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Comment by simias | Hacker News Reader

Why does the laptop power on when the lid is closed? That seems like the design flaw to me. And it could probably be fixed with a software update as well.

Still, not very frontpage worthy IMO.

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In this case it's a defect, but in general, people operate their Macbook Pros with the lid closed attached to an external monitor.

Makes sense, but I doubt many of them operate the built-in keyboard with the lid closed :). Ignoring the keyboard input in this case would be a cheap "fix".

Yes, but most crucially, they don't turn it on with the lid closed.

Open the lid, turn it on, closes the lid.

Should be fun to try to power an older MB with the lid closed to see what happens.

If the laptop gets too hot in a bag, it can cause fire, so it's a potentially life-threatening bug.

No, no it can't. The battery will drain, but not much else. The temperatures you'd see wouldn't even be likely to reduce the lifetimes of components.

This is inconvenient and annoying, but not life threatening. Stop being alarmist.

Fire chiefs issue warning that overheating laptops can cause fires

http://www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2012/02/24/fire-chiefs-issue...

Laptop fire blamed for Vancouver death

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/08...

Laptop overheats, starts fire that destroys west St. Louis County home

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Firefighters-battling-blaze-a...

Israel Police: Fatal fire in family home likely caused by overheated laptop

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-police-fatal-fir...

etc...

Lithium ion batteries do overheat and burst into flames. However, it's generally due to faulty charge controllers pumping too much current through the cells. It won't be caused by having the laptop power on in a backpack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixIOEPnsgbI

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