Basically every laptop I've owned I've had to disable sleep when the lid is closed as I often leave them plugged in and want background tasks like downloads or updates to be able to run while I'm not using the machine. However, I don't think PC laptops have a way to switch to a super low power state and just run background tasks like downloads, alarms and notifications or running scheduled tasks without just being left on in regular power mode. Why is this not just a default feature of laptops, given that phones and tablets have been doing this kind of thing for the last decade or more?
Does anyone know if there are plans to make power management for laptops allow for running certain tasks in Windows or Linux in the future? My smug Apple using friend tells me his Macbook already does this, but is the lack of this feature on PCs software related or something innate to x86 vs ARM architecture?
That’s interesting, I never thought this would be a feature that someone would want.
For desktops, standby totally makes sense. But for a laptop that’s meant to be carried around and runs on battery, I’m willing to bet in majority of use-cases, sleeping when closing the lid makes sense for the following reasons:
Closing the lid usually means the user is packing it up and moving the laptop - in which case things like downloads won’t be reliable if you’re constantly moving out of wifi networks
Again, if the user is moving the laptop, preserving battery life is important.
Some laptops are designed so their airflow works best when open, so heat may be an issue. Not to mention you runt he risk of users putting it in their bag and then the laptop overheating.
Of course its possible to detect when the laptop is plugged in vs not plugged in, but ultimately it just seems like your use-case is in the minority, so there isn’t much support for it - anyone who’s determined enough will find a way to disable sleep when the lid is closed like you did.
one workaround is to perhaps set the screen to turn off after 5 minutes, and you can keep the laptop plugged in without closing the lid? The screen probably draws the most energy when idle - when you’re plugged in I’m willing to bet the energy consumption of a laptop with its screen turned off is pretty minimal.
I can’t really argue with that. Downloading large files while on the move is going to be very unreliable, and you also don’t want it to happen on your mobile data. I guess I can also see why some of you guys are paranoid about things making the machine overheat, or an unscrupulous OS vendor using the feature to spy on users. Windows Update was one of the worst experiences I had with an OS trying to force my hand, and the thought it could “upgrade” when you think the machine is off would make it even worse.
I was probably just annoyed that my laptop gets hot when the lid is closed and wondered why it can’t just do whatever the hell its doing more efficiently, and partly jealous of the way Apple seem to be able to implement all these nice features properly, but Microsoft just changes the wallpaper and whether app windows have curves on the corners or not in each update of Windows. Perhaps it’s time to try Linux again now I’m not forced to use software that is Windows only.