A few weeks back I purchased a black MacBook 2GB model, and I'm hooked. This
is the best computer I've ever owned, bar none. And mostly, it does what it
should do. However, there is one major annoyance:

The friggin' computer always wants to go to sleep by merely closing 
the lid!. 

I've spent more time than I care to admit trying to futz with the preferences,
grepping source code, and googling around for answers. I even called 
AppleCare and opened a ticket, but the response was basically: "Apple 
designed it this way, live with it, trust us we are smarter than you."

Ok, why do I want this so badly?

1) When I want to relocate down the hall, I want to close the lid, tuck
   the computer under my arm, and gather my water bottle and other things
   to carry in my hands. Having to walk with the screen open gives me less
   cargo room, and makes it more likely that I'll drop the computer on the
   way. Putting the computer to sleep only to have to wake it in a minute 
   sucks, because I may have missed some IRC messages, and iTunes has now 
   disconnected me from my internet radio site and now I have to reconnect.

2) When it is time to change the battery, I want to plug in the A/C, close
   the lid, turn the computer over, replace the battery, and get back to
   work as soon as possible. Having to deal with waking up from sleep after
   this 20-second battery-change procedure is, frankly, frustrating. 

Okay, there are other reasons, such as wanting my computer to stay awake
while compiling a program, while I stuff my computer in my backpack, get on
my bike, and ride downtown to the Main Street Bistro, but this use-case 
probably borders on why Apple hasn't given us the ability to set our MacBooks
to stay awake in the first place.

Why Apple Won't Give us a no-sleep-on-lid-closed Feature

I believe the major reason has to do with the apparent fact that much of
the cooling system relies on a free-flow of air around the keys in the 
keyboard and out into the room. When the lid is closed, the potential of 
heat buildup causing damage to the LCD, not to mention CPU, increases.

Therefore (if my assumption is correct), I actually agree with Apple that
they can't just allow the lid to shut and the computer to stay awake, as
that would result in lawsuits, recalls, and public humiliation, and Apple
just won't have that.

Plus, if people could use their laptops to run server processes uninterrupted,
why would they need XServe?

My Proposed Solution

Allow for my 2 use-cases, which involve the computer staying awake for a 
very short period of time with the lid closed. Apple, you've presumably done
the testing already: what is the maximum time the lid can stay closed when 
the computer is awake and doing lots of processing? Take 3/4 of that number
(in other words, if 12 minutes is the danger limit, make it 8 minutes), and
then give us a preference to "Keep Computer Awake for x minutes" after lid
is closed. Default that preference to 0, of course, but allow us to set it
up to that limit. I'd be a happy camper, because I wouldn't feel like I'm
fighting someone else's idea of elegance.

Oh, and while I'm ranting: why the !^%#^# is there no available external
battery charger? 

© 2007 Paul McNett       [/Computing] permanent link