Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 14 down vote favorite
1

To read content like books.

share|improve this question
You're planning to rotate the screen and then tip the MBP on its side? – Doug Chase May 14 '09 at 16:44
3  
What software are you using to view these books? Perhaps one solution is to find software that lets you rotate the content (like PDF readers). – Andy May May 14 '09 at 16:58
Bah, @Doug Chase beat me to it! – squillman May 14 '09 at 17:07
Yes, I plan to put the MBP on its side. – J. Pablo Fernández May 14 '09 at 17:10
I'm using the built in PDF viewer. – J. Pablo Fernández May 14 '09 at 17:11
show 3 more comments

migrated from serverfault.com Oct 25 '09 at 5:25

8 Answers

up vote -3 down vote accepted

Editing this to remove my clearly incorrect answer. Johan's answer is correct.

share|improve this answer
Thought it seems to be technically possible, as explained on discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9290419 , the software to do it seems to not have been written yet. – J. Pablo Fernández Dec 5 '09 at 17:04
1  
Johan answer is correct – Pitto Jun 1 '11 at 10:55
This should not be the accepted answer. Johan's answer clearly works. – daviesgeek Oct 21 '12 at 16:31
up vote 33 down vote
  1. If System preferences is open, close it (this only work once after opening system preferences. I have no idea why)
  2. press and hold option/alt + cmd + left click 'Display'
  3. Now there should be a button that says 'Rotation: Standard', click it and choose your rotation

Word of caution - it may be tricky to navigate the mousepad with a rotated screen. You feel drunk.

All the best,

share|improve this answer
1  
awesome trick - where do u ppl get this s.. :) ? – Devrim Nov 30 '10 at 0:27
1  
helped me a lot.Thanx – Radek Feb 7 '11 at 0:55
3  
This should have been the accepted answer! – EvolvedAI Mar 13 '11 at 4:29
There's a driver patch for linux that rotates the touchpad, too. :D – Rob Nov 3 '11 at 18:28
up vote 3 down vote

Hold the Option and Command, click on Preferences and then on Display while holding the Option + Command. Only than you'll be given the option to change the rotation of the screen.

share|improve this answer
up vote 2 down vote

There's a clean and simple application for that: EasyPivot. It's available on the Mac App Store.

enter image description here

share|improve this answer
1  
up vote 1 down vote

I am running Windows XP on a MacBook and have found while holding the Ctrl and Option keys together and pressing the cursor move keys (home-pgup-pgdn-end) orients the screen in the direction of the cursor key.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

System Preferences -> Displays -> Rotation is a hidden setting:

  1. Go to System Preferences (in the Apple menu).
  2. While holding the alt/option and command keys, click 'Displays'.
  3. Adjust the Rotation setting. (If you don't see it, close System Preferences and start over.)
  4. A popup entitled "Confirm new display setting" appears.
  5. Rotate the physical screen.
  6. In the popup, click "Confirm" or "Revert".

This works for me on a MacBook Pro with Mac OS X 10.6.8.

share|improve this answer
Doesn't work for me on 10.7.5 – Niels Bom Feb 22 at 9:00
up vote 0 down vote

According to http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9290419 the hardware supports the act of displaying sideways, but it appears that only SMSRotateD makes use of this.

share|improve this answer
up vote -1 down vote

On MBP's with multi-touch, you can rotate content in Preview.app using the 'two finger swirl' ;) or you can use cmd-L or cmd-R. This works in OX 10.5.x, but I don't know about earlier versions.

share|improve this answer
1  
It really only rotates the current page, am I wrong? And then it can even be saved, destroying the PDF. – J. Pablo Fernández May 15 '09 at 8:23
cmd-L gives you the option to rotate the entire document and there's no reason you can rotate it back later, or not save the doc after you rotate it. – Dana the Sane May 15 '09 at 18:52

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.