Looking for the power button on your new MacBook? Read on for where to find the power button on modern MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks, and also why you don’t really need it.
On 2016 and later MacBook Pro notebooks and the 2018 MacBook Air, the power button is no longer labeled. That’s because Apple combined it with Touch ID on its latest notebooks.
As noted in an Apple support document, recent MacBooks will power on when you:
- Open the lid of your Mac, even if it’s not connected to power.
- Connect your Mac to a power adapter while its lid is open.
- Connect your Mac to a power adapter while its lid is closed and it’s connected to an external display.
Additionally, MacBook Pro (2018) and MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018) turn on when you press any key on the keyboard or press the trackpad.
Where is the power button on new MacBooks?
- Look for the unmarked black square (Touch ID/power button) above the delete key
- On older MacBooks you’ll see the power icon on the top right key
- Read more below about why it’s better to not use the power button to shut down your Mac
On the left: power button/Touch ID on 2016 and later MacBook Pro models. On the right: 2018 MacBook Air power button/Touch ID
In the same support document, Apple highlights that the ideal way to shut down your Mac is via → Shutdown… in the top left corner of the menu bar, not using the power button. Here’s why:
Just as your Mac follows a startup process after it turns on, it follows a shutdown process before it turns off. That process includes automatically quitting all open apps and logging out of your macOS user account.
If your Mac doesn’t shut down, try Force Quit to close any apps that aren’t responding. If that doesn’t work, press and hold the power button until the Mac turns off.
Keep in mind that when shutting down your Mac with the power button, any unsaved changes in documents will be lost.
For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:
- Where is the power button on iPad Pro?
- Where is the power button on Apple Watch?
- Where is the power button on iPhone X, XS, and XR?
- Here’s how to cancel your Apple News+ trial and avoid a $10 charge
- How to check what apps have read and write access to iPhone photos
- How to change your Instagram password on iPhone
- How to change your Facebook password on iPhone
- How to apply OCR to PDFs on Mac
- How to check iPhone photo orientation before taking a picture
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