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Why do so many people buy MacBooks, only to run them in clamshell mode all of the time?
- Thread starter The Cockney Rebel
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Nice! 15 month old battery which still retains a charge level greater than the design is impressive! You must be one of the lucky folks who got a battery capacity well over Apple's "design capacity".
Just a few questions for you:
* Do you use the free or paid version of the app?
* How many charge cycles are listed for the battery?
* hat do you set your charge level to? 50-80%? 45-55%?
I'm constantly switching around but honestly low-end Apple is more than enough for almost everything anymore. I'm thinking $1500 Mac Studio (year-old models on sale) with $1k Macbook Air's
For my workload, I don't notice a difference between M1, M1 Pro or M2. I can't really justify that Mac Studio I mentioned
For my workload, I don't notice a difference between M1, M1 Pro or M2. I can't really justify that Mac Studio I mentioned
I love this in principle but not so much in practice; you're forced to have the display be pushed really far back because how it's attached to the bottom case.
I wish Apple would let you rotate it ~270 degrees so it could stand up while taking up like 1/5 of the surface space
That was when I got it (came with 3 cycles when I got it). It's fluctuated between 101% and 98% since then.
I use the paid version but I've been using AlDente since it was a free GitHub project back in the day.
Currently 40.
I set it to around 70% usually. Every few weeks to a month I'll manually drain it to 40% and charge it to 90% just to keep the % reader accurate (though I haven't seen the need to do this). I have Sailing off.
I'm pretty happy with the way this is barely aging - 60-70% seems to be a sweet spot for at least this battery.
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I don't know anybody who does this.
Of course, that may be because I tell all of my clients who try that they're going to destroy their computer. And I'm not making that up, running a laptop in clamshell mode WILL significantly shorten its lifespan. Apple is bad enough with thermal management when you use your MacBook correctly that if you do ANYTHING that causes extra heat buildup you're knocking years off your expensive laptop's life. OPEN THAT SCREEN!
As for me? The idea is ludicrous. If I'm at my desk, I'm using a desktop. It's not like there aren't at least 3 of them on my desk at all times, there's no room for a laptop.
Of course, that may be because I tell all of my clients who try that they're going to destroy their computer. And I'm not making that up, running a laptop in clamshell mode WILL significantly shorten its lifespan. Apple is bad enough with thermal management when you use your MacBook correctly that if you do ANYTHING that causes extra heat buildup you're knocking years off your expensive laptop's life. OPEN THAT SCREEN!
As for me? The idea is ludicrous. If I'm at my desk, I'm using a desktop. It's not like there aren't at least 3 of them on my desk at all times, there's no room for a laptop.
For Intel MBPs agreed 100%.
For Apple silicon CPUs, it's a bit better now.
Check out:
This is with Parallels running W11 with VS 2022 and a sizable git project compiling, 3 browsers with many tabs, and dozens of applications running.
There's 2 battery charging plans in place....one will charge to 80% and hold until it thinks you're going to take it off charge. If you have a routine - say 8am weekdays you take it off charge to go to work, it will learn this and then aim to hit 100% at exactly 8am. This is how the iPhone and Apple Watch work.
The other is it learns that it's often used on power, so will hold it's max capacity at 80% - and even allow it to drop from 100 > 80% if you've charged it fully and then not used it. Mine sits at 80% pretty much 24/7 whilst plugged in. I occasionally select "charge to 100%" from the battery menu prior to heading on a big day whilst mobile, but it soon learns that I'm back on power routinely and holds 80% SOC again.
So, a few have mentioned that using 'clamshell' mode is bad for a laptop/macbook, etcetera.
However, are we saying even using a laptop connected to a power source often (probably 90% of the time) WITH the screen/lid open, is still bad?
Confused more now...
However, are we saying even using a laptop connected to a power source often (probably 90% of the time) WITH the screen/lid open, is still bad?
Confused more now...
Well, if I may attempt a reply:
Especially for Intel MacBooks, clamshell mode was bad because of the high heat generated - it basically cooked the display. Apple Silicon MacBooks can still output heat especially if used heavily and having the monitor lid open does result in better heat dissipation through the keyboard.
Being plugged in all the time results in the battery always being charged and at a high state of charge, which ages a battery the faster. Apple's Optimized Battery Charging attempts to deal with this by reducing state of charge to 80% if plugged in for long periods of time consistently. Some of us use AlDente to keep that state of charge even lower for better battery longevity (but requires manual input vs Apple's automatic handling).
Others - did I get this right?
I don’t really have that wide of a desk, and I don’t like having to keep tabs on two screens. Much easier/cleaner for me to just have one big screen and everything’s there, and that’s it. I know many who use the laptop as a second screen though!
You are right - and 2 other downsides of clamshell is worse heat dissipation (max 10% ? but I open it when I rarely hear the fans of my MB pro kick in), and after years, the anti-glare coating of the screen might get damaged, which is a bit ugly but workable (I washed out the coating of my previous Macbook before reselling).Well, if I may attempt a reply:
Especially for Intel MacBooks, clamshell mode was bad because of the high heat generated - it basically cooked the display. Apple Silicon MacBooks can still output heat especially if used heavily and having the monitor lid open does result in better heat dissipation through the keyboard.
