GabreilH SM

Q: Sleep vs ShutDown

Usually put my macbook to sleep if I am going to use it in about 1 or 2 hours, but for anything more I usually shut it down. After some google-ing it has come to my attrition that for macs it might not be the best idea to always shut it down. What are the benefits and the disadvantages for either one and what would it be advised for me to do? thank you in advance!

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Aug 14, 2016 11:45 AM

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Q: Sleep vs ShutDown

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  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Aug 14, 2016 11:49 AM in response to GabreilH SM
    Level 7 (25,843 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 14, 2016 11:49 AM in response to GabreilH SM

    My MacBook Air is over 3 years old I rarely shut it down. There isn't any significant benefit either way other than the obvious and relatively small difference in time to shut down and restart.

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb Aug 14, 2016 2:43 PM in response to GabreilH SM
    Level 7 (24,073 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 14, 2016 2:43 PM in response to GabreilH SM

    The only drawback to sleeping rather than turning it off is the possibility that your battery might completely drain (assuming it isn't plugged in). Like FoxFifth I've seldomed turned my 2011 MBA off and it has performed flawlessly since the day I bought it. For the MBA the convenience of waking and immediately using as opposed to waiting for it to start up isn't as great as for computers with mechanical drives because the SSD lets it start up so quickly. But there's another convenience to sleeping with the modern OSX operating system: when we put the computer to sleep it periodically wakes up to check mail and if we want even download updates from Apple.

  • by Sepoe,

    Sepoe Sepoe Aug 15, 2016 2:22 AM in response to GabreilH SM
    Level 2 (168 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 15, 2016 2:22 AM in response to GabreilH SM

    I use my Mac Book mostly every day. I never shut it down except when I know that I'll not use it for a few days. I think it will consume a little bit more battery if you leave it in sleep mode rather than shutting it down completely. Other than this, there are no disadvantages visible to me...

    My only experience is, that your Mac Book can slow down after several days of continuous use.. If you have the feeling that it slows down a lot, a quick restart can fix it... that's how I handle it and my Mac Book Air (2010 model... 6 Years old...) is still in great shape after all... battery has still around 80% capacity after a good 300 cycles