Transporting MBP in Sleep Mode

[Windows Expat]

Wondering if it's OK to carry a MBP around in sleep mode?

I ask because I hear the hard drive on my iMac occasionally doing it's thing while in sleep mode. The screen doesn't turn on, but the hard drive definitely gets active. Figured the laptop might behave similarly?

Also, the battery on my MBP drops quite a bit, even in sleep mode. Just figured this might be due to some "sleep" activity as well.

 

[Intell]

It is perfectly fine to carry it while in sleep mode. It is normal for laptop batteries to drain when in sleep mode.

 

[blold]

I carry mine around in sleep mode every day and I never have a problem.

 

[frank.deale]

Just make sure that the white light in the front right is pulsing. If it is solid, your hard drive is still spinning.

 

[sammich]

I ask because I hear the hard drive on my iMac occasionally doing it's thing while in sleep mode. The screen doesn't turn on, but the hard drive definitely gets active. Figured the laptop might behave similarly?.

Your iMac might not be sleeping, it might just have it's screen go off to save power.

 

[SDAVE]

Just make sure that the white light in the front right is pulsing. If it is solid, your hard drive is still spinning.

Word. Also if you have a 5400RPM drive and have a lot of RAM, it will take a while to save your RAM to your Drive (default operations in OS X).

You can turn this off by disabling hibernation.

I switched to an SSD and while saving the hibernation file was faster than the HD, it still took a few seconds. When I close my MBP I am usually on the move and need it to go to sleep right on closing the MBP. So I disabled hibernation and it goes to sleep instantly when I sleep.

 

[GGJstudios]

Wondering if it's OK to carry a MBP around in sleep mode?

Yes, it's safe to carry in sleep mode.

I ask because I hear the hard drive on my iMac occasionally doing it's thing while in sleep mode.

If the hard drive is active, it's not in sleep mode. You may find some useful ideas here:

Mac OS X: Why your Mac might not sleep or stay in sleep mode
Determine why your Mac wakes up from sleep
One sleep problem caused by printers - solved ... and another

Also, the battery on my MBP drops quite a bit, even in sleep mode. Just figured this might be due to some "sleep" activity as well.

It's normal for your MBP to use about 1% of battery for every hour of sleep. If it's using much more than that, chances are it didn't stay in sleep mode. See the above links for details.

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[Windows Expat]

Your iMac might not be sleeping, it might just have it's screen go off to save power.

I'm pretty sure the iMac is sleeping. Before I get up, I hit cmd + alt + eject.

It parks the drive and I hear it wind down. But randomly, I'll walk into the room and hear the drive churning (no display) then go back to sleep.

At any rate, I was just wondering if the laptop would do the same thing. Sounds like it's just my desktop machine with that behavior.

 

[SDAVE]

I'm pretty sure the iMac is sleeping. Before I get up, I hit cmd + alt + eject.

It parks the drive and I hear it wind down. But randomly, I'll walk into the room and hear the drive churning (no display) then go back to sleep.

At any rate, I was just wondering if the laptop would do the same thing. Sounds like it's just my desktop machine with that behavior.

When you close the lid, same thing happens (Cmd+Option+Eject). Just goes to sleep. Wait until the front light starts to fade in and out and you're good to go as far as moving around.

You will notice that it takes a bit for it to go to sleep especially if you have many programs open and memory is being used...

You can disable Hibernation to get away from that issue. But remember, if the battery dies, you won't be able to resume and have to do a fresh start.

Personally, I never let the MBP completely run out of battery. When it has a few minutes left, I plug it in.

This article is a good read.

 

[g8rduc]

I used to carry my '06 MBP 17" in my backback while on my motorcycle. Several times, I would get to work or home and take the MBP out and it was so hot because it had come out of sleep mode...Apple told me I shouldn't put it in sleep and transport it. Sleep was only for non-transporting use. I rarely do it anymore!