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I have a brand-new Macbook Pro, my first mac since 1987, and unfortunately I'm experiencing a severe issue with it. If I leave it by itself for a while, or close the lid and then re-open it, the screen remains black and nothing I do can fix that - I have to forcefully shut down the mac (holding the power button for like 10 seconds) and re-open it.

I searched for this problem online and found many similar instances of it, but could not find any actual solution. How can I solve this issue? And if it's a still-unsolved problem, is there any work-around I can use to bring the screen back to life without rebooting the laptop?

Technical details, as copied from the About This Mac dialog:

MacBook Pro
15-inch, Late 2011
Processor  2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory  8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics  AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB
Software  Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 (11C74)
  • Running software update reports that the laptop is up-to-date.
  • I only got it yesterday, and have managed to install a grand total of just 4 applications (Keka, Steam, Syncplicity and Chrome).
  • I have no peripherals connected - the only physical connection is the power cord, the only wireless connection is the Wi-Fi. The problem persists whether the mac is connected to the power or not.
  • The problem is consistent, once the screen turns off it's always doomed.
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What have you tried doing to start it up? – Graeme Hutchison Nov 8 '11 at 16:08
@GraemeHutchison Clicking the trackpad, clicking random keys, pushing the power button, closing and re-opening the lid. – Oak Nov 8 '11 at 16:31

2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

I have a brand-new Macbook Pro

Well the obvious first solution that comes to my mind is: use your excellent AppleCare support service! Since it's brand new, presumably it's within the initial complementary AppleCare period. Their tech support is awesome, and if they can't solve the problem, you can take it in to an Apple store for repair, or they'll ship you a box and return shipping label to have the machine shipped to them and fixed, free of charge.

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Well the only thing available here is taking it to the store, and if I can solve it on my own without doing it it will save me time, which is why I'm asking here. I was hoping there's some well-known solution or common workaround, given the relatively high number of related issues I could find. – Oak Nov 9 '11 at 8:50
You don't have free tech support via their 800 number? (1-800-MY-APPLE) If you purchased your Mac within the past 90 days you're still within that period – Josh Nov 9 '11 at 13:20
Hmm, turns out they do have a phone number here (though obviously not the 1-800 number), I'll give it a go. – Oak Nov 9 '11 at 13:31
Good luck Oak! Of course, I don't mean to imply I don't like to solve things on my own... I just know that Apple has great tech support and this was the first solution which came to my mind :-) – Josh Nov 9 '11 at 13:51
up vote 0 down vote accepted

I've set the computer to never turn its monitor off and it took care of the problem - even after making the computer sleep and waking it up again it works.

I am now experienced a different problem, though, but as I cannot be positively sure it's related to this one I've opened a new question about it: Macbook Pro goes into sleep shortly after waking up

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