Mac Pro 2013 High Wattage When in Sleep Mode

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Mac Pro 2013 High Wattage When in Sleep Mode

Hi. My 2013 Mac Pro (3.7Ghz Quad Core) seems to be drawing a lot more power than it should when it's in 'sleep' mode (at least I THINK it's in sleep).

I have a Kill-A-Watt hooked up to this computer and 2 smallish LCD monitors. When the computer is in sleep (whether manual or after some idle time), and both monitors are off, it is drawing 80W. From what I've read, though, I believe it should be around 2W-3W when in sleep, and 40W when 'idle'. I can only get it down to 2-3W by completely shutting if off.

When I'm using it with just a browser or something open, and shut both monitors off, it is right at about 80W. So there is no difference between fully on and 'sleep' for me.

I've made sure only 'Put hard drive to sleep when possible' is checked in Energy Saver, and no scheduled events. Bluetooth is turned off too. It doesn't seem to matter if I close all apps before putting to sleep, it always sits at 80W.

There are no externally-connected peripherals beyond the monitors. And in the 'Energy' tab of Activity Monitor, everything is 'no' or blank under 'Preventing Sleep' column.

Should this machine actually be drawing 2-3W when actually in sleep, or is 80W reasonable?
Should it go immediately to sleep if I choose that manually from the Apple menu?
What can I check if this is indeed far too high?
What does 'idle' mean in this Apple spec sheet? That's half of what mine is in working/sleep mode.

Thanks. The power bill was just unusually high in my first 4 months of working from home, want to see if the work computer is the total reason.

Mac Pro, macOS 10.13

Posted on May 4, 2021 7:21 PM

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Answer 1

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Jethro-D Author

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8 points

May 5, 2021 4:45 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Pfffft. I think I figured it out! It looks like it was a PRINTER QUEUE! There were a couple print jobs that must have been in a perpetual spool since I brought my computer home from work 6 MONTHS AGO (I have no printers at home)!

I'm now at about 10W when in sleep. Still much higher than some resources I've found that suggest 2-3W, but I'll take it. At least I know it is now actually 'sleeping'. I'll keep an eye on it in case anything disrupts it's sleep going forward. This may only save me $7-8/mo. in power usage, but it's something...

If it's helpful for anyone, here's a decent article that walks you through the most common things to check.

Sorry for any confusion...

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Answer 2

Jethro-D Author

Level 1

8 points

May 5, 2021 3:46 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hi, thanks for the response. I did look into hibernation a bit. Some articles seemed to indicate it was primarily for laptops, but I'm assuming it can be activated on a desktop computer as well, correct? When I checked the hibernation delay times on my system, the high & low values were both set to 24 hours. So guessing it never gets a chance to go into hibernation mode. I can look into changing this, but any best links (especially for desktops) would be welcomed.

However, this still doesn't answer the question as to why my computer is showing the same 80W if I just turn off my monitors vs. it actually being asleep - meaning being asleep is no different from being fully 'awake'. This is obviously not right. I found a second article which appears to confirm that a Mac Pro should only be using about 2.8W if in 'sleep' mode (this must be what is used to keep RAM powered up). So there is obviously a GIANT difference between 2-3W and 80W!!! My computer is a complete insomniac!

Any other ways to test what is keeping my computer from powering down when in 'sleep' mode?

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Answer 3

May 5, 2021 7:02 AM in response to Jethro-D

You must also disable Power Nap (which will cause your Mac to wake periodically, and disable "Wake for network access" which leaves the Wi-Fi and Ethernet and other circuitry on to receive the possible wake-up packet.

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Answer 4

May 5, 2021 11:39 AM in response to Jethro-D

In regular sleep mode, the RAM is still powered. If you want lower power, it would need to transition to Hibernate, which writes a checkpoint snapshot out to disk and powers down the RAM. It also takes additional time to revive, because it needs to restore the checkpoint snapshot and restart it.

I suggest you may never be happy with any of this, and should simply power down at the end of the day.

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Answer 5

May 5, 2021 4:19 PM in response to Jethro-D

then your computer may not be bettering sleep at all. You can get a list of what App(s) might be preventing sleep:

Activity Monitor (all Processes) > Memory...

and wait for it to build a chart. You can sort by the "Preventing sleep" column

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Answer 6

Jethro-D Author

Level 1

8 points

May 5, 2021 11:31 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hi, thanks for the response. Yes, both of those are disabled. As mentioned, the ONLY thing I have checked in Energy Saver is 'Put hard disks to sleep when possible'.

Anything else I can check or try?

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Mac Pro 2013 High Wattage When in Sleep Mode

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