How to stop your MacBook from turning on when you open the lid

In 2016, Apple started including an auto power-on feature for its new MacBook models that activated when you opened the notebook lid or plugged in USB-C power when the lid was open. This is a cool little convenience if you don’t want the added step of pressing the power button — plus it could get the computer running if, for some reason, that button stops working.

But what if you open the lid just to clean the screen or are troubleshooting the computer for some other issue? Or perhaps you are building a slabtop and don’t want it to power on just because you plugged it into power? Or what if you don’t want to automate everything? In these cases, auto power-on is either a minor inconvenience or a straight-up annoyance.

The first MacBooks to get this feature had Intel processors, and it continued over to every new model, including when Apple switched to its own Apple Silicon M-series processors. There’s a Terminal command for the Intel MacBooks that can be used to disable open lid power-on, but when Apple launched the M1 MacBook Air in 2020, that command no longer worked. However, in January 2025, Apple finally added an official way to disable autoboot upon opening the li …

Read the full story at The Verge.