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I have my Late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro attached to an external display. I use both displays. At night, when I leave my computer, I want to close the lid to put the Mac to sleep.

Since Lion, there is the famous 'Clamshell mode', which is for a lot of people, but not for me. This causes OS X to switch to single-display mode, using only the external display, if I close it.

Until Mavericks I could prevent this by the famous: sudo nvram boot-args="iog=0x0" kernel parameter, but since Yosemite, this does not work. Is there any solution? I don't want to plug off my computer for the night or put it to sleep by selecting a menu command. Both solutions are really lame.

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What is preventing it to Sleep when you close the lid ? – Buscar웃 Oct 24 '14 at 19:20
    
If your laptop is connected to a power source and has an external display attached, it will not sleep, but use Clamshell mode instead, as far as I know. – gklka Oct 24 '14 at 19:21
    
what does your "pmset -g" shows as settings? – Buscar웃 Oct 24 '14 at 19:54
    
Here it is: gist.github.com/gklka/19541500bd8ca1f91bd7 – gklka Oct 24 '14 at 19:58
    
Not only can I no longer simply shut the lid to sleep the Mac…if I now press the power button to sleep the Mac, but then shut the Mac's lid, it reawakens the system again in clamshell! – jaepage Dec 16 '14 at 2:59

Download INSOMNIAX for Yosemite is free http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/22211/insomniax enter image description here

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The preferences shown in your screenshot are not preventing my Yosemite MBP from sleeping upon lid-shut when connected to an external monitor. Nor does any combination of prefs prevent clamshell mode, unfortunately. – jaepage Dec 16 '14 at 1:44
    
this app work perfectly for me thanks..!! – Ritesh Dec 16 '15 at 15:16

Unplug or detach the power adapter before you close the lid. "Closed clamshell mode" requires the MacBook to be plugged into an outlet to activate.

I actually discovered this through trial and error but here's proof! :)

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201834

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My "perfect solution" for keeping the MacBook lid open but internal screen switched off/only using secondary screen, even with power unplugged(!) using two terminal commands:

Enable "screen off":

sudo nvram boot-args="niog=1"

Disable clamshell in Yosemite:

sudo nvram boot-args="iog=0x0"

Source: OS X Daily - Disable the Internal Screen on a MacBook Pro or Air in OS X Mavericks

The trick: putting Mac to sleep and waking up (unplugged)

  1. (When unplugged) simply close the lid to put Mac to sleep.
  2. To wake up, plug in power and wake up with keyboard/mouse (or any external USB/firewire/bluetooth device).
  3. Mac wakes up → open lid (it should stay off), unplug power.
  4. Voilá!
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2  
what? ... i mean... WHAT? – Sumit May 22 '15 at 17:24

That is one annoying problem...

I'm currently doing this at work which is the best thing I can come up with without the even more annoying unplugging of something:

  1. Press ctrl+shift+eject to put your mac to sleep.
  2. close lid
  3. go home
  4. next day: open lid to wake up the mac

Step 1 of course is just the power button for older macbooks.

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Not sure it's an exact answer to your question, but how about a Hot Corner to put it to Sleep?

Sleep Hot Corner image

... or add a key command...

Key Command

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1  
Thanks, but this is not easier than pressing the power button shortly. I really want to close only the lid to initiate sleep. :/ – gklka Oct 24 '14 at 19:15
    
No worries - my Mac Pro doesn't have a lid, so for me, swiping to the bottom left corner with the mouse is by far the fastest. – Tetsujin Oct 24 '14 at 19:17

From what I can tell, if the macbook is plugged in and the external display is attached, it should not go to sleep and work similarly to the Mavericks method. I still have the nvram setting applied and so far so good; the only difference is that I have to keep the lid closed and use USB for keyboard and mouse.

Not perfect but close!

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2  
You did not understand me. I want it to sleep even when external display is attached. – gklka Oct 29 '14 at 23:51
    
Ah my bad, I thought you wanted the opposite! – Tech Trip Oct 29 '14 at 23:54

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