Can the light in your MacBook's keyboard ever go out?

Question

Level 1

4 points

Can the light in your MacBook's keyboard ever go out?

I was just wondering, maybe its just me, but it seems that the lights in my MacBook are going dimmer and dimmer. Seems like when I first bought it (March of 2012) they were super bright. Now I find myself constantly pressing F6 (to make it brighter) but its already up as bright as it will go. Is it just me or could my light be going out? If it is can this replaced? WITHOUT damge to my MacBook? Thanks!

MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jan 25, 2013 2:31 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Jan 25, 2013 2:35 PM in response to Pirate9

The keyboard light can be set to Auto adjust. Is that what you are seeing? Are you in a bright room/area?

Yes it can be replaced and if there is anything wrong with it, it is covered under the warranty.

Take it to an Apple store and have it checked out.

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Answer 2

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Jan 25, 2013 2:35 PM in response to Pirate9

Yes the keyboard backlghting can die, check your system preferences>keyboard, turn off automatically illuminate keyboard in low light, see if that helps. ATB

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Answer 3

Pirate9 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 25, 2013 2:37 PM in response to Pirate9

Thank you guys! Do you know if they go out often? Is this common?

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Answer 4

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Jan 25, 2013 2:39 PM in response to Pirate9

RARE

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Answer 5

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Jan 25, 2013 2:45 PM in response to Pirate9

But not unheard of. Yes they can fail but usually it is 1 or 2 of the lights under the keys, they are individual lights.

But I bet if you go into a darker area and Turn the lights all the way up they will be very bright.

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Answer 6

Pirate9 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 25, 2013 2:47 PM in response to Pirate9

Thank you, guys! 🙂

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Answer 7

Courcoul

Level 6

18,558 points

Jan 25, 2013 3:28 PM in response to Pirate9

Pirate9 wrote:

Thank you guys! Do you know if they go out often? Is this common?

We have no idea who supplies Apple with the LEDs used to illuminate the keyboard. If they are the regular Nichia kind, they last 120,000 to 160,000 hours. If they are the high output Luxeon kind, they last 50,000-60,000 hours. The rest of the Mac usually dies long before that happens.

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