Using MBP with with the lid closed

I have done some searching for tips on using the MBP with the lid closed and there is some conflicting information. I'm hoping people who use their Apple laptops in this way can help clarify a few things.
First, as I understand it, the MBP will operate with the lid closed if there is a connected power cord, mouse, keyboard, and external display. I plan to use mine with a Bluetooth mouse/keyboard. (More details from Apple can be found here.)
These are my questions:
1) I've heard people issue warnings about laptops overheating when running closed, but it seems Apple endorses using the MBP this way. Is heat really a problem, or are people just spreading misconceptions by predicting an early demise for a laptop used in this way?
2) Can the MBP be turned on/off when closed, or only put to sleep? I want to keep my MBP on a shelf that makes it inconvenient to open every time I want to shut down or power up. I suspect putting it to sleep will be good enough, but if I can shut down and power up without opening the lid, that would be preferable.
3) I've read that the MBP can be glitchy when waking from sleep in the closed-lid configuration. According to some people it sometimes won't wake up and requires at restart. Am I fooling myself into thinking sleep can replace shutting down?
Thanks.

1) As long as you don't place anything between the keyboard and screen, you should be fine. There have been worries about display damage due to heat rising up from the keyboard, but no substantiated reports of real damage occuring.
2) You can obviously turn the MBP off while closed by choosing Apple > Shut Down; powering back on requires pressing the power button. Another option would be enabling the Wake on LAN feature in Energy Saver preferences.
3) AFAIK, the problems are with deep sleep and occur regardless of whether the lid is closed or not. I've not had any problems waking my MBP from sleep, but I always shut it down for the night.

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Hi.bag of my ipad has a magnet that with it the lid closed, is this harmful for ipad??(software or hadware). thank you.

hi.bag of my ipad has a magnet that with it the lid closed, is this harmful for ipad??(software or hadware). thank you.

No. There are magnets in the iPad as well. Try the right side of the screen, around the midle point.

Mac book pro is very very slow/it hangs for even the smallest tasks/even with the lid closed it is still running if it is not completely turned off. Dose any one know what may be wrong ? and how to fix it?

More details about the problem : My computer is a Mid 2012 Mac Book pro 2.9GHz i7 processor with 8GB RAM updated to OS X v10.8.5
- I ran a compleet scan of my computer for any threats ( I used virus barrier express ) and there was nothing identified
- When I oppened the Activiti Monitor there are about 20-30 processes which I do not undersatand they are run under the user "root" 2 in perticular ( Kernel_task & fseventsd ) they both take up a lot of threads and kernel_task is constantly using 1.2 GB of "real memory" which is at least 20 times any other process that is running espesially the ones that run under the user "Apple" I do not know if this is causing the problems on my mac but i tryed to forces close it and it dose not even let me click the button, the others close but reopean immideatly. I will attach a screen shot of what i have mentioned here.
- The problems I am facing are mainly performance :- To state a few examples, my mac dose not seam to be able to handile even the smallest tasks like switching tabs on safari, typing any thing, playing a movie withought stopping inbetween, etc.. ( let me elaborate on why I said its not able to handil these tasks, it is because when I am trying to do any one of the afformentioned tasks inbetween the cursor becomes a rainbow collered spinning disk and I am unable to do anything for about 10 seckonds after which it starts to work again for some time before it happens again. )
- Another concern of mine is that my mac seems to be on even with the lid closed if I do not shut it down compleetly, if i just close the lid after some time the computer starts warming up, and the fan starts running. the battery is drained at the same rate or slightly less rate than it would have if i was using it normally with the lid opean. ( altough this is happning the screen dose not turn on untill the lid is opean again )
- I have only 300+ GB full out of my 750GB so i believe these are not issues caused by my mac's memory being full ( BUT THE FIRST TIME I NOTICED THIS WAS HAPPNING WAS WHEN MY MEMORY WAS ABOUT 720GB FULL WHEN THESE ISSUES FIRST AROSE I IMMEADITLY DELEATED 400+GB OF MY USELESS FILES THAT I HAD BEEN HORDING ALL OF WHICH WERE MOVIES ) that about covers it all PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF ANY ONE KNOWS WHAT TO DO.
Ps: I apoligize if I have given too many unrelevant details, not enough usefull information and or if i was just all over the place with my explanations but I am really frustrated and was hoping not to miss anyting. Please let me know if any information at all is required and ill do my best to provide it.
Thank You

Start with this comprehensive troubleshooting article:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3521
Look at this one for possible solutions:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3353
Ciao.

HT3131 With the lid closed in clamshell mode, the lid covers the fans - won't it overheat?

With the lid closed in clamshell mode, the lid covers the fans - won't it overheat?

