WARNING: Only attempt this with a laptop that has an SSD. If you do not know what SSD means or need to check a manufacturer’s website to find if you have one, read no further.

There are certain things that nag many Mac users that seem like simple fixes, but Apple never seems to address them. For me, that’s using an external monitor with a MacBook.

Yes, you can use clamshell mode. You hook up your monitor and then close your laptop. That’s a nice and clean solution EXCEPT that it causes your wireless throughput to cut in half. Such is life with a unibody metal design. When you close it, signals have a heck of a time getting in and out.

Yes, you could dim the display until it turns off. Unfortunately, that’s not actually off and you’ll lose your mouse from time to time when it wanders over into no man’s land. Good luck getting it back without looking like you’re having a seizure at your desk.

The best solution that I’ve found? A magnet. Get a small and low powered magnet. Somewhere on your machine (it seems Apple has been putting it near the audio jack lately), and with a certain polarity (you may need to swipe around and/or flip the magnet over, you’ll get the laptop to think you have closed it. The screen will turn off, you’ll still have full wireless signal, and you’ll be able to leave it open and not worry about losing your mouse. In order to turn the screen back on, open and close the laptop, or flip the magnet over and the “open” magnet should trigger somewhere around the same place as the closing one. You do not need to leave the magnet sitting on the device. Once you trick it, you can put the magnet away.

Why the warning? Oh, only because magnets and computers do not mix. With a machine that is entirely solid-state (I have a MacBook Air), you’re fine, but you really do not want a magnet anywhere near a traditional spinning hard drive because “OOPS!” there goes your data.