Screen goes blank randomly - Anyone else?

[Mockingbird Gloves]

Just a consideration: Was watching a video the other day where somebody was demonstrating this and it turns out their cause was sitting the MBA on top of a case - with magnets as the closing mechanism - which was making the MBA think the screen was being closed any time there was movement or every time the user was lifting off and placing back onto the case.

This issue has caused me unbelieveable grief with even Apple Care not knowing what the hell is going on. They are completely vacant to this issue. Useless. As most of the posters here assuming that everyone is a moron with their display sleep settings incorrectly set. YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE IN THIS WHOLE THREAD TO HIT THIS ISSUE RIGHT ON THE HEAD. Well done my friend thank you for taking the time to post something feasable for us to look at. I have an INCASE for my Macbook 12" with a magnetic closure. I removed the case from underneath my Macbook and voila! problem solved! Now... how the hell is it that INCASE and APPLE both have their head up their ass at the same time?? Neither contemplated magnetic interference in their product designs???

 

[jimw164]

Hi fellow users.

I was wondering if anyone else has a problem with their screen randomly going blank at different points? It just happened to me again just now for the 2nd time today. Mostly happens when my Air is not plugged in.

It's like auto sleep or something in the middle of process.

Anyone else facing similar issues? i'm about to call support but I wanted a brief understanding of the problem first.

Thanks

EDIT: Guys, I have added a poll. Please take a second to vote so we can understand how big/common the issue is. Thank You.

[doublepost=1466917296][/doublepost]I have an iMac 27" 2011 and it started doing that exact same thing and it was getting worse until the black screen happened right after booting. I booted in safe mode, went to login items and discovered a "utorrent." While in safe mode, I did a file search for all thing utorrent and trashed them. Of course, I removed utorrent from login items. Blessedly, everything is fine. I hope this might work for you.

 

[grahamperrin]

For anyone who wants a step closer to diagnosis: when the problem occurs, immediately use the key chord for sysdiagnose ...

 

[dcamp314]

Just a consideration: Was watching a video the other day where somebody was demonstrating this and it turns out their cause was sitting the MBA on top of a case - with magnets as the closing mechanism - which was making the MBA think the screen was being closed any time there was movement or every time the user was lifting off and placing back onto the case.

Thanks for this clue, I was going crazy! I was setting one MacBook Pro on top of another -- when identically aligned, the magnet in the bottom (closed lid) computer would sleep the top computer (with open lid).

Strangely, it only seemed to happen once the power was plugged in.

 

[ymek]

Just a consideration: Was watching a video the other day where somebody was demonstrating this and it turns out their cause was sitting the MBA on top of a case - with magnets as the closing mechanism - which was making the MBA think the screen was being closed any time there was movement or every time the user was lifting off and placing back onto the case.

thank you! i just started having this problem when i started resting my computer on my case, but i never would have made the connection!

 

[wmhubel]

It's definitely magnetic interference. My Air was flickering off every 2 minutes until I realized my magnetic name tag from work was still in my pocket. Took the magnet out of my pocket and tossed it aside, problem solved.

 

[3Ctraining]

This has been happening to me for a few months, sometimes two or three times every hour.

 

[bigdaveindubai]

My wife had this problem and it was cause by her fitbit, the band has a magnet on it and she would layher wrist on the laptop and it would go to sleep. It thought the lid was closing because of the magnet. We recreated the issue multiple times, she stopped wearing her fitbit while on the laptop and hasnt had the problem since.

 

[HurA]

Hey, I was experiencing the same issue with a 2015-16 MacBook air that I do not even use all that much. It was extremely aggravating because it seemed to be completely random, but I found the cause. I had a USB charger for a vape battery plugged into my laptop as I was trying to use it. After about 5 minutes the screen would go black but I knew it was fully charged and the battery would still be charging. After hours of failed internet searching, I unplugged my now charged battery to use it and as soon as I took the USB out the screen came back on and resumed the video as it left off. I plugged the USB back into test it and sure enough, a couple of minutes in the screen went off again. Not sure of the technical reasoning for this, or if it carries over to other USB devices, but hopefully this helps someone.

TLDR: My USB vape charger was causing my blackouts, unplugging it immediately solved the issue. Try disconnecting any USB devices in your laptop.
[doublepost=1496475245][/doublepost]

This has been happening to me for a few months, sometimes two or three times every hour.

