Will the heat generated from the MacBook Pro while in clamshell mode damage the screen?

[lieutenantleaf]

Hi all,

I bought a 13" 2018 MacBook Pro a little over a month ago, and I have a few concerns about the longevity of the MBP in closed clamshell mode. I played a lot of Steam games on my previous computer for hours on end, and since it was a desktop, I had no worries, but now that I need and have a laptop for my use case, I am a bit worried that the heat generated from gaming will damage the screen, especially when games tend to make the MacBook Pro run at 70-85 degrees celsius for more than a couple hours with the fans running at 6000+ RPM.

An eGPU would mitigate that issue, but it isn't feasible to take additional hardware with me abroad multiple times, so I just want to know if it is "safe" for me to continue playing games or not... Thank you

 

[maflynn]

I've seen some comments here and elsewhere that it can and had, and many other users refute that with their own experience.

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance, but others seem unfazed and feel its much ado about nothing.

 

[1096bimu]

No
And I would ignore the mod if I were you due to how little he actually knows about computer hardware.

 

[ilikewhey]

i had the same question going in when i bought a egpu and don't want the laptop open to be taking up desk space when i have it plugged in with external everything, monitor, keyboard, mice.

judging by the design of how the mbp vent hot air, it should heat the surrounding components since the vent is not fully open in clampshell mode, but so far the mbp doesnt look like its been damaged and i suppose u can say its within its design limit.

 

[Apple_Robert]

No
And I would ignore the mod if I were you due to how little he actually knows about computer hardware.

All Mike did was relay what he has seen on here, as well as stating his opinion. He didn't pretend to offer up opinion as fact.

You presented opinion as well. No need to be rude.

 

[PROFESS0R]

I took empirical data and the 2018 MacBook Pro runs cooler in clamshell mode than it does open, with the singular exceptions of the palm rests which were slightly warmer. Do not worry about clamshell mode, your screen and computer will be fine in my opinion.

Joe

 

[Painter2002]

All Mike did was relay what he has seen on here, as well as stating his opinion. He didn't pretend to offer up opinion as fact.

You presented opinion as well. No need to be rude.

I second this. There is no hard evidence, but @maflynn opinion is that of many other users, and there most certainly is no reason to bash other people's opinions. Doing so is very rude and childish in some people's eyes.

There is a chance that when heated up while in clamshell mode, the anti-reflective coating can soften, and oils and residues can leave marks from the keyboard, thus damaging the coating.

I should note, that if you are asking about the actual screen performance itself (i.e. the LED panel), then no, the heat from clamshell mode shouldn't damage the LED panel itself.

And finally, if one uses their computer lighter (i.e. browsing, light editing) and never really hit higher temps, I'd be less concerned about it. But in your case you have indicated that you constantly reach high temps, and I'd be a bit more cautious with using clamshell mode during that type of usage. Personally I don't really use clamshell mode when docked, but that's just my over cautious self not wanting to risk damage to the anti-reflective coating.

 

[Howard2k]

No
And I would ignore the mod if I were you due to how little he actually knows about computer hardware.

Dick move.

 

[jerryk]

I have run mine training ML models (100% CPU utilization on multiple cores) for hours on end in clamshell mode. Fans going full blast.

I have not noticed any issues with the screen.

 

[maflynn]

No
And I would ignore the mod if I were you due to how little he actually knows about computer hardware.

Please define why I actually don't know much of computer hardware. All I said were some folks say its an issue, others do not and then provided my personal preference.

 

[1096bimu]

All Mike did was relay what he has seen on here, as well as stating his opinion. He didn't pretend to offer up opinion as fact.

You presented opinion as well. No need to be rude.

Yes sure it's also just your opinion that the Earth is round.
In case you haven't noticed, some opinions are more correct than others.

When someone only serves to reinforce the echo chamber and repeat what others say, one isn't being helpful because again, in case you didn't know, online forums are extremely biased towards people who just happen to have been unlucky to have problems.

Why should anyone trust these kinds of people and their "opinions" when they don't even have an idea of what kind of temperatures can we expect in a clamshell mode Macbook? Zero data, zero evidence, just pure speculation.

Even if I didn't measure these temperatures myself, it is only reasonable to assume that somebody at Apple did and they determined that it is fine to do so. So yes, all the evidence are on my side.

 

[Painter2002]

Yes sure it's also just your opinion that the Earth is round.
In case you haven't noticed, some opinions are more correct than others.

When someone only serves to reinforce the echo chamber and repeat what others say, one isn't being helpful because again, in case you didn't know, online forums are extremely biased towards people who just happen to have been unlucky to have problems.

Why should anyone trust these kinds of people and their "opinions" when they don't even have an idea of what kind of temperatures can we expect in a clamshell mode Macbook? Zero data, zero evidence, just pure speculation.

Even if I didn't measure these temperatures myself, it is only reasonable to assume that somebody at Apple did and they determined that it is fine to do so. So yes, all the evidence are on my side.

So are you implying that the earth is flat? Lol.

Sometimes the echo chamber is actually correct, and you didn't provide any solid evidence that clamshell mode does NOT risk damage to internals due to reduced cooling effect.

And I am sorry, but if Apple was so good at testing their products, "determining that it is fine" would have not given us faulty keyboards, T2 chip failures, Flexgate... shall I keep going?

Point is, your opinion is just that, an opinion, which I respect. But there is no reason to bash someone else's opinion simply because it matches that of the rest of the negativity in the community. There are valid concerns that make Mike's opinion worth consideration, just as your opinion and points are valid too. Difference is the approach is very unbecoming when you are talking down other Macrumors members, be they a Mod or not.

 

[maflynn]

Yes sure it's also just your opinion that the Earth is round.

Umm the earth is round and we have facts to prove it, not just speculation.

one isn't being helpful

That's your opinion, and you're entitled to that, I feel my post was helpful to the OP. Clearly my posting this must of struck a nerve, because you seemed to go out of your way to say that I have little computer knowledge

Why should anyone trust these kinds of people and their "opinions"

No more then what you wrote about. Its up to the OP to discern the information and make a decision based on what people write here.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Never been an issue for me on any of my Mac laptops back to 2003.

I've always used them with external monitors with the machine itself in clamshell mode through all manners of workloads.

But, I don't use a 2018 machine, so I can comment on them specifically.

I have to think Apple probably designed them to handle clamshell mode usage.
I really wouldn't worry about it.

 

[bcaslis]

I have a 2018 13" MacBook Pro maxed out that I bought in July. It's in clamshell mode attached to an LG 5K about 60% of the time and I've seen no issues due to heat yet.