Sleep instead of shut down?

Zeebedy · 4 Jun 2022 at 15:32

Hey guys,

I always shut down and boot up my Mac, my question is that, is it OK to sleep all the time, EVEN over-night? It won't cause any issues or much power consumption?

Cheers.

HACO · 4 Jun 2022 at 15:47

Yeah, no problem at all.

JasonM · 4 Jun 2022 at 15:50

I always sleep my main computer, only time OS is restarted is windows updates or a crash.

Zeebedy · 4 Jun 2022 at 15:58

Awesome. Cheers guys!

Bluecube · 4 Jun 2022 at 16:40

I’ve been measuring power consumption for my Mac Studio. When it sleeps its still using 6W of power which I thought was a bit high so I just shut it down now. Takes seconds to boot up again so it’s no big deal from my perspective.

Cromulent · 5 Jun 2022 at 20:12

Bluecube said:
I’ve been measuring power consumption for my Mac Studio. When it sleeps its still using 6W of power which I thought was a bit high so I just shut it down now. Takes seconds to boot up again so it’s no big deal from my perspective.

The only downside to restarting for me is I need to type in my password twice because my storage drives are encrypted.

Zeebedy · 5 Jun 2022 at 20:16

I think the Mini draws around 1-2W when "sleeping". Decent enough for me.

Feek · 5 Jun 2022 at 20:45

Bluecube said:
When it sleeps its still using 6W of power which I thought was a bit high so I just shut it down now.

Eight hours sleep overnight at 6W, is what, about 1.5p in electricity?

I can live with that.

GMac11 · 6 Jun 2022 at 08:56

Feek said:
Eight hours sleep overnight at 6W, is what, about 1.5p in electricity?

I can live with that.

It's like all the reports out now saying that switching off all your appliances could save you up to £55/yr.
Quite frankly I'd rather pay the £55 for the convenience of not having to - or certainly for the likes of my MacBook/PC & TV/Sky Box anyway.

Deleted member 77746 · 6 Jun 2022 at 09:05

For what it takes these days in time to boot up with ssd/nvme you might as well shut it down and turn the plugs off.

Saves a little bit over the year.

Bluecube · 6 Jun 2022 at 10:44

I don’t know if it’s common knowledge but you can set a time in the Power settings for your Mac to start up. This works even if you’ve shutdown previously. So best of both worlds - have the Max ready for use when you sit in front of it, shut it down when finished. Winner, winner, etc

Deleted member 77746 · 6 Jun 2022 at 10:46

Bluecube said:
I don’t know if it’s common knowledge but you can set a time in the Power settings for your Mac to start up. This works even if you’ve shutdown previously. So best of both worlds - have the Max ready for use when you sit in front of it, shut it down when finished. Winner, winner, etc

You can do that with a windows system as well. Options are in the bios. (Some boards)

JasonM · 6 Jun 2022 at 18:09

The reason I stand by is due to keeping state of environment open.

I'm a software dev running triple screens, and might have open 2 Visual Studio's open, SQL Management (SQL query's on screen), word, text documents, emails open. It's more easily to stand by than set everything back in again.

Also if your worried about power, a microwave in standby uses around 2w, so about a third of a modern computer in standby. I do turn my mircowave off at the wall.

treasuredsoul · 19 Jun 2022 at 15:05

I put mine in sleep mode all the time, then close the lid. and when in use and turned on, its plugged in. it is a 2020 macbook air.