Is it bad to leave my Macbook Pro on 24/7?

Hello,

I use my macbook for both business and personal use and usually have it playing music when i go to sleep. I do however leave the lid open because i heard it can overheat if you close the lid.

Is it bad to do this, or is it okay to always leave it on? Also is there a recommended macbook pro cooling system that works well?

Most of the cooling systems i seen deal with the laptop fans being son the bottom on the laptop but since the macbook airvent seems to be only in the back, i'm not sure which external cooling pad to use.

Thank you in advance for your replies

Well, i do have my MBP on 24/7 cuz i also use it for personal and business use, but, when i go sleep i put it on sleep also. Anyhow, i dont think having ur MBP always on is a problem, if its goin to overheat or something then its gonna shut down on its own.

Ummm... yes it will kill your computer the screen after a while will die because of over use even if it does have a screen sleep if you shut it while its on thats fine it wont die the air will pop out the back anyway but if you feel the keyboard you will feel heat rise that will heat up the screen also shortening its lifespan if you want to find a good fan controller you can use called iCyclone look it up i have tested it and but it doesnt change the maximum fan speed or minimum but you can set it to what speeds you want in between. good luck i hope this helps.

Your mac will run maintenance scripts overnight but you can do this manually using Onyx or MacJanitor

I shut my mac down so save energy and the environment.

In summary – depends on how green you are – but laptops tend to use less power than desktops anyhow

No, there is nothing wrong with running your MBP 24/7. Just be sure to set the screen to turn off after a certain period of time to conserve its lifespan. Granted, that screen won't burn out in the years you'll own it, but it's also kind of annoying to have a bright light glaring at you as you sleep ;P

Mac_man said:

Ummm... yes it will kill your computer the screen after a while will die because of over use even if it does have a screen sleep if you shut it while its on thats fine it wont die the air will pop out the back anyway but if you feel the keyboard you will feel heat rise that will heat up the screen also shortening its lifespan if you want to find a good fan controller you can use called iCyclone look it up i have tested it and but it doesnt change the maximum fan speed or minimum but you can set it to what speeds you want in between. good luck i hope this helps.

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So have you ever been introduced to my two good friends, period and comma?

Kash said:

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So have you ever been introduced to my two good friends, period and comma?

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+1, 2nd that. Especially if you would like people to actually read your posts.

Thanks for the replies. Yes before i go to sleep, i put the computer to sleep my screen after 1 minute, so it stays off the whole night.

According to the post after mine, so even if i sleep the screen the whole night... just because the laptop is on... it will still shorten my screens lifetime?

I don't think so

I don't think he means to say it will shorten the screen life if it's off. However, because of the heat, having your MBP closed and running all night will expose the screen to excessive heat. Thus, shortening it's lifespan. As long as you have it set to turn off after a short period of time, it'll be fine. My Titanium G4 lasted forever and still works, although must be plugged in. The screens used in the Titaniums then had an even shorter life than these today. My screen brightness did decline after about a year and a half. Because of this I rarely have my brightness turned up all the way on my new MBP. Call it paranoia call it obsessive. I call it common sense. If you plan on having the computer for more than 2 years.

lol, thanks for the reply. I mean when i leave my computer on overnight, i set the screen to sleep after one minute and I never close the lid while my computer is running. I only close the lid when i shutdown the computer.

Aside from the iCyclone listed above, is there any good external cooling product that i can use on my macbook pro? I'm not sure which one to use since the macbook doesn't have fans on the bottom lol.

When i start world of warcraft i hear the fans speed up and you could feel the heat difference. Would like to buy something that will help keep it cool.

I think any fan stand would work fine. Heat is also dissipated from/through the bottom of the MBP.

I use my MBP in my room at night watching TV via my Slingbox. I have my MBP set to shut down at like 2am then it turns back on at 7am. Like a sleep timer.

Edit to previous post

well now you've introduced them to me,

Ummm... yes it will kill your computer the screen, after a while will die because of over use even if it does have a screen sleep, if you shut it while its on thats fine it wont die the air will pop out the back anyway but if you feel the keyboard you will feel heat rise that will heat up the screen also shortening its lifespan. if you want to find a good fan controller you can use called iCyclone. look it up, i have tested it and but it doesnt change the maximum fan speed or minimum but you can set it to what speeds you want in between. good luck i hope this helps.