New 13" MBA backlit keyboard not working

[rcmorgan540]

Any advice, or settings somewhere? It is set to auto come on in low light .. and it's not. The brightness up and down keys are working on the display, but not doing anything to the keyboard lighting.

 

[WardC]

There should be keyboard brightness keys (I think, but I don't have one). The MacBook Pros have keyboard brightness keys F8 (off), F9 (down) and F10 (up)

 

[jp700p]

If you are in a bright environment it will not turn on.

Try taking it into a dark room (pitch black) and press the keyboard brightness key to see if it works. If it doesn't, return it.

 

[eeptman]

The light sensor seems embedded with the Camera. Try cover the Camera, the keyboard should light immediately.

 

[rcmorgan540]

...

Any other ideas .. I have a 13" MBP now and am familiar with how to operate. It is not working in pitch black darkness!

 

[Insilin1i]

Based on the apple website picture it is F5 and F6 to control the keyboard brightness

 

[KhonNan]

The light sensor seems embedded with the Camera. Try cover the Camera, the keyboard should light immediately.

Oh my god!
I'm a mac newbie, and thought after updating my newly received macbook air, i had a big problem.

Keyboard lighting turned off automatically. Sitting in the middle of the night playing with my new machine. Thought i had problems with my keyboard lighting, but after reading this thread, realize that it should turn off automatically when in bright conditions. Thanks.

 

[dcorban]

The sensor is not in the camera. It is just to the left of it. If you look very closely, you will see the almost-microscopic holes in the aluminum which hide the sensor.

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As for the backlighting… you need to be sure the brightness is set manually to whatever level you wish first. If you have it turned all the way down, then when you go into a dark area, it will appear that the light is not coming on.

Basically you can tell if it is working if the manual buttons adjust the light. If the computer detects that it is bright enough to not need the light, the manual buttons won't do anything except pop up an icon telling you it isn't working.

 

[vivithemage]

If you are in a bright environment it will not turn on.

Try taking it into a dark room (pitch black) and press the keyboard brightness key to see if it works. If it doesn't, return it.

old thread, but this solved it for me