Apple Explains How to Keep Your Mac From Turning on When Opening Lid

[MacRumors]

Apple designed Macs with Apple silicon chips to automatically turn on and start up when the Mac's lid is opened or when the Mac is connected to power, but there is a workaround in macOS Sequoia if you don't like this behavior.

In a new support document, Apple provided separate instructions on how to prevent an Apple silicon Mac from turning on when the lid is opened or when it's connected to power. Both processes require the Terminal app. Apple's instructions:

1. Make sure that your Mac laptop with Apple silicon is using macOS Sequoia or later.
2. Open the Terminal app, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
3. Type one of these commands in Terminal, then press Return:
- To prevent startup when opening the lid or connecting to power: sudo nvram BootPreference=%00
- To prevent startup only when opening the lid: sudo nvram BootPreference=%01
- To prevent startup only when connecting to power: sudo nvram BootPreference=%02
4. Type your administrator password when prompted (Terminal doesn't show the password as it's typed), then press Return.

If you use these commands to change your Mac's behavior and want to undo it, you can open up Terminal and enter sudo nvram -d BootPreference.

Article Link: Apple Explains How to Keep Your Mac From Turning on When Opening Lid

 

[icerabbit]

And why could this not be a preference setting?

 

[Epsell]

If only there was an option to keep the lid open but use 2 external displays on the Macbook Air M3 (for cooling purposes).

 

[jz0309]

4 years later ... and you have to use Terminal ...
maybe MacOS Death Valley will have a setting when it comes out ...

 

[CEO]

Now if only there were a fix for MacBooks turning external displays on while they’re asleep (even with Power Nap disabled) and connected via thunderbolt…

 

[mazz0]

Flippin’ ’eck, what is this, Linux?

 

[JCCL]

I mean even windows has had this setting since probably Windows 95.

 

[aonez]

Thank god, about time

 

[platinumaqua]

Is there a way to get that firmware update without installing macOS Sequoia?

 

[EugW]

I guess this won't work for my 2017 MacBook which is on Ventura.

There is sudo nvram AutoBoot=%00 but I don't know how safe that is.

 

[TokyoKiller]

And why could this not be a preference setting?

Lazy engineers

 

[Astuces iOS]

Now explain why it does turn on when I press any key lol (WHY DOES APPLE NEEDS TO EXPLAIN LOL)

 

[seek3r]

I’d bet this came from this behavior bugging a dev at apple and they tossed a permanent hook into the api so they could use it

 

[green_diyos]

I dont mind that my 2019 MBP 16" Core i7 booting up when the lid is lifted but I find it annoying that when I "Shut Down" I later find out that it was put to Sleep and the battery has drained.

 

[.player]

Flippin’ ’eck, what is this, Linux?

maker forbid anyone have to learn basic cli

Burying this in nvram saves several hundred manhours of "my computer doesn't turn on" Genius Bar appointments after kids were clicking around in their parents' unlocked MacBook, or grandma got lost in System Settings.

Source: former Lead Genius + kid who bricked his dad's Macintosh for a whole afternoon

 

[iLuddite]

It just works™

 

[Dave-Z]

Now explain why it does turn on when I press any key lol (WHY DOES APPLE NEEDS TO EXPLAIN LOL)

Seriously, this is also the option I want. And I'd like both available in System Preferences (yes, Preferences, not Settings; we need to revert that mess).

 

[krull1015]

Apple should incorporate these options in setting via toggle switches for those users who aren’t familiar with or don’t feel comfortable using terminal. I’m sure there’s a lot of people. It would help with preserving battery life.

 

[Dave-Z]

maker forbid anyone have to learn basic cli

Burying this in nvram saves several hundred manhours of "my computer doesn't turn on" Genius Bar appointments after kids were clicking around in their parents' unlocked MacBook, or grandma got lost in System Settings.

Source: former Lead Genius + kid who bricked his dad's Macintosh for a whole afternoon

Several hundred man hours? That's a lot of hyperbole.

There are countless settings that can confuse computer-illiterate individuals. Like the keyboard shortcut that turns on/off full keyboard access or VoiceOver. Just because people don't know more than the basics doesn't mean we shouldn't have options to configure these things. And I'm saying this as someone who's completely comfortable doing server admin via ssh.

 

[ThomasJL]

Steve Jobs released the Macintosh in 1984 with a GUI so users wouldn't ever have use a command prompt. But here we are 41 years later in 2025, and under Tim Cook's so-called "leadership," users have to use a command prompt.

Jobs should have never made Cook CEO. Jobs should have made Scott Forstall CEO.

Forstall was responsible for leading the development of Mac OS X (and iOS). If Clueless Cook hadn't fired Forstall, Forstall would've still been at Apple. The absurd situation of users having to use a command prompt in 2025 for basic functionality would've never happened if Forstall was still in charge of Mac OS.

 

[Polinsky]

Lazy engineers

Do you have any proof of this or is this just a mean spirited kind of comment that is becoming the norm here and everywhere? I'd be willing to bet you any amount that there is a very valid reason for this.

 

[whatgift]

What's the use case for opening the laptop and not wanting it on?

 

[zach-coleman]

IMO this being hidden in terminal is completely intentional. They probably don’t actually want to offer this feature but are tired of the complaints, there is now a way to do it but completely undiscoverable within the OS itself. Only the most dedicated will find this and compromise whoever’s vision it is for the computer to behave lid open = on.

Them putting out a support page saying to do it via terminal vs just waiting for a future system preferences toggle reinforces me thinking this.

 

[Astuces iOS]

What's the use case for opening the laptop and not wanting it on?

I want to charge my MacBook but I don’t want to use it

 

[netsped]

If I'm opening my MacBook it's because I want to use it. If it's off it has to turn on. Why would anyone want to modify this? It's less wear and tear on a button.