Being plugged in all the time results in the battery always being charged and at a high state of charge, which ages a battery the faster. Apple's Optimized Battery Charging attempts to deal with this by reducing state of charge to 80% if plugged in for long periods of time consistently. Some of us use AlDente to keep that state of charge even lower for better battery longevity (but requires manual input vs Apple's automatic handling).
Others - did I get this right?
The upside is to have one single machine for home and travel. I've tried the Mac mini on the go, it's light enough, but decent monitors are not common nowadays, and plugging it into a TV is a headache...
Why on Earth do you care what other people do with their computers?
Well that's my point. Mine is plugged in all week except Sunday's and it's always at 100%. I've never seen it drop to 80%. I have Optimised Battery Charging on. Do I need to change Low Power Mode as well?
By unplugin your mackbook every weekend I think you're doing the optimization and the system does not have to kick in.
Because whilst at home or work you might use it in clamshell mode, exclusively for getting heavy lifting work done or gaming on a big screen to be fully immersed, in a comfortable chair. But then other times you might want to work at Starbucks, beside someone else's desk, in the kitchen, etc. Even if it's 5% of the time, it's still valuable.
I was never a desk setup guy for years and then when working from home happened and using my own Mac for jobs in the past, a 24" monitor made sense. So did a decent keyboard and mouse. Then so did a Caldigit thunderbolt dock ... then a better desk... a proper Noblechair etc, that's just how it grew for me. Still glad I've a portable Mac all the same.
I was never a desk setup guy for years and then when working from home happened and using my own Mac for jobs in the past, a 24" monitor made sense. So did a decent keyboard and mouse. Then so did a Caldigit thunderbolt dock ... then a better desk... a proper Noblechair etc, that's just how it grew for me. Still glad I've a portable Mac all the same.
I agree. When I used to go to the office, I took laptop home every night. Now since I'm WFH and my office has closed. I think I've used my laptop undocked once for a DR test at a data center. Doesn't really matter, I have a decent Latitude 5560/32GB RAM with an 180 watt dock and dual monitor but they could've saved money with a desktop.
Wow, that kind of battery life is truly something to be envied! While I'm not ready to upgrade my Intel MBP yet, I also can't wait to have that experience! I wonder if it's the case that some of these MBP battery life is better than the iPad Pro? Or perhaps my iPad Pro is getting old and the battery life is just not lasting as long. I have a 2020 iPad Pro (A12Z chip) that drops about 30% when I unplug it at the end of the day at work (say 4pm) to when I open the iPad back up the next morning at 8:00am. Seems like a big drop for no active use.
In the old days having a battery plugged into the power was a problem that lessen the age of the battery. Now a-days with newer technologies, the issue is lessened. Not totally gone..but most will not notice the difference and the impact is smaller.
Even Apple says that keeping the laptop always plugged into power will not harm the battery any longer. It is just good practice to unplug it once in a while (at least once a month) and let it drain to at least 5-10% capacity and charge it again. Then once in a while let it drain completely. It is suppose to reset the battery gauge (not sure) but that is what I heard to do.
Having the ability to plug into a monitor and be portable is the best of both worlds. Use it like this all the time. Yes..desktops generally have more power etc. but laptops now get close.
Ideal is to have a good desktop for major projects (like video editing), and then a good portable laptop for smaller projects or can handle larger projects (like the current MacBook Pros), just it might take a little longer to render but not much now..
We live in a great day for technology where we can do almost everything on a laptop (at least my creative content work).
Very needed the ability to have the option for clamshell and portable work options. It is a must!
Unfortunately the optimized battery charging doesn’t seem to understand weekends. During the week my M2 MacBook Air charges to 80% after being plugged in until early the next morning when it finishes charging to 100% for me to use that day at work. Even after a year of doing this almost every week, the charger still finishes charging to 100% on Saturday morning even though it’ll be on the charger until Monday morning.
I have been using a Mac mini as my primary computer for a many years now. A few thoughts/recommendations:
- I work at my desk exclusively when at home. I'm just never tempted to try typing while sitting on a couch.
- It's annoying to travel with a Mac mini, but not impossible.
- On airplanes I just use my iPad, but for Airbnb's or hotel rooms I have a travel case and portable monitor. It's more bulk, but manageable.
- In a pinch I can use an HDMI cable and a random television as a screen to boot up and log in, and then connect the iPad via Sidecar, but it's a hassle.
- I wish I could boot a disk with Filevault enabled directly from a Sidecar display, but it didn't work the last time I checked.
- At home, I keep the Mac mini mounted under my desk, freeing up a lot of the desk surface and protecting the computer from spills and other accidental damage.
- In general, I prefer each device to have less functionality and fewer responsibilities. That way repairs and upgrades are minimally disruptive and more cost-effective.
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@lehrblogger, which under desk mount do you use? Would you recommend it or is there something better?
I'm currently using a Newer Technology NuCube because even my under-desk space was at a premium and I wanted something vertical. It's not designed for mounting, so I stuck it to both the bottom of the desk and the side of this Oeveo cable tray with some 3M VHB, so there's tape on both the XZ and XY planes. It's been a couple years and still feels secure.
I also used this one from Tryten and was happy, although you need to be careful that the metal edges and screws don't scratch the Mac mini itself.
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