My M1 MBA did some strange things

[Kristy1989]

Anyone have any of these problems? I had an M1 that didn't have a backlit keyboard.

I would charge it to 80% and shut it off and close the lid, when I would get back on it, it charged a little on its own with the charger not even plugged in...as an example, charge it to 80% then unplug it. turned it off, left it closed, come back later turn it on and it would be at 85%.

Certain screen savers were extremely dark, and some default wallpapers were so zoomed in it wouldnt fit the screen properly.

Was my M1 MBA defective?

 

[Howard2k]

They all had a backlit keyboard. Where did you get it from?

 

[Kristy1989]

They all had a backlit keyboard. Where did you get it from?

I bought it from Best Buy. I was very disappointed and kind of confused as to why they wouldn't make it backlit...

 

[Howard2k]

I bought it from Best Buy. I was very disappointed and kind of confused as to why they wouldn't make it backlit...

It's backlit or it's faulty. Did you check the brightness of the keyboard under the settings app?

The battery thing is possibly a damaged or depleted battery. But I do seem to remember that on one OS version I would get a different number when logged in and logged out on an older device. What does the battery health say? Is it still under warranty?

 

[Kristy1989]

It's backlit or it's faulty. Did you check the brightness of the keyboard under the settings app?

The battery thing is possibly a damaged or depleted battery. But I do seem to remember that on one OS version I would get a different number when logged in and logged out on an older device. What does the battery health say? Is it still under warranty?

I don't recall seeing anything about the brightness of the keyboard because it never lit up. My battery health was at 100% and it's actually another reason I traded it in for my current windows laptop. Also, it was my first Mac ever so I wasn't aware of any backlit settings. I just figured they never turned on it just didn't have it:/

 

[russell_314]

I don't recall seeing anything about the brightness of the keyboard because it never lit up. My battery health was at 100% and it's actually another reason I traded it in for my current windows laptop. Also, it was my first Mac ever so I wasn't aware of any backlit settings. I just figured they never turned on it just didn't have it:/

It’s a little late to ask for help on this one. My guess is either the back light was turned off or you had a defective one. It’s impossible to tell without having the device though.

I think Apple laptop keyboards have been backlit for a while now. I had an early Intel MacBook Pro back in the day and it had a backlit keyboard. That’s one thing I loved about it because using it at night was easy.

 

[Kristy1989]

It’s a little late to ask for help on this one. My guess is either the back light was turned off or you had a defective one. It’s impossible to tell without having the device though.

I think Apple laptop keyboards have been backlit for a while now. I had an early Intel MacBook Pro back in the day and it had a backlit keyboard. That’s one thing I loved about it because using it at night was easy.

Yeah I feel like a fool for trading it in now...but I feel it was most likely defective because it had other weird issues that I have mentioned in my original post.

 

[Howard2k]

Make sure you ask us before trading the next one If you end up back in MacBook land.

 

[Kristy1989]

Make sure you ask us before trading the next one If you end up back in MacBook land.

Oh I will! I might even just get the same one but in a different color. Walmart is selling them for dirt cheap now

 

[russell_314]

Oh I will! I might even just get the same one but in a different color. Walmart is selling them for dirt cheap now

You can get the M2 cheap and it looks so much more modern. The M1 reminds me of my MacBook Pro I had 😂

 

[sw1tcher]

Anyone have any of these problems? I had an M1 that didn't have a backlit keyboard.

Every MacBook released over the past 20 years has had an illuminated/backlit keyboard. There used to be function keys to increase and decrease the keyboard backlight brightness, but that changed (they were removed) starting with the M1 MacBook Air. Now you have to go into System Settings to make those changes.

 

[Kristy1989]

You can get the M2 cheap and it looks so much more modern. The M1 reminds me of my MacBook Pro I had 😂

I kinda like the older look and I do like the wedge shape and the long bezel on top instead of the notch on the M2 So far I haven't seen a cheaper M2...

 

[sw1tcher]

I kinda like the older look and I do like the wedge shape and the long bezel on top instead of the notch on the M2 So far I haven't seen a cheaper M2...

Looks like you're in Florida. If there's a store near you, buy an M3 MacBook Air 16/256 for $699.99 vs $649.99 for an M1 MacBook Air 8/256 from Walmart

Apple MC8J4LLA 13” MacBook Air M3 Chip with 8-Core CPU 16GB RAM 256GB SSD Liquid Retina Display - Starlight | BrandsMart USA

Shop Apple 13” MacBook Air M3 Chip with 8-Core CPU 16GB RAM 256GB SSD Liquid Retina Display - Starlight MC8J4LLA and view all of our deals on Laptop Computers at BrandsMart USA. Find your favorite brands at low prices with a 110% price match guarantee.

www.brandsmartusa.com

Or get a price match at Best Buy

 

[sleeptodream]

I kinda like the older look and I do like the wedge shape and the long bezel on top instead of the notch on the M2 So far I haven't seen a cheaper M2...

