Most computers or MacBooks have three low power states when they are not in use: Sleep, Hibernate, and Off.
In sleep mode, the laptop will automatically turn off parts such as the processor, hard drive, screen, etc. However, RAM will save what you are doing so you can return to your work quickly by touching the keyboard, touchpad or external mouse.
Should I leave my MacBook on for a long time?
Meanwhile, hibernation mode is a bit different, as it will save all the work you are doing and then turn off the power so you can unplug the battery without affecting the data.
The 2020 MacBook Air M1 models only consume about 0.21W when sleeping, if you leave the machine in sleep mode for 10 hours a night, it only consumes about 0.77kWh/year (less than 1kg of electricity). This shows that leaving your MacBook in sleep mode does consume battery but not significantly.
In addition, shutting down your MacBook regularly is unnecessary if you use it often (usually you sleep for 8 hours at night, then turn it on in the morning to continue working). You only need to shut down your MacBook once a week or when you don't use it for a long time (for example, 3-4 days or more).
Is it better to put your MacBook to sleep or shut it down?
To compare which is better, we need to refer from the usage perspective:
If you use your computer frequently (including putting it to sleep overnight), you should use sleep mode. Because in fact, turning it off and then on again will consume more battery and take more time because the MacBook needs to re-run system programs, you also need to reopen files and programs that were used before.
However, if you own a MacBook model using the M1 chip, turning off or sleeping is no longer important because it is almost the same, everything has been perfectly fine-tuned by Apple to the point where there is no difference.
Is it okay to leave my MacBook unattended for a long time?
Over time, the more you use your computer, the more applications will run, and more processes will run in the background that you don't see. This leads to RAM congestion, which causes a slight decrease in performance, especially on older MacBooks.
So, to optimize performance, close and restart the application, close some browser tabs, and then restart your MacBook (or shut it down and then reopen it). This will free up RAM and allow interrupted or error-prone processes to continue running.
In general, you should also completely shut down your computer once a week, this will help fix technology errors and some technical problems.
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