Q: Mid-2013 Macbook Air screen goes black?

Ideally we don't want to have to wait for 10.8.5. If possible they should issue a fix as they did with the wifi issue rather than bundling it in to a new OS.

Same exact problem here: mid-2013 MBA narcoleptically goes to sleep in the midst of whatever I'm doing, usually a short time (5-30secs) after waking from sleep or dimming the screen. If I put the mouse in the "dim" corner but then move it before it requires a password, it may also be triggered: sometimes it goes to sleep shortly after just a brief dimming like this, too...

It's possible the 10.8.5 update will be released today considering Apple likes releasing official updates on Tuesday's and Thursday's. And because the new Mavericks Preview 6 was released yesterday (Wed) without an update for the 10.8.x branch just as they have been doing for the past few weeks. The last build 12F33 was released two weeks ago on August 7th and it was an incremental update from previous build 12F30.

I have had the same exact problem.  The screen goes black and I need to put in my password because it went to sleep.  I've called Apple Care on the phone multiple times.  The first time, they told me to reset the computer.  Problem unresolved.  The next time, they made me do some more resets.  Problem still unresolved.  The third time, I spoke to John, a senior advisor who walked me through some more resetting and even told me to download some of my files to send to Apple engineers.  John gave me his personal phone number and told me to call him back if the problem continued and if it did, then he would capture it at the Apple Store so the engineers could figure out the issue and give me a replacement.  I called him back a few days later and left a voicemail....never heard from him again.  So I took my MBA to the Apple Store in Deer Park, where they did a hardware scan (everything was fine) and reinstalled OS X.  The Apple Store representative, Eric, was not willing to capture this MBA for whatever reason.   Problem STILL unresolved.  I just bought this less than 2 months ago and am truly disappointed in Apple's customer service.

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The Issue that you are facing is to do with Energy Saving.

> The time its saved is 2 minutes and since the MBA goes into Sleep state it freezes up while processing the request for dimming your LCD along with turning it off.

> Solution :

Did what I did = Battery Mode

> Display Sleep = 10 minutes

> Check mark put HDD to sleep when possible

Power adapter Mode

> Display Sleep = 15 minutes

> Uncheck Put HDD to sleep when possible

Issue Resolved.

Hope this helps.

Works for my Mid- 2013 MBA i5/8gb/256

I'm thinking of picking up a 2013 MacBook Air but am very cautious after reading this thread. x.afi, is your settings fix still working on your MBA?

None of these settings will fix the issue because its a software bug which has been fixed in OS v10.8.5 which is currently available to developers only and will soon be released to public.

I upgraded to OS X 10.8.5 through Apple's invitation and have had absolutely no more issues with this.  I have been very happy with this MBA and am relieved they have solved the problem.  It was a nuisance.  Not a huge issue, but definitely a nuisance.

Doh.  I just had the screen go blank on me after 8 days of not having any of these issues.  i'll report it as a 10.8.5 bug...

So the issue is still happening under 10.8.5? Darn. I was hoping to pick up a MBA tomorrow. Guess I'll have to wait until Apple figures this out.

I have the same issue as everyone else.

However, my screen just went 'dark' with the macbook air plugged in.

Before today, it only happened when it was on battery power.

This is really annoying. 

I have the same problem with the 13'' Mid 2013 Macbook Air with 8GB RAM. Intel Core i5, intel HD 5000 1204GB, 10.8.4.

It goes black screen on me every so often & my wife is nagging me to return the **** thing after spending premium monies. I am hoping for an update for this fix soon...

I was experiencing for several days the same issues, believing I had touched the power button.

Now RoeeGold's procedure (see above) helped me out! thanks a lot for posting this!

(Hope solution will last ...)

I was suggested to restore the energy saver defaults, and then to reset the SMC by doing these steps:

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
3. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
4. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
5. Press the power button to turn on the computer. 
   The LED on the MagSafe power adapter color changes states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC!

romano

I was experiencing for several days the same issues, believing I had touched the power button.

Now RoeeGold's procedure (see above) helped me out! thanks a lot for posting this!

(Hope solution will last ...)

I was suggested to restore the energy saver defaults, and then to reset the SMC by doing these steps:

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
3. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
4. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
5. Press the power button to turn on the computer. 
   The LED on the MagSafe power adapter color changes states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC!

romano