macbook pro
I have a Macbook Pro (Early 2015 model with Retina Display) with macOS Sierra.
For past 5-6 days its display turns off randomly while I am actively working on it. The touchpad keeps working and keyboard backlights remains on. If I restart it using power button on the keyboard then it works fine for a while (3-4 hours). What can I do to fix this? I have already tries SMC reset.
EDIT: It turned out to be water damage that caused the issue. Fiddling with the case probably shifted some leads inside the computer that had shortened/lost contact.
So I think I've finally found the problem; the bottom of the case wasn't on properly.
The keyboard/touchpad would sometimes work, but after putting it in my bag and taking it out again it would usually not work anymore. However, after turning it off by holding the power button and carefully squeezing the case along the edges it would work when I powered it on again. The Macbook provides the ground connection for the keyboard via the bottom of the case, so my guess was that there was a problem with that connection.
So I took off the bottom of the case, cleaned it, and put it on again, careful to screw it in exactly straight, and now it seems to be fine.
I still don't know why it would work better in Linux. My only conjecture is that Linux can somehow reinitialize the hardware after it has lost power briefly.
This will probably sound strange, but I had a short of similar issue on my MacBook Pro.
It turned out I was somehow accidentally managing to trigger the "Swipe between full-screen apps" gesture just a tiny almost imperceptible bit. It took me ages to figure this out. But while it is partially through a swipe nothing else seems to register on the keyboard or trackpad.
If this is the problem you can just do a little horizontal three or four (depending on how you have it set) finger wiggle to reset it, or turn the swipe off in System Preferences.
Best Answer
First thing is to try to work out what is causing the screen to power down. Does the console give up any messages when the display shuts off?
If there's nothing showing, try going into the System Preferences, to the Energy Saver settings and disable the sleep mode for both the display and the laptop. It will complain when you do this, and you WILL want to be mindful of it not going to low-energy use esp. when you're on battery power - and see if it stops the issue. (This was a recurrent issue when I updated my first macbook to Snow Leopard, so it can be a glitched software install)
If it does, then you know it is a sleep-related issue that may best be solved with a reinstall of the OS. If not, then your best bet is to find a Certified Apple Service center and have them put a diagnostic test to the hardware.
Good luck!