Q: How do I tell Lion to disable the LCD screen even when the lid is open?

Just submitted a bug report for this as well.  Very annoying!

FIrst statement from apple is that IF laptop and external displays have been functioning this way, it was unintended.  So they do not see our issue as a problem but are apparently shocked that we have been running external screens with the laptop lids closed.

I have a feeling forcing us to run with laptops closed is going to lead to several early terminations of laptops be it screen or internal hardware early failures.  Perhaps my suspicions are inaccurate, but I don't see how if there is already a noticeable difference in heat with my 3 yr old macbook.

This is the statement:

"Feedback on this issue comes from various individuals and departments from senior executives, technicians and marketing advisors.  All are saying that this was not an intended feature in Lion nor in any previous operating system.   It is the official position of apple that they do not believe having the lid closed affects temperature or any other performance issue with laptops using external screens.  If you and others do believe this is in error, I strongly advise you all to create a thread with screenshots of temperatures and other evidence as you feel necessary.  The apple discussion board is heavily monitored by our tech and other departments so a chance for future software updates that would accommodate what you feel is a missing feature in the new operating system may become possible."  --- Friday 29 July 2011 14:23-14:29 CST

Well you gamers and heavy cpu users with laptops, get some more evidence, call in people from all apple threads and direct them to THIS thread and help apple realize this is a foolish choice before our laptops have to be replaced under warranties do to overheating.  I'd think it would be beneficial for apple consumers and apple corporate to avoid the problem before it starts knocking into profit margins.

So they do not see our issue as a problem but are apparently shocked that we have been running external screens with the laptop lids closed.

Apple is certainly not shocked that anyone runs their MBP with its display closed, because Apple has provided clear instructions for doing so ever since the Powerbook G4 was introduced ten years ago.

Apple may indeed have been surprised to learn (at some point — it's hard to believe it was only very recently) that some users have done an end run around those instructions by opening the display after it turns off in clamshell mode, and running the computer with its display open but off. That ability was never anything but an accidental feature, as the message from Apple that you've quoted says. If it had been an intentional feature, it would certainly have been documented as such. It has in fact been documented, but more in the tone of "here's something you might see and worry that it's a problem" than "here's something you might want to take advantage of":

"If you open the lid of your supported Apple portable computer while in closed clamshell mode you may notice it appears to have no video. This is expected behavior. When your computer is in closed clamshell mode the built-in display is disabled and all video memory is allocated to the external display for best performance."

It's to Apple's credit that they're open to restoring that lost capability, accidental though it might have been, to Lion in a future update and recognizing it as a useful feature. It would be particularly helpful in light of the drastically increased amount of heat that the quad-core MBPs generate.

I suspect there's going to be an unhappy collision pretty soon (if it isn't already beginning) between the sleek unibody case design and the heat-dissipation requirements of ever-more-powerful processors.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3131

Yep I completely agree with you on the absurdity of their response.  And to to think that senior executives and techs are not aware of their own features that have attracted several consumers is shocking.  It is as if Dell employees have been hired by apple and are letting their lack of knowledge in their own products spread throughout the company.

I had set up the option for mirror displays and turned the brightness all the way down on the MBP color LCD screen (also unchecking the option to autocorrect brightness).  This essentially seems to turn off the display on the MBP, but I could be wrong.  Seems like a doable workaround so I have the lid open without wasting the display on the MBP.

Well it turns the LED backlight off sure, but still running vram to it and you are capped at the resolution of your desktop screen.

Well, to be honest, I've been running Windows 7 in Boot Camp more and more since this issue with Lion appeared. Apple is really not respecting us. Everyone has noticed that WiFi reception is really poor with the lid closed. I use the magnet on the right side of my computer when I wanted to access Lion, but it feels ridiculous having to do that. I guess it's only a matter of time for me to convert back to Windows, which (and I know I'm going to get flames from zealots here) is a really decent OS, that lets you play games and choose which display to use.

So, yes, Apple, because of this single issue, I am definitely considering switching back to PC for my next computer, especially in this economy.

The only real bummer is that the Apple universe I got into in 2008 is like a lobster trap : now all my photos are in iPhoto and extracting them will be a pain, so will rapatriating all my stuff in Windows 7, but, hey, I like freedom.

shiwala: What you're doing turns off the backlight, but the display is still working even though it's very hard to see, and the computer is still sending pixels to it, so some of your GPU resources are being used for it. A number of people in this thread are looking for a way to have the built-in display truly inactive when an external display is in use, without having to have the built-in display closed as it is in clamshell mode. Having it off but open allows more of the MBP's case to be exposed and used in radiant and convective cooling.

Furthermore, by choosing Mirrored mode you've limited your external display to a resolution no greater than the maxmum resolution of your built-in display, which may mean you aren't using the full capabilities of the external display. What you really want is Extended Desktop mode, in which the resolutions of the two displays are set independently of each other.

Right, the resolution isn't an issue with me as I use the same resolution for my external monitor anyways.  So really the issue is about vram usage with the lid open.  I also tried turning off mirror display and just move the white bar over to the external monitor in display arrangements.  Anyways, the magnet thing didn't work for me, but I'd rather have the extra vram usage and allow the MBP to cool a bit more.  I agree Apple should at least GIVE us the option to just shut it off.  I don't see why they wouldn't allow that option.

So I used the magnet trick to get the screen to sleep.  Took me forever to find where to put it.  Take a magnet and go along the right side of the screen until it sticks, this is the location corrispodes to the location on the mase when the lid is closed.  Put the magnet there and it'll sleep.  It took a couple of tries and I could only get it to work with magnet facing a certain way.  It ***** to have to do it this way, but is actually easier then closing the lid letting it sleep, waking it, then opening the lid everytime.

Hey guys... I am having the same issue of using the computer in "open" clamshell....I did some digging on the internet and found a program called Switchresx....There is a 10 day free trial....you need to set up a new display set and just set you macbooks LCD to inactive and its working for me right now....let me know if anyone tries it...

By the way does anyone know if using Swithresx and having the macbooks lcd all black is bad for it? Can it damage it in anyway? I am guessing not but wondered if anyone knew for sure

harmonica01 quoted Apple as saying:

 

"It is the official position of apple that they do not believe having the lid closed affects temperature or any other performance issue with laptops using external screens.  If you and others do believe this is in error, I strongly advise you all to create a thread with screenshots of temperatures and other evidence as you feel necessary."

It would be great if everyone who feels disadvantaged by this issue* could focus on providing whatever evidence they feel able to contribute in response to the above "official position".

Let's not allow possible workarounds** to distract our attentions from the chance of having this issue addressed and resolved by Apple at source, within Lion itself.

Examples of evidence may include screenshots of temperatures, wifi signal strength, etc.

* this issue = the removal within Lion of the ability to use only an external display whilst keeping their computer lid fully open and their internal screen fully switched off.

** To my mind, it's madness that anyone should even have to consider sticking a magnet on their premium-priced computer to restore a previous physical setup that makes such obvious common sense. Even if you've chosen to do this for now, please don't accept it in place of a real solution.

The reason I want this fixed is because:

1 - Having to keep the lid closed makes my MacBook freeze during processor heavy tasks because it can't dispense enough of the heat that is produced.

2 - Using two screens eats away valuable VRAM.

Please fix this, Apple.

*Already made a topic, but I see i'm not the only one wanting this "feature" back.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/15794707#15794707

Here is where the "magnet trick" works on a pre-unibody MacBook Pro. I know, it's ridiculous, but it actually works.

The magnet is the pink (I had no other colors available) pushpin... (do not use an actual pushpin, please)