16 ms·
The MacBook has a sensor that knows the exact angle of the screen hinge
Alts: https://hachyderm.io/@samhenrigold/115159295473019599 https://hachyderm.io/@samhenrigold/115159295473019599, https://bsky.app/profile/samhenri.gold/post/3ly7252lx422d https://bsky.app/profile/samhenri.gold/post/3ly7252lx422d
Theremin Mode: https://twitter.com/samhenrigold/status/1964464940049453153 https://twitter.com/samhenrigold/status/1964464940049453153
Github: https://github.com/samhenrigold/LidAngleSensor https://github.com/samhenrigold/LidAngleSensor
- ritcgab 1y agoAnd this little thingy makes a lot of M2 MacBook Airs fail.
- katmannthree 1y agoI'd like to hear more, do you have an article or something you could link?
- ritcgab 1y agoThere is no official statement about this issue but you can search for user reports like "M2 MacBook Air black screen" or something similar. It is not uncommon. In older versions of macOS you can simply try two things: * Press Esc in locking screen, or * Press "Sleep" from the menu bar icon and then press Esc immediately If the machine crashes/reboots, the sensor is bad and it needs to be replaced. Apple Store replaces the whole display assembly. 15 inch and M3/M4 models are not affected, AFAIK.
- wiredpancake 1y ago[dead]
- emmelaich 1y agoI was wondering this myself. I've had three mac air/books that simply failed to turn the display on. I've heard (from a third party repairer) that it is not uncommon.
- ramon156 1y agoAnd also it has a magnet to detect the lid being closed. People think this is over engineered, but I've yet to see another brand that has a working closed lid detection
- egypturnash 1y agoThe magnets also work great as a way to attach a sunshade.
- BuildTheRobots 1y agoThe magnets work too well. Having one Thinkpad Yoga sat on top of another closed Yoga tricks the sensor into thinking it's in tablet mode and it disables the keyboard. I only lost 30min or so trying to work out what was happening... There's decent reasons to over-engineer some of these sensors so they can't be unduly tricked by external influences.
- mouse_ 1y agoOnly ever had a Thinkpad lid close sensor fail once. Found my T60 heating up my backpack. Other than that, never been a problem. I've never once had a Dell/HP/Acer/Asus with a reliable lid close sensor. You can't trust those things.
- justin66 1y agoIt's not generally the lid sensor that causes a Windows laptop to fail to go to sleep, is it?
- trenchpilgrim 1y agoIf you're talking about laptops waking up inside backpacks- that's due to the terrible implementation of "Windows Modern Standby" that has ruined every laptop except Macbooks and Framework. (Framework still implements legacy S3 standby to improve compatibility with Linux.)
- 1y ago
- mouse_ 1y agoClose/open sound font ideas > Jacket zipper > C Major scale > Slide whistle > Washboard > Airlock > Vinyl record scratch
- oever 1y ago> trombone/piano/violin glissando > falling and crash sound > ratcheting ring spanner > passing train/helicopter/car > heavy door (safe/cave) > theremin
- anotherhue 1y agoCreaky dungeon door surely?
- oh_fiddlesticks 1y agoThat's what the OP demonstrates....
- jarmitage 1y agoSee "The Laptop Accordion" from 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMJAevVri5w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMJAevVri5w https://nime.org/proc/meacham2016/index.html https://nime.org/proc/meacham2016/index.html
- amelius 1y agoSo doesn't seem specific to Apple hardware. The only thing "Apple" here is that it's not exposed as a public API.
- unglaublich 1y ago> Motion is tracked using the laptop camera via optical flow and mapped to continuous control over dynamics, while the sound is generated in real-time. No, it's a different method.
- 1ceaham 1y agoAuthor here. We checked for APIs like this at the time, but since approximately every laptop has a webcam, the cv approach is much more accessible. It would be a fun rewrite though; I’m sure polling this would be a few orders of magnitude more efficient. There was definitely lag if you ran the app on a very underpowered machine which did impact the “playability” of the velocity parameter.
- dlcarrier 1y agoApple goes much further than not offering an API: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgregor/2023/10/11/genius-new-macbook-repair-tool-has-defeated-apples-hardware-lock/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgregor/2023/10/11/genius-n...
