Turning off Macbook Display when using External Display on Lion

i found a solution for this.. my solution is to put a fridge magnet on the lower left speaker.. so the laptop thinks the lid is closed and so the display is off.. lol.. try it.. it works..

this does in fact work, however how stupid that you have to do that...for those who dont know, on the 13 inch macbook, the speaker is located precicely in the lower half of the keyboard.

I don't find the spot on my MacBook Pro 13 (mid 2010). Could anyone help me?

This workaround dates back to at least 2006. I'm guessing the location for magnet positioning may be similar to then, but I'm personally not keen on the idea of calling Apple support when some problem arises with my MBP and I have to confess that I stuck a MAGNET on it! For this reason alone, I'm inclined to wait for an official fix!

Please keep those bug reports flooding in to: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

One old source of the current interim solution:

Re: disable my MB display while using an extenal LCD?

Nov 12, 2006 4:35 PM (in response to eckndu)

If you place a small magnet on the edge of the palm rest just above where the Kensington lock hole is located you can do this. You can leave the lid open all the time but the MB will think it is closed all the time.

On a Late 2007 Macbook, place the magnet above the Kensington security hole. Since the internal HD is on the other side, this should be OK as long as you don't overdo it. Keep in mind some fridge magnets (especially the printed vinyl kind) may not be strong enough.

Another method may be to use the pmset command in Terminal. Use the command pmset -g to find out your Power Manger settings, including the hidden ones, for the power source you're using at the moment. If you find the line lidwake 1 at the end, you can change this with sudo pmset lidwake 0. Keep in mind this will always disable waking up while raising the lid with that power source, not just when an external display is connected. To change it back, use sudo pmset lidwake 1 or reset the SMC.

I'll agree this is annoying, especially since my MacBook tends to overheat when run with the lid closed (I may have cooked a battery this way) and I'd been dealing with random-shutdown problems when using my MacBook as a DVR with EyeTV.

Support are quoting Apple's engineers as saying it is "expected behaviour" under Lion for the MBP's internal display to reactivate upon opening the lid, even if you want to use only your external display. A new version of the clamshell mode-related knowledgebase article (replacing HT3131) is due shortly confirming this.

This is despite:

- the obvious temperature-related benefits that were achievable (under Snow Leopard) by opening your MBP lid whilst continuing to output solely to, say, a 27" cinema display
- the waste of energy and inefficient use of graphics processing power in needlessly running two active screens (ie if running your MBP in clamshell mode would otherwise make it too hot and/or noisy)
- the negative longer-term impact on the battery and other components from running the MBP any hotter than it needs to be.

So if you would like to have the previous behaviour restored, please lobby Apple to change how Lion handles clamshell mode. Options available to them include changing Lion's expected behaviour or adding a user-selectable option within System Preferences.

Feedback can be submitted here:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Furthermore..

They need to allow for the lid, clamshell to remain up and OFF while you use an external display. My older 2007 MBP cannot properly get a decent STRONG signal for my airport when its closed. The Mbps is obviously slower. My understandig is the antenna is housed within the keel of the clamshell?. Runniung Speedtest 3 times tells me this is the case. C'mon Apple - Give us control over display options like before.. please.

I really need to control the display too...

I was able to get a copy of 10.7.2 developers release. This issue is not addressed in it either.

This magnet Mod is awesome! You can have the benefits of Instant Clam Shell Mode (no sleeping) and having the pre-Lion functionality. I have an early 2009 MacBook Pro and the "sweet spot" for the magnet seems to be on the side where the power switch is. It's at the bottom of the speaker, and the magnet attaches at a slant. I can live with this until Apple decides to issue a fix.

As far as the magnet causing problems, there's a magnet in the display that mates up to the one by the speaker. I don't see this beign a problem. We arew just using a different magnet to initiate Clam Shell mode rather than the one in the display.

Can u please show us where to put it so we don't scew something up. How big of a magnet. Pictures would be super.

Hello

Does this work in Lion

I have a 2011, anyone know where the magnet is

Hi,

I have a 2010 MBP, it's on the left border next to the "fn-key" ..

like you can see here:

But I prefer a little bigger and thiner type of magnet like you can see on the next picture.

It's a part of an magnet-bookmark with paper on it, so it won't damage the display if I accidently close the lid without thinking about the magnet.

The way you find the posission of your "magnet-switch" is not that complicated.

Because the 2nd magnet is somewhere in the border of your display, just take a little magnet and "slide" arround your display border with it.

But becarefull to not scratch anything. If the magnet is reacting you may have found the possision.

In the case of an 2010 MBP you will find 3 magnets in de display .. 2 on the top border (for holding the lid closed) and 1 on the left side.

So if you have the magnets found, just put your little magnet on the possion on your macbook, were the displaymagnet would be if you close it and see, if it goes into clamshell mode..

!! I am NOT responsible if you damage or destroy something! Do this on your own risk!!!

Btw: Sorry for my poor english! .. 😉