Mid-2013 Macbook Air screen goes black?

Good to hear that.

BTW I tested 10.9.2's power button behavior in 2 Macs:

1. MBA 2012: No more fast sleep, 2 secs press = The sweet Restart Sleep Cancel Shut Down appears.

2. MBPR 13": At first, it's the same = fast sleep. But after restart, it's like #1.

So yeah great stuff tweaking the power button!

You know i've been testing and the issue seems to have been fixed! Please others do some tests too when you can and lets hope this is over.

Hi BobSaggy

So far, the survey on Fac ebook is 19:2 fixed to still getting random BSOD.

Come and join the survey, search for MacBook Air screen goes black - no prizes for guessing where that title came from :-)

Wow Im very dissapointed. I just got a MBA 11" 5 days ago and this has already occured twice. today in class my macbook just randomly went black while i was using it. The keyboard was still lit up but no matter which keys i pressed( including power key) and how many times i clicked, the screen would not turn on. I was forced to hard reset the comp. I can believed this issue still hasnt been resolved by apple. My macbook is brand new with all of the lastest updates! Does anyone know of any official statements from apple on the issue? Would it even help to get it exchanged for another Macbook if they all seem to have this issue or should I just get a refund and buy a different computer? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I went for a refund and sit on the fence approach but I have a 17" MBP to fall back on that is rock steady but weighs a ton and has a short battery life.

I use mine for work, so a randomly crashing irreprable MBA was no good to me.

Come and join us on Fac ebook. Search for MacBook Air Screen Goes Black. So far, 10.9.2 has worked for 23, the BSOD continues for 3 users despite the update. If you are able to, return yours for a refund and wait until Apple sort it out. There are plenty of good cheap laptops that will suffice.

If you don't have to have the latest and greatest, just a laptop that works, consider a 2010 MBA from ebay. These issues started with the 2011 build, so you'd have a cheap and reliable lightweight computer with a good battery life and spare change for repairs if they are required.

Hi MDN64.

That's interesting. I've tried all the combinations mentioned on this forum since after 10.9.2 update but the problem has not been replicated. It seems fixed but i'll continue to monitor it. If in a period of 2 to 3 months i don't get it anymore after running more tests, it might be safe to say it's fixed. Unless someone has other tests i can perform? Really holding thumbs that whatever new tests i do won't replicate the problem.

Really disappointed to hear this is still happening in 10.9.2. I haven't had it for quite a while (now I know to avoid touching the trackpad after the screen dims when it goes to sleep - which is how you can replicate it if you need to).

I love my MBA but I've been plagued by 3 issues for the last 6 months making my first apple laptop experience qutie a nightmare 😟

1. The gmail syncing problem in Mail

2. No video in Google Hangouts (which is now fixed under 10.9.2)

3. Black screen of Death (BSOD)

I've just gone to the Facebook page, did all the tests on the MacBook Air screen goes black Facebook page and still it's not replicated. Will find more tests when i can and report.

Hi BobSaggy

Prior to the release of 10.9.2, some people tried the sleep-wake method of forcing the BSOD on display MBAs in Apple stores and retailers.

I was able to crash every one I tried but others found a rare one that would not crash, hence we have concluded it is a hardware issue as the software is clearly the same on each.

My 2012 MBA only ever crashed whilst in sleep mode in my bag. It always reported the error and recovered.

My 2013 MBA was stable to begin with, then began to crash in my bag(with error reports), eventually crashing with increasing frequency, even whilst sitting still reading a document, or, worst of all, in the midst of a presentation to a board of directors whilst pitching for £200k of work whilst operated by remote control wireless mouse without recognising that a crash had occurred.

This degradation also points to a hardware issue.

On the Fac ebook group, we're not calling this a fix as it clearly hasn't resolved the issue for all, just prevented it being forced or inadvertently triggered by nudging the power button when hitting, "Delete".

The fact that Apple didn't even acknowledge the existence of this issue until after the Fac ebook group appeared and made no reference to resolving it with the release of 10.9.2 does nothing to reassure any of us that they either understand the problem, or are trying to fix it.

If it's a hardware issue, then maybe that's why they are choosing to be quiet on it becasue I think the implications outweigh softare issues. However it's even costlier not to keep your customers happy which includes acknowledging the existence of this problem.

I had also gone to the Apple store before 10.9.2 and crashed the Air's they had on display. The store did not actually know the problem existed. Will pay them a visit again.

I dislike hardware issues.

10.9.2 worked for me -- absolutely zero problems with my MBA now! I didn't want to post until I had at least a week of testing with my normal use. So nice to not feel like I'm shortening the life of the MBA by never allowing it to go to sleep.

Good to hear the problem is also gone for someone else. It's same here. Maybe more poeple will report the same success. Am holding thumbs thou for a month at least before I restart using my Air for research work. For now will continue to work on the iMac till am certain. Maybe it's a hardware issue afterall.

This thread has generated, and contains a lot of incorrect information. Contrary to popular bellief this is probably not a bug and/or hardware issue but a result of design. The macbook is equipped with magnets to detect if the laptop lid is closed or not. If a certain spot on the macbook gets to close to something magnetic the OS thinks the laptop lid is closed and will try to put the screen to sleep.

See the following youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0JNaSDuJ8c&list=UUoHk52ppnMHc2_IBdGtMCVg

The placement for the magnets is different for different macbooks (air/pro).

Your magnet point is correct, but I doubt it is the cause of the majority of the reported issues. I had 2 MBA's both with this problem and neither was placed near magnets at any time. Also, I was able to replicate the issue on MBA's in various stores and again, no magnets nearby.

After problems with the 2 consecutive MBA's, I got a refund and purchased a 13" retina MBP. I then bought a case for it (Snugg) with a magnetic catch. If I place the MBP on the case a certain way around, the screen goes black. BUT - if I then take the MBP away from the case, the screen returns to normal.

This "issue" with the magnetic catch is different from what happened when my MBA screen went into "permanent sleep".

You magent point is unrelated to this thread

1) When the screen goes black I still see the mouse cursor (not so with magent)

2) When you remove the magent the screen comes back. Not sop after the BSOD. Its taus black (with mouse cursor showing and moveable but nothing else)

3) This hapens during presentations with projector attached. I am a few meters away from the laptop. It sits all by itself on the lecturn