Waking my Macbook Air from sleep occasionally results in a blank/black display

Question

Level 1

9 points

Waking my Macbook Air from sleep occasionally results in a blank/black display

This doesn't happen every time, but it happens once every 1-2 days so it's often enough to be annoying. Sometimes when I wake my Macbook from sleep, the screen doesn't turn on. The keyboard is lit up and external displays still work, so the machine is definitely running. But the main screen doesn't turn on.

It's not a brightness problem. I've tried it. Many times. I've also tried shutting down the machine and resetting both the SMC and NVRAM. Neither has worked.

I usually hold down power to force a reboot. Then I have to log in and set everything back up. If I close the lid and leave it long enough, the machine will force a reboot, so it's apparently able to detect an issue.

I'm on a Macbook Air 2022 M2 on Ventura.

How can I debug this?

MacBook Air (M2, 2022)

Posted on Nov 22, 2023 5:46 PM

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Answer 1

amchirun

Level 1

8 points

Jan 9, 2024 6:03 PM in response to kid_drew

They always give this kind of advice: restart first, and if that doesn't work, reinstall. Additionally, I suspect that this issue arises under specific conditions, such as mine: using an M2 MacBook Air connected to an external 1080P display and using it as the primary screen.

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Answer 2

kid_drew Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 9, 2024 9:54 PM in response to amchirun

It happens almost every time when I connect my laptop to an external screen without waking it up first. That's basically a guaranteed screen lock. But it also occasionally happens when I come out of sleep without being plugged into anything. Much less common, but it still happens. Then I have to plug it into the external monitor to be able to soft reboot it. Super annoying. And I'm skeptical that reinstalling is going to fix it.

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Answer 3

amchirun

Level 1

8 points

Jan 14, 2024 5:59 PM in response to kid_drew

Similar to the first scenario you mentioned, but it only happens occasionally. As for the second, it seems like I haven't encountered that. I have now developed the habit of first waking up the screen and unlocking it before connecting the external monitor. Additionally, reinstalling the system is more difficult for me to accept.

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