- comrade1234 1y agoIs it the angle of the hinge or the angle of the screen? I assume the latter... my laptop is rarely on a level surface.
- Sharlin 1y agoAt first I wondered why you'd assume the latter – certainly something like a tiny rotary encoder is a simpler lower-tech solution than a MEMS inclinometer. But these days I'm not actually so sure.
- jeffbee 1y agoWithout checking the catalog, I would assume that a MEMS inclinometer is much cheaper in 2025 than an absolute position encoder. Edit: catalog confirms.
- Sharlin 1y agoThanks. Clearly my intuition was out of date.
- joezydeco 1y agoThey're using a pretty nifty differential Hall magnetic encoder, like this one: https://www.novosns.com/en/hall-angle-sensor-4010 https://www.novosns.com/en/hall-angle-sensor-4010 There's a fun Hackaday video using the same type of part in a rotary knob + LCD control. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIrAe23f8sg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIrAe23f8sg
- Sharlin 1y agoCool, thanks!
- Finnucane 1y agothis just makes me miss the old Mac OS that let you add sound effects to anything.
- I_dream_of_Geni 1y agoIKR? The good old days...
- fouronnes3 1y agoOk but why?
- latexr 1y agoFor fun and whimsy in a world populated by too many exploitative apps. And because the author has a lot of free time (their words). https://hachyderm.io/@samhenrigold/115159306734992780 https://hachyderm.io/@samhenrigold/115159306734992780
- fouronnes3 1y agoI mean why does the laptop need to have that sensor?
- nickdothutton 1y agoMacBook Protractor
- cush 1y agoLooks like something is off with the value. That “exact angle” makes zero sense
- socalgal2 1y agoYes, the video shoes the screen moving about 120 degrees but the number goes from ~335 to 0 (~3x too much)
- ghoulishly 1y agoHey, developer of this experiment here. I screwed up the calculation on the demo video, but it’s patched in the latest version on the repo. I thought it was centidegrees but it turns out the sensor was reporting the raw degrees.
- hyperhello 1y agoIs there a downloadable source for this? I’d love to add it.
- latexr 1y agohttps://github.com/samhenrigold/LidAngleSensor https://github.com/samhenrigold/LidAngleSensor
- bmcahren 1y agoMissed a huge opportunity to play the sound of a monstrous wooden door sound when the lid closes. Looking forward to the update!
- bapak 1y agoThe audio stops abruptly when the lid clicks
- HPsquared 1y agoVenjent has some amazing door-based tracks. https://youtube.com/shorts/sgqTEjN5_vQ https://youtube.com/shorts/sgqTEjN5_vQ https://youtu.be/Uivp-hvk-nk https://youtu.be/Uivp-hvk-nk Edit: not forgetting the classic Miles Davis door: https://youtu.be/wwOipTXvNNo https://youtu.be/wwOipTXvNNo
- JKCalhoun 1y agoVenjet is new to me. ("It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.")
- gerdesj 1y agoI seem to recall the BBC have released quite a few sound effects ... ahh yes: https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/ https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/ There must be a door or two in there.
- peterkos 1y agoSomeone did it! https://hachyderm.io/@samhenrigold/115159295473019599 https://hachyderm.io/@samhenrigold/115159295473019599
- deathanatos 1y agoThis post was also made (by the same person, it seems) on Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@samhenrigold/115159295473019599 https://hachyderm.io/@samhenrigold/115159295473019599 — which has the added benefit of not being X, not requiring cookies, and has more information than the tweet, including a follow-up "theremin" hinge.
- altairprime 1y agoGood catch! You can email the mods to ask the link be changed; use the footer contact link.
- Wowfunhappy 1y agoIf a mod sees this, can we please get TFA changed? Both sources are equally authoritative in this case so we may as well use the nicer one.
- josephcsible 1y ago"nicer" is too subjective IMO. Both being equally authoritative is an argument to keep the one the original submitter used.
- leephillips 1y agoI would change it if I could.
- freehorse 1y agoMastodon is more accessible though. And I do not even use mastodon.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> Mastodon is more accessible This is a semantic punt from nicer to accessible.
