MacBook switches to hibernation during sleep

You might try the "coctail" of Terminal commands. I've had this hibernation issue but have not seen it return since implementing them.

While the end-user should not have to do things like this, it would be nice to know if this corrects your issue and to build on the number of people having success with this solution.

The commands are completely harmless and only adjust your power settings. The reason there are 5 of them is because we want to establish a base-line of identical settings for all trying it.

Simply open Terminal (it's in your Utilities folder--inside the Applications folder) and copy each of these lines below one-by-one and run them in the order listed and let us know if it fixed your issue.

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3

sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 0

sudo pmset -a autopoweroffdelay 36000

sudo pmset -a standby 0

sudo pmset -a standbydelay 36000

sudo pmset -a acwake 0

NOTE: The 36000 represents 10-hours in seconds, and the reason I chose it myself is that after 10-hours of not opening my MacBook, I don't mind if it goes into hibernation.

First, shutting it down kind of defeats the whole purpose. If you're not willing to change the settings at least letting it hibernate the way it does now allows it to re start faster than shutting down and doing a cold boot. I think the unanswered question is determining if this is a bug or was deliberate on Apple's part. It's amazing to me that no one at Apple has even acknowledged this issue and none of their store staff have any knowledge of it and are unnecessarily replacing machines. Incredible!

Does letting it start up with the gray screen do any damage? I completely agree with you that it is utterly amazing that noone at Apply or at the store has a clue. How many complaints and replaces will it take to get Apple to fix it? Thanks for your help?

Once again, you don't have to change all those other settings, like hibernatemode and the standby modes to fix this problem.

If this is the problem:

You put your Mac to sleep with the power attached and 4 hours later, the Macbook Pro automatically goes from sleep mode to hibernate mode (meaning you have to actually power it back on to get it to wake up, then it gets that gray screen as it reloads), then all you have to do is change one of two settings:

sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 0

If you choose this method it turns off that feature to make it go from sleep to hibernate.

sudo pmset -a autopoweroffdelay 86400

If you choose this method, it will wait this many seconds (86400 = 24 hours) before it goes from sleep to hibernate.

It's really that simple. You don't have to change any other setting unless you are trying to fix something else.

I agree 100% that Apple should know about this. But for me, this is such an easy fix and 100% fail safe, I'm way over it.

Someone earlier said they don't have the autopoweroff or autopoweroffdelay available to change. Well, I have no idea about that unless they are running an older Mac or OSX version. I have an older machine running Snow Leapard and this setting isn't available. I thought it started with Mountain Lion but I can't confirm that.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a combination of either compartmentalization and/or ego between the engineers and the AppleCare staff. That or just a plain flawed information sharing strategy.

Once again also, as for the "cocktail" of 5 Terminal commands instead of just changing just the two parameters...

sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 0

sudo pmset -a autopoweroffdelay 86400

I absolutely agree in principle, but because so many have tried and tinkered with so many different solutions that haven't worked, I wanted to reset things to a consistent baseline.

So, if changing just the two parameters works, great. If not, so far I have seen 100-percent success with this "cocktail." I'm on day 7 now.

In another related discussion thread on basically the same issue--Retina MacBook Pro won't wake from sleep--one with over 41,000 views and contributions, many have tried this with success, not only with their Retina MBP's but with MB Airs as well.

Since it only seems to happen if it is using the power cord/charging overnight, will it help if we change the energy savings settings to "never sleep" for power adapter? (I am not that technical so bear with me). I had mine with the lid closed for over 4 hours today w/o the power cord connected and opened the lid and it was just fine so that is why I am asking this.

I called PeachMac today and spoke to service. The person I spoke to was not on duty this weekend so I had to fill him in with what I went through this weekend and my replacement of my brand new MacBook and he said I can bring my brand new MacBook Pro in and have it replaced for the 3rd time or he suggested I shut it completely down at night for now. He said that Apple has a QA team that is constantly lookingg at things and hopefully a repair will be in the works. I did submit a feedback to Apple explaining the problem as I am sure the rest of you did but I thought the more of us that do that the better.

I'm guessing if you have Apple replace your machine, the new one will behave exactly the same. Too bad they can't figure this out. It's such a simple task to change that setting.

I am guessing too which is why I told him I don't want to do that. I am on the 2nd machine since Jan. 3rd. I would rather them find the problem then keep replacing. This is crazy!

I don't understand why you just don't make that simple change. It's not like you're hacking the OS. Whoever you're talking to at Apple is not too bright. Are they going to just give you a 3rd, 4th, 5th machine for this simple problem?. I personally believe that Everybody that has the latest upgrade 10.8.2 has the same problem and are unaware of it or its not such a big deal. If I hadn't obtained the fix here I just would have left it. I certainly wouldn't be shutting down so it wouldn't hibernate. What evil is going to befall your Mac by hibernating? What if they never "fix" it and just say that's the way it's going to work by default from now on? How often is this going to be a big issue for you? Probably it will hibernate instead of sleeping once a day if you use your laptop in a relatively normal way.

