Also, you may see a couple of keys that cannot be cleared due to permissions issues which is Ok....they are usually related to the computer name.

After issuing this command, you need to restart the laptop in order for the system to pull the default values from the NVRAM.

I'm not sure if the Display .plist preference/settings file could be corrupt (I'm not sure which file would possibly hold it). I guess you could try creating a new macOS user account, then log out of your main user account & log into the new user account to see how the laptop behaves. If this works, then there is some issue with your main user account.

waynescott wrote:

same thing happening with my 13" m3 MacBook Air. It only happens when it's plugged in. If you close the lid with the power not connected, leave it closed for about 5 seconds, then attach the power cable (while the lid is closed), wait a few seconds then open the lid the computer will wake with the screen dimmed every time. Does the same happen with you?? Were you able to get this issue fixed?

There is a System Preference/Setting which needs to be unchecked called "Slightly Dim Display while on battery power". If this setting is unchecked, then perhaps either the .plist configuration file is corrupt (not sure which file it would be these days), or the NVRAM configuration has been corrupted/stuck. See my post earlier in this thread for instructions for clearing the NVRAM (works for both Intel & M-series Macs).

Make sure you have nothing blocking the Ambient Light Sensor next to the camera. I had the exact same problem. I reset to erase all content and settings. Didn't work. Apple tech support didn't help. Then I decided to remove the sliding plastic piece that blocks and unblocks the camera and it fixed the problem.

Yeah I'm still getting it...I fix it by closing and opening screen... or unplugging the MagSafe....if all other fails I restart my Mac and that usually fixes it...it's very annoying...never had this happen on my other MacBooks ..I've owned 6 now...

Curious if this is a Flaw on the new 2024 MacBook Airs

I got 24 MacBook Air 13 inch screen M3 running Sonoma....

I'll comment when I find a permanent fix on this....

I have the same problem, although I could never solve it using the brightness button. Only a restart seemed to return the screen to its normal brightness.

After reading through this thread, I realized that the problem might be related to being on battery when opening the Mac's lid. So, I turned off the option to "Slightly dim the display on battery", closed the lid, connected the Mac to external power, opened the lid, and voilà, the brightness is back to its normal level, and the brightness button now works. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure the problem always occurred before when I was operating just on battery.

I have a 2024 Macbook Air M3 13 screen....

I fixed it by opening and closing the laptop a couple times...it instantly fixes the issue of dimming....

also make sure to turn OFF the "Slightly dim the display on battery"....AND "Automatically Adjust Brightness" OFF

Thank you Waynescott. I am having the same issue and the method you described helped me the screen brightness back up without having to restart every time this happens. I hope we can get a permanent resolution soon.

I went the route of creating a new user, logged in and the same issue happened with this new account