Mid-2013 Macbook Air screen goes black?

I have one friend who claims that his 13-inch mid-2013 MBA isn't a problem, but I'm going to go test it for myself. In the meantime I decided to make a bootable Mac OS X 10.8 image on a 64GB SD card. I booted Mac OS X on that card and I was able to cause my computer to crash.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Let system idle and wait for display to dim (based on power settings).

2. Wait a couple more seconds for screen to go black.

3. Wait a split second more for keyboard backlight to begin to fade.

4. Before keyboard backlight is completely off, press a key or swipe the trackpad (as if trying to prevent the system from sleeping, thus requiring re-entry of password).

I'm wondering why the computer is initiating a sleep sequence while I'm madly typing away or using the trackpad? The computer should not fall asleep while it is active yet it does so. While doing so my activities cause the sequence of steps to occur and the computer crashes.

Due to this happening on a two versions of Mac OS X I now believe this is a hardware issue versus a software issue.

You and me both... This is something that I have been telling from the begining. There are multiple triggers for the issue and there is no single universal trigger. For me, the screen goes black when the laptop is being used. By used I mean, I am typing or using the trackpad.

And couple of things I recently noted is:

1) the screen goes to black gradually. In other words, the black screen fades in.

2) If an external monitor is connected, the external monitor doesn't go black but the contents of the screen remains unresponsive. You can see the mouse-pointer being in the busy state (the beachball) and it moves according to your swipes on the trackpad.

I am unable to make my machine crash following the instructions I am being given. I can stop my machine from falling to sleep fine and have not had any issues in months now, sorry to say it again... but since I uninstalled Chrome. When I did have the blackouts it was when I was using the machine, ie it was not attempting to fall alseep, it would just a dim... slight pause and then back to the log in screen or would sleep a few seconds after being woke... neither of these instances has happended for months now.

This thread has always been a mis-mash of multiple issues and 46pages in we still dont appear to be getting anywhere. I dont think threatening to sue Apple will get you anywhere, however if your purchase is not 'fit for purpose' your entitled to a replacement or your money back, in the UK at least. Apple will have an opportunity to fix the issue, but if you can prove that they have not, then your machine is 'not fit for purpose'. Get your refund, watch the threads and wait for a resolution and buy something else or MBA another when the problem is solved.

B77

Hey man, you are ROCK!!! just tried to reproduce the black screen bug how you described before and it is works)))) Nice, very nice!!

Same issue with 2 Macbook Air mid 2013 13"

Bought the first one in june 2013 and the second one in september 2013. Both experience the blackouts - even when the laptop is in use (keyboard or mouse in use). One more than the other, but both have the issue.

Tha local Mac dealership have tried diffent solutions but ended up returning it to me with issue unsolved.

A real pain in the *** since i use one in business meatings and lectures. In the middle of a Powerpoint presentation it blacks out. Not at god commercial for Apple since i'm lecturing and holding meatings with decisionmakers in business here in Denmark.

The other one is being used by my daughter who atend business school. Having the Mac going black under an exam isnt her cup of tea.

My first Mac experience - considering going back to Lenovo laptops again.

Hi jhewill86

It appears that Apple uploaded my last comment.

With regard to my own problem; my two new MBA’s screen were constantly going black and then I changed the energy saver settings and I’ve not had the problem since (someone on this forum suggested this fix). This is what I did – go to:

• system preferences/energy saver (change to 15 minutes) and power adapter (change to 25 minutes).
• I also deselected the "prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off So far it has been okay, but the glitch could return.

As you are in Australia, please know we have excellent consumer law.

Go to the ACCC's website titled “warranties against defects” and/or to the relevant consumer government department in your state. All enterprises selling products in Australia must replace and/or fix "defective" goods. Organisations that don't comply pay daily penalties. Simply write to the customer services' manager/s at Apple giving them 24 to 48 hours to solve the problem or for them to appropriately compensate you. Ensure you refer to the legislation and use the term "defective" – also make sure detail exactly what you expect as an outcome. Point the reader to this forum. If you have no success then take the next logical step.