Yes, I agree. This appears to be something Apple did on purpose. If their tech support folks were up to speed on this behavior, they would just perform the exact same terminal command and it would work fine.

Just open terminal, type either of the following commands followed by your password, and it's done. Problem will never occur again.

Turn off the auto hibernate:

sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 0

Or

Set the auto hibernate to 24 hours instead of 4 hours:

sudo pmset -a autopoweroffdelay 86400

Bam! Done! Fixed! 🙂

This is a problem with all 2012 MacBook Pros that have applied the update DL1609 via Software Update. This update is called MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Update 2.0. The only fix that exists for this is to reinstall OSX and just not install this update when it shows in the available updates list in the AppStore. Just hide it until this issue is fixed by Apple.

If your OSX 10.8.2 version is anything after version (12C60) then you will have this problem. The problem is as follows. With the system asleep with clamshell closed, plugging and unplugging the power cable causes the system to wake up and go back to sleep. Additionally, leaving the system plugged into power for over 4 hours will cause the system to go into hibernation, but only when plugged in. If it's not connected to AC power while sleeping for that long, it will not enter hibernation.

Please call Apple and complain about this problem. I have been working with them for over a month and a half trying to get them to fix this and it's a major hand-holding process because they didn't initially understand the issue. Add to that the fact that they insisted that this problem doesn't exist and it just made it that much harder to get them to see the issue.

You need to call them AppleCare and let them know you're having this problem. Along with that, email the rep you're working with links to every Apple Support Forum thread you can find on this. Trust me, there are several with this same exact problem.

JohnNY123 – thank you for your posts – you seemed to come to the same conclusion as me. As Swank says above, this does seem linked to the update. I initially tried only turning autopoweroff off when in AC mode, but still had a slow wake if I pulled the plug just before opening the lid. Setting it to turn off in battery and AC seems to have sorted it.

If you're reading this post trying to get a solution, to save you trawling through these pages, the jist of JohnNY123's research, and what I've also found to work is this (leave hibernate settings alone):

In Terminal (in Utilities) enter this command:

sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 0

This will give you this message:

"WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss

or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your

typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.

To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort."

Type your admin password, then press enter. If you want to check that it's taken, enter pmset -g into terminal.

This setting turns off autopower off when both the AC adaptor is in, or it's running on battery power. This has solved the issue for me.

This thread has more on what happened:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4648868?answerId=20953288022#20953288022

Glad autopower off is working for so many people. However, you'll notice you still have a slight issue – if you unplug your MBP from the AC adaptor before opening the lid, the light on the front will illuminate fully as the machine enters a darkwake. If you now open the lid, you'll find the screen stays dark, and won't turn on for about 40 seconds. Of course, the computer is still running far better than before chainging autopoweroff to 0, but I wasn't totally happy...

I made a TimeMachine backup, then booted up in recovery mode (hold cmd R while restarting). I then erased the hard drive, reinstalled the OS, then restored from Time Machine, just unchecking the box for "settings" (don't know if this bit is necessary, but wanted to try). With the laptop up and running again, I went to updates in the App store. There were three at this time – Safari, Camera RAW, and "MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Update 2.0 2.0". I set the two other updates going, but hid the "2.0 2.0" one (holding ctrl and clicking anywhere but on the update button).

My laptop is now running exactly as it should be. The only issue I had with turning settings off seems to have been losing my printers. All other settings are reset, but it's not an problem for me.

Here's the interesting bit... now I haven't applied the update, there is NO mention of autopoweroff or autopoweroff delay in pmset! Also, acwake is still at 0, but it seems to actually work now (as in my MBP doesn't wake when the AC is connected or disconnected). I've passed all this on to my Apple Senior Technician, so I'll let you know if I hear anything back... To me, it's as if this update is meant for the Retina and Air MBPs that have Power Nap, but is causing problems with our mid-2012 MBPs.

I am a novice and one of the lucky people who got a new MBP on Jan. 3rd (due to a water issue), got the gray screen about a week later and then after a couple of Apple Support calls and trips to Peachmac a new MBP and then the same problem the very next day. I have been reading all of your posts for a couple of weeks and my husband and I decided not to change any settings and to wait for Apple to provide an update.

I charge my laptop in the evening when I tend to do most of my work and I am not having the issue as my laptop is in use most of the time. When I goto bed at night it is usually 100% charged so I unplug it and in the morning I lift the lid and my screen is just fine. I was only having the issue if it was plugged in over night (more than 4 hours). If my MBP is not fully charged, I will still leave it unplugged overnight to prevent the gray screen.

Is this fixing the problem? No- but I would rather wait than change any settings at this time especially since it seems that Apple is aware of the issue.

Hi all, please report this issue so they get it fixed in next udpate:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html