Apple has long bid a laptop alternative when you desire to utilise just an external video display in mirrored fashion and not view the inner reminder . you could end the clamshell lid , and your separate projection screen continues to work . But what if you want to have external devices active and do n’t require a display ? One reader , for case , wants to keep a webcam active but close their laptop computer ’s eyelid .

Apple does n’t furnish a “ headless ’ option , and I ca n’t recover third - political party software designed for consumer model . It might be undoable .

you may keep the palpebra opened a small minute and set it so that its display dims after a short period :

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Another selection is to seize a flyspeck , cheap external presentation and set the same details as above . For instance , this $ 60 7 - column inch displaydesigned for gaming and Raspberry systems would work .

It can seem a little ridiculous to attach a $ 100 , 10 - inch monitor to your multi - hundred or thousand - dollar - plus laptop computer to have it keep running , but if it does the trick for what you need , your problem is solved . take down you ca n’t just turn the index off on the outside showing : it will appear as unavailable to macOS and switch display control back to the internal screen .

This Mac 911 article is in answer to a question submitted by Macworld lector Me .

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