- nixosbestos 1y ago
- seagram 1y agohttps://x.com/nevmed/status/1640004745250078723 https://x.com/nevmed/status/1640004745250078723 I wonder if Apple uses this internally at Apple stores to set the screen angle at 76 degrees.
- TiredOfLife 1y agoI like how the picture clearly shows that the screen angle is 70 degrees or rather 110 from the users point of view
- 0xCMP 1y agoI believe the initial tweets/demos have some calculation errors which were later corrected.
- TiredOfLife 1y agoThose calculation errors are called lies
- jolmg 1y ago> In Apple Stores all screens are tilted at exactly 76° degrees, this is so you move the screen with your hand…interacting with the product more and making you feel more attached to it. From the description, I would've thought it meant 76 degrees from the user's PoV, i.e. slightly closed so the user would feel compelled to open it more / tilt it into their view (with their hand). The pictures show ~70 degrees from the back of the devices though, so IDK what they mean about the hand moving the screen. There's no need for interacting then, since the display can be seen from afar.
- busymom0 1y agoI am just imagining the manager get an angry email from Tim Cook every time some MacBook in the store is not at 76 degrees.
- layer8 1y agoThe photo shows 70 degrees.
- Svoka 1y agoConfused why it says that 'this API is not exposed' while it's a simple HID device. Author can submit this to the AppStore.
- WhyNotHugo 1y agoIf it’s a simple HID device, can we likewise have support for this on Linux?
- Svoka 1y agoYou first got to run Linux on M4 macbook though.
- latexr 1y ago> Confused why it says that 'this API is not exposed' What it says is (emphasis mine) “it’s not exposed as a public API”. In other words, Apple doesn’t provide official documentation and hooks for you to interact with the feature, like they do e.g. with Bluetooth. Even then, while they provide public APIs to interact with paired devices, interacting with the Bluetooth controller itself (e.g. turning it completely off or on) requires private APIs.
- danielbln 1y agoAs someone who recently wrecked their MacBook's screen by leaving something hard and pointy in between keyboard and screen when closing the lid, I wonder if one can turn on the webcam briefly before the lid closes and sound an alarm if it detects anything in the way.
- mc3301 1y agoI love this edge case.
- gjsman-1000 1y agoThe Nintendo Switch 2 according to Welcome Tour can also detect hinge angle. Unclear if this is a sensor or clever math though.
- danielbln 1y agoI bet it's just the built-in gyro.
- crazygringo 1y agoI wonder why? Presumably this information doesn't come for free, and Apple spends money to put this sensor in. Is it a backup if the magnet for closed lid detection fails? Is it some kind of input for the brightness sensor or True Tone? Is it for warranty investigation, that if the hinge breaks they can figure out if it was physically pushed too far, or was repeatedly slammed open and shut like a toy?
- rossant 1y agoWild idea: if the goal is to wake from sleep as quickly as possible when opening the lid, could receiving a signal as soon as the user starts lifting the screen save a few hundred milliseconds? I might be way off though.
- anentropic 1y agoPretty sure that exact feature was announced when the current generation of Macbooks were launched
- avianlyric 1y agoThe info probably does come for free. The laptops don’t use the magnets along the top edge of the screen for detecting if the screen is closed, those magnets are just there to provide the latching effect when the screen is closed, so it doesn’t open accidentally. The sensor used for detecting if the lid is closed is an “angle” sensor, although really it’s an Hall effect sensor and a magnet in the hinge. If you have a Hall effect sensor, getting angle data from it is pretty much free, because the Hall effect produces a continuously varying signal, you need thresholding logic to turn it into a binary output. Given Hall effect ICs are so cheap and plentiful there no reason to use anything else. Also given they mass-produced ICs it’s probably cheaper to buy a fully featured Hall Effect IC, because the manufacturing cost between a basic IC and an advanced IC is almost certainly zero these days. In short, modern IC manufacturing has just made magnetic angle sensors as cheap, if not cheaper, than dump non-angle sensing Hall sensors. After all you can always use an angle sensing Hall sensor as binary switch if you want, but the reverse isn’t true, so if the ICs basically cost the same, you can expect the less capable ICs to be completely outcompeted by the more capable ICs.
