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Macbook as a desktop (External display)

S

Snowmang

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hey folks,

I've searched quite a few threads here and I still don't seem to have a solid answer.

What's the best method for "tricking" a macbook into thinking it's closed, yet it's still open? I hear it's the magnet trick but I can't seem to find the location of where to place the magnet... and is it safe? Magnets tend to harm some components.

Basically I want to use an external display as my main screen when working at my desk, yet I don't want to close the macbook for fear of heat etc.... so ideally tricking the macbook into thinking it's closed when it's not will provide the best of both worlds.

Thanks in advance 🙂
 
Hook up the keyboard + mouse to the macbook, close the lid until it sleeps, then wake it up with the keyboard or the mouse and then just open the lid and leave it opened.

The external display will still only be used while the macbook's display is off but you will have your macbook in opened mode for the air to better circulate.

I always ran my mbp like this with my 24" LED ACD.
 
Thanks guys.

So after reading that article, it does make one thing clear, I need to have it plugged into the AC adapter for the wake up via USB keyboard to work.

Scenario A:
1. Close lid
2. spam "enter" and "space" key... nothing

Scenario B:
1. Close lid
2. Plug in AC adapter
3. press enter, it wakes up, giving me full resolution on my external monitor
4. I can open the lid of the macbook and it's still off
5. Remove AC adapter

So it works and I'm thrilled... thanks guys! Hopefully if someone else with a nvidia whitebook runs into this issue, they can find this thread.
 
Snowmang said:
Basically I want to use an external display as my main screen when working at my desk, yet I don't want to close the macbook for fear of heat etc....
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about any heat issue running it with lid closed, the amount of heat coming out of the keyboard is minimal, and your fan will compensate when needed (either running a bit longer or more often). It's like avoiding the air conditioning of a car in fear of overheating - silly.

What you shouldn't do is run a MB with lid closed, and inside a laptop bag. This will seriously limit the ability of the fan to move heat out of the system. But running lid closed in open area is perfectly fine, and I do it everyday.
 
Have you thought about a multi monitor set up?

I thought it'd be good to use my Macbook with the lid closed to start with but then I realised it made a lot of sense to have it open next to the main monitor for background things like iTunes.
 
Clamshell mode is meant for the MacBook to be closed.
Would Apple put in a feature that will harm the computer? It'd be more paperwork for them.

Closing the lid is fine. It's the way it's intended to be used.
 
I'm sure clamshell mode is fine, I just prefer to leave the lid open and now I can do so 🙂

To the other poster who mentioned dual monitors, I have tried that and I do like it, but some times I just prefer to use a single display since it's less distracting... plus my external monitor gives me 1920x1200 of real estate.
 
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