Apple didn’t just announce its earnings report on Thursday for the December quarter (Q1 FY2025), posting record revenue for the period at $124.30; it also offered MacBook owners a fix to a problem that might have annoyed them for years.
MacBook Air and Pro models that feature any of Apple’s M-series chips will turn on automatically when you open the lid or connect it to power. That’s a behavior you can’t prevent. Not only that, but the Macs will start up when either action is taken, which can be annoying especially for the second scenario.
MacBooks with Apple silicon already offer great battery life, but you still have to recharge them. Connecting them to a USB-C or MagSafe cable would make them turn on, even if you don’t need to use the computer while it’s charging. You can put it back to sleep or turn it off completely, which involves manually tinkering with the device.
Thankfully, Apple has issued a fix for the problem, but sadly, it doesn’t come in the form of a toggle that you can switch on and off in the Settings app. Instead, you have to go to the Terminal app and manually enter the code exactly as Apple shared it in this support document.
The procedure below only applies to Macs with Apple silicon that run macOS Sequoia or later. Before you try it, you’ll want to update your Mac to the latest available version.
After updating your Mac, you’ll need to open the built-in Terminal app and press one of these three commands, depending on how you need your MacBook to behave on lid open or when connected to a charger:
- To prevent startup when opening the lid or connecting to power: sudo nvram BootPreference=%00
- To prevent startup only when opening the lid: sudo nvram BootPreference=%01
- To prevent startup only when connecting to power: sudo nvram BootPreference=%02
After you type (better to copy and paste) the command as seen above, or in the support document, Terminal will prompt you to enter your administrator password. You’ll have to type it and press Return. Make sure you type the password correctly, as Terminal won’t show the password.
If you’re used to Terminal, you’ll have no problem using these commands. However the procedure might seem more difficult to users who have never opened the app.
In case you want to undo any of the steps above, Apple provides the following Terminal command:
- To undo any of the previous commands and reenable automatic startup when opening the lid or connecting to power, enter sudo nvram -d BootPreference in Terminal.
Again, it would be much easier to manage these behaviors if Apple placed toggles in the Settings app on the Mac. Hopefully, Apple will do just that soon.
