Apple wants you to see its M1 Max MacBook Pro Pro as a beast. In fact, it calls it that in the ad. However, it appears the macOS Monterey which will ship with the new Macs will unlock its full potential. Steve Moser, a MacRumors contributor, has found a new High Power Mode within the operating system's recent beta release. This mode can optimize performance to better support resource-intensive tasks and spin up the fan to compensate.
More information about the macOSRC high power mode: This will allow your Mac to optimize performance for resource-intensive tasks. This may result in louder fan noise. https://t.co/4q3zlbyLnf pic.twitter.com/0mKVekGa0M Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) October 19, 2021
Do you remember when powerful laptops had a physical slider or turbo button? Sounds like Apple does! This is what Apple does!
MacRumors claims that the new feature is only available to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, with M1 Max. However, it's possible to configure a 15-inch MacBook Pro using the same chip. The M1 Pro and original M1 models won't work, so laptops starting at $3,099 or more will not have this feature.
It will be interesting to see if the High Power Mode unlocks more performance or if it is actually necessary to achieve the results that the company claims on stage for extended periods of time. Apples have had issues with thermal throttling from time to time, as was the case in 2018, when a Core i9 MacBook Pros performed slower than the Core i7 version with sustained loads. However, Apple claimed that this particular problem was due to a bug, and released an update.
These days, Apple is paying great attention to thermals. The 2020 M1 MacBook Air was significantly different from the 2020 M1 MacBook Pro. This was because the Pro had more thermal headroom, which allowed it to sustain its peak performance longer. This is why I don't think it will surprise me if the high-power mode is only available on the 16-inch model.