100% agree, the old model was much prettier, I like how it plays with the light. Plus to me the curves made it feel more solid. I purposely got an M1 even after the M3 was out, still works great (if the storage is enough for ya)

 

[Kristy1989]

Looks like you're in Florida. If there's a store near you, buy an M3 MacBook Air 16/256 for $699.99 vs $649.99 for an M1 MacBook Air 8/256 from Walmart

Apple MC8J4LLA 13” MacBook Air M3 Chip with 8-Core CPU 16GB RAM 256GB SSD Liquid Retina Display - Starlight | BrandsMart USA

Shop Apple 13” MacBook Air M3 Chip with 8-Core CPU 16GB RAM 256GB SSD Liquid Retina Display - Starlight MC8J4LLA and view all of our deals on Laptop Computers at BrandsMart USA. Find your favorite brands at low prices with a 110% price match guarantee.

www.brandsmartusa.com

Or get a price match at Best Buy

View attachment 2512052

The closest one to me is 96 miles away :/ I live in a small town with one Best Buy, so I usually go there for all of my electronics. I will consider this though, thanks!

 

[Parowdy]

Every MacBook released over the past 20 years has had an illuminated/backlit keyboard. There used to be function keys to increase and decrease the keyboard backlight brightness, but that changed (they were removed) starting with the M1 MacBook Air. Now you have to go into System Settings to make those changes.

Uhh, so there will be one thing I’ll miss when switching from my 2017 TB MacBook Pro to the current design.
Guess I can live with that trade off, completely forgot how often I adjust the keyboard brightness myself.
Do you happen to know if you can map Function keys to do turn it up and down quickly?

 

[Howard2k]

Uhh, so there will be one thing I’ll miss when switching from my 2017 TB MacBook Pro to the current design.
Guess I can live with that trade off, completely forgot how often I adjust the keyboard brightness myself.
Do you happen to know if you can map Function keys to do turn it up and down quickly?

No, not that I can find. But it does adjust its brightness based on ambient light. Not the same, but you know...

 

[Parowdy]

No, not that I can find. But it does adjust its brightness based on ambient light. Not the same, but you know...

Thanks. I mostly adjust it myself at night and in the evening and sometimes like to check if it’s on at day when it doesn’t need to be.
Guess I’ll find out myself how often I’ll want to do it once my new MacBook Pro arrives.

 

[Kristy1989]

100% agree, the old model was much prettier, I like how it plays with the light. Plus to me the curves made it feel more solid. I purposely got an M1 even after the M3 was out, still works great (if the storage is enough for ya)

I had the gold color but I'm going to go with silver this time it looks very sleek. My M1 felt very comfortable and I like the speaker placement. I'm not into heavy editing or anything like that, the base storage is more than enough

And can anyone explain the weird magical charging without a charger being plugged in?

 

[sleeptodream]

I had the gold color but I'm going to go with silver this time it looks very sleek. My M1 felt very comfortable and I like the speaker placement. I'm not into heavy editing or anything like that, the base storage is more than enough

And can anyone explain the weird magical charging without a charger being plugged in?

I have gold too and kinda wish I got silver, it hides scratches better and has more of a classic Apple look

Your wallpaper situation sounds really odd, and so does the battery thing. I’ve never experienced either of those and I’ve been using macs for 10+ years

Your battery definitely didn’t gain any actual charge, from what I’ve read it kind of guesses how much charge your battery has, it uses algorithms to try to figure it out based on how much it was charged and how much energy was used, how many cycles are on the battery, etc. It doesn’t just directly read the voltage, though I would think that’s part of the equation. It’s possible your battery was degraded to some degree or was faulty and the voltage was inconsistent?

Personally I always turn off the battery percent since I know it’s not 100% accurate and I don’t want to stress about it lol. But you should use something to cap the charging to slow your battery from degrading too much if you leave it plugged in a lot, whether it’s Aldente or on the newer models the built in battery protection

 

[Kristy1989]

I have gold too and kinda wish I got silver, it hides scratches better and has more of a classic Apple look

Your wallpaper situation sounds really odd, and so does the battery thing. I’ve never experienced either of those and I’ve been using macs for 10+ years

Your battery definitely didn’t gain any actual charge, from what I’ve read it kind of guesses how much charge your battery has, it uses algorithms to try to figure it out based on how much it was charged and how much energy was used, how many cycles are on the battery, etc. It doesn’t just directly read the voltage, though I would think that’s part of the equation. It’s possible your battery was degraded to some degree or was faulty and the voltage was inconsistent?

Personally I always turn off the battery percent since I know it’s not 100% accurate and I don’t want to stress about it lol. But you should use something to cap the charging to slow your battery from degrading too much if you leave it plugged in a lot, whether it’s Aldente or on the newer models the built in battery protection

The lighter the better. I even got my iphone SE in starlight because I can't stand fingerprints.

I would charge it from 20% to 80% to preserve the battery, and only charged it to 100% a few times because I forgot to unplug it. So I think I just got a faulty one unfortunately, so hopefully the next one won't have these weird issues.

 

[redcarian]

My wife has a Starlight M2 MBA, and it’s a very handsome device. If the MBP came in Starlight, it’d be an easy choice for me. But faced with “Dell Space Black” or “Apple Silver”, it’s going to be Silver, all day long and twice on Sundays.