Let’s see if this post is deleted again …

Good luck

I can cause the crash using the four steps on every MacBook Air Mid-2013 13-inch model I try it on. I still don't understand why my machine falls asleep while I'm working away on it. I think the problem is a hardware one and it could also involve software. It is definitely a power management problem in my humble opinion. I'm going to set Sleep in Sys Prefs to never and I hope that will help me until a better fix comes into play.

Thanks ZeitgeistAu, hopefully this time your post will be read twice before being deleted as it's definitely on topic and extremely helpful as support advice for this particular problem.

Apple, I know that bugs are difficult and not always simple to fix. I'd really just appreciate an acknowledgement of this issue, and perhaps a media release or support note advising that the problem is being worked on and that a fix will be available soon. It would also be helpful to advise Apple Support that this problem does exist, so your staff are more equipped to handle it without wasting their time and ours.

Unfortunately my MBA is plagued with problems; yes I get the lock up when it dims to sleep, but it can also just go black and lock up while I'm actively using the computer. I also have the WiFi and audio bugs, so I'm understandably concerned that this issue remains unacknowledged and unresolved.

I can also reporduce the problem by tapping the power key (which in Mavericks initiates sleep, grrrr), and then tapping it or any other key after sleep is initiated to wake the computer back up. This is an issue as I sometimes tap the power key while trying to tap the delete key, and quickly press another key to wake the computer back up. Please note that while this is often a cause for the computer freezing into black screen, it can also happen while simply using the trackpad.

This video demonstrates power key as trigger for bug: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vbaXqDrXu4

Yep I just tried the power key trick too. Boom!!! MacBook Air crashed. Just like the other problem when the computer tries to go to sleep. Ouch.

Most people don't like the behavior of the power key and I even reported it as a bug to Apple, who claimed that it wasn't a bug, it was a feature. Well Apple I know you are listening to this, but some people don't like this new behavior because it is to close to the delete key. People reaching for the delete key hit the power key accidently and put their computer to sleep. Worse case they slip type to fast and boom. They've lost all their work.

That's sad.

So the question is will something like Caffine help keep my MacBook Air awake and alive long enough for me to get work done? or should i go find a cheap pc I can type on to get my book completed?

I picked up my MBA from the apple store 5 days ago. They updated the firmware for the EFI and SMC. Since getting my laptop back 5 days ago, the problem has not happened once.

Maybe give it a try:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1237

Hi melia29, thanks for the tip. I already have those updates on my system (in fact my whole system is up to date). I've also tried SMC/PRAM reset with no luck. I suspect most of us are in the same boat.

Have you tried reproducing the bug with the instructions in this thread?

Dwmreg64, caffiene will reduce the occurrance of the bug when it is triggered by timing out to sleep, but it has no impact on the randomness of the bug, or its other triggers (opening/closing machine, tapping power button).

I cant reproduce that craash either... still wakes / sleeps fine.

B77

would anybody try to plug in thunderbolt monitor cable while you got stuck with this black screen bug by accidentally hitting a key when this MBA is trying to sleep?

In my case, caps lock key was functioning at that time, and with monitor cable plugged in, all the screens are going over to that monitor, not as with the usual dual screen. After tinkering with pluggin in and out, it got back to normal.

This might be an emergency procedure to save the system, or some clue to the main problem?

I did some testing on our 2 Macbook Airs and found some interesting.

One of them runs Bootcamp with OSX Maverick and Windows 8. The black screen issue is also only a issue under OSX - not when it runs Windows 8. I could do the "poweroff test" (push power off and quickly press another button or touchpad) and the Mac didn't hang. And i did the "almost close display test", and quickly opened it again when screen goes black closing it. And again the Mac came to live running Windows 8 (after 5-8 secs) but not running OSX.

And another interesting thing. Under OSX Maverick it has terrible ping times (between 2 and 80 ms), but under Windows 8 there are no latancy - all pings were 1 ms or 2 ms at the most.

Tells me it's not at hardware issue but a software issue - probably due to exessive powersaving function in OSX to gain the impressive battery time.

Anyone running Windows on their Macbook Air mid 2013 who can confirm my findings?