Can I overheat my MacBook Air if I close its lid and use external monitor?

[TheRealDamager]

The Macbook Pros, as you state to use, don't have any vent holes in their keyboard. That's why you are able to use it without much heat increase. The Macbooks in question have the vent holes and need them for optimal performance. Apple knows about this limitation and that's why the GMA950 downclocks to 250Mhz from its default of 400Mhz when in clamshell mode. Your overall knowledge with these Macbooks seems to indicate that you have never used one for very long or examined one's interior in great detail. The article you posted indicates air exit vents, not air intake vents. It fails to mention the Mac Pro's intake vent at the front of the machine or the Mac Mini's and iMac's intake at the bottom.

Why are you bothering to argue about a model that isn't even in discussion on this thread? Whats the point?

 

[GGJstudios]

The Macbook Pros, as you state to use, don't have any vent holes in their keyboard.

No Mac notebooks have vents in the keyboard. Even if there are holes, they are not vents.

The article you posted indicates air exit vents, not air intake vents.

With the exception of the new retina MBPs, both intake and exhaust vents on Mac notebooks are at the rear, near the hinge, as they've always been.

I challenge you to find one reference in any Apple document to any vents in any Mac notebook keyboard. There is none, because there has never been a vent though a keyboard. Just because there are holes in the body of a Mac notebook, doesn't mean they are intended for vents. Until you can provide any Apple documentation of such "keyboard venting", it's probably a good idea that we table this discussion, as it's off-topic and derailing this thread.

 

[Intell]

No Mac notebooks have vents in the keyboard. Even if there are holes, they are not vents.

With the exception of the new retina MBPs, both intake and exhaust vents on Mac notebooks are at the rear, near the hinge, as they've always been.

The thread topic has already been answered. If the holes are not vents, why would Apple waste time and energy in punching out the holes and then patching the holes in some of the pre-Santa Rosa Macbooks? Why is there enough air being pulled through the keyboard when the Macbook it on that it can be felt and be able to hold a piece of standard printer paper when the Macbook is tilted 90 degrees? Why is it that Macbooks can still work without any problems when the intake half of the rear vent is covered? Why does the idle temperature increase every time a keyboard skin is put onto a Macbook? There are more exceptions to the vents at the rear than just the retina Macbook Pros, notably the 550Mhz+ Titanium Powerbooks. Those had to intake vents along the sides and blocking either of those resulted in overheating and freezing.

While no direct mention exists in publicly available documentation, Apple does state the following:

Set up your notebook on a stable work surface that allows for adequate air circulation under and around the computer. Do not operate your notebook on a pillow or other soft material, as the material can block the airflow vents. Never place anything over the keyboard when operating the computer. Never push objects into the ventilation openings.

Source: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1778

Do note that Apple explicitly states to not have anything on the keyboard in the same paragraph not blocking the vents. Indicating that on the Macbook models there is a vent there. A similarly phrased paragraph also appears in the 2006-mid2009 Macbook user manual. However, the line informing the user to not have anything on the keyboard when the machine is in operation, is absent on other models.

 

[TheRealDamager]

You keep referencing machines OTHER THAN THE ONE BEING DISCUSSED. Who cares?

 

[mon999]

i really feel sorry for the OP..

 

[mrsir2009]

You've misunderstood the post you're replying to. The point is that you need a "hack" (a third-party app) to allow your mac to run with the lid closed WITHOUT an external monitor.

Sometimes when I shut the lid on my MacBook Pro when it's still doing something, it stays awake all on it's own. Sometimes I shut it, go to bed, then in the morning it's still awake, and perfectly fine.

 

[crsolem]

Overheating

I'm not an expert but I just had a macbook pro (2011) problem with a logic board because of overheating, and I was regularly using my computer in clamshell mode with an external monitor. One difference was that I also had a hard protective case around the computer and was told that could have contributed as well. I must admit that the fan on my old machine was fairly loud which should have giving me a hint that the computer was getting hot.

The tech recommended that I download an app that monitor's the temperature of different components within the mac. Another idea he gave me was to keep the laptop elevated so as to keep air flowing around it. And no more case.

Hope this is of some help to you.

 

[Twimfy]

The answer is a plain and simple no.

Have fun. I have used many models of MacBook including the Air as "desktop" for years and they're all still running nicely.

 

[DisplacedMic]

Hello ALL!
I am very new in Mac World, comming from many years in Linux-on-ThinkPads World. (My main reason to switch is no time for maintenance and need for Unix!)

Anyway, I started to use my MacBook Air with an external monitor and with closed lid (clamp-shell mode?). Then, a colleague warn me that this way I may cause overheating. My machine should be quite good (i7, 4GB, 256SSD), but I am doing excesive data analysis.

So, my question is: Is my colleague right? Should I leave lid open? If closed, I should never do demanding stuff?

Many thanks!
PM

scientist. use my MBA in clamshell mode plugged into my TBD all the time for data analysis, 3d image rendering and normal stuff (email, web, youtube, netflix etc).

the fans don't even come on. it doesn't even get warm unless i'm watching a movie...

this is how it was designed. read your manual - you have nothing to worry about.

 

[JBat]

Wow, based on the link posted by hfg, this all seems very straightforward. I've have a 5 year old Toughbook that I use for work, a real dog, and I use it every day in clamshell mode with zero issues.

Much ado about nothing.

 

[gnasher729]

If it's 100% safe, why doesn't Apple allow you to close the laptop and have it not go to sleep. Unless I'm mistaken, you need to force the computer to stay awake by way of a hack.

That's probably to avoid millions of complaints that the laptop doesn't go to sleep if you close the lid

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The answer is a plain and simple no.

Have fun. I have used many models of MacBook including the Air as "desktop" for years and they're all still running nicely.

Cheap way to get a desktop Mac is to search eBay for MacBooks with broken screen. Close the lid, attach monitor and keyboard, and you've got a desktop Mac. I'd be slightly more careful not to block any vents, but apart from that it's just fine.