What causes this screen on my MacBook Pro?

[Pa]

I've never heard this and i have left my previous 2000 Pismo and my current 2012 MBP in sleep mode exclusively. If this is a software issue, i'll believe it when I see it but my vote is on video card/cable/logic board.

My MBP is a 15 inch, it stays in sleep mode for over a week. It doesn't do this. I rarely reboot it.

My MBP is an older version (2012) and sleeps for days. I reboot about once a month or so.

There may be specific combinations of hardware and software that produce this problem.

But the Apple tech may have been blowing smoke. I don't rule that out.

 

[Clix Pix]

For some reason I have always been wary about using "sleep" with my machines, and so they are either actively on and working for me or they are shut down altogether. I usually shut down at night when going to bed and also during the day if we are about to have a major storm or if I'm going to be away from the house for several hours. Frankly, I've always thought the thing about "I've had my machine running for 56 days without rebooting" is a bit silly and I don't see the logic in it. A reboot refreshes everything. Why not use it? I've been doing this since 2005 and have not had any problems. I also do not keep my HDD and SSD external drives connected to my computers, either. When I am ready to use one I plug it in and when I'm finished, I eject it and unplug it. Again, this seems to have prevented problems that I see other people reporting from time to time.

 

[Pa]

I've never heard this and i have left my previous 2000 Pismo and my current 2012 MBP in sleep mode exclusively. If this is a software issue, i'll believe it when I see it but my vote is on video card/cable/logic board.

My MBP is a 15 inch, it stays in sleep mode for over a week. It doesn't do this. I rarely reboot it.

My MBP is an older version (2012) and sleeps for days. I reboot about once a month or so.

For some reason I have always been wary about using "sleep" with my machines, and so they are either actively on and working for me or they are shut down altogether. I usually shut down at night when going to bed and also during the day if we are about to have a major storm or if I'm going to be away from the house for several hours. Frankly, I've always thought the thing about "I've had my machine running for 56 days without rebooting" is a bit silly and I don't see the logic in it. A reboot refreshes everything. Why not use it? I've been doing this since 2005 and have not had any problems. I also do not keep my HDD and SSD external drives connected to my computers, either. When I am ready to use one I plug it in and when I'm finished, I eject it and unplug it. Again, this seems to have prevented problems that I see other people reporting from time to time.

Looks like another good topic to argue about. Knives out!

 

[Palouse]

Looks like another good topic to argue about. Knives out!

Next up:lens cleaning.

 

[BillM]

Conspirationalist central says this only happens to people running the older versions of the SETI app

For real, sounds like a driver / hardware sync issue between hardware initialization and the drivers that communicate with the display. I have a windows lower cost HP box that I added a third party video card to that will not initialize the display without ”encouragement” on restart....

 

[Clix Pix]

Nah, not feeling argumentative here and I'm sure no one else is, either! We all just have our own ways of living with our machines....

Lens cleaning? Wait, what, not an argument about whether or not to use a UV-Haze/protective filter all the time on one's lens(es)? I think some people are still arguing about THAT one!

 

[Growltiger]

Maybe it was taking a Power Nap (a unique feature of macOS) and drifted into a deeper sleep.
Sleep modes are complicated on every system and have often been the cause of problems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_mode

 

[7006]

Maybe it was taking a Power Nap (a unique feature of macOS) and drifted into a deeper sleep.
Sleep modes are complicated on every system and have often been the cause of problems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_mode

Thanks for that, very helpful to understand why my laptop does not behave in the way I think it ought to .

 

[Walter Rowe]

Thanks for your thoughts, folks.

The one-year point on this computer was the day after I had the chat with Apple Support. So I do have a record of the problem occurring before the warranty expired. I don't have any extended care contract as I think they are generally a waste of money.

The nearest "Genius Bar" is in Greensboro, NC, about 150 miles from me. There many still be an Apple Authorized repairman in a local electronics store. I'll look into that.

If I recall correctly your nearest Apple store is quite some distance. It might still be worth the visit. I had a 17-inch MacBook Pro that had video problems 3 weeks after the end of the 3-year AppleCare window. I took it to the store. They found the NVidia card had a known problem that was covered under an NVidia warranty somehow. They were unable to get a new card after two weeks, so they gave me a new laptop!

 

[Pa]

Thanks again, all. I think I'm going to sit tight for a while, shut it down more often, and see if it occurs again.

They were unable to get a new card after two weeks, so they gave me a new laptop!

Lucky you!

 

[Growltiger]

Thanks again, all. I think I'm going to sit tight for a while, shut it down more often, and see if it occurs again.

I suggest you set it to never go to sleep. If the problem relates to sleep, that will avoid it.
You don't need to shut it down unless you are travelling with it.