What ‘Sleep’ Means in Macs
Before making any adjustments to the Energy Saver preferences pane, it’s a good idea to understand just what putting your Mac to sleep means.
Sleep: All Macs
Some features of the sleep mode are the same on all Mac models, both desktop and laptop.
Your Mac’s processor goes into low-power mode, significantly reducing energy consumption. The Mac’s video output is turned off. Any connected display should either enter its own idle state (manufacturer dependent) or at the very least, blank the screen. Internal hard drives will spin down.
Sleep: Mac Portables
Because they may have different inputs and use cases than their deskbound counterparts, and because they can run on both adapter and battery power, MacBook models handle sleep in some different ways.
The expansion card slot powers off. Any device you’ve plugged into the expansion card slot will be disabled.The built-in modem turns off.The built-in Ethernet port turns off.Built-in AirPort cards turn off.The optical media drive turns off.Audio in and out is disabled.Keyboard illumination deactivates.USB ports are powered down, although they will respond to specific keystrokes on an external keyboard.
The process of configuring the Energy Saver preferences pane is the same on all Macs.
How to Change the Mac’s Energy Saver Preferences
You access Energy Saver through your Mac’s System preferences. Here’s how to get there and what you can do with the settings. Click the source whose settings you want to adjust. The longer your computer stays awake before sleeping, the more energy it will use. This balance is especially important for a MacBook running from battery power. Turning this option on will keep your hard drive awake even when the display goes to sleep. When the setting is active, your computer will wake up faster, but it will use more energy. For the second option, you can choose to put your computer to sleep, restart it, or shut it down at the appointed time.
