You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Shut down or sleep?

which one is more better for mac? shut down the mac every time or just let it to sleep?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jan 10, 2022 5:18 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 10, 2022 5:37 AM

I don't think Apple has ever published any guidance on that. To have any informed opinion, someone would have to conduct a study with multiple Macs over the lifetime of the product.


My Mini runs continuously, only sleeping the display. Currently, I am running an M1 mini, but had a 2012 mini running continuously its entire lifetime. It is now hosting a webcam on my 3D printer, still running continuously.

My MacBook Pro only sleeps. The only time I ever restart is when an update requires it.

If you are encrypting your Mac because the data is so sensitive others cannot be allowed access, you should shut down as it is theoretically possible to access the decryption key if it is still powered on.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 10, 2022 5:37 AM in response to nedart90

I don't think Apple has ever published any guidance on that. To have any informed opinion, someone would have to conduct a study with multiple Macs over the lifetime of the product.


My Mini runs continuously, only sleeping the display. Currently, I am running an M1 mini, but had a 2012 mini running continuously its entire lifetime. It is now hosting a webcam on my 3D printer, still running continuously.

My MacBook Pro only sleeps. The only time I ever restart is when an update requires it.

If you are encrypting your Mac because the data is so sensitive others cannot be allowed access, you should shut down as it is theoretically possible to access the decryption key if it is still powered on.

Shut down or sleep?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.