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MBA fits under a TBD ?

drsox

drsox

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 29, 2011
1,749
232
Xhystos
I'm just about to add a TBD to my MacBook Air but I'd appreciate an answer to this question.
The MBA has a set of black "feet" to raise it up a few mm and the TBD has a metal stand also a few mm high.
Question : Does the MBA fit "over" the stand under the TBD without actually resting on it ?

Thanks.
 
drsox said:
I'm just about to add a TBD to my MacBook Air but I'd appreciate an answer to this question.
The MBA has a set of black "feet" to raise it up a few mm and the TBD has a metal stand also a few mm high.
Question : Does the MBA fit "over" the stand under the TBD without actually resting on it ?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

this is a horrible idea.
Why?
-the macbook air is not flat, and a wedge shape
-the felt will make it slippery
-slippery+slope= broken TBD

get an old paperback pook or something.

But that being said, I am not exactly sure what you are asking?
 
MBA sits perfectly horizontal on its 4 feet (on a horizontal surface).
FYI the TOP surface of the MBA body slopes - not the bottom.

Foot of the TBD is also a flat horizontal surface - top surface might be slightly angled (?)

Seems obvious to me that the FLAT MBA could sit on/over the FLAT TBD foot and therefore take up less combined front-to-back space when connected in clamshell mode.

PS Felt is not slippery - it's designed to be a rough surface.
 
Last edited:
The "foot" of the TBD, as you call it, is NOT flat ... the base has about a 3º rise from front to back. The MBA will slide off the front, with the front lip of the MBA resting on your desk, chair, floor, barstool, porch railing or whatever else you're using as a perch for the TBD. The hinge side of the MBA will be elevated about a half-inch owing to the inclination of the TBD base.

I doubt that felt (or anything else short of an adhesive) will keep the MBA from sliding down the slope of the TBD base. None of the MBA's "feet" will be able to make contact with the aforementioned surface.
 
Yes, I thought the top surface of the foot was angled.
I'll see what happens, but I would think that the friction from the front black feet of the MBA would be enough to stop any further forward movement. So the MBA might be half on and half off.

Since you seem to know - what's the minimum height of the TBD foot (i.e.at the very front edge) ?

If it works I'll post a jpeg.
 
gentlefury said:
I know everyone here loves their abbreviations...but would someone like to define TBD? The only thing I know is, to be determined.
Click to expand...

ThunderBolt Display (TBD)
it replaced the Apple Cinema Display (ACD)

OP: Are you placing the macbook air ON TOP of the foot or BENEATH the foot.
The macbook air is a wedge shape.
Also everytime you want your ultra mobile laptop you have to pick up a 20 something $1000 piece of glass...

get something like this
 
wrinkster22 said:
ThunderBolt Display (TBD)
it replaced the Apple Cinema Display (ACD)

OP: Are you placing the macbook air ON TOP of the foot or BENEATH the foot.
The macbook air is a wedge shape.
Also everytime you want your ultra mobile laptop you have to pick up a 20 something $1000 piece of glass...

get something like this
Click to expand...

On top of the TBD foot so that I can remove the MBA if I want to use it in non-clamshell mode (i.e. take it somewhere else). Your device looks like a good alternative idea - I'll look for it, thanks.

----------
Oli3000 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Sounds like you want a crazy setup like mine to hide it away:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1131849/

(Post 194, near the bottom)
Click to expand...

Clever idea but a bit too permanent. My TBD will be hard to get to from the back so I need something that is front accessible.
 
wrinkster22 said:
ThunderBolt Display (TBD)
it replaced the Apple Cinema Display (ACD)

OP: Are you placing the macbook air ON TOP of the foot or BENEATH the foot.
The macbook air is a wedge shape.
Also everytime you want your ultra mobile laptop you have to pick up a 20 something $1000 piece of glass...

get something like this
Click to expand...

Makes a lot more sense now! Never heard it referred to as a Thunderbolt display...since Apple still calls it a Cinema Display regardless of its inputs.
 
gentlefury said:
I know everyone here loves their abbreviations...but would someone like to define TBD? The only thing I know is, to be determined.
Click to expand...

drsox said:
On top of the TBD foot so that I can remove the MBA if I want to use it in non-clamshell mode (i.e. take it somewhere else). Your device looks like a good alternative idea - I'll look for it, thanks.
Click to expand...


I think there was a lot of confusion but I am glad i could help you
 
If you're putting the MacBook Air under the display, I think it would be good to use felt pads just to be on the safe side.

I just hope I read it correctly and you're putting the MacBook on top of the display stand, not putting the display on the lid of the MacBook.
 
alphaod said:
If you're putting the MacBook Air under the display, I think it would be good to use felt pads just to be on the safe side.

I just hope I read it correctly and you're putting the MacBook on top of the display stand, not putting the display on the lid of the MacBook.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed !

I think I might try a variation on this - put 4 largish felt pads on the surface that the TBD will sit on, but put them just next to the 4 corners of the TBD foot. That way the MBA will sit on these 4 pads.

----------
gentlefury said:
When did they change the name? Has it been like that since this gen came out?
Click to expand...

Yes, AFAIK the TB name has been there since it was launched as an alternative display.
 
Young Turk said:
Great way to make your Mac look like a PC. Ugly and cheesy to boot.
Click to expand...

You're not the OP. Did you forget to take your meds this morning?

But, perhaps you would think that a couple strips of black felt glued to the top of the Apple Cinema's stand would look better than one of these.
 
I think With the front lip of the MBA resting on your desk, chair, floor, barstool, porch railing or whatever else you're using as a perch for the TBD. The hinge side of the MBA will be elevated about a half-inch owing to the inclination of the TBD base.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Oli3000 said:
Sounds like you want a crazy setup like mine to hide it away:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1131849/

(Post 194, near the bottom)
Click to expand...

Same setup here, 11" MBA and external hard drive on the backpack. Its perfect.
 
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