Life hacker [Japanese version] reprinted the article published on October 25, 2021
The MacBook keyboard is more sensitive than expected.
It goes without saying that if you spill water, you will be shot out, but sometimes small trash will cause the key to die.
Because of this state, it is understandable that in order to protect the key and MacBook body, you want to do the keyboard cover. But be careful. On the contrary, the keyboard cover has an adverse effect on MacBook.
The keyboard cover hurts the MacBook display.
If you use the cover, you may spend time worrying about the keyboard, and this time, you will spend worrying on the monitor.
The MacBook display is excellent, but on the other hand it has a fragile weakness (as you know, it will get dirty soon).
Fingerprints and water droplets leave spots and are difficult to fall off. The keyboard cover caught up there.
It can be seen from the hand that the laptop made by Apple is very thin.
In design, when you turn off your laptop, there is only a small gap between the keyboard and the monitor.
There is no room for existence except air.
The keyboard cover is really thin. But it's not that thin.
Therefore, after closing the MacBook, the cover is in contact with the monitor until the next time it is opened.
Soon, you will notice that among other dirt, the letter QWERTY is faintly visible on the monitor. That's a very ugly situation.
Of course, because of the importance of protecting the keyboard, some ugliness is a last resort.
It would be nice to wipe the monitor every time. But sometimes it's too late. Once you leave a mark that can't disappear, it can't be restored.
Due to the narrow gap, it may cause trouble if the monitor has multiple contacts. Therefore, Apple recommends that the keyboard cover, palmrest, camera cover, etc., be removed when the MacBook is closed.
If you want to cover it anyway, it is best to get into the habit of removing the cover before closing the MacBook cover.
Having said that, the adverse effects of mulch do not stop there.
MacBook gets hot on the keyboard cover
People who use M1 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro may not be so hot.
But for many other people who use the old MacBook, sometimes the toast gets hotter and hotter.
There are many reasons to consider, but there are also many countermeasures. One of the simplest countermeasures is not to use the keyboard cover.
For a MacBook with a fan, the air in the machine is moved by the force of the fan and the temperature is controlled by keeping the hot air away from the parts of the MacBook.
In this case, the keyboard acts as an area for inhaling cold air.
In other words, if there is a lid there, MacBook will not be able to inhale the air needed. As a result, the force to push hot air outward is hampered.
This situation does not apply to all models of MacBook. Because there are also models without fans.
For example, the "MacBook" model or "M1 MacBook Air" does not have fans.
In this case, you don't need to worry about overheating. However, for the above reasons, I recommend that you remove the lid before closing it (but, needless to say, it's easy to forget it).
If you use a MacBook with a fan, it is not worth using the keyboard cover and worry about overheating.
In contrast, you might as well take measures, such as not eating near your laptop, or putting a lid on when eating.
It's impossible to follow such advice. I may not be able to do it either.
But at least, only in this way can we realize that there is nothing to lose.