- kubatyszko 1y agoReminds me of a "stable window" app gadget from mid-2000's that used the built-in accelerometer to make a window stable irrespectively of laptop's tilt.
- hk1337 1y agoApple is going to see an increase in MacBook Pro hinges breaking from people trying to play the Star Trek theme in theremin mode or other songs with other instrument sounds. Apple: How did the hinge break? Customer: I don’t know, I just opened it one day and it came off.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- JKCalhoun 1y agoHa ha, too bad Apple is likely logging screen angle for just such a repair dispute.
- jerlam 1y agoProbably not as bad as the Smackbook, which used the HDD impact sensors to change apps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvQTTPr9Rw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvQTTPr9Rw "I was just hitting the side of my laptop in order to go to Safari" No longer supported because we don't use HDDs anymore.
- rootbear 1y agoI always wanted to rig up a laptop that has an IMU to detect when it was in free fall and play the Wilhelm scream.
- shmeeed 1y agoGreat idea! Thinkpads (used to?) have an Active Protection System that used a Free Fall Sensor IMU to park the HDD read/write head in the event of a fall. Don't know if there's an API, though.
- postalcoder 1y agoTo those wondering why the MacBook would have a sensor for this, it’s likely there to support Desk View[0]. It shows the items on your desk in a geometrically correct, top-down view. Knowing the angle of the display is very helpful when applying keystone correction. 0: https://support.apple.com/en-us/121541 https://support.apple.com/en-us/121541
- anal_reactor 1y agoYou could calculate the angle from the camera view as long as at least some piece of the MacBook is in view.
- vaenaes 1y ago[dead]
- antennafirepla 1y agoYou could, for orders of magnitude more compute than reading a magnetic encoder (my assumption at how they estimate it)
- estimator7292 1y agoSure, but not more than what you're already spending on transforming the image. And it's not like these devices are exactly lacking in horsepower.
- 3eb7988a1663 1y agoThis is trivially broken by people who affix some type of cover over the camera. I do this on the off chance some errant application thinks it deserves to take pictures of my environment.
- yonatan8070 1y agoIf someone covers the camera, the feature isn't relevant since it requires the camera to see your desk
- wslh 1y agoIs this part of telemetry?
- matsemann 1y agoA fun entry to the trend "stupid volume controller" a while back I guess would be to use this to control the volume, heh.
- cluckindan 1y agoEven better as a phone number input
- _9ptr 1y agoMade me chuckle
- Razengan 1y agoOr as an accordion
- Terr_ 1y agoOr some kind of... not-so-cheap theremin knockoff. Is 802.11 signal strength consistent/detailed enough that it could be used as another kind of input, as someone cradles the laptop in different ways?
- camdroidw 1y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45160808 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45160808
- mattbee 1y agoIf you have an external monitor and don't mind killing your hinge within an hour it's perfect for Trombone Champ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1059990/Trombone_Champ/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1059990/Trombone_Champ/
- pipe01 1y agohttps://x.com/0xDesigner/status/1642554834535477249?t=SRX2aL5TD0mQTqjXhl54IA&s=19 https://x.com/0xDesigner/status/1642554834535477249?t=SRX2aL...
- Despacito2019 1y agolol apple Why does it say it's by Lisa? I signed up for my developer account when I was a kid, used my mom's name, and now it's stuck that way forever and I can't change it. That's life.
- astrange 1y ago"Can't change it" means "haven't tried to change it". People's legal names change, so you have to be able to update a record of your legal name.
- ghoulishly 1y agoThey told me they would need a notarized letter signed by both me and my mom. I figured at that point I’m just gonna die with this account name.
- astrange 1y agoThat's not actually hard or anything. Notaries are all over the place.
- pooper 1y agoI am thinking about getting a completely different apple id when I get my next iPhone. I don't have a paid developer account. Or do they actively prohibit multiple accounts? I've never tried on Apple before but I have multiple goog.e accounts and it seems fine to have different accounts on different Android devices?
