You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

ehdonhon Author

Level 1

9 points

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

Hello,

A known issue with MacBook Pro's is that the WiFi reception is poor when running in clamshell mode. A workaround for this issue when using an external monitor only has been to close the MacBook, wake it with a USB device and monitor attached, and then re-open the lid.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work in OS X Lion. That's because as soon as you open the lid, Lion re-detects all the displays and re-enables the LCD monitor. I'm sure in some circumstance, that's very helpful. But not in mine.

Does anybody know of a way to keep Lion from re-enabling the monitor whenever the lid is opened?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 20, 2011 12:44 PM

383 replies

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,895 points

Jul 21, 2011 7:35 AM in response to levous

Hi levous

The previous procedure wasn't unintentional or a previous "bug" - it is part of the documented functionality of clamshell mode:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3131?viewlocale=en_US

As such, its omission from Lion is a bug - and that previous functionality should definitely be restored. 🙂

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,895 points

Jul 21, 2011 7:40 AM in response to Jonathan UK

Sorry, to make things easier, I should have copied and pasted this from that page:

Additional Information

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.

Jul 21, 2011 6:01 PM in response to ehdonhon

Come on Apple.... restore old behaviour or add an ON / OFF switch. Can't be that hard. Geeee

Jul 21, 2011 9:22 PM in response to ehdonhon

just set the bottom right hot corner to put display to sleep

Jul 21, 2011 9:31 PM in response to ehdonhon

I tried SwitchResX, all it does is just turn off the LED in the screen, it doens't actually turn off the built-in display. and setting the display to sleep in one of the hot corners didn't work either, it turns BOTH displays off when you do that.

Jul 21, 2011 9:32 PM in response to Jonathan UK

That page hasn't been updated though, not since the release of Lion...I really hope a major software update comes out soon.

Jul 22, 2011 2:39 AM in response to ehdonhon

to APPLE: Pls, make in Monitor settings this button:

monitor 1: ON / OFF
monitor 2: ON / OFF
...

Jul 22, 2011 7:36 AM in response to levous

Oh by the way guys, with the feedback, their page hasn't even been updated yet.

The only choices you get for Operating System are 10.6.8 and 10.6.7, not Lion (10.7.0)

Jul 24, 2011 1:57 AM in response to jpringle

That's the point! When it is closed, it overheats when using programs like Aperture or Addobe CS Suite! An option to turn this automatic detection would be VERY nice!

MTFlyman

Level 1

0 points

Jul 24, 2011 5:22 PM in response to ehdonhon

Found that if I ALMOST close the lid, but leave about a 1 inch opening, it will kick over to the external display. Not the best solution, but better than having the lid completely closed and my mbp ready to melt. Come on Apple, you seriously missed this in testing?

iMat77

Level 1

10 points

Jul 25, 2011 1:59 AM in response to levous

Same here. Wish they brought at least the crappy implementation they had back. Better would be for an Apple engineer to tell an OSX engineer that the air intake of the MBP is on the top, and that apps like ArchiCAD tend to heat the CPU (hence the need of a MBP and not a MBAir or an iPad). Having a CPU run at full speed with the lid closed is not the best thing in the world.

So, give the possibility to shut the notebook screen off. Immediately after you connected the CinemaDisplay. Thank you :-)

And please do it as a feature and not a workaround. Come to think about it.. It could have been feature number 241. You just missed one more marketing point which could have been added to the keynote...

ehdonhon Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 25, 2011 12:37 PM in response to iMat77

iMat77 wrote:
Better would be for an Apple engineer to tell an OSX engineer that the air intake of the MBP is on the top, and that apps like ArchiCAD tend to heat the CPU (hence the need of a MBP and not a MBAir or an iPad).

As I said in my original post... my reasoning has nothing to do with overheating (though, that's probably a good second reason). My reason is that the wifi reception is horrible when operating in clamshell mode. This is a known issue with the MacBook Pro's.

ehdonhon Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 25, 2011 12:38 PM in response to vaclavXXX

vaclavXXX wrote:

to APPLE: Pls, make in Monitor settings this button:

monitor 1: ON / OFF

monitor 2: ON / OFF

...

I really don't care how they do it, as long as they do it.

However... I think my preferred UI would be something on the arrangement screen of "Display Properties" where I could right-click a particular monitor and set to disabled.

Cylermi

Level 1

4 points

Jul 25, 2011 1:18 PM in response to ehdonhon

Just shot off a bug report to Apple about this. I hope they do something about it soon. It's odd they don't have options to note that it's an issue in Lion specifically when making a bug report.

Jul 25, 2011 4:54 PM in response to ehdonhon

I hate this too.

Try a magnet (like from the refirgerator) on the right hand side of the Mac while it is open, on the right edge, below the keyboard and above the trackpad. You should find a particular spot where the mac thinks it is closed.

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