Many people are using the closed-clamshell or closed-display mode to take advantage of the bigger screens at home. However, it’s a little inconvenient if you connect to external monitors most of the time because you have no way to turn on the MacBook when the lid is closed.
When I used my MacBook Pro with a Dell monitor, I often have to open the lid, press the Power key, close the lid and then put the MacBook to the Twelve South BookArc mod stand again.
In case you are using the same setup, probably you have to do the tedious process every day as well. I tried to find a solution but it seems like powering on a MacBook without opening the lid is impossible. When you shut down the Mac, all connections are terminated, so there is no way to use an external device to start up the MacBook.
Fortunately, there is a simple workaround to avoid opening and closing the MacBook’s lid. Just follow the steps below.
1. Open System Preferences
2. Click on Energy Saver
3. Click on Schedule button on the bottom right corner
4. Check on Start up or wake, choose Everyday, then set the wakeup time in the early morning, just before the time you often power on the MacBook. For example, I often turn on my MacBook at 9:30, so I schedule the wakeup time at 8:00. You can set it earlier because your MacBook will only turn on when the power adapter is connected.
5. The MacBook won’t turn on until I plug in the power adapter. So you just need to make sure you pull the plug out after shutting down the MacBook. Besides, do not shut down the laptop during the day, just put it to sleep and it will be automatically powered down at the end of the day as scheduled earlier.
Read also: MacBook Pro is Too Hot When I Close the Lid, How to Fix the Heating Issue?
That’s my solution to keep my MacBook stay in one place during the day, now I don’t even need to touch it. Share with us in a comment below if you have another solution.
Kash says
Aug 8, 2016 at 11:03 amOh my god this article is a life saver. I should get my arc stand in a few days and I just now thought “wait..how will I be able to turn on my rMBP after a shutdown?” because I like to shut it down at night and not leave it in sleep mode. Stumbled upon this article and it really helped me out. Thanks!!!
Clem says
Aug 4, 2017 at 12:00 pmNice, Tuan!!!!! Feel lucky today for coming cross this article!!!!
Gary Lieber says
Dec 31, 2017 at 1:07 pmI have one addition to this hack that does not require you to mess with the power adapter to plug and unplug it. I plugged my MacBook pro into an electrical outlet adapter that has a remote control. I just push the remote control button and the MacBook, its monitor, etc. get powered on and off. I would suggest however that you do a proper shutdown to your Mac before switching the power off.
Gayle Grant says
May 16, 2018 at 3:09 amConnect MBP to Insteon outdoor module (you’ll need this as it has the 3 pronged ground plug)..put in sleep/wake mode with early wake time. When you want system to wake, click on Insteon unit for that assigned laptop and voilà.
To go a bit further, connect to Amazon Echo and when you want it on say ‘Echo turn on laptop’… Echo, turn off laptop.
Works flawlessly without opening the lid!
Jeff says
Jun 4, 2018 at 3:11 pmThis is genius, thank you!
Ash Bloomingdale says
Jan 2, 2019 at 3:49 pmThank you so much for this!
Bad Luck Brian says
Mar 3, 2019 at 11:29 amBut what if you have bootcamp and want to boot to windows when powering it on?