Q: Mid-2013 Macbook Air screen goes black?

I've had my MBA 13" for just over a week now (purchased from BB). I'm pretty sure I am experiencing similar problems as described in this thread (blackouts, going to sleep randomly) but it's not super frequent or anything. I'm not sure whether or not to return it now but I bought it on sale so I wouldn't be able to get it again at this price (at least I don't think) again Idk what to do! You don't think Apple will fix this soon?

I'm also having this problem.  Haven't exactly been able to trace when it occurs, but I can say that about a half hour ago I woke my macbook up from sleep, and within about 30 seconds i had a black-out which kicked me back to the login screen.  Chrome was running at the time.

Disable sleep login: System Prefs > Security > General > Require password checkbox?  NO

Hey I've seen your answers in a couple of thread and you seem to know alot about this problem and hardware/software in general.

I just got my new air a week ago and is still under the 14 days return policy. Im having the same problem as pretty much everyone else in this thread, computer going to sleep randomly, mostly shortly after sleep->wake->login. Happends 2-3 times a day usually. What would you do in this situation? Return it and buy a new one hoping it wont have any defects or wait for apple to release an update for the issue? Is it safe to assume they will even look into this in the near future?

Also, since UNINSTALLING(app cleaner) chrome last night, not just stopped using it but uninstalling it, ive had no blank screen what so ever. Cant say anything for sure as of yet though since people claim to get the problem(though less frequently) even after doing this. Are you guys sure you completely uninstalled chrome from the computer?

Now 7 days without a blackout. Haven't been using Chrome during that time. That's not to say it is Chrome. Clearly if others are experiencing the problem without ever even installing Chrome, chances are it's something else. But there might be something there, or more likely, something that happens more often when Chrome is running (more resources being used?).

In any case, I'm starting to get a bit peeved that Apple hasn't at least publicly acknowledged the problem. There now must be nearly 100 cases reported on this thread, which means there are probably well over 1,000 cases out there. This may be a small fraction of total sales but it's not trivial, especially given the kind of problem it is.

martinjsvensson 

What would you do in this situation?

Unquestionably take it back for a different Air,

The vast majority of everyone with an Air is not experiencing this issue,.... certainly and for sure return it for another one.

As pertaining to Chrome, ...I mentioned earlier that this was impetus in most instances but NOT ALL.

Several people are reporting the issue and do NOT have Chrome installed,

The Air is going into auto power down sleep before loading the hibernate file before becoming active again. When opening again, it blacks out due to continuing to try to load hibernation. This is seen resultant from Chrome AND from SMC & Haswell processor as causation; also conflict in the battery output which starts / causes initiation towards the Sleep Cause: 5

2 causes, one effect.

edp22585 

This may be a small fraction of total sales but it's not trivial,

Nothing is trivial if its effecting even ONE computer, ....that being YOUR computer.

To downplay any problem, even if it IS only 100 or 400 users out of 200,000 Airs + is both accurate, and yet still a tad unkind and certainly unhelpful to anyone who HAS the issue.

But, thats what your warranty is for, and Apple is #1 on customer service, its there for a reason, exchange the computer for another.

* As to both causes being solved via a simple software fix, there is certainly no doubt to the contrary that that is the case

Thank you! This would have been an easier choice had I not been under time constrain but I absolutly need a computer one week from now.

Here hoping my new mac will have a samsung screen, no wifi/sleep issues and arrive in 5 days.

Just bought my MBA 4 days ago, and have the same issue.

Based on this thread, I have run some simple tests to reproduce the problem. While on battery power and Chrome running, I put the computer to sleep; upon waking up, the black screen happens within 30 seconds. I did the same thing with Chrome not running, and this does not occur. Both sets of tests were run more than 10 times, and the result was consistent.

None of these happened while plugged into AC power. Resetting the PRAM and SMC did not produce any result.

FYI, I bought a Macbook Air 11 inch from Best Buy on 8/2/13.  The first blackout came on 8/4 and the longest I've been able to use it without experiencing an issue has been 2 days.  It has happened when I haven't been using Chrome.  It has happened when I've been plugged in and when I've been on battery. 

On 8/9/13 I called Apple and they had me do the SMC and PRAM reset.  Afterwards, I still experienced the blackout issue.

Later on 8/9/13, I followed the suggested actions by PlotinusVeritas here in this thread.  Since then, I haven't experienced any blackouts.  Its only been a couple days now, so it still could happen at any time...but I'm hopeful.  Specifically, I made the following changes:

Fix #1

Disable sleep login: System Prefs > Security > General > Require password checkbox? CHECK NO

Fix #2

Uncheck the "Put hard drive asleep when possible" AND uncheck “enable power nap” on both battery and power.

Fix #3

Install Caffeine for Mac, unless you’re adamantly inclined not to. ITS FREE

http://caffeine.en.softonic.com/mac

Thank you for pointing that out. Unfortunately, I have applied all the fixes except #3, and the problem persists.

During my research, I saw that Chrome might have introduced a 30 second delay to sleep. So my hypothesis is that if you wake up the MBA within 30 second of sleep, Chrome will cause it to sleep again at the 30 second mark.

With Chrome running, I tested the theory by putting the computer to sleep, waking it up after about 10 seconds, and sure enough, it goes back to sleep in about another 20 seconds. When I woke up the computer after about 20 seconds, it occured again before I could even finish typing out the log in password.

When I let it sleep for more than 30 seconds, the problem hasn't occured yet after many tries. Someone please verify.

Yes I can verify, this occurs for me also.

- With Chrome closed, I allow the laptop to sleep and then wake it up after 10 seconds, it remains on - no blackout.

- With Chrome open, I allow the laptop to sleep and then wake it up after 10 seconds, It blacks out another 10 seocnds.

I stopped using chrome 2 weeks ago and havent had this issue since.

Yes I can verify, this occurs for me also.

 

- With Chrome closed, I allow the laptop to sleep and then wake it up after 10 seconds, it remains on - no blackout.

- With Chrome open, I allow the laptop to sleep and then wake it up after 10 seconds, It blacks out another 10 seocnds.

 

I stopped using chrome 2 weeks ago and havent had this issue since

Just did the same thing and got the same results. I wasn't convinced it was Chrome before but I am now

gary0214 

, I followed the suggested actions by PlotinusVeritas here in this thread.  Since then, I haven't experienced any blackouts.

great news

chickenmanaust 

I stopped using chrome 2 weeks ago and havent had this issue since.

Chrome

If all indications are correct, and given a very limited number of issues total, .and total number of issues related to Chrome-only being something near 80% (speculatively),

....then the remanding 20% or so of the already small number total is small indeed.

Enable logging in Chrome (or at least launch it from terminal), repeat your test case and see what you get. Chrome is not causing a problem, if it were than we would all experience it. Chrome may however be a tool to reveal what the problem is. Maybe a plugin in chrome is interacting with a piece of defective hardware on your machine... (Ie; flash and hd5000)

Lets not just give up and point the finger at chrome. Let's try to find the root cause.

How to I enable Chrome logging? I executed Chrome from Terminal - but got nothing.