Stephen Zelley
Level 1 (9 points)
Notebooks

Q: mac hibernate mode?

In windows, their are both sleep and hibernate options. But on a mac, their are just sleep and shutdown. During the day, I use sleep mode if I'm just walking away from the computer for a while, for example. Then at bedtime, I like to use hibernate mode to save power, but still keep my place when I get up in the morning. Is their a way to be able to use both options on mac free of charge?

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014), OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Apr 29, 2016 11:13 AM

by Camelot,Apple recommended
Camelot Camelot
Level 8 (47,290 points)
Mac OS X
A:

There is a hibernate mode, but it's not usually invoked by users.

 

The OS will automatically enter hibernate mode when the battery power in your MacBook Air is low enough to put the system at risk. At this point all the RAM will be backed to disk and the system halted. When you power back up, the RAM contents will be restored from disk and you'll carry on from where you were.

 

So, yes, you have that protection. However, there is little reason to manually enter hibernate mode. The power savings between the two are not significant - especially for just an overnight period. In fact, if you have a spinning disk rather than SSD, you might find it takes MORE power to backup your RAM to disk, then read it all back again, than it would take to just stay in sleep for a few hours.

Posted on Apr 30, 2016 9:50 PM

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Stephen Zelley

Q: mac hibernate mode?

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  • by Linc Davis,Apple recommended

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Apr 29, 2016 11:57 AM in response to Stephen Zelley
    Level 10 (207,995 points)
    Applications
    Apr 29, 2016 11:57 AM in response to Stephen Zelley

    About standby on your Mac - Apple Support

  • by Stephen Zelley,

    Stephen Zelley Stephen Zelley Apr 30, 2016 9:17 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 30, 2016 9:17 PM in response to Linc Davis

    This article doesn't answer my question. I'm asking if I can use hibernate mode so the computer isn't wasting electricity. Again, I like to use sleep mode when I'm done using the computer for a while during the day. Then, when I don't plan to use the computer for an extended period of time, such as at bedtime, when I'm going to sleep, for example, I use hibernation mode to keep my documents and programs opened, but also save power. In windows, sleep mode saves the contents of what's opened and being worked on to ram, and then puts the computer into a low power state so you can resume working quikly. While as hibernation mode saves the contents of what is opened and being worked on to the hard disk, and then turns the computer completely off, just as if I had chosen to shutdown. But when you turn the computer back on, the computer restores the contents of what was opened and being worked on from the hard drive, so you can start working again without having to reopen any programs or documents. I was wondering if their was a way to use hibernation as a secondary option on a mac? I don't understand why apple decided not to include the hibernate option along with the sleep option, like in windows. Is their a way to use both functions on a mac? Thanks in advance.

  • by Camelot,Apple recommended

    Camelot Camelot Apr 30, 2016 9:50 PM in response to Stephen Zelley
    Level 8 (47,290 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 30, 2016 9:50 PM in response to Stephen Zelley

    There is a hibernate mode, but it's not usually invoked by users.

     

    The OS will automatically enter hibernate mode when the battery power in your MacBook Air is low enough to put the system at risk. At this point all the RAM will be backed to disk and the system halted. When you power back up, the RAM contents will be restored from disk and you'll carry on from where you were.

     

    So, yes, you have that protection. However, there is little reason to manually enter hibernate mode. The power savings between the two are not significant - especially for just an overnight period. In fact, if you have a spinning disk rather than SSD, you might find it takes MORE power to backup your RAM to disk, then read it all back again, than it would take to just stay in sleep for a few hours.

  • by Stephen Zelley,

    Stephen Zelley Stephen Zelley Apr 30, 2016 9:54 PM in response to Camelot
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 30, 2016 9:54 PM in response to Camelot

    Hello. Thanks for replying. That explains my problem. I thought that if the battery died during sleep mode, the computer would shutdown, closing all of my programs and documents. Somebody at the apple support chat service told me that. Thank you very much for clearing this up and for helping me out, that helped me a lot. Thanks

  • by Camelot,

    Camelot Camelot May 2, 2016 9:06 AM in response to Stephen Zelley
    Level 8 (47,290 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 2, 2016 9:06 AM in response to Stephen Zelley

    Glad I could help.

     

    I think it makes more sense this way - users can't always predict when/if they need hibernate mode and so use it more than necessary - as is your case where you e used it nightly even though the system should be able to sleep through a single night. By letting the alas invoke hibernate onl when battery level warrants it, you don't need to worry about it.