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hiro_hamada

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 25, 2017
87
6
Is there a way to keep the laptop awake and syncing in the background while the lid is closed? I've seen many youtube videos from many years ago referring to the 3rd party software to do this, but I won't trust it. Is there a safe way to do it natively?
 
You can do this in Energy Saver. Just select "Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off".

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to stop it from logging out after X minutes of inactivity. Anyone know if there's a setting for that?

Update: Nevermind. I just realized that you probably are doing this without an external monitor. This is a much harder trick when you don't have an external display.

I have found that Bluetooth devices will prevent my MBP from sleeping. If you have a Bluetooth device that needs to ping the laptop regularly, that will keep it awake.
 
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I have that setting enabled but it seems my Mac does nothing when the lid is closed.

Also I have bluetooth Magic Keyboard and Trackpad but it seems they don't help :)
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This article says there's no system setting for that, only 3rd party apps.
 
Also I have bluetooth Magic Keyboard and Trackpad but it seems they don't help :)

Yeah, you'll need something that's going to be in constant communication with the laptop. The device that kept mine awake was an ES100 Bluetooth DAC. I've had some mishaps with that thing running down my battery at inpportune times before and also causing my MBP to be extremely hot because it stayed on while it was being stored in an enclosed space. That DAC operates wirelessly and also can work plugged in via a USB cable so it's possible to use something like that to keep your computer on without killing the device's battery.
 
I have that setting enabled but it seems my Mac does nothing when the lid is closed.

Also I have bluetooth Magic Keyboard and Trackpad but it seems they don't help :)
[automerge]1582696510[/automerge]

This article says there's no system setting for that, only 3rd party apps.


Thankfully that article is incorrect. My answer here to a similar post may help. This uses some system commands to keep your macbook awake.
 
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