Why power button is not on the front of Mac Studio

[haralds]

I think it should be in the front in a larger size with a nice power symbol.

• Short press forces sleep - mine is always hesitant.
  • Sleep causes a low intensity white light, so you GD know what thing is up to.
• Long press is power down and up.

They used to have it on the (the wired) keyboard, if I remember correctly.

There are still occasions where I have to force a restart. They should not add insult to injury by having to fumble for the button.

This is a DEVICE, it is not a picture on Ives' wall of beautiful designs.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I think it should be in the front in a larger size with a nice power symbol.

• Short press forces sleep - mine is always hesitant.
  • Sleep causes a low intensity white light, so you GD know what thing is up to.
• Long press is power down and up.

They used to have it on the (the wired) keyboard, if I remember correctly.

There are still occasions where I have to force a restart. They should not add insult to injury by having to fumble for the button.

This is a DEVICE, it is not a picture on Ives' wall of beautiful designs.

While looking at the front of the computer, it's at the bottom of the corner on the left side of the chassis. This is absolutely a non-issue raised by people who just want to stir the pot.

 

[Feek]

While looking at the front of the computer, it's at the bottom of the corner on the left side of the chassis. This is absolutely a non-issue raised by people who just want to stir the pot.

Exactly. My 2010 Mac mini has it in the same place, multiple iMacs I've had have got it in the same place. When I set up the Studio originally, I just reached around to where I expected the button to be and there it was.

 

[throAU]

Wouldn't turning on/off the mac studio would be much easier to just press a button next to the front LED power indicator? instead of blindly reaching to the back and figuring out where the power button is among bunch of intertwined cables?

I get that design might inherited from Mac mini, but Mac mini was 1) small and can be easily flipped up to find the button; 2) Also with the small area on the back to be explored, one can easily find the power button blindly. Both of which are not the case on Mac Studio

Because you basically plug it in, turn it on and never touch the power button again unless the power goes out? Seriously, i dont think i've powered off any of my macs in the past 15 years unless it was to relocate it (mac mini) or open the thing up to work on it (15" macbook pro). Or in the very rare case, troubleshooting (briefly had a weird touch ID issue on my 14").

macOS sleeps and wakes from sleep reliably (and during sleep can do background stuff like pull down new email, download updates, etc.) and barely uses any power.

Powering down machines on a regular basis (because wake from sleep is a crapshoot) is a Windows thing...

 

[Homy]

Don't know if it's been mentioned but if the button was on the front every time you pushed the button it would move the Mac backwards a bit. I just tried and it is like that for me at least because of the smooth surface of my table and the Mac being light. This doesn't happen when I put my hand on the back of the Mac Studio and turn it on with a finger. Of course if the button was on the front you could also hold the Mac with your fingers and push the button with your thumb but it is more likely that people would just use their index finger and push the Mac backwards.

 

[DeltaMac]

hmm.... That movement when pressing a power button is really a non-issue. Movement because of a smooth surface (or the location of the power button) is easily fixed with a piece of the textured vinyl shelf "paper". The Mac won't move unless you want it to move. I use that textured stuff a lot! Easy to use, and it works.

 

[M2MaxMan]

The best way to find out is ask or contact the manufacturer who has the blueprints and patent: Apple. We could all be surprise the answer they would give to all of us or not but, then again, some people would still contradict it thinking they know more than who made the computer of design it in the first place.

 

[StudioMacs]

The location of the power button doesn’t change. If you have trouble remembering where it is, you either have memory problems or are using it as intended (rarely).

The power button was not meant to be used often. How do we know this? If the power button was meant to be used often, it would be in the front. It’s a design decision that tells us how the hardware is meant to be used.

The Mac Studio goes to sleep when inactive, but can still go into “Power Nap” to perform Time Machine backups, download software updates, and update Mail, Calendar, and iCloud.

This is the way the machine was designed to be used. Putting the power button on the back is a form of instruction.

 

[Lightwater]

I turn off all equipment if I feel there is risk on lighting strike then I actually physically unplug everything.

Neighbours & also a friend had computers destroyed by lightning strikes, actually jumping switches that were off.

I do also have a commercial 3.2kW (15 amp Australia 230v) Eaton surge power filter before all equipment including 3.0kva UPS. Most UPSs don't have surge protection & if they do it's not good enough.

It is surprising the poor quality of mains supply.

Is it that difficult to design a button on the rear of any product that one can find without fluffing around.

 

[Boil]

Y'all making it sound like the fate of the free world is in jeopardy if one cannot actuate a rear-mounted power button in a timely manner...

 

[rb2112]

You never turn Macs off with a power button. Shutdown is a software function.

Never? I turn my iMac off with the power button when it locks up. 3-5 times per month about. Software functions don't work when the computer won't accept input from keyboard and mouse...

 

[Feek]

Never? I turn my iMac off with the power button when it locks up. 3-5 times per month about.

There's something wrong there. I'd be more concerned with trying to track that down.

 

[StudioMacs]

Never? I turn my iMac off with the power button when it locks up. 3-5 times per month about. Software functions don't work when the computer won't accept input from keyboard and mouse...

As @Feek stated, you’ve got an issue to resolve. I have a launch-day M1 Mac Studio, and I don’t think I’ve had to force shutdown the computer more than 3 times in over 2 years.

My wife has a launch-day M1 iMac, and I don’t think she would even know to long press the power button to shutdown the computer.

 

[theluggage]

As @Feek stated, you’ve got an issue to resolve. I have a launch-day M1 Mac Studio, and I don’t think I’ve had to force shutdown the computer more than 3 times in over 2 years.

Your mileage may vary, depending on what you do on your Mac.

It's an irregular problem for me but it does happen - but then I'm often running DIY code written for the Unix API, lots of open source stuff installed via Homebrew, Linux VMs running under UTM, sometimes remote NFS mounts, and yes, periodically, maybe once a month on average (but, as I say, irregularly) one of these things goes full-on zombie and I have to force shutdown.

I also tend to shut down at night - and definitely if I'm going to be away for any length of time - but mainly to let me cut the power to the half-dozen wall-warts connected to the same extension power strip.

...and, yes, it would be better to have the power button on the front, probably combined with the power light (but then, coming from an iMac, thanks for the power light!) and certainly not have it actively disguised by building it flush into the curve of a corner.

Is this a deal breaker? No. Do I need a PhD to work out where the button actually is? No. Should Congress/the EU/The Flying Spaghetti Monster intervene? No. Should Tim Cook resign? Nope. Would it have happened if Steve Jobs was still alive? Who knows? *cough*hockey-puck mouse*cough* (although I think he was better at knowing the difference between form-over-function and form-follows-function...)

Would it make things a bit nicer for some of us while not affecting people who didn't care? Yes.

 

[Velin]

Y'all making it sound like the fate of the free world is in jeopardy ....

No one has said any such thing, nor do any of the prior posts come remotely close to "sound[ing] like" it.

 

[Boil]

No one has said any such thing

Did I say anyone did...? No...

nor do any of the prior posts come remotely close to "sound[ing] like" it.

Sorry if my making a hyperbolic statement offends your finer sensibilities...