Q: Mid-2013 Macbook Air screen goes black?

I bought my MBA air on the 29th of Nov and returned it Jan 2nd 2014 the same day I posted that message about returning it for the macbook pro 13' retina. I couldnt even replicate the problem to apple store; but have numerous times vented my frustration at apple support over the phone since buying it custom made from apple store online. Biggest problem was its happening randomly at any given time or day. Apple customer service on the phone told me, people who bought their MBA's in the month of Nov around the 25th or so on wards have until Jan 7th deadline to return their MBA's so I was told. I had apple computers before and never have I had such a bad issue such as this MBA. Im 100% satisfied with the MB pro built and performance. LIke I said go for the 256ssd not the 128!! This machine is very solid for the price for what you are getting as compared to the MBA. I still like the MBA dont get me wrong, its just that its unpredictable, either you shell out more money for the 256ssd instead of the 128  and upgrade to the i7 processor to get a solid device apart from the gamble of having a defected MBA.

Which tests should I do to reproduce this problem?

The way I do this is to click on the Apple logo and select sleep from the menu.  Then immediately the screen goes black, click a key (I usually hit the spacebar a quick double tap).  I find that 70% of the time, this puts the MBA to sleep. 

Interesting discovery today - I tried this with a couple of MBAs connected to Thunderbolt displays in a shop.  On one I was unable to freeze the MBA to black at all.  On the other, only the screen on the MBA went black - the keyboard and trackpad continued to work with the Thunderbolt Display. 

In contrast, I completely froze the MBA's not linked to an external display.

As a user mentioned, close the lid but not completely till the screen goes black then open it again and it should reproduce the problem. However what i noticed is that if you try to reproduce it immediately after the first try, it will not work so you'll have to give it about 2 to 3 minutes. So what i do is when i try the first time, the problem is reproduced, then i wait for about 2 to 3 minutes doing normal work on the MBA. I then try again and the problem is reproduced a second....and so on. I say so because if you take it to the  store, they might try to reproduce it a second time immediately after first time and think the problem is gone.

Hi, Adice would be appreciated.

I purchase a MBA just before xmas and it has just died tonight and wont charge. It is dead. Im not an expert user so please advise me as simply as possible.

I tried to chat to apple but they are not there at the moment and I have booked an appointment with the grnius bar but thats not until Wednesday next. Is there a deadline for the exchange of products and if so what should I get please?

Thank you

Normally Apple will refund or replace if up to 14 days, but this is irrespective of whether there is something wrong or not. 

If this is a major failure (which it is if the MBA has completely died), they should replace under whatever consumer legislation is relevant to your country.  With a device so new, I would not accept an offer of repair but hold out for a replacement.

anybody with samsung ssd installed has this symptom? I wonder if only sandisk is affected.

Mine is a sandisk with lg display...

okay so I can reproduce this problem. What should I do next? Go back to the store and ask for a new one or switch to the 256 Gb SSD MBA?

I would go back to the store.  But if you can reproduce the problem, try to do so on any model MBA you are thinking of getting. I doubt if the 256gb MBA will be any different - but you never know.

When Apple attempted to repair mine, one of the changes the technician made was to swap the hard drive with the 256 SSD from his own MBA. It made no difference.

so what did you do?

After extensive repairs by Apple - logic board, I/O board, display, hard drive, battery - the issue was still there.

Apple offered me a new MBA but as I'd already crashed all the MBAs I'd been allowed to touch - they soon put a stop to that when they realised they wouldn't have a working machine left on display - unlike others, I left them dead - they decided they had enough evidence.

UK consumers are protected by the 1979 Sale of Goods act. As the MBA is unfit for purpose, it went back for a refund as Apple were unable to guarantee they could provide me with an MBA that would work.

Mine started OK but got worse and worse until it would crash whilst sitting still with no activity at all, remote or otherwise. Totally unacceptable for a £1,000 laptop.

I now have a Samsung notebook, which I like, and WIndows 8, which I don't but it's reliable and won't quit half way through a presentation to a board of directors and refuse to wake up until after we had lunch - not a professional look when bidding for £200k of work, which can never, ever happen again so I cannot own an MBA.

I've  had success to fix here. I took my icloud account prerencies the panel.

OK here's my story....

Bought an 11" 128Gig MBA in September. Stopped using it in November because of the sleep/wake losing data issues.

Found out how to replicate the problem here in this forum and took it in to our local Apple Store after New Year's Day. I replicated the problem for them (with the close and open lid trick) and they took the MBA into the shop for a logic board replacement. They called me a couple days later and said it was ready. I went to the store, sat down with  MBA and a Genius, and immediately crashed the "repaired" MBA with the close/open lid routine. The Genius said they wanted another day to look into the problem so I left my machine with them.

They called back the next day and said they would simply give me a brand new MBA. I went to the store this morning, picked it up and guess what? Same problem on a brand-new shrink-wrapped MBA. Right out of the box with a fresh copy of Mavericks. Boom!

Draw your own conclusions because I don't know what to think...

That *****! And what did you do next? Switch to Macbook Pro?