This is useful but the MBA gets a bit hotter due to intake, but if you have the lid open + external screen it gets even hotter due to more for the GPU (processor) to do.
Only way I’ve manage to run only external screen with the lid open is to trick the MBA that the lid is closed with a magnet positioned on the left.
I’d really like a software solution to this though…

Satellite 'Won't Wake' Up With the Lid Closed

This may not be a Toshiba problem per se since it has been reported for other brands as well.
I want to run backups overnight. This requires my backup programs to 'wake' the computer from sleep. This works perfectly well for my desktop. It does not work for my laptop if the lid is down: the laptop does not wake, so backups do not run
Some details:
Model L955-S5370, Windows 8, UEFI
Power settings for a closed lid, whether on-battery or off battery, are: Sleep (not hibernate)
Makes no difference whether the power options are to sleep or not to sleep when the lid closes; in neither case does the computer wake up.
When the laptop is set to not sleep when the lid is closed, the laptop eventually goes to sleep in accordance with my general sleep settings ('sleep after 30 minutes')
The same issue has been reported in the user forums for other brands, and in those instances the problem was neither obvious or easy to diagnose. The problem seems to be in the interface between the lid closing mechanism and the operating system. Dell says they'll include a resolution in a BIOS update.
Can Toshiba help with this?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

No, you're not dense. Lacking in appreciation of subtle humor, perhaps.
"Allow wake timers" was disabled. When I changed the setting to "Enabled" my backup ran. So I am .
That said, I have read in other OEM forums that running scheduled tasks with the lid down can be a problem. Something to with the interface between the lid (hardware) and the operating system. Apparently, I don't have that problem.

Turn on by itself with the lid closed

I have a Lenovo v100 0763 laptop and I have this problem:
When I close my laptop lid, it goes to standby mode (I don't activate the hibernation mode) but it only lasts for 20-30 minutes when I can hear the (humming) sound of the machine starting again even with the lid closed.
When I open the lid, it shows the login page directly like it has always been on (left standby with the lid on)
I had this problem around a year ago, and then I brought the laptop to a service (along with many other faulties - like the screen) and they fixed them (it was under guarantee back then) but now the problem suddenly came back around a week ago and this applies for both condition when it's plugged onto electricity or when it's under battery power only.
My setting for the power is Lenovo Standard
                                  Power                      Battery
Close the screen:                       after 25 mins             after 5 mins
Shutdown the harddisk:              after 30 mins            after 5 mins
System standby    after 25 mins    after 5 mins
Does anybody know why my laptop behaves like this? Because sometimes I left my instant messenger on (It automatically went off when I closed the lid) but it went right online again when the laptop was turned on by itself.
Thanks in advance
Eva

Sorry, but I cannot find it the one that you meant.
Is it the boot from network setup? Because there's no such thing as Power Management Setup in the boot menu. It's just bunch of options on from where to boot and since my laptop is turned on from standby by itself, does it have anything to do with booting?

Can macbookpro be used with the lid closed while using multiple external monitors

I want to use macbook pro with external monitors and be able to close the lid on the laptop, but can't figure out how to make that works with multiple monitors. I currently use two external monitors with the laptop monitor as my third. All are independent monitors and I accomplish this using the matrox diamond bvu-195 product (one for each external monitor). Now I would like to add a third external monitor and be able to close the laptop lid - kind of like you would do with a docking station for a Windows laptop. Anyone have any suggestions as to how to accomplish this?

Connecting your present two external displays via USB has left your MBP's Mini-DisplayPort available for a third. Depending on the monitor's available inputs, buy a mini-Displayport-to-VGA, MDP-to-DVI, or MDP-to-HDMI adapter and the appropriate cable to make the connection. I would expect that adding a third monitor to your GPU's workload might cause your already slow USB-connected monitors to slow down farther, but you'll have to see whether that's true and, if so, how tolerable it is in your work.
As for what will happen when you close the built-in display, I suspect that what happens if you do that now will continue to happen if you do it with a third monitor connected. If you can now close the display and run the machine in closed-clamshell mode, I expect you'll still be able to do so after adding the third external screen.

Using a keyboard and cinema display with the lid closed on the laptop...

I have connected my MacBook Pro to my Apple cinema display, but what do I need to do in order to be able to close the lid on the laptop, but still work with the computer. Also, do I need a docking station?
Thanks to anyone patient enough to reply with help!

I think the Trick is to connect your Laptop to the Cinema Display. Then connect a keyboard to your ACD, then set your Laptop to go to sleep by closing it - next wake the laptop by using the Keyboard attached to the ACD.

Using only an Apple Cinema Display connected to MBP (w/ the lid closed)

Hi,
Could someone please help me on a small but rather annoying problem?
I have a Mac Book Pro 17" connected to an Apple Cinema Display 24". All I would like to do is to just use the Cinema Display, close the laptop lid, and for the MBP not to go into sleep mode (taking the Apple Display away with it).
I've looked in the Display and Energy Saver settings and have trawled through the online forums but as yet have not had any luck.
Can someone point me in the right direction?
Many thanks, M>/.

Apple supports using an external keyboard/mouse to wake the MBP in clamshell mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3131
The other option is 3rd party software to disable lid-closed sleep:
InsomniaX
SleepLess

Can I work with MBA's lid closed?

I have connected my 23" Cinema Display to my MBA, and it works beautifully. However, everytime I close the lid of the MBA, both displays go off and there is no way to reactivate the main one by clicking with the mouse or pressing on the Bluetooth keyboard. Is there any reason why the MBA should not work with its lid closed?

