Q: macbook air screen goes black

Had that problem on and off in spite of reboots and flusched boot preferences.

DO NOT PUT YOUR MBA ontop of your girlfriends MB!

My guess is that the magnet sits on the top of the screen and is powerfull.

Another guess is that the bottom of MBA is what triggers the sleepmode from a piece of steel sending a signal there is contact.

Mine is a 2011 i bought in feb 2012 and i haven't had any issues until this week - however my girlfriend usually stores the Macbook i gave her in the car in -15C, under the bed or in the laundrybag so..  Seeing it on the livingroom table is sort of a chock to me knowing her.

I hope this is usefull to many since Apple doesn't seem to bring anything to the table.

RH.

Stockholm

Sweden

There is probably nothing wrong with your macbook. I was messing around with some magnets near my MBA and it suddenly went to sleep. After googling, I found out that the contact with a magnet can damage your hardrive, that's why the computer stops functioning, in order to prevent that damage.

Stop saying there is nothing wrong with the macbook if a magnet in the vicinity disables the device. jeeze people, if there is no way to disable the "feature" that IS a problem. Or does that seem normal?

chloelights-The laptop's data isn't any safer from a magnetic field just because it's turned off.

Hearing that many other people having the same issue really comforted me, I just bought my mac air 13" (April 4 2013) and started having this random screen blackouts on my second day of use.

This is not a hot corner issue since I am getting this in the middle of my work when I am typing something. (Computer is not being moved or any hot corners are activated).

Since the computer is brand new I am pretty sure that this is some sort of a factory error or maybe some hardware or software problem, not sure.

These blackouts happen every 2 or 3 days of use randomly. It almost feels like the battery dies on you in the middle of your work giving you an adrenalin rush and just turns itself back on after like 5 seconds.

I however realised after reading some of these posts that it is actually possible to trigger the same balckout affect if you move a magnet on the left side of your computer. I dont think this is the main reason though since I am getting this bug\error when I am working on my desk without any magnets around me. I can assure you that this is some very random wiered error that exists in many Mac Airs from what I see.

Not really sure what needs to be done in this case but It sure feels sad when you purchase a brand new Mac Air and come accross this issue and start thinking what the **** just happened and start thinking if you were sold a defected computer.

When I took my mac into the apple store, they tested it and it turned out to be a software issue.  I had to do a clean install, and it never happened again.  (I noticed my blackouts happened when I was using excel.  maybe you can spot a pattern regarding what software is open when the crash happens).

MBA. Not.

Has correctly identified how to reproduce the problem I am having. I am not able to correct it with a SMS reset or PRAM reset. there are no magnets anywhere around it. I doubt the magnetic field of earth is setting it off.

I just did a clean install of mountain lion and the problem is gone. So it has to be software.

I have been having the problem all along, When I first got the macbook air Mid-2012 and loaded it up with software I put something on it that caused the problem.

For now, I'm free. Being cautios about what I put back on it.

I have gone to all procedures MacApple and forum people has suggested and non of them worked. My MacBook Pro is practically isolated from everything and it keeps going black, sometimes every 2 second, other times every 5 minutes. It has been a real nigth mare. I am not investing one more penny in Apple products for the rest of my life. This is a real hazard, that one buys a computers to dedicate to them and trying every second to fix them, instead of the computer work for the buyer. Totally insane. It has ruined all my work and make lose time and money of my work. Never, ever again.

Although my CLEAN INSTALL fixed the problem temporarily, it eventually came back, so I took my mid 2012 Macbook air to the Apple Store Genius Bar. He was going to take it in for repair. I thought first lets try to reproduce the problem on a clean account (which I had set up previously) I could not reproduce the blackout. Also on the guest account we could not reproduce the blackout. So it is an issue with a spcific user account, presumably software.

This is how my problem happens. maybe you can reproduce it in your machine.  close the lid till the apple light goes out wait 5 seconds. reopen the lid and wait about 21 seconds. the screen will go black. no way to wake it till its ready to wake back up, about 5 seconds.

This only happens on my main user account, not on my guest account, or my clean account.

Check the results on your machine on a guest or clean account and see if the issue goes away.

I have MacBook Air (Mid 2013) and started to experience the same problem as described. After reading through most of the replies, I am beginning to think that it's an application that's causing this to happen... So maybe we should talk about what apps/sw we have installed and try to find a common app that may be the culprit.

FYI, I don't have any magnets nearby and the MacBook Pro that I own is packed away in a box about 3 feet away. Like I said before, for most of us, it's probably a sw issue.

Symptom: When MBA goes to sleep and I log back in to use it, the screen goes black and goes into sleep mode again shortly.

Here are some of the apps that are running all the time:

• TotalFinder
• TotalSpaces
• Cookie
• Fusion
• Papers
• Little Snitch
• SOHO Organizer/Calendar

(*Apps listed below are running, but least likely to be the culprit (educated guess))

• Evernote
• Dropbox
• SkyDrive
• GoogleDrive

I also checked "Activity Monitor" for running processes, but none seemed to stand out.

I have the exact same problem. Hopefully this is a software issue.

I don't use any of the apps you listed DigiRAMbo, except evernote, but it was happening before I reinstalled it.

I have had dropbox all along though. Don't think it could be that.

If you use a guest account, does the screen go black?

Mine won't, so I deduce its a software issue in my user account.

jeff

I am also having this problem on a 2013 MBA 11" i5. Great.

I have not tried to sign on the guest account, because I don't want that to be a fix for the flickering of the screen.

I just updated my MBA (mid 2013) with Update 1.0 and crossed my fingers... But no luck. I ran into the same problem after I woke it up from sleep. As annoying as it is to deal with a problem like this on a new device, I have no complaints what-so-ever on the actual performance.

I guess we are back to square one...

I read the link provided by MBA. Not.  When I read it, I wondered if this problem is due to heat, since the SMC tracks internal temperature.  I followed the steps and reset the SMC and will report back if I experience the problem again.

@DigiRAMbo, Looking at the apps on your list, I also have Evernote and Dropbox installed and running.