Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Can you disable Macbook Pro screen and only use the external screen with Lion OS?
- Thread starter JazzLion
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Close the lid and it will be automatically put into clamshell mode, or if you want to keep the lid open with no display go into display preferences and turn off mirroring.
No air goes through the keyboard, the keyboard is sealed from the motherboard with a layer of plastic.
Thanks, guess this is the only solution.I know that if you close the lid and have it hooked up to the power adapter and use a peripheral to wake it up then it just uses the external. However I have yet to figure out a way of keeping the lid open and doing this.
i thought the air is coming out to the back bottom of the lcd (the black plastic), correct me if im wrong.
I think a better solution to this was if Lion turned off the display completely when the brightness is set to zero. Saves energy, optimizes the video card speed, allows airflow and eliminates the need to reboot the laptop for changes to take effect.
Works like Snow L !!
This is actually a better solution than I thought it was going to be. Based on some other posts I guess I thought it was going to completely disable my internal monitor so when I rebooted I saw my internal monitor come up and thought it was not working. Basically this works the same as 10.6. As others have said you just close, let it sleep, wake... then open the lid. If you want to enable your internal macbook display again use the 'Detect Displays' in your display preferences.
Folks at my work don't understand why I like to do this either. Here are my reasons:
- main reason = the app menu at the top will only show on the main macbook display.... not very intuitive when I want to use the larger monitor for most of the work (if I could make my macbook my secondary type display that would be a good solution for me)
- big external monitor = don't really need more real estate... multiple desktops helps keep me organized
- I find two different size displays uncomfortable to use at times
- need to use the camera so I don't want to just keep the lid closed
- I don't care where the air is coming from... the fan runs more with the lid closed
there are other reasons but those are the main ones
This is actually a better solution than I thought it was going to be. Based on some other posts I guess I thought it was going to completely disable my internal monitor so when I rebooted I saw my internal monitor come up and thought it was not working. Basically this works the same as 10.6. As others have said you just close, let it sleep, wake... then open the lid. If you want to enable your internal macbook display again use the 'Detect Displays' in your display preferences.
Folks at my work don't understand why I like to do this either. Here are my reasons:
- main reason = the app menu at the top will only show on the main macbook display.... not very intuitive when I want to use the larger monitor for most of the work (if I could make my macbook my secondary type display that would be a good solution for me)
- big external monitor = don't really need more real estate... multiple desktops helps keep me organized
- I find two different size displays uncomfortable to use at times
- need to use the camera so I don't want to just keep the lid closed
- I don't care where the air is coming from... the fan runs more with the lid closed
there are other reasons but those are the main ones
I am surprised by how many people don't realize you can switch which display is your "main" display by dragging the title bar from one display to another in the Displays section of System Preferences. It's in the same pane as the orientation settings. The option only appears when you have a second monitor plugged in. Furthermore, the computer remembers this and if you reconnect your external display, it automatically switches the Dock and the Menu Bar to the external display.
I hope you find this information useful.
I am surprised by how many people don't realize you can switch which display is your "main" display by dragging the title bar from one display to another in the Displays section of System Preferences. It's in the same pane as the orientation settings. The option only appears when you have a second monitor plugged in. Furthermore, the computer remembers this and if you reconnect your external display, it automatically switches the Dock and the Menu Bar to the external display.
I hope you find this information useful.
Thank YOU! I like this! It helps a lot!
Yes, and that vent is unaffected by whether or not the lid is open. If anything, the vent is MORE open when the lid is closed than when it is open.
Actually it would be more open with the lip open because it can flow up also but closing the lid has little effect on the air flow as long as the computer is on a HARD surface.
I have a weird issue with clamshell mode in 10.7.2
MacBook Air i5 1.7 and Apple Cinema Display 30" connected with Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter.
When I restart the computer, lid closed, it only sees the main 30" display, which is the desired behaviourall good so far.
Then I put it to sleep, wake it up and the computer suddenly sees two displays, despite the lid being closed. There is no way to get rid of the second display unless I restart the computer again. It is ridiculous.
I tried the Terminal trick, it did nothing but put the computer in "sleep, wake, wait 5 seconds, sleep again" loop. Bizarre.
MacBook Air i5 1.7 and Apple Cinema Display 30" connected with Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter.
When I restart the computer, lid closed, it only sees the main 30" display, which is the desired behaviourall good so far.
Then I put it to sleep, wake it up and the computer suddenly sees two displays, despite the lid being closed. There is no way to get rid of the second display unless I restart the computer again. It is ridiculous.
I tried the Terminal trick, it did nothing but put the computer in "sleep, wake, wait 5 seconds, sleep again" loop. Bizarre.
Nope. When the lid is open, the air can't really flow down because the lid is in the way. Plus the lid also blocks the side vents when it is open and doesn't at all when it's closed.
What happens if you open the lid and then close it again after this happens? Also, do you have an aversion to running two monitors? It gives you more space...
The laptop screen is on at first (closed!) then, when I open it fully and close again, it goes off. It is still visible as an active screen in settings, I can drag windows to it, reposition it and so on. Only a restart fully disables laptop display.
A monitor and a laptop combination is not really the same thing as two monitors standing side by side, it's not very usable for me.
Besides it is a 30". If someone says they need more screen estate than that they have bigger problems
I am sometimes still overwhelmed by this display even though I have good reasons to own ituse it for graphic design/web development.