- SXX 1y agoMoreover on Android you still can have 10 different Google accounts on one phone all from different countries for downloading region-locked apps on Google Play. Though recently Google started to break it by changing account region countries nilly-willy. Yet you can still register as many accounts via Chrome as you wish really without extra gmail accounts just by using own domain redirect via cloudflare or something. On iOS installed apps are locked into specific Apple ID they been downloaded with, so you might have issues with e.g WhatsApp. Still possible to download region-locked apps with non-primary AppleID, but it will sometimes ask to re-authenticate with said AppleID to keep it updated so it's cant be just throwaway.
- whitehexagon 1y agoGreat! so they already know that I've been squinting at a 42deg gap trying to use my old MBP. The year with the faulty designed screen connector which was only covered for replacement on certain models, not mine. I wonder if that is why they added this, to check for 'holding the lid wrong'. If I open it any further I need a reboot to get the display back, oh and that angle decreases over time. I wouldnt mind but I was 95% of the time clamshell, and still the keyboard made from butterflies wings lasted next to no time, and the battery put on too much weight after only 30 something cycles. After all these years I never understand how they produce such lemon models some years, just trying to save a few cents here and there. The one before was thermal paste nvidia meltdown.
- floydnoel 1y agoI think clamshell mode was a killer of those models especially. I never ran mine closed and still use them for gaming to this day (since they still run Wintel). Not even a single key failed yet
- chmod775 1y agoChances are there's an accelerometer in the screen and one in the base.
- nostrademons 1y agoA lot of foldables have a hinge angle sensor - it's actually a public API in Android, and robust enough that we use it to detect whether a device is a foldable: https://source.android.com/docs/core/interaction/sensors/sensor-types#hinge_angle https://source.android.com/docs/core/interaction/sensors/sen...
- caseyohara 1y ago> we use it to detect whether a device is a foldable I’m curious what you do with this information. Can you share?
- xdkyx 1y agoThe first thing that comes to mind is simplifying the identification of a device type, without the necessity of looking up a device list name or updating the list with each new device that gets released.
- robertoandred 1y agoYeah but why do you need to know?
- nostrademons 1y agoFoldables have a different UI which often requires different requests to the backend. They need to support both narrow-screen and large-screen formats for content, and you usually want to avoid having critical UI elements fall on the hinge for fairly obvious usability reasons.
- robertoandred 1y agoThat should all be abstracted out to the operating system, not dependent on checking for specific devices. Any app should be able to accommodate different screen/window sizes and safe areas.
- zitterbewegung 1y agoYea this is how the new Apple silicon devices will start if they are off. The fingerprint sensor is just used to manually do it or override the current state / put it into recovery mode.
- fwip 1y agoMy understanding is that this sensor is used to help adjust speaker behavior for better sound, but I can't find a link to support that.
- pmarreck 1y ago[flagged]
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- wpm 1y ago[flagged]
- tomhow 1y agoPlease don't comment like this on HN, not matter what you're replying to. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- twixfel 1y ago[flagged]
- pmarreck 1y agoYou have an unlimited blocklist there. Also, not everyone who disagrees with you is a fascist. That word alone is entirely useless in any good-faith rational discussion.
- twixfel 1y agoWhere did I say everyone who disagrees with me is a fascist? You are just attacking a strawman, it's much easier to assume that I am some lunatic who thinks anyone even 1cm to the right of me is literally Hitler, than that I'm just a normal person who thinks Twitter is shit and full of some of the worst people on the planet and owned by one of the worst Americans in history (judging by death toll from cuts to USAID). But yes Twitter is full of the utter scum of the Earth and no I don't want to have to block them all. Thanks, no thanks.
- tomhow 1y agoWe detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45159417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45159417 and marked it off topic. Please don't fulminate or post flame bait on HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- jama211 1y agoHahaha that’s awesome
- chipsrafferty 1y agoSomeone should make a video game where you have to jerk the hinge back and forth for basic movement
- ModernMech 1y agoMicrosoft has had this in their Surface Book. It has a screen that could detach and be used as a table, which had an accelerometer in it that could measure the angle.
