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macbook air screen goes black

Hey. I bought a new MacBook Air 13" on December 20, 2011. I do like it a lot, but I have one big problem (its big to me!) and question -- about 3 times per week since purchasing the MacBook Air while working / typing on the MacBook Air, the screen just goes black fir NO apparent reason!! It is like the battery is suddenly totally OUT of any power! But, the battery has plenty of charge, and no command or other key stroke nor any other activity that should cause this black screen has been done.


NOTE: It seems to happen while I am in M.S. Word for Mac. It stays black for about 3 to 5 seconds, and then comes back on. No file is lost. My work is all still there, and it comes back on like nothing ever happened. But it is not NORMAL and I have never had this happen like this with any other computer I have had --MAc or Wndows.


Anyone have any ideas what causes thus? Thankd ahead of time for your time and help. BLT

Posted on Mar 28, 2012 2:09 PM

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87 replies

Jul 19, 2012 2:21 PM in response to btollison

Just came across this issue with my brand new 11" Air. Place it on top of my 1st gen macbook and black screen. Sometimes I can get it to come out of sleep while on there, other times I need to remove it entirely. Very repeatable though!!! I suspect if the sleep mode is triggered by the magnetic latch that maybe the magnet in the adjacent laptop triggers this....


Two modes seem to trigger this... One, place on laptop and rotate base...black screen. Two, place on laptop and move/tilt the screen... black screen.

Mar 25, 2017 6:38 PM in response to Raymond F

Hi @raymond_f,


The magnetic closing mechanism on the MB Pro (bottom) is activating the magnetic switch on the MB Air (top) causing the MBA to think it has been shutdown (which btw, is the expected behaviour).


This could also happen when other Apple products (e.g., iPhones, iPods, iPad, iWatch,..) are in direct contact with a magnetic source.


Note: speakers, watch bands, power cords, cases may contain magnets.


Hope this helps.. Ange

Apr 6, 2012 8:52 AM in response to btollison

I am having this problem as well. About two days ago it shut down twice randomly, I though the battery might have died but it was over 50% when I got it back on. It worked ok for me yesterday but today when I turn it on it only last about two mins and it shuts down. I only bought the macbook air in January so I shouldn't think it would be a failing battery or anything like that.


Please Help


Dave

May 17, 2012 8:45 PM in response to btollison

I have had this happen just a couple of times, but in both cases I put the MBA onto something metal. First time I placed it (whilst connected to power adaptor) on top of another closed Macbook that was charging, the second time I was on a flight with the flight power adaptor plugged in, and moved it onto the metal frame of the tray. Just an idea but maybe somthing wierd to do with the earthing? In both cases it was completely repeatable - put the MBA down, screen immediately went blank, and the only way to bring it back to life was close lid, remove from metal object, and then open it up after about 10 secs.


Anyone else had anything similar or just a red herring...

May 25, 2012 10:52 AM in response to Davesnew

Same thing that Davesnew describes happens to me too whenever I place my 13" Air on top of another closed laptop and then turn it a little. Either laptop plugged in or not plugged in, doesn't matter. The Air goes into what looks like sleep mode with everything nonfunctional until I close and reopen it. Only happens on top of another laptop (haven't tried metal trays yet) and is repeatable at-will.

Jul 11, 2012 2:46 PM in response to btollison

I'm having the same problem, while working the screen suddenly goes black for a few seconds and then just comes back. It's been happening more often recently. I have a Macbook Air 11" late 2011, running Lion 10.7.4 (latest). It happens both while running on the battery or while plugged in.


Now that I think about it, it seems to happen when I move it and it hits a metalic surface... even the spiral on my notebook.... Interesting but dissapointing.

Sep 1, 2012 5:53 PM in response to Davesnew

Just want to chime in that this happens to me, too. I have a MacBook Pro unibody. When I place it on top of my wife's MacBook the screen goes black, sounds stop, it is effectively dead. I remove it off of the other laptop and 2-3 seconds later the screen comes back, sounds start playing etc. Seems like some sort of electrical short to me.

Sep 8, 2012 6:11 PM in response to btollison

So here is the fix. I had the exact same problem, and after my second trip to the Genius bar with my Macbook Air, the Genius proved he deserved the title. The fix was very simple: for whatever reason one of my hot corners was enabled to put my screen to sleep! So when you just brush the trackpad with your hand, it is very easy to accidentally 'push' the pointer the the corner that activates the screen sleep. In my case it was the top left corner, where you normally your pointer after you close an application. You find the hot corners setting under mission control. The Genius disabled it and the problem has gone away!!! That simple!!!


I have no recollection of having ever turned on that 'feature', but this had been going on for several months, and it continued even after I updated to Mountain Lion. It was very irritating, as it happened by random. In my case the issue was that I would be working, or web surfing and the screen would all of a sudden go totally black (music would continue to play if iTunes was on, but the screen would go black). Then magically, after 4 or 5 seconds it would turn itself back on. I remeber earlier on I would re-boot the laptop.


I was unbelievably fortunate that the issue happened during the visit to the genuis bar, which is like hitting the lottery... It is like going to the car shop and asking the mechaninc to help you get rid of that noise that nobody knows where it is coming from...🙂


I hope this helps!

Sep 9, 2012 11:43 AM in response to masarak

Update: Upgraded to Mountain Lion. Now it comes out of sleep mode in a few seconds on its own when this happens instead of me having to press the restart button. So for me the issue is fixed (thanks, Apple). Guess there's an electomagnetic sensor that tells the macbook when it's been closed that gets set off by accident under certain circumstances. Fun fact: I can put the macbook to sleep for a few seconds by swiping a magnet over the power plug port.

macbook air screen goes black

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