Sleep mode on MacOS - Mac mini

Question

win2010 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sleep mode on MacOS - Mac mini

I will make a comparison to my PC to explain my previous experience with sleep mode, when I send my PC to sleep, it goes into hibernation, draws very low power, the light on the case shuts off and all peripherals are not able to send any inputs. When I want to get back to it all i have to do is press the power button, PC opens straight away, put password and everything is ready to go, I can get to work straight away, no waiting for background processes to load, etc... I'll shut it down fully maybe once a fortnight or for certain updates.

Now what happens on my Mac mini if I put it to sleep, turns back on straight away, if i leave it for a while screen will turn off, but then a few minutes later it will come back on, and slight accidental movement of the mouse or keyboard turns it on again. And even when i don't touch anything it turns on sometimes. My idea of sleep mode is: I've come at natural point of stoppage within whatever work I'm doing so I'll just leave everything and put my device to sleep, go to sleep myself, next day easily get back to work.

I've had this issue since i bought my mac about 6 months ago and gave up on putting it sleep, rather choosing to shut down every time since. But I keep seeing stuff recently saying that sleep mode is better than shutting down everytime, now, even if you tell me this is a "tech myth", it's still a lot more practical for me to use sleep mode. I know there is an option to re-open all applications after starting the mac again, but I don't want to "re-open", i want to keep stuff open without being blinded randomly at night.

How can I achieve the above "expected" behaviour? And if it can't be achieved I would be interested to know why?

Thank you in advance.

Mac mini, macOS 15.0

Posted on Nov 2, 2024 5:25 AM

Reply

Answer 1

MartinR

Level 7

21,697 points

Nov 2, 2024 9:12 AM in response to win2010

The problem you describe is, unfortunately, not uncommon. In my own case with multiple iMacs that I have acquired over the years, sometimes they stay in sleep mode and sometimes they don't ... no rhyme or reason, no consistency ... and you are correct, even the tiniest movement of the mouse will wake up the machine.

In all my years of working with Macs I have never found a solution to this. (MBPros & MBAirs do fully sleep when you close their lids, but you can't do that with a Mini or an iMac.)

Also, in anticipation that someone else may suggest using "hibernatemode," I'll just say that its settings are not well documented, it requires some additional settings with certain other terminal commands and IMHO, subsequent to macOS Catalina, it has become increasingly dangerous to use. I had hoped that Apple would have deprecated it by now. My recommendation is to stay away from it.

Reply

Answer 2

MartinR

Level 7

21,697 points

Nov 2, 2024 10:15 AM in response to win2010

win2010 wrote:

... every reviewer is commenting on the fact that the power button being at the bottom isn't that bad because "who shuts down their macs every nights anyway" they all say casually, this tells me most of these people aren't having these issues i think?

I believe that's just a flip comment, not verification that "most people aren't having those issues."

Sleep mode is a convenience and should work properly. It's annoying that it doesn't. Sorry I can't be of more help about this.

Reply

Answer 3

win2010 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 2, 2024 10:20 AM in response to hcsitas

I appreciate you taking the time to respond, but:

I didn't ask if sleep is necessary on Macs, I asked how do I make my Mac actually sleep instead of being in some semi-idle mode which wakes for no reason in the middle of the night.
Reason for my initial question is because I'm seeing a lot of people who do not shut down their macs and just put it to sleep because it makes getting back to work easier, they wouldn't be doing this if they had these issues. Especially with the new mac mini, everyone is saying it doesn't matter that the power button is at the bottom because, "who ever shuts down their mac anyway", and I agree, I want to rarely have to fully shut down my mac, but I can't.
I wasn't comparing Macs to PCs, I would never dare (I do prefer working on a Mac), although I've been on the internet long enough to expect someone to say this. I was trying to say: "this is the better implementation, and this is what I'm used to, is there any way I can get this on macos, clearly other people are doing it, if not, that's fine it's not the end of the world but I would be curious to know why"

But thank you regardless

Reply

Answer 4

MartinR

Level 7

21,697 points

Nov 2, 2024 9:18 AM in response to MartinR

(Ran out of edit time on my earlier post.) Here's what I really intended to say in the last paragraph:

... "subsequent to macOS Catalina, it has become increasingly risky to use ..."

Reply

Answer 5

hcsitas

Level 6

12,902 points

Nov 2, 2024 9:33 AM in response to win2010

Sleep is unnecessary on later Macs and should be disabled. Shut for long absences/idle overnights (i.e. do not manual-sleep), and for regular operation, use the settings exactly as shown below (reboot after changes) should fix.

Additionally, avoid manual sleeping your Mac and use the Lock Screen settings to switch the display off on timer:

Finally comparing Macs to Windows PCs is akin to comparing Apples to bananas. One keeps doctors away (except for perhaps the infamous Dr. Etre), and the other keeps them overworked endlessly. Slippery stuff, avoid.

Reply

Answer 6

win2010 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 2, 2024 9:55 AM in response to MartinR

Thank you for your response, yeah I've never had an issue with any of my macbooks with it not actually sleeping when lid is closed. And i've got two screens and not much space so it's annoying to have to turn both off if I don't want it to wake for no reason.

But, the reason why I'm trying to fix this again is because I'm watching a lot of videos on the new mac mini, and every reviewer is commenting on the fact that the power button being at the bottom isn't that bad because "who shuts down their macs every nights anyway" they all say casually, this tells me most of these people aren't having these issues i think?

And again, this has nothing to do with power draw, these barely draw any power anyways, it's more of a practicality advantage that every tech reviewer seems to have.

Reply

Answer 7

hcsitas

Level 6

12,902 points

Nov 2, 2024 10:11 AM in response to win2010

I do and have never needed the power button to bring it back up the next morning either, go figure.

Ignore reviewers, ignorant, the entire lot. The mini hasn’t even shipped yet and everyone is already screaming to get their opinion in. What does that tell you? Nothing very useful. The only review that matters is yours and you have 14 days to get to it and return if you don’t like your machine. Make up your own mind and do it slowly, no pesky editors pushing you 😀…all the best.

Reply

Answer 8

hcsitas

Level 6

12,902 points

Nov 2, 2024 10:24 AM in response to win2010

It’s faulty operation - don’t do it. It doesn’t make anything easier, it simply complicates life (which everyone has a right to, I’ll admit that).

Reply