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MBP 2018 Turns On When Any Key Pressed?

Wallace Karraker said:
What's so difficult about "off is off", Apple? There should only be one key that turns on a computer from that condition. If I want it to turn on when I press any key I'd leave it in 'sleep' mode. Whoever made this decision at Apple should be removed from the design process, adding features that end up frustrating your clients will erode customer satisfaction real quick.

A moisture spill on the keyboard is a great example. Now any key being shorted out by moisture risks the entire computer. Trying to reset the SMC is another example. Used to be you could confirm an SMC reset by the LED on the power plug. Now an SMC reset turns on the computer even before you get to the power button. Did I reset the SMC or not?
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It is driven by the same rationale that has them making sure your iPhone turn on if you so much as look at it... I am old school so I prefer a set power button and not turning on with so many methods. But I also didn't grow up with an iPhone as a kid and have an expectation that the computer works similarly. I'm sure this is targeted to the younger crowd.
 
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I tried out the terminal command that disables it, sort of. Doesn't really help to be honest. It makes it a little bit more difficult to turn it back on, since sometimes it goes to the battery logo even when I press the touch ID button.
 
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ajay96 said:
I tried out the terminal command that disables it, sort of. Doesn't really help to be honest. It makes it a little bit more difficult to turn it back on, since sometimes it goes to the battery logo even when I press the touch ID button.
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Exactly! i hate this autopower ON, but when i disable it, everytime i raise the lid, it MUST display me a battery status and when i'm clicking power(or any key on my 2018 MBP) it's not responding til it stops showing me this. So it takes about 5-8 seconds to display a battery, a lot honestly, and booting computer is another 10-12 or i don't know how long it takes but battery showup takes pretty much same time as booting whole computer and from 10 s boot im getting 25-30 s boot because of that, so i turned autopower again and i prefer this than battery indicator.
My question is how to DISABLE BOTH, autopower + battery showup message because it takes too long. i just want it to behave like my 2013 MBP or 2016 MB 12" ehh
 
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kofman13 said:
anyone think they do this on purpose to keep the computer quasi running all the time so it can spy on us with the internal microphones?? hmm
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What would Apple gain in that case? They'd lose a lot more since Privacy is a core piece of their brand identity.
 
I have to laugh at myself -- I've gotten so thoroughly used to the auto-on feature now with my 12" MB and my 15" 2018 MBP that the other day when I opened the lid of my older 2015 15" MBP I sat waiting for it to boot up and -- gasp! -- nothing was happening. Finally I remembered that oh, yeah, I needed to press the "on" key!! LOL!
 
I guess this hasn't been solved yet? Just gave my new MBP's keyboard its first cleaning and discovered this "feature"... so stupid that it can't be disabled.
 
Same as the 2018- MBPs... a bit of a redundant 'feature' given the computer comes on when you open the screen anyway! Seems more of a nuisance.
 
One of Apple's more idiotic decisions. I mean, they have a dedicated power button but Apple (evidently) decided: oh, people don't know what a power button is anymore, let's make it so every key is the power button! :rolleyes:

My advice (and this was recommended anyway) is to use only very slightly damp cloths or wipes. Even many wet wipes (that you might use on your hands for instance) are a bit too damp, so try to wring excess moisture from them first. High quality lens wipes work best, but are expensive.

Also, avoid pressing down too hard on the keys if you can, though you won't be able to completely prevent a boot up. Then use a blower or fan to dry it thoroughly before use.
 
As of 2020, this dumb feature is still making me bang my head. Just got off with apple support on chat, and it seems there isn't a way to disable this. "It's not a bug it's a feature" the typical line. It's a pro machine (MBPro 16inch) just give the "pros" an option to disable this all key power on donglebook pro. Makes it so much harder to clean, to which the response was clean it while the machine is powered on. If I can remember correctly, Apple used to state on its website "Power off your machine before wiping it with cleaning solutions". What happened to that advice?
 
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I've been following Macrumors for a long time (probably 10 years), but never felt the need to register. But this 'feature' compelled me to join.

I recently purchased a MBA 2018 (refurbished by Apple - because it's what I could afford, okay?), and thought this 'feature' was a bug and called Apple Support, who gave me all the same excuses/lines that I have seen repeated in this thread - which I didn't research until Apple told me this was a 'feature'. At the start of the call, I told the CSR that I was using terminal commands to adjust all my PMSETs, and she immediately forwarded me to a supervisor (because she didn't know much about terminal commands, which I found odd, but fine, I'll talk to a super). Super comes on to tell me this is a feature and there's no way to turn it off. I express my frustration and annoyance. I mean, they stripped out "Sudden Motion Sensor" and put in THIS??? WHT??? (Seriously, SMS was more important to me as someone who takes my Mac to and from work. The point of a laptop is to be PORTABLE, after all, and "wake on any key" seems to be the opposite of a portable feature.)

