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shut down or close the lid?

shamelin73

shamelin73

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 28, 2019
68
17
East Texas
This is my first Mac. I have an 18 MBP and well I have been using Windows for ever. I really dig this laptop and so much faster then expected. I have a couple questions and may sound stupid but like I said this is my first Mac.

Should I shut down or just close the lid when I am finished using the Mac?

I am changing applications for my photography work and currently have Lightroom and Photoshop installed. I am moving to Capture One Pro. When I decide to remove Lightroom and Photoshop do I just send them to the trash? Does this get everything like cache files and such too?

Sorry for the noob questions.
 
I remember when I got my first Mac. I couldn't figure out how to uninstall an app. Where are the scripts? How do I clean up the mess in the registry? For the most part, you can just drag them to the trash. Every now and then you might find an app that needs manual cleanup but I can't think of one off hand.

However, Adobe does have an Adobe Application Manager so if you're removing their products I would use that, rather than dragging to the trash, so that might be an example. I just tried it actually and it (Adobe Application Manager) tried to update and then does nothing. Maybe I need to reboot after it did the update.

For closing versus shutting down, my rule of thumb is 24 hours. If it's going to be more than 24 hours before I use it, I will shut down. Otherwise I will let it sleep.

Just be aware that sometimes the sleep needs tuning. Mine is running great right now and if I sleep it from say. 6pm until 9am I might lose 2% to 5%. But for a while I was losing 30% over the same time period. If you get similar issues post them here and we'll be able to help you troubleshoot.
[doublepost=1550703998][/doublepost]ok, restarted and Adobe Application Manager now works again. It does have an uninstall utility for LR so if I was removing Lightroom I would use that.
 
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I've always left my laptop up and running, its not like there's a spinning disk that is incurring wear and tear. I put the display to sleep, but I just keep the laptop running
 
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I never shut down my machines. I just put them to sleep including my w10 and macos desktop and laptops.
 
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I just close the lid even it is will be a day or two. I have done this with MacBooks for years. Don't do it with Win boxes. Hibernation is notorious for hanging up.

I spend the first 15 years of my work life as an electronic technician, and did the same for the Army. The aboslute worst thing you can do to any electronic product, outside of accidental damage, is turning it ON. The initial surge of electrons to all components is a shock to everything in it. The product life is usually much long is always left on.

Remember the old story, don't know if it is true or not, about the light bulb that was turned on somewhere 50 -60 years ago and has never been turned off and continues to burn brightly. While that may be just a story, the idea behind it is valid.
 
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I will say while I leave my laptop running all the time when I travel/commute or take my laptop anywhere, I will shut it down. I've had laptops in the past wake up on me while inside my laptop carrying case/backpack and I'd rather not cook my laptop.
 
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If the "time unused" is going to be, say, 4 hours or less, just close the lid.

Longer than that... shut it down.

That was easy!
 
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If it’s a 2018 I understand it is never really properly off anyway - at least it is still in a state where it can detect if a key (any on the KB not just the power button) or the trackpad is pressed.
 
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I'm a bit funny about things like this after a bad experience a few years ago. My wife had a Compaq Presario laptop and I closed the lid one evening whilst it was on. 'Don't do that, it'll break it', she said. I told her she was talking rubbish but when I opened it again it was completely dead. I took it to computer shops who had no joy and a friend of mine who is unbelievably good with computers and had helped fix several issues over the years stripped it down and although all major components seemed to be working, the laptop just would not work again. He did retrieve the hard drive and everything on it though.

So, bearing in mind my MBP turns on and is ready to go in about 10 seconds, I prefer to power my down each time.
 
On the charger .... Shut the lid (sleep). Cause it does wireless Time Capsule backups. And within X amount of time, I only need finger print to log back in, instead of typing password.

Off the charger .... I shut it down. It boots up plenty fast anyways. I'm usually not at home when I have it off the charger.
 
During the day I keep it running. Overnight I shut it down - no idea why but I also cut power everywhere else in my place over night. lol
 
Thank you all for the help. I am guessing it really doesn't matter. I will turn it off if I am putting it in the sleeve or backpack. I would hate it coming on and overheating or something like that.

This had happened to my work Dell laptop.

While at home or office will just leave it on and close it if not using it. A bit nice to have it auto unlock with me Apple Watch
 
vaugha said:
I never shut down my machines. I just put them to sleep including my w10 and macos desktop and laptops.
Click to expand...
Props to doing that with Windows lol, I find that after a week or two of uptime windows gets very finicky and problems begin. Things like the task bar randomly becoming invisible, desktop icons randomly becoming a generic icon, etc.
[doublepost=1552276985][/doublepost]
shamelin73 said:
Thank you all for the help. I am guessing it really doesn't matter. I will turn it off if I am putting it in the sleeve or backpack. I would hate it coming on and overheating or something like that.

This had happened to my work Dell laptop.

While at home or office will just leave it on and close it if not using it. A bit nice to have it auto unlock with me Apple Watch
Click to expand...
I never shut my macbook down when its away in its sleeve. I have never opened it up and saw that my laptop was awake and running while inside the sleeve in nearly 6 years of ownership, so I'm not sure it's necessary, but if it's what makes you comfortable don't let me tell you what to do!
 
maflynn said:
I've had laptops in the past wake up on me while inside my laptop carrying case/backpack and I'd rather not cook my laptop.
Click to expand...

Every time I disconnect my MBP's from a wall outlet I shut them down - especially for travel - had many times a MBP "Wake Up" and get very hot inside a travel bag / briefcase - it can't be good for the electronics - knock on wood - I have not had any problems but have definitely had them get very hot.

Also I might be wrong but it seems to me it's good to reboot once in a while and reload, not sure if there is any maintenance done when shutting down and restarting but it always feels like it runs better after

Also with SSD's it usually only takes 15 - 20 seconds at most to reboot
 
christarp said:
I restart / shutdown my mac only when I need to install system updates. So I basically only ever shut the lid. Late 2013 and still going strong so take that as you will
Click to expand...

This is so true. I also do this since the PowerBook G4 era.
 
didja know that Dexter of Dexter TV NEVER shut down his :apple: in all 8 episodes!
for me since the power button does not work, the macbook air get shut down and started via time preferences every live long day!
 
christarp said:
Props to doing that with Windows lol, I find that after a week or two of uptime windows gets very finicky and problems begin. Things like the task bar randomly becoming invisible, desktop icons randomly becoming a generic icon, etc.
[doublepost=1552276985][/doublepost]
I never shut my macbook down when its away in its sleeve. I have never opened it up and saw that my laptop was awake and running while inside the sleeve in nearly 6 years of ownership, so I'm not sure it's necessary, but if it's what makes you comfortable don't let me tell you what to do!
Click to expand...

Funny I don't have those problems on my machine. I've gone well over 2 months before w/o a single issue.
 
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