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Comment by crystalmace | Hacker News Reader

Or your Macbook Pro if it originally came with an HDD. Apparently the device orientation API can utilize the triaxial accelerometer that Apple used for drop detection. Really neat experience tilting my laptop around like a mad man.

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That's…quite surprising. It's a cool feature, but I'm afraid that it's just another surface that can will be used for browser fingerprinting.

Surely it asks explicitly for permission to use the sensor?

Chrome does not, no.

Mobile safari on an iPhone XR just worked.

Can confirm that HP Probooks had the same accelerometer in 2011-2014. Win8 used it for screen orientation OOTB.

pioneered I believe by ThinkPads in 2003 http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Active_Protection_System

Do MacBooks that shipped with an SSD not have the accelerometer?

My 2012 Macbook Air had an accelerometer and of course shipped with an SSD. No idea if it's in the newer Airs, or why it's there.

My MacBook with an SSD (12", 2017) does not have an accelerometer as far as either my web browser or `pmset -g` can tell.

My understanding was that the accelerometer was there to stop the drive in case of a fall. You wouldn't need that with an SSD, though perhaps if it still had an optical drive?

EDIT: I should add that both the HDD Macs I owned (a 2009 Macbook Pro and a 2004 or 03 Macbook) had accelerometers and I found a cool app for oldest that made a lightsaber noise. This was pre smartphones, so it was novel. My Late 2013 Macbook Pro does not seem to have one.

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