Anyway, she said, she hated the feature so much she gave her MBA to her kid. While that didn't appease me, it lets me know that SOME people at Apple are aware of the issue.

My BIGGEST issue with "wake on any key", is that I have often turned off my Mac (IE: Using the "shut down" option from the dropdown, let it completely shutdown before closing the lid, etc), put it in my bag and when I pull it out again at my destination, the battery has dropped by sometime 10% (depending on how long my drive is). This tells me that the Mac came awake again at some point. And the only thing I can think of is: it comes awake because the lid presses on the keys when I put in my bag (because I have "lid wake" and "AC wake" turned off, so it can't be anything else, right?).

Apple won't fix this issue and I fear 1: moving my laptop around when it's not completely shut down (and have it remain completely shut down) and 2: the additional wear and tear on the battery.

I mean, if they're not going to fix it, the least they could do is put SMS back in so there's SOME peace of mind when transporting my portable computer.

For now, I think my MBA is going to have to remain at home and I'll have to use my 2012 MBP (still on Mojave because of three 32-bit programs that are vital and won't be upgraded to 64-bit because politics) with its barely functional trackpad, because at least when it turns off, I know it's off.

ETA: Also, yes I put VM on my new machine to continue to use Mojave, but I don't like moving the machine if it's not off. Also the Super made an off-hand comment about Apple not wanting people to be able to customize the machines anymore, so I fear things will only get worse.
 
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The point of the sudden motion sensor was to protect hard drives from head crashes. Your Mac doesn’t have a hard drive, so there is no need for SMS.
 
I thought it was to protect the HDDs from being damaged if you suddenly moved your laptop. Are you saying that isn't a worry for SSDs? (I admittedly don't know much about them since this is my first computer with one.)
 
minij said:
I thought it was to protect the HDDs from being damaged if you suddenly moved your laptop. Are you saying that isn't a worry for SSDs? (I admittedly don't know much about them since this is my first computer with one.)
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Yes. SSDs contain no moving parts. The acronym SSD stands for “solid state drive”. Think of them as a collection of non-volatile memory chips organized to look and act just like a regular drive.
 
Well that’s one less worry, I guess. Doesn’t resolve the battery or over heating issue if the machine is turning on randomly while in a bag.
 
No. Hopefully that isn’t an ongoing issue for you. It may have been a unique situation based on how you stowed the machine.
 
I’ve seen similar reports on reditt, so I doubt it’s just me. Like I said, I’ll probably use the Air as my “home computer” and my pro as my “transport” computer until work forces me to use the Air due to security patches.

It’s just sad that 2 years later and Apple continues to call it a “feature”. I think it’s a great idea for desktops/mini/etc. But it’s utterly stupid for laptops.
 
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This is one of several spooky things that's happened to me today.... I was cleaning my MBP 16 and thought to myself "I wish there was a way to disable the keyboard when the machine is running so I don't get keypresses when cleaning", and I come to post this, and this post was bumped right up the thread list, staring me in the face.

So, are we all still frustrated, or is there a solution to my problem, and the autobot BS?
 
Higher up in the thread is a post about an app that locks you keyboard for cleaning. That works great for the purpose of cleaning. However the any-key autoboot has no solution that I have seen.
 
These things ... 🙁

I'm sad about the progression of Apple and Macs. After almost two decades of being a very happy Mac user, also suggesting it to many others, I've slowly started a move away from the platform.

In the last couple of years, portable Macs specifically have started costing me more and more time, money and energy to own (TCO) and operate. The specific topic we're discussing reminds me, again, that the computer I have in front of me isn't really aimed at people like me, an old guy who simply knows how and wants to operate a simple thing as a power button to turn on and off equipment. It just has to be AI this and AI that, or the seller knows better than the buyer ...

I payed more than $4000 for my latest 13", I'm fairly intelligent and have worked with computers since almost 30 years ago. It is unfortunate and kind of depressing that I can't figure out how to make the computer I have in front of me stay powered off during transport or when wanting to examine it closely with an open lid (eg removing dust from between keys). I am embarrassed among colleagues who don't have this problem and who payed only about $1500 for their Windows laptops.

We might hate this feature but clearly we are a minority or else Apple wouldn't to this. Simple economics. Though, it sucks to admit.

I fear for the day that I'll be saying the same of iOS devices.
 
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minij said:
Higher up in the thread is a post about an app that locks you keyboard for cleaning. That works great for the purpose of cleaning.
Click to expand...
Or just lock the screen...why download some app from some random?
 
robvas said:
Or just lock the screen...why download some app from some random?
Click to expand...

Well you see, if you keep it locked,every time you are cleaning the screen, you are bound to hit the key, touchbar, trackpad and the screen turns, then you press escape, then the process repeats. Pretty annoying. And the software "Keyboard cleaner" is no longer as great as it was a while ago, it is not able to absorb media key presses.

I reached out to the developer but sadly he could not offer a fix since he said apple does not provide the API.
 
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