Try giving it a little more time to kick back on. Mine didn't work either when I first hooked it up because I was expecting a short delay before the monitor went back on. I tried several times to no avail. So was keeping the lid fairly far down while working when the cat stepped on it (grrr) and shut it. While cursing cat and trying to get her off the desk, I left the lid down and after a delay it all just kicked in. Go figure. I've had it woking with lid closed since then. Tried it several times and just had to leave it down longer. Hope this helps

My MacBook Air keeps shutting down and restarting - even with the lid closed.

My MacBook Air keeps asking to confirm shutdown and if I don't respond within 5 secs in shuts and restarts - constantly. Gap between restrats is never more than afew minutes. Running OS X.6.8. Software up to date. Any ideas?

The 2010 MBP has had a problem with GPU/LB
See the link:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4088
This was taken care of by extending the AppleCare from date of purchase, if you are past this date check in to this
http://nwsinglespeed.hubpages.com/hub/Do-You-Know-About-Apples-Flat-Rate-Repair- Pricing
As you are not yet out of "supported" status
Go to a Geniu sbar and have this cheched, make an appointment first
http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

Using MBP Speakers with output

is there any way (like when im running xp) that i can have my speakers on as well as my external speakers?

To use an external display with your MBP in clamshell mode, you must have the AC adapter connected, as this Apple article describes:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3131

Using MBP 15" with Griffin Elevator, Display is "wiggling"

Hi Apple Support Communitiy,
i just bought the Griffin Elevator for my MacBook Pro 15" late 2012 to work more ergonomically.
At the first view I liked the Elevator very much but trying it out I now see that the Notebook Display is "wiggling" while I'm e.g. typing at my wireless Keyboard on the same table on which the Elevator stands. The "wiggling" is not really disturbing except of FaceTime but my question is: Can the wiggling come along with Disadvantages for my hardware, for example that the hinges begin to slack or that my harddrive suffers from wiggling or is it just normal and all right for my MacBook?
Thank you in advance for your help,
regards
Niklas

YES. In contrast to the sedate and safe life of a desktop, a portable is much more fraught to damage. Just note that AppleCare needs to be purchased and activated while the base warranty is in effect. Meaning you buy the box when you have about a month left and hence don't have to plonk the cash up front.
Since you will inevitably have the joy of the Lion (or even the Mountain Lion if you don't purchase before the summer), I can now tell you that 64-bit fat cat does not run well in 4GB. At least not for normal use, much less for power use. So RAM will probably be the first order of the day, upgrade-wise. I just put in a Corsair 8GB upgrade kit that cost $45. Had I ordered mine with 8GB from Apple, that would have set me back $200. OR, I could have spent the $200 on a Corsair 16GB upgrade kit. Yeah, I know, Apple says 8GB is the max, but for the current model ("Late 2011"), the 8GB sticks work just fine, though they're still pricy. I'll stick with 8 for now (2x4GB).
Another thing to note is that the only way to get the antiglare finish is with the widescreen option. And that will add to the cost, unfortunately.

Using MBP screen with G5

is there a way of connecting my G5 to my MBP so that I can switch between screens on MBP?
as i want to get rid of the crt monitor.
it gives me headaches...

Not that I know of, people often ask a similar question regarding the iMac and the answer is the same. Because the laptop has not direct dvi/vga in port there's no way for you to feed the signal from your desktop to the laptop's display.
If the crt is giving you a headache buy a new lcd display. Apple (of course) makes an excellent monitor, but if you don't want to spend that much money samgsung has an excellent display for a lot less $$$

Satellite L10-232: Black screen after the lid closing.

hello
I've moved my notebook (satellite L10-232) to another room, it wasn't shutdown (just closed it). When I opened it there was nothing on the screen and the accu isn't empty (processor is still doing some things). Does anyone know how I can solve this problem?
Thanks

Easy ..
Powermanagement is the weakest and less stable functionality on any laptop. (especially with faulty batteries).
NEVER try to count on standby mode etc. It will work 999 time and the 1000 time it don't.
Now you ended with a hung laptop.
The ways to proceed :
1. the gentle way :
-push the power button ,and keep your finger on it for 10 seconds. (5 is enough ,10 to be sure)
-remove your battery
-plugin powercable
-push the powerbutton
2. the less gentle way :
-remove the power cable
-remove the battery
-wait for 24 hours
-insert the power cable
-push the power button
3. the hard way : ENSURE YOUR HARDDRIVE IS NOT PASSWORD PROTECTED,ELSE YOU LOOSE YOUR DATA.
try to figure out hat is the key startup sequence in order to reset the BIOS at boot. (it should be described in your manual somewhere)
4. the hardest way : !!!! ONLY BY A PROFESSIONAL !!!!
ENSURE YOUR HARDDRIVE IS NOT PASSWORD PROTECTED,ELSE YOU LOOSE YOUR DATA.
The laptop has to be opened and all battery should be removed. All capacitors should be emptied (by letting laptop without any batteries for 72h) . Then power up
the laptop.
Please note that I cannot be held responsable for any damage or data loss by any circumstances.

Using MBP with with the lid closed

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