“Limit to 80% Charge Not Worth It” Agree/Disagree?

Hardware
42

This also includes running a laptop in clamshell mode, especially in a tightly-enclosed area. When I run my laptop as a desktop, I have a little shelf where I leave it open and it sits on a cooling pad. It runs much, much cooler that way.

1 Like
43

I hear this a lot about clamshell mode, but using a MacBook over the years, I don’t feel a lot of heat via the gaps in the case in the keyboard. Is there any scientific evidence to back it up?

In clamshell mode

  1. If the screen is off, then less heat is generated by that screen
  2. If you put it in a stand like a bookarc or elevate it via a stand with plenty of ventilation, even if closed, much more heat can be dissipated than it sitting directly on a desk (air can flow around the device more freely)

By closing it, you’re simply preventing the dissipation of heat via the palmrest.

But yeah, if you put it in clamshell and tuck it into a tight space with little air around it, it’ll find it much more difficult to conduct heat away from the laptop.

44

This is purely anecdotal, but every time I’ve set the Macbook on a desk in clamshell mode it’s noticeably hot when I open it up. The Book Arc thing or just elevating it may help as much as what I do.

This might also be usage-related. Clamshell-ing a MBA that’s mainly used for light web browsing and email may not be an issue. But heavier usage of a computer without a fan means it’s reliant on getting air circulated over the surfaces that can dissipate heat. Clamshell mode eliminates one of those surfaces.

45

I have my MacBook Pro (M4 Pro) sitting in a Book Arc most of the time. Any time I take it out, I don’t notice any heat in particular.

Then again, while working from home and using my Studio Display with the Lenovo, I have the MBP open on the desk beside me. Yesterday I was futzing with something on it while taking a break from working and noticed the palm rests were rather warm. It was barely doing anything. So I opened Activity Monitor and what should I see at the top of the CPU list but SoundSource, with more than double the score of the next highest, Safari. I killed it off and 5 minutes later, the laptop was “room temperature” again.