- djtriptych 1y agoI clicked around and the README links to this python lib: https://github.com/tcsenpai/pybooklid https://github.com/tcsenpai/pybooklid Probably a nicer interface for anyone who wants to play with this :)
- pimlottc 1y agoThat’s a downstream project, the author’s original project is here [0], with much more information on the actual sensor. 0: https://github.com/samhenrigold/LidAngleSensor https://github.com/samhenrigold/LidAngleSensor
- Doohickey-d 1y agoThe lid angle sensor is also serialized to the motherboard: you cannot replace it, or the motherboard, without performing calibration, which can be performed by an apple authorized service provider, or alternatively, in Europe (and elsewhere where Apple offers parts for self-service repair), you can purchase the sensor from Apple, connect the machine to the internet after replacing it, to then perform the calibration, only if the sensor was purchased from Apple. So the hardware is capable of performing the calibration, Apple just does not graciously grant you the right to install a recycled or third party sensor in your machine. https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/759262/Torn+Lid+angle+sensor https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/759262/Torn+Lid+angle+se...
- polisaez 1y agoIs there anything that can be replaced on a MacBook?
- swiftcoder 1y agoNot really. You used to be able to replace the SSD (albeit with another proprietary module), but even that is soldered down as of a few years back
- Cthulhu_ 1y agoNegative take: Vendor lock-in Positive take: discourage theft; not only is the device locked down / encrypted and you can't just wipe / reinstall it, you can't even break it down for parts. When the iphones etc first came out, they were a very attractive target for theft. Come to think of it, that's one reason why I was hesitant to get an iphone back then.
- debesyla 1y agoAs the saying goes, is it even theft if you don't own the device? (If you can't do whatever you wish.)
- BoorishBears 1y ago
- userbinator 1y agoClassic Apple overengineering. Every other laptop I know of just uses a single lid switch. It reminds me of their mouse that has capacitive buttons and a speaker to produce clicking sounds.
- weebull 1y agoMy framework 12 has a similar sensor. It tells to UI when to disable the keyboard and track pad because you've got it in tablet mode.
- methyl 1y agoI wish more laptop producers overengineered their products the way Apple does.
- userbinator 1y agoExpensive, complex, and difficult to repair? Do not want.
- methyl 1y agoReliable (ie. can open after 2 weeks of sleep with full battery)
- xanderlewis 1y agoAre you talking about the MacBook trackpad, or something else?
- userbinator 1y agoThis mouse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Mighty_Mouse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Mighty_Mouse
- a-dub 1y agomy guess: probably there to support the camera system and depth camera. although unless there's some sort of angle measurement with respect to the ground in the base, i'm not sure what it would be useful for. maybe to provide continuity for the depth camera when the lid angle is changing (without heavy duty estimation calculations).
- hulium 1y agoOther laptops have this too. Linux has a driver for it. https://www.phoronix.com/news/Intel-Hinge-Driver-Linux-5.12 https://www.phoronix.com/news/Intel-Hinge-Driver-Linux-5.12 The sensor angle would be in a file like `/sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device*/in_angl0_raw` (device number can vary). At least I have this in a config file and remember it working (maybe on a different computer?). I cannot get it to work anymore on my laptop.
- oblio 1y agoApple has crazy amount of underground PR. A lot of the tech Apple uses is made by Samsung and others and you'd think everyone else works with sticks and stones.
- mtz_federico 1y agoDoes anyone know if this is used by any program to check if you are actually looking at the screen? I could imagine it being used for some blackmirror type stuff
- simne 1y agoLooks like opportunity for gymnastics app!
- amelius 1y agoMeanwhile, Samsung makes luxury devices that have foldable screens ... Apple has a _lot_ of catching up to do.
- lurking_swe 1y agosamsung literally develops cutting edge display tech in-house. It would be sad if they were not the best in that “class”, no?
- amelius 1y agoYes, but what is your point? I'm just saying that this praised feature of a screen hinge sensor is nothing compared to what the competition offers.
- kube-system 1y agoYeah, nothing says luxury like a screen as soft as cheese with a big old crease down the middle, that provides absolutely no value. It's like wearing a pair of Prada boots to a job site. Sometimes, just because you can do something, doesn't mean it's a good idea.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- nodesocket 1y agoSeems like they should expose it, perhaps done for security reasons. I can in-vision some interesting apps using the angle.
