MacBook Pro Retina 13" - problem with frozen screen

[alyssa55]

Hello everyone. I am having a little problem with something and I hope somebody will be willing/able to help me.

I have bought a new MacBook Pro Retina 13" in September. I have been using it every day, but not excessively (normal home use). I have been mostly using it for web browsing (I am using the Safari and have not installed any other programs on the device) - news reading, video watching, etc. and Pages/Numbers programs. Since I have it, which is now a bit more than 2 months, I have had a little problem with it several times already (probably somewhere between 5-10 times that this has happened). I will try to describe what happens the best that I can. Let's say I am doing something on my Mac and I close it down to go do something (like open the door if somebody is ringing or go to use the bathroom or anything). I come back, open the MacBook and the screen kinda becomes white-ish. Everything is kinda lighter - more white (it's a bit hard to explain). So I want to go on with what I've been doing before and I try to click something and it's not working. None of the keyboard shortcuts work either. I can still move the cursor and try to click, but nothing happens. I can feel that the force touch is working (I can feel the "double click"), but again, nothing happens. After a while (maybe 30 seconds or even less), you can not even move the cursor anymore and everything is frozen and the force touch does not work anymore (you can no longer feel the "double click"). Then if I close the MacBook down again (in hopes it would go to sleep and then wake up again and work normally), I notice that the Apple light on the back/top of the notebook is still lightened, like when the computer is open and running, not when off/sleeping. So the only thing I can do is force shut down (hold the power button) and then turn on again. I am getting a little bit worried since my brother has bought the same MacBook a month before me and has never experienced that problem, using the computer probably similar amount of time that I am and for similar stuff.

I am just wondering if anybody knows why this thing would happen and maybe what can I do to prevent it from happening? Is it a thing to be worried about? I have read that MacBooks rarely have problems, so this is why this is even more puzzling to me.

Thanks for any help/suggestions/answers.

 

[chscag]

Welcomes to our forums.

Since your MacBook Pro is still under warranty, make an appointment with Apple (your local genius bar at the Apple store) and let them perform diagnostics. What you described is not normal and may be a hardware problem. Best to let Apple look at it and take care of it if something is not working right.

 

[alyssa55]

Thanks! What about this, I do not live in the USA and I have not bought the MacBook at the official Apple store, but at another store that sells all sorts of electronic devices, including Apple's products? I am afraid they are gonna be trying to dismiss me if I come there and say the computer works normally, but it sometimes does this. Any suggestions?

 

[chscag]

Your MacBook Pro has a world wide one year warranty and may be even more depending on where you live. Take it back to where you purchased it from and if they are an authorized Apple reseller, they should make good on the warranty. Which means they'll either have to repair it or give you a new one instead. If there is an official Apple store where you live, take it to them instead. Of course if there are no Apple stores in your area, then you have no choice.

 

[alyssa55]

Thanks! I will just try to take it to the store where I bought it and see what they can do. I was also thinking next time this happens, I take a picture or record a video so they see what happens in addition to my explanation. What do you think about that? I am kinda worried because it has happened before with various other electronic stuff that we wanted to get fixed for not working like they should and they just sent them back and said it was working properly and after like a day or so of use we saw the problem again. It was not Apple though (we haven't had any problems with their products yet), so let's hope they are different.

 

[chscag]

Yes, pictures and a video would help. But if the store where you purchased your MacBook Pro does not have competant Apple service technicians, the store may try to pacify you by saying that they could not find anything wrong with it. As a last resort, you can try contacting Apple by phone and speak to a technician.

I see that you live in Slovenia. Your nearest Apple contact may either be in Italy or Germany.

 

[alyssa55]

Thank you. Yes I am from Slovenia, but I have bought my MacBook in Austria. I will see what can be done.

 

[alyssa55]

Hello,
it's me again. So, the last time I posted here I have decided to take my MacBook to the store where I bought it, explain the problem, show them the video and also upload it on the computer itself so the people solving the problem can see it too. But before I did that, I wanted to install the new OS Sierra (I had El Capitan before) - only because I didn't want them to take it, install the update and send it back, without performing any tests. So I decided to install the update and then wait a week or so and see if the problem would still appear. Now it's been about two and a half weeks since the update and it hasn't happened yet (with the same type and amount of use as before). Do you think it's possible that it has been some kind of bug that now disappeared with the update?

 

[chscag]

I guess we won't know for sure, but if the original problem (frozen screen) does not come back, maybe it was just a one time glitch. Your new machine is warranted for one year, so be sure to make backups and let us know if the problem returns.

 

[harryb2448]

Sounds like the problem was/is in your energy savings setting in System Preferences. The fading of the screen is quite norma; going in to saving power processes.

 

[alyssa55]

Thank you both!

harryb2448 is there a solution to that? Anything that can be done to prevent it from happening (if it happens again)? Are there any preferences I should set?