Your new M4 Mac could offer even more power than before

Date:
Fri, 08 Nov 2024 11:21:31 +0000

Description:
Apples High Power Mode has come to even more Macs, including any running the M4 Pro chip or better.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Apples High Power Mode ramps up cooling to enable better performance Its now available in more Macs than before Limited testing suggests its benefits
might not be enormous

We already know that the M4 Pro chip inside Apples latest Macs is
impressively powerful it blows holes in the Mac Pros M2 Ultra , after all. But you can eke even more juice out of this little chip with a quick software tweak, and its now available in a larger range of Macs than ever before.

Dubbed High Power Mode, the setting in macOS Sequoia ramps up your Macs fans, providing better cooling to the machine. That in turn allows it to max out
its performance, which is particularly useful in sustained workloads like video rendering and color grading, where increased cooling and performance
can noticeably shorten working times.

High Power Mode is available in the MacBook Pro and the Mac mini , provided theyre outfitted with the M4 Pro chip. This is an improvement on the previous situation, where only the MacBook Pro with M3 Max , M2 Max or M1 Max chips could use this setting. It means that not only is the barrier to entry
lowered in terms of the chip you need, but its also now available in the Mac mini for the first time. (Image credit: Apple)

However, you might not find that High Power Mode provides a huge boost in performance. Ars Technica tested the setting in the Mac mini, where reviewer Andrew Cunningham said that the gains were essentially negligible yet came with considerably increased fan noise.

During our time testing the new M4 Pro MacBooks, we also found that turning
on High Power Mode made only a little difference in benchmark results, and certainly nothing too mind-blowing.

But before you write the feature off entirely, Cunningham did acknowledge
that his tests were brief and that you might see a larger effect over a
longer period of time. That chimes with Apples note that High Power Mode is designed for sustained or intensive workloads.

We would be very surprised to see Apple include a feature like High Power
Mode if it provides no significant benefits while also bringing a noisy drawback, and its likely youll see some improvement while the mode is enabled for more sustained workloads. But without testing it ourselves, we cant be absolutely sure.

Still, its good to see this feature extended to more affordable Macs. It
means that you can get High Power Mode for $1,399 (in the M4 Pro Mac mini) as opposed to the previous starting price of $3,199 for the M3 Max MacBook Pro. Regardless of how much of a performance boost it provides, thats nothing to sniff at. You might also like Apple M4 Pro: everything we know about Apple's midrange SoC Apple's M4 Pro chip is so powerful it puts the Mac Pro to shame Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: one of the best Pro laptops
around just got better



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/your-new-m4-mac-could-offer-even-more-powe r-than-before


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