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Macbook Air M3 - Low Brightness after wakeup!

Ever since upgrading to Sonoma 14.6, every time I open the laptop or wake it up after sleep mode, the laptop opens in a 'dormant' stage. The display is extremely low brightness and when I try to increase it, the buttons on the keyboard don't respond. When I try to increase the brightness on the control center, the display is off (see below). This is a 3 month old computer, the newest model, this shouldn't be happening!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Aug 14, 2024 4:24 AM

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Posted on Sep 28, 2024 1:19 PM

Same her, just bought my MacBook Air earlier this month, and am experiencing the same problem others report in this forum [running Sonoma 16.6.1 OS]. Wonder if the new Sequoia OS fixes the problem?

12 replies

Oct 31, 2024 5:41 AM in response to JTF91

Same problem on my brand new MacBook Air, running Sonoma 14.6. Lots of fun fumbling thru a dark screen to find the brightness adjustment and nudge it. For all their user experience expertise, Apple really seems to have dropped the ball and missed this in release testing(unless they just don't care or it's somehow twisted into being a "feature").

Sep 2, 2024 6:57 AM in response to JTF91

I am having this issue as well. M3 MacBook Air on Sonoma 14.6.1 (23G93). After a wakeup (not every wakeup), the display is very dim, Function keys unresponsive, and the Brightness slider is missing from Settings - see screen shot here.


If I put the machine to sleep when this is happening, I briefly see a '+' image in the top right corner of the MacBook display. When it gets in this condition it seems the only way to get out is to restart.


Aug 15, 2024 12:58 PM in response to JTF91

If the display is only slightly dimmed, then you can uncheck the "Slightly dim display on battery" Display System Setting (you need to click the "Advanced..." button to access this setting).


If this is not the problem, then you can try clearing the NVRAM settings using the following command in the Terminal app (safe for both Intel & M-series Macs):

sudo  nvram  -c


This command will prompt you for your admin password. Nothing will appear on the screen as you type the password, so press the "Return" key to submit the password. You may see a message about not being able to clear some options such as Computer Name which is Ok. You will need to restart the computer in order for the system to grab the default NVRAM settings.


Macbook Air M3 - Low Brightness after wakeup!

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