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MacBook Air Screen dim when opening lid

wayne905

wayne905

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 9, 2012
165
110
Maple, Ontario, Canada
I have a new 10 day old MBA. I've had MacBook for several years and never had this issue before. When I close the lid for a few minutes on occasion, when I reopen the lid, the screen is it less than half of the brightness and I have to turn it back up again back to the regular level. It's done this a few times today but not all the time. Today when it's happened, I've noticed that I am plugged into the power. I'm curious to know if anyone has ever experienced this before or if perhaps I could have a faulty unit in which case I'm still within the return policy. It seems to only be when it's waking up and going into the login screen. I've never had an issue with the screen dimming while I'm using it. I have turned off the auto dimming feature on this computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Is it possible that it’s overheating? Do you have it running in clamshell mode so maybe the display is getting hot? If you can recreate what it’s doing take it to the Apple Store and show them. I find they’re very helpful.

I’ve never experienced this on mine but I have auto brightness and keep it just under 50%. More than that feels uncomfortable for me to look at for a long period.
 
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Thanks for your response @russell_314 . No it's not overheating. It's not hooked up to any monitors. I did call Apple support and they had me run in safe mode and of course I couldn't duplicate it (it's like going to the mechanic and you can't duplicate the issue). She then had me reboot in regular mode (not safe mode) and again I cannot duplicate it. She said that loading into safe mode sometimes fixes some issues (not sure how true that is). Otherwise I may try setting up a new user account to see if it does the same.
 
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Yes, do keep track of your warranty period but from a hardware stand point - there is a charge pump backlight IC that will take a low voltage (~12 volts or so) and boost it to light up the backlight led array (25-45 volts or so). If this backlight IC / circuit is wimping out, then this is a backlight power supply failure. If you are unable to make this unit perform as expected, return it. Perhaps something to do with the angle sensor on the lid but these days, Apple is making it more and more difficult to calibrate this sensor. Again, not your problem if this unit is relatively new and under warranty. The backlight is configured over the SMBUS or PWM (pulse width modulation) to brighten or dim the display. If the software does not fix it, return it because it can get expensive to service the hardware.
 
It's an OS issue. Confirmed using two brand new M3 airs in the last 2 weeks.

It's not a big deal to me as I hit the screen brightness up button once and it goes back to normal again
 
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@DeepSix for sure - just one tap of the button and it's back to its normal setting. Not a big deal for me either - I was just worried something, like a sensor, may have been failing - and if it was I wanted to catch it during the return window. Good to know it's only an OS issue, and it's a known issue. I'm surprised the Apple tech didn't know anything about it (although she sounded like she was doing a searches and reading from scripts). Thanks everyone for putting my mind at ease that it's not a hardware issue. Thanks for your response.
 
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Do Macs reduce the brightness when running hot? I’ve never seen that on any of mine. I thought this was a thing for devices where the screen and the devices share the same housing.
 
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wayne905 said:
@DeepSix for sure - just one tap of the button and it's back to its normal setting. Not a big deal for me either - I was just worried something, like a sensor, may have been failing - and if it was I wanted to catch it during the return window. Good to know it's only an OS issue, and it's a known issue. I'm surprised the Apple tech didn't know anything about it (although she sounded like she was doing a searches and reading from scripts). Thanks everyone for putting my mind at ease that it's not a hardware issue. Thanks for your response.
Click to expand...

I thought it was a hardware issue too. But after I exchanged my 3 day old Air for another new one (for other reasons), it immediately did the same thing. It is annoying I agree and I hope Apple fixes this in the next update.
 
I personally would return it, if it’s in the return window. It may be known issue or could be hardware. I would just play it safe.
 
1) When I close the lid for a few minutes on occasion, when I reopen the lid, the screen is it less than half of the brightness....

yep! same with my MacBook Air M1 and the screen lessens in brightness when ever Tim Cook wants now.
and goes to screen saver while stream a game
everything is set to "full speed ahead", battery wise.
I'm using Monterey as this happened in Ventfull &Snoroma always,
-ha!

ADDED: well the MacBook M1 is an incredible product and computer in which everything is fast and responsive
while the typing is not a deep as the older MacBooks, which makes for faster and accurate spelling and grammar.
too bad I do not use this often just because the OS,UI and software is boring, and limited.

this never happened n my early intel MacBooks, 2010 and 2012 today or any day.
 
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it's doing it on m3 air and seems to be only doing it if it goes into proper sleep or has been closed for an extended time.
 
Could it be the automatic brightness setting? I had a similar issue on my M1 MBP as the screen would never stay at the same brightness as when I last had it open, I just disabled the auto dim/bright feature in the System Prefs and that worked for me.
 
I figured out a way to duplicate the issue. I even recorded a video for Apple (which I'm going to try and attach to this posting as well). Starting off, my brightness was at 50% and the power cable was disconnected. I then closed the lid on my MBA and waited about 10 seconds . I plugged the cable in (with the lid closed) and waited about 5 seconds. Then, with the cable still plugged in, I opened the lid, and the screen was dimmed. This only happens when plugging in the charger while the lid is closed and keeping it plugged in as you open the lid. It does not duplicate when running on battery.

Are others experiencing the same issue? @DeepSix @TheLunaPark do your machines do the same?

 
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wayne905 said:
I have a new 10 day old MBA. I've had MacBook for several years and never had this issue before. When I close the lid for a few minutes on occasion, when I reopen the lid, the screen is it less than half of the brightness and I have to turn it back up again back to the regular level. It's done this a few times today but not all the time. Today when it's happened, I've noticed that I am plugged into the power. I'm curious to know if anyone has ever experienced this before or if perhaps I could have a faulty unit in which case I'm still within the return policy. It seems to only be when it's waking up and going into the login screen. I've never had an issue with the screen dimming while I'm using it. I have turned off the auto dimming feature on this computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Shutdown your MBA, wait a while and reboot it. Most problems go away after a simple reboot.
 
he issue isn't the dimming, it's that when it does dimm it excessively the keyboard brightness buttons don't increase it for a good 5-10 seconds.
 
chmania said:
Then as it is just 10 days old, send it back. You still have that 14 day, no questions asked return.
Click to expand...
well the next MacBook m# will do the same thing as mine does four times today already.
also the screen saver ignites after 30 minutes while watching a game online.
this is not a logic board issue, this is a OS one were I.... we need to swipe the proper dongle..tongle..that elongated circle thing on a setting in our preferences...system in power? battery? huh?

whew..... I just should go back to Mountain lion from Monterey forever!
 
My screen brightness wouldn't increase at all this morning when coming out of sleep. I had to reboot and it fixed it.

Hope Apple patches this. It's not a big deal but it is annoying.
 
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