Mid-2013 Macbook Air screen goes black?

Unlikely. I have been using it daily for presentations. Perhaps I'll repurchase if a fix is issued, but I can't have random black outs when dealing with clients. Have had at least 20 black screen incidents since owning this Mac for the last three weeks.

In case it helps, here is what seems to have worked for me...

I just bought 3 Mac Air with 8GB, 256.

I've set them up slowly over the last few days, tranfering files, etc. Had no issues at all for about a week.

Today I did 3 things, and 2 of the laptops starting getting the black screen issue for the first time (My wife has the 3rd and is away with it - no reports yet)

- I switched my Wifi/router to a new 2TB Time Capsule

- I turned on TimeMachine, and backed up to the TC

- I also turned on photo stream.

To elliminate magnetic/physical stuff, I stayed perfectly still and timed the issue. it would go black 30 seconds exactly after I hit the key to wake it (I have it on auto login so no login page)

So I systematically turned things off, and woke it again each time.

- wifi

-bluetooth

- time machine

- Airplay mirroring

etc... Each time, it still went black exactly 30 seconds after waking

Then I went into Energy Saver settings, and one by one:

Turned of Enable Power Nap... it still wen black after 30 se

Turned off "Wake for Wifi" still blakc

Turned off "Put hard disks to sleep..." still black after 30 seconds

Then I CHECKED "Prevent computer from sleeping when display is off"

NO MORE BLACK SCREEN!

Then I unchecked it! STILL NO more black screen.

I still havent had a screen issue since (fingers crossed).

Does anyone else want to try this and let us know if it helps? (I was plugged in the whole time).

Adding to my previous post....

Although this seems to work, once the computer DOES go to sleep (close lid or manually), the issue comes back.

I can fix it temporarily by going into the Energy Settings, unlocking the padlock, Checking "Prevent computer from sleeping" and relocking. Then, no problem until it sleeps again.

Not very satisfying, but maybe this can help someone who knows what's going on under the hood narrow in on something.

Oh, mine only blacks out for 2-3 seconds like it's going to sleep again or something.
But it only happens when it's unplugged and when it wakes up from sleep.

I've played around with all the energy settings and it still happens.

It's really fraustrating because no one knows where the problem is coming from.

I've just recently had a total crash on my 3.5 year old macbook and was considering buying a macbook air but the numerous posts and 1000s of views here of your unfortunate experiences is making me consider not buying at all. I can't be the only one thinking like this, I certainly hope Apple find a fix and fast.

I know things can go wrong sometimes but when one is paying soo much for a high end product you'd rightly expect quicker action from the company and at the very least for Apple to acknowledge the issue and announce that they are working on a fix so their customers know where they stand.

Many people posting here seem to be getting varying responses from Apple regarding refunds/exchanges, this also should not be the case. This is blowing my previous positive views of Apple's customer service right out of the water.

Very wise to hold back I think. This will be my first and last Apple purchase.

I found this article on the issue and thought it may help;

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57595935-263/mid-2013-macbook-air-experienc ing-black-screen-bug/

Check this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKJMPixyHTE @17:30

It is accidentally caught on camera. But it seems they don’t care about it.

Well spotted! The guy just closes the lid and acts like nothing happened;

'move along now, nothing to see here!' 😮

Well, rang Apple again yesterday... more hardware resets and system files deleted and still the problem exists.

Apple guy said next step was to take it into store and have diagnostic ran on my MBA, but I'm starting to get fed up and going to start pushing for a refund.

So disappointed with this purchase... 0/10 Apple!

I was one of the original posters here, having ordered my MBA the first day it was announced. Just to give you all a follow up, I posted on here, was contacted by Apple directly, and they asked to swap my computer for a new one. They said that they were trying to research the problem and wanted my machine.

I've had the replacement for more than a week now, and the black screen problem has not happened at all! Not once! I haven't done any special tweaking, not now and not before. My new machine didn't come tweaked either - it was straight from China, brand new. My original machine had the problem from day one, so, knock wood, I think I'm all set now.

If your MBA is having the problem, I wouldn't waste time trying to tweak the system to make it not happen. You shouldn't have to do that kind of stuff on a new machine. I'd call Apple, ask for a replacement, and keep asking for a replacement until you get one that doesn't have the problem.

Posting this just to give you all hope.

It just happened again, but this time longer.

My blackouts usually last 2-5 seconds, but I think this time it was a good 20 seconds or so and none of the

keys were responsive. It tends to happen when it's unplug.

That's annoying to hear that it happened on your replacement. It's been more than a month since the release, Apple should really pull their socks up.

To be fair, on the video, it doesn't look like he touches the keyboard or touchpad for a good ten minutes before the screen blacks out (unless I missed it?). The behavior in the video may be ‘normal’. Had I seen the negative comments about this machine earlier, I probably wouldn’t have ordered mine. I pick up my BTO Air today (i7/8/256). If more people would post hardware specs it would be easier to start ruling out individual components (LG vs Samsung monitor, SSD brand etc..)

Has anyone in the dev community tried one of the developer builds of 10.8.5 or Mavricks yet? If so, what build number? Hardware specs?

I will investigate my machine this weekend and report back…