- aperture147 1y agoFinally there is a sensor that can measure my tilt.
- thenthenthen 1y agoIn case you do not have this sensor, you can use the ambient light sensor to achieve a similar effect: https://youtu.be/pzJwDs6KRXA?feature=shared https://youtu.be/pzJwDs6KRXA?feature=shared
- mproud 1y agoDoes anyone remember the slapbooks? There was a sensor where it would detect when you slapped the side of the screen, and a guy wired it up so when you did that it shifted to the next space (virtual desktop).
- moshib 1y agoIf I remember correctly, it was originally meant to detect if the laptop was falling, so that it could turn off HDDs to mitigate damage. Hitting the side of the screen could also trigger that sensor.
- dotcoma 1y agoI sure hope they don’t feed it to advertisers to fingerprint me!
- thisOtterBeGood 1y agoYou could use that to display some kind of billboard affect, so that an image is always in a correct aspect ration to the observer in front :D Please could someone with a macbook do this and post a video here? :D
- alana314 1y agoThis is the best thing ever
- RajBhai 1y agoIt would be cool if the Macbook can figure out the relative position of a newly connected external monitor. It would help in setting up the monitor with little manual adjustments. Since covid, we no longer have assigned desks at work --- it's first come, first served. And while most are respectful of the desks we have "chosen" for ourselves, every once in a while, I'll have to sit at some other, often new desk. And that means my laptop will not recognize the monitor and that I'll have to configure it (scaling, relative position, etc). And Windows being the mediocre OS that it is, will always select to duplicate the screens even though the logical choice is to extend. My laptop screen and the external monitor aren't even the same aspect ratio. SMH. At least Macs have the sense to extend screens by default. Though, if I could place a Macbook on the desk, plug in the external monitor, tilt the screen back until the camera can see the monitor, the hinge sensor and cameras can work together to figure out where the monitor is relative to the laptop, and automatically determine the right settings for the monitor instead of requiring my intervention.
- batrat 1y agoHow is this useful? I don't get it? Is not a touchscreen, doesn't fold...
- trizoza 1y agoPosts like this are the reason I keep visiting HN, THANK YOU!
- egeres 1y agoThis was used as part of a 2017 competition to make the worst volume controllers: https://x.com/0xDesigner/status/1642554834535477249 https://x.com/0xDesigner/status/1642554834535477249
- axus 1y agoCool. @Grok, write an application for decrypting a file based on rotating the hinge clockwise X degrees, counter Y degrees, then clockwise Z degrees.
- nsriv 1y agoProtractor app when?
- whitej125 1y agoI learned of the lid angle sensor due to my MBP draining its battery. Whenever I flew across the country I'd always end up with a dead battery. Originally thought it was some process preventing sleep but was spinning circles hunting it down until one night, I closed the laptop... the screen turned off as it was closing and just as it shut.. you could see the faint glow of the screen turning back on again. If I cracked the lid open 1/8th of an inch it would turn off again. I had thought that the MBP (an Intel one) had used magnets to detect lid closure but alas that's when I learned of the lid angle sensor and all the symptoms I was experiencing made sense. Basically the laptop would wake up when shut and the screen would stay on the entire time thus draining the battery. Ended up getting the LAS replaced which was not DIY'able unfortunately... but was a relatively cheap fix (~$90).
- hoppp 1y agoThats cool. I love it
- biosboiii 1y agoThe most interesting takeaway from this project and the Mac touchpad actually measuring it's pressure in grams[1] is how Apple seems to prioritise it's ability to deliver new features in later software releases rather than their BOM. I work in the automotive industry, and for volume products the price-cutting is really brutal. If you can save a cent somewhere you will, because that cent multiplied by 8 million cars a year is a sizeable amount of money. This seems to be generally true for most OEMs of hardware products, but not for Apple. Apple could have cut costs by just using a magnet and a reed switch/hall effect sensor, because it is not using the exact angle of the screen anyway (afaik?), but they chose not to. They could have implemented their "3d Touch" by using a simpler circuit which just indicates if the press was really hard or soft. But again they chose not too. And they sell over 20 million Macs per year, so they really sacrifice a sizeable amount of profit [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44635808 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44635808