Try disconnecting any USB devices in your laptop, and be careful of anything with magnets in it getting near your laptop. It can make your computer think it is shut and turn the screen off.

 

[giovarma]

My wife had this problem and it was cause by her fitbit, the band has a magnet on it and she would layher wrist on the laptop and it would go to sleep. It thought the lid was closing because of the magnet. We recreated the issue multiple times, she stopped wearing her fitbit while on the laptop and hasnt had the problem since.

Thanks! I recommend to everyone to see if there is no magnet around. I was experiencing problem with the screen going randomly black and I read this comment and realised my iPad cover was lying directly next to the laptop. Out of curiousity I decided to play with it and, indeed, everytime I put the magnet part to the side of the keyboard, screen went black!

Thanks! Very helpful, man!

 

[sgmusic]

Hi fellow users.

I was wondering if anyone else has a problem with their screen randomly going blank at different points? It just happened to me again just now for the 2nd time today. Mostly happens when my Air is not plugged in.

It's like auto sleep or something in the middle of process.

Anyone else facing similar issues? i'm about to call support but I wanted a brief understanding of the problem first.

Thanks

EDIT: Guys, I have added a poll. Please take a second to vote so we can understand how big/common the issue is. Thank You.

I am dealing with the same problem. I am a teacher and using it for power point presentations. It has happened numerous times, and our tech guy has no idea what is causing it. I keep saying it started after the Sierra installation. I can only solve this by restarting my computer which is EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING!!!

 

[sgmusic]

I am dealing with the same problem. I am a teacher and using it for power point presentations. It has happened numerous times, and our tech guy has no idea what is causing it. I keep saying it started after the Sierra installation. I can only solve this by restarting my computer which is EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING!!!
[doublepost=1511802846][/doublepost]

Hey, I was experiencing the same issue with a 2015-16 MacBook air that I do not even use all that much. It was extremely aggravating because it seemed to be completely random, but I found the cause. I had a USB charger for a vape battery plugged into my laptop as I was trying to use it. After about 5 minutes the screen would go black but I knew it was fully charged and the battery would still be charging. After hours of failed internet searching, I unplugged my now charged battery to use it and as soon as I took the USB out the screen came back on and resumed the video as it left off. I plugged the USB back into test it and sure enough, a couple of minutes in the screen went off again. Not sure of the technical reasoning for this, or if it carries over to other USB devices, but hopefully this helps someone.

TLDR: My USB vape charger was causing my blackouts, unplugging it immediately solved the issue. Try disconnecting any USB devices in your laptop.
[doublepost=1496475245][/doublepost]
Try disconnecting any USB devices in your laptop, and be careful of anything with magnets in it getting near your laptop. It can make your computer think it is shut and turn the screen off.

 

[racerdoodle]

This issue has caused me unbelieveable grief with even Apple Care not knowing what the hell is going on. They are completely vacant to this issue. Useless. As most of the posters here assuming that everyone is a moron with their display sleep settings incorrectly set. YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE IN THIS WHOLE THREAD TO HIT THIS ISSUE RIGHT ON THE HEAD. Well done my friend thank you for taking the time to post something feasable for us to look at. I have an INCASE for my Macbook 12" with a magnetic closure. I removed the case from underneath my Macbook and voila! problem solved! Now... how the hell is it that INCASE and APPLE both have their head up their ass at the same time?? Neither contemplated magnetic interference in their product designs???

This is two years later and my magnetic culprit was my Apple Watch band. My wrist hovers directly over the closure magnet. Every time I posed my hands to type the watch band would signal my computer to sleep. Oh my! Thank you Mockingbird Gloves!

 

[scl1992]

Oops, my less than 48 hours old MBA is doing the same thing. It not plugged in when this happens so haven't changed any sleep preferences. My MBA goes of to sleep fairly quickly and when I wake it after I enter my password, after a few seconds goes into this black screen with the mouse pointer shown. Then its once again locked. It's happened to me quite frequently today, all while I'm on the battery.

Is this of major concern?
There are no magnets around, apart from other apple devices like my iphone/ipad/old macbook but don't think they are causing any of this.

Should I contact Apple about this?

This was happening to me, and a magnet was the culprit. Screen kept going black and trackpad unresponsive while the computer was on my lap. After reading this thread I realized my airpods case (which has a magnetic lid) was in my pants pocket. I swiped the case over the unibody surface as a test and, lo and behold, it did trigger the screen closing response. Haven't had a problem since!