My macbook air screen suddenly turn black.

Recommend you make an appointment with a genius bar.

Sounds like overheating or a loose video cable.

Genius bar can help clean out the dust inside (which would help prevent the overheating) if this is an older macbook air.

I have the same issue as this, screen is open. Randomly turns black and isn't 'asleep' but won't wake up either. Only way to recover is to hard reboot the mac.

I took this into the apple store, they replaced the screen and the motherboard, still have the same issue, just with less frequency.

Since its during use and not any sleep issue,....

After a while I can start it up again and it works as usual til next time it suddenly dies

ergo:

It would not be a heating issue, you have likely a bad connector at monitor feed and logic on the logic or GPU logic issue.

perform SMC and re-verify

SMC reset

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.
   Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.

Contact Apple for appt. for full in shop diagnostic and likely parts replacement. 😊

Peace

Hi Mia-

I have a somewhat similar problem. I chatted with Apple support and they offered a plausible explanation. The theory is that when your machine is going to sleep, there is some application or combination of applications that may be causing the screen to go black and not respond to the keyboard.

Suggestion: Determine if the problem is application related. Note - for me, the problem is very difficult to replicate. If after doing these tests you are not successful in replicating the problem, you may want to do the solution at the bottom of this post.

Test 1:

1. 1. Stop all applications.

   a. Verify all your applications are stopped in the Activity Monitor.

2. 2. Allow your machine to go to sleep.
   1. a. You may want to setup your machine to go to sleep after 1 minute. Here is how:
   2. b. Go to System Preferences => Power Saver. For both Battery and Power Adapter, set the turn display off after: to 1 minute. Note, look at the top of the window for the slider bar allowing you to set the time limit. The Battery and Power Adapter are the 2 ‘tabs’ at the very top of the window.
3. 3. Can you wake the machine up by depressing a key?

   a. If you can’t wake your machine up by depressing a key, I think your problem is not application related. I would defer to Apple support.

Test 2:

1. 1. Start the mail application. Apple support identified the mail application as a likely culprit for causing this problem.
2. 2. Do some work for about a minute.
3. 3. Allow your machine to go to sleep.
4. 4. Can you wake the machine up by depressing a key?

   a. If you can’t wake up your machine, your problem might be related to the mail application you started. So try this:

   • Restart your machine.
   • Start using a different application other than the mail application.
   • Do some work for about a minute.
   • Allow your machine to go to sleep.
   • Can you wake the machine by depressing a key?

Test 3:

1. 1. Start all the applications that you typically have running on your machine. For example, I typically have Mail, Safari and an application called iThoughts.
2. 2. Allow your machine to go to sleep.
3. 3. Can you wake the machine up by depressing a key?

   a. If you can’t wake up your machine, your problem might be one of or a combination of the applications running on your machine. Use the same technique described in Test 2 to try to narrow down which application or combination of applications are causing the problem.

The solution: If you discover the problem has to do with an application or some combination of applications, don’t allow the application or applications to run in the background. For instance, when I am done checking my mail, I stop the mail application.

Hope this helps.

Sheldon

This may be a hardware fault, but can I ask, did you encounter the black screen after the MBA went to sleep and you tried waking it just as it went to sleep? - if so, this is a well described issue here on the forum.

I had 2 MBA's do this. It seems that if you try to wake the MBA straight away as it goes to sleep, it freezes with a black screen and an unresponsive keyboard. You then need to hold the power button in for about 10 seconds (or until keyboard light goes off if in low ambient light conditions), then release and press again to restart.

If this is the problem you are having, Apple are supposedly working on a fix. In the meantime, wait a few seconds after MBA goes to sleep before trying to wake it.

Hi -

Thank you for letting me know Apple is working on this. I appreciate it.

In my case, the MBA went 'completely' asleep prior to me trying to awaken it. I did not hit the keyboard until the screen went completely black. I have 'completely' in italics and quotes due to the fact that the keyboard remains illuminated. Normally, when the MBA goes to sleep, the keyboard is not illuminated. This leads me to believe the MBA is not completely asleep.

Scenario:

• Screen dims prior to going to sleep.
• MBA goes to sleep. Screen is black - nothing visible.

  Keyboard is still illuminated. Odd.

• After a few seconds, I notice the MBA is asleep and I try to wake it up by depressing a key. The MBA fails to awaken.
• As you correctly point out, the resolution is to recycle the power.

SheldonFromOh wrote:

I have 'completely' in italics and quotes due to the fact that the keyboard remains illuminated. Normally, when the MBA goes to sleep, the keyboard is not illuminated. This leads me to believe the MBA is not completely asleep.

No, you are right, it isn't asleep, it is frozen.

Scenario:

• Screen dims prior to going to sleep.
• MBA goes to sleep. Screen is black - nothing visible.

  Keyboard is still illuminated. Odd.

• After a few seconds, I notice the MBA is asleep and I try to wake it up by depressing a key. The MBA fails to awaken.
• As you correctly point out, the resolution is to recycle the power.

This does seem to be the same problem I have faced on two consecutive 2013 MBA's and documented in some of the longest, most visited threads on the MBA part of this forum.

I opted not to wait for a fix and got a refund and added extra to buy a retina MBP (doesn't have the problem - suggesting to me that it is a Firmware or Hardware issue rather than an issue with the Operating System).

hm... interesting. Maybe I should consider the same thing, exchange my MBA for a MBP.