okay to use with the lid closed -- or not?

Since the screen on a MBP can't be pushed all way down (flat with the desk), I might have to keep the lid closed when I hook up the laptop to my external monitor. The reason has to do with space constraints.

So here's my question: Can a Mac be used with the lid closed, or not? I've read warnings from people that say the Macs get so hot that it would damage the machine to keep the lid closed. Is this true, or just an exaggeration?

Bottom line: is it okay to use a Mac with the lid closed -- or not?

Thanks!

Yes, so long as your Mac is a MacBook, a MacBook Pro, or a PowerBook. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86286

SoundsGood said:

I've read warnings from people that say the Macs get so hot that it would damage the machine to keep the lid closed. Is this true, or just an exaggeration?

Click to expand...

This is true only of the iBook series.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88199
Anyone who holds this belief about Mac notebooks in general is operating under a mistaken impression.

SoundsGood said:

Since the screen on a MBP can't be pushed all way down (flat with the desk), I might have to keep the lid closed when I hook up the laptop to my external monitor. The reason has to do with space constraints.

So here's my question: Can a Mac be used with the lid closed, or not? I've read warnings from people that say the Macs get so hot that it would damage the machine to keep the lid closed. Is this true, or just an exaggeration?

Bottom line: is it okay to use a Mac with the lid closed -- or not?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Yes, it's fine. If the machine overheats, it will shut itself down before any damage is done. I would, however, recommend that you allow the machine to breath. Keep it on a flat, hard surface so that the air can circulate beneath it. Also, refrain from stacking anything on top of it and leave the outer perimeter clear, again, so that air can flow around it. In addition, you should make sure that the LCD backlight is OFF, when it's not being used, as that backlight has a limited service light and will also emit heat.

The only caveat is that cver the long-term, excessive heat build-up can lead to shorter service life for your hard drive and fans, but those are easily replaced.

Great. Thanks guys!

I run mine with the lid closed almost 24x7, no issues with overheating yet.

Sorry to thread hack, but how exactly do yo switch to running on an external monitor with the lid closed. I can't seem to make it happen. Sometimes I put the lid down and leave the room and come back later and it's switched, but it I try to make it switch by closing the lid when I'm there, the monitor just goes to sleep. Do you guys just leave the room every time ..

How do you close the lid without having the computer go to sleep?

I've been looking for this option everywhere!

'yellow19man' it should be in system preferences and then energy saver.

if its not in there try desktop and screensaver prefs. or just search in the search box.

As far as I know, you have to let it go to sleep first to go into the closed lid mode. You just close the lid, it goes to sleep, then hit a key on your keyboard to wake it up in the closed mode.

I would also ad a caveat that if you are playing any kind of 3D gaming you should open the "lid" because it'll get pretty hot closed. Mine got too hot just playing the Halo demo with it closed.

i also belive you need a mouse/keyboard and monitor connected to your 'book and then it wont even think about sleeping when you close the lid
-chris

Kind of disappointed Apple doesn't include the close-lid option without having the computer go to sleep. On my old PC laptop, there was an option where I could close my lid and still have the computer run (example, just turning off your monitor on a desktop computer).

I like having the option of just closing the lid and having the screen turn off and still keeping me connected to the internet.

I know I could just turn the "Put the display to sleep" option to a minute but then this option disrupts me when I watch video clips on the net. I constantly have to move my mouse to keep the screen alive.

yellow19man said:

Kind of disappointed Apple doesn't include the close-lid option without having the computer go to sleep. On my old PC laptop, there was an option where I could close my lid and still have the computer run...

Click to expand...

Yeah, me too.

On my current Dell laptop I just have it set to "When Lid Closes, Do Nothing"

It's never been a big problem for me, because I always keep my MBP in sleep instead of shutting it down and hardly ever switch between the MBP LCD and external LCD in the middle of doing something.

If the annoyance is that you have to start it up, put it to sleep, then wake it again, you can skip the sleep part. Just connect everything and close the lid quickly after you hit the power button, it'll go right into the closed lid mode.

coach_z said:

i also belive you need a mouse/keyboard and monitor connected to your 'book and then it wont even think about sleeping when you close the lid
-chris

Click to expand...

It will still sleep when you close the lid even if a monitor/keyboard/mouse are connected to it.

yellow19man said:

Kind of disappointed Apple doesn't include the close-lid option without having the computer go to sleep. On my old PC laptop, there was an option where I could close my lid and still have the computer run (example, just turning off your monitor on a desktop computer).

I like having the option of just closing the lid and having the screen turn off and still keeping me connected to the internet.

I know I could just turn the "Put the display to sleep" option to a minute but then this option disrupts me when I watch video clips on the net. I constantly have to move my mouse to keep the screen alive.

Click to expand...

It goes to sleep when its closed because Apple assumes that you're going to be transporting the laptop. Sleeping parks the hard drive, making it safe for travel, and (of course) saves power.

To turn off your display manually, use the brightness controls (on the Fkey)

First of all im afraid that if u close the screen its gonna got so hot as u cant imagine...my mac gets sooo hot.The **** material of that macbook pro...

<off topic>now i got only safari mail and adium open and my CPU A is at 50C. is that ok?</offtopic>

@fleurya, im not turning off my mac, i put it on sleep and while it is on sleep im taking it with me at job, is there a problem with that? am i going to have any problems with that or its just fine ?

cheez said:

<off topic>now i got only safari mail and adium open and my CPU A is at 50C. is that ok?</offtopic>

Click to expand...

That's not abnormally hot.

That's not too hot. It'll probably only be a problem with heat if you're doing some really heavily lifting: 3D gaming, rendering.

I keep mine in sleep all the time. The only time I power down is for an update install or those rare occasions when I need Windows. Putting in sleep while in transit is fine. Everything is essentially shut down, so not worries moving it.

cheez said:

my mac gets sooo hot.The **** material of that macbook pro...

Click to expand...

Which gets hotter, the new MBPs or the newer MBs?

Mine hits 69degrees celsius when running a game, itunes, and adium. Is that damaging my MBP?