[Infowarrior] - MacBook Users: Turn off This Bluetooth Default Setting Now

[Richard Forno]

MacBook Users: Turn off This Bluetooth Default Setting Now

     * By Brian X. Chen Email Author
     * May 8, 2009  |

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/macbook-users-turn-off-this-bluetooth-default-setting-now/

Last night I discovered an incredibly dumb — and what I consider to be  
dangerous — setting enabled by default in my unibody MacBook Pro. In  
the Bluetooth preferences, it’s the box checkmarked “Allow Bluetooth  
devices to wake this computer.” Sounds innocent enough, but it  
could’ve killed my computer.

picture-2Here’s what happened: I was in a rush to leave the office to  
meet a colleague for coffee, so I closed my MacBook Pro and threw my  
Bluetooth mouse into my laptop bag. After my coffee meeting, I ended  
up at a bar and took my notebook out to quickly check my e-mail. It  
was scalding hot all over, and when I opened the lid I was greeted  
with the gray screen of death. And I realized my notebook, though  
closed, was still on for hours — the heat insulated by my bag.

After checking the Apple support forums I found a thread where a user  
reported the exact same problem, and it turned out it was because his  
Bluetooth mouse was left on in his bag, too; he remedied the issue by  
unchecking the default Bluetooth setting. I was relieved that the  
solution was so simple, but I was still pretty concerned that this was  
a default setting in the first place.

Imagine if I hadn’t checked my notebook for a few more hours. That  
could’ve caused a serious burn injury, or at worst, a fire. True, it  
was my own negligence to not turn off my Bluetooth mouse before  
throwing it in my bag, but I think it’s reasonable to assume many  
people have done the same thing. (Heck, I often don’t turn off my  
Bluetooth mouse when it’s on my desk at home, as it shuts down when  
it’s inactive. Clearly it’s not the same when your mouse is in your  
bag and you’re keeping it on by walking around.)

Also, I say it’s unintelligent that this feature is turned on by  
default because for notebooks, it’s useless. Usually when we sleep our  
notebooks, we close the lid. On a MacBook, opening the lid wakes it  
back up automatically. There’s no need to use the Bluetooth mouse to  
wake up the notebook. This setting should certainly not be turned on  
by default.

MacBook users? If you own a Bluetooth mouse, disable this setting now.  
Have you seen any other strange settings turned on by default that I  
should disable? Feel free to point them out in the comments below.