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Macs May Be Getting 'Pro Mode' Option to Boost Performance, According to macOS Catalina Beta

Like everyone else here has said, it would be damn nice if we could get some of these background daemons under control. I'm sick of fannoised and stupidphotod and crapindexerd running hard every time I'm not paying attention. Hell, my fan runs hard just because I have it on an external monitor on DP.

I think the fact that they aren't really "competing" at the OS level has dropped off some of the performance that used to be a driving factor in selling Macs. I know they're under-spec'd, and that the OS handles a lot more gracefully, but why are we running upwards of 10% for safari? Why are we enduring the power bill that comes with all of these background services?

It could all be a lot more efficient, and while "Pro Mode" might allow for some thermal flex, it would be a lot better to have a machine that, say, could be run in a "silent mode", using minimal background apps, minimal fan, and is really a more peaceful experience.
 
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Nothing to see here really, but I wouldn't mind some upgraded pro machines though. Macbook Pros feel like consumer gimmicks (touch bar is awful) not to mention keyboard gate (heh).

Before Apple Die hards attack me on the touch bar, I hate the touch bar esc key.
 
I remember Jobs putting a PowerPC Mac next to Intel PC and showing how it performs better. Now we have to use "Pro Mode" code, to get that extra optimization.
 
Maybe this power switch will be off in order to "solve" the fan issues? Switching it on brings the MBP back to the current level of speed?
 
macfacts said:
Translation: get ready for cpu throttle mode as default
Click to expand...
Which is actually where Macbook Pros have been for ages...
Apparently Apple seem to know that what pro users want is slim, silent and slow :)
Hey, by chance I almost made a new sales slogan right there... "Macbook Pro - Slim Silent and Slow" 🙃
(To be fair the 16 inch larger formfactor and upgraded cooling system mitigated this a bit)
 
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That's good, but what about a low power mode, like the one they implemented in iOS?
Force the CPU to run at the lower possible speed, disable the discrete GPU etc. to save battery when you can't charge your Mac and need to work for a little more
 
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I understand that a laptop has a cooling limit after which it can't keep up, and needs to throttle. That makes sense. What I don't get is why the computer will throttle before it reaches that cooling limit. Like, if I'm rendering a 2 hour video, why not just automatically do the best it can? No one in their right mind will care about fan noise or battery power when rendering, because it will be bad anyway. Also, why not increase performance when plugged in automatically? Battery power is not an issue when not running on battery power.

I guess now you will be able to override it... but why this hasn't always been automatic in the first place is an interesting question.
 
That’s funny. I’ve been running TurboSwitcher to disable TurboBoost on my 16” Pro and that’s generally where I leave it. Nearly doubles the battery life while working in FCPX, because I really don’t care how fast it background renders when I’m constantly making lots of tiny timeline adjustments. It’s a beast of a machine, but I only got it for the 8TB of storage (trust me I use it and the value to me exceeds the price). I’d much prefer an energy efficient toggle that disables all the unnecessary background tasks and turboboost at the same time.
 
As good as this sounds, i reckon this would be on par with 'overclocking a cpu" Thus, i'm glad its only in Catalina and not older..

I thought Apple had more sense than this. To have "Low power" mode on iOS is one thing, but on a Mac that increases fan speed to cool it down quicker is sufficiently different.

Now would be the time to say "more people will mistakenly reset SMC more because they think there is a fan problem"
 
Chancha said:
This follows the same logic as the iOS 12(?) change of WiFi button in notification center not really turning off the WiFi altogether, it just disconnects from the current network until the next day. Apple finds this behaviour preferable because (I suspect) a large portion of users forget to turn WiFi back on in the older iOS setup and ended up paying unnecessary mobile data bills. Apple would rather serve the careless mass than to the rest who know what they are doing.
Click to expand...

It was iOS 11, and I sure do miss that button actually turning off Wi-Fi. I turn off Wi-Fi every time I leave the house and that used to be the fastest way to do it.
 
When I have ANC headphone on, fan noise even at max on my MBP 2018 is not noticeable. So, I always leave it at max when I’m working and plugged in. I like my palms cool.
 
AndiG said:
So will this finally speed up my 2018 Core i9 MBP and prevent thermal throttling? I would appreciate this but I guess the thermal design is just too bad.
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Or the fan is running too slow.

But if the CPU is exceeding its base clock speed, it’s not “thermal throttling”, it’s performing above its rated speed. However, increasing the fan speed, though causing the system to be louder, will allow you to extract even higher clock speeds, closer to the opportunistic turbo frequency.
 
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Tech198 said:
As good as this sounds, i reckon this would be on par with 'overclocking a cpu" Thus, i'm glad its only in Catalina and not older..
<snip>
Click to expand...
Less like overclocking and more like speeding up the fan, thus removing more heat.

That allows the CPU to exceed its base clock speeds by a greater amount than would otherwise be possible, but at the cost of increased fan noise.
 
Wow almost no discussion at all in this thread about the Mac Pro?

This might be the thing that really perks up the benchmarks since a lot of testing has shown the core speeds staying relatively low when many are engaged, presumably to keep the machine silent.

Based on how quiet mine is, my guess is it could be really roaring fast if you let the fans go full blast.
 
Coryincali said:
It seems to be specific to the MacBook Pro 16 Inch I9 models. And there are new post from new purchasers every day....So its not a small few.

It seems to only occur when putting load on the CPU. I experienced this during my first day, when installing my app and getting things "setup". It froze 3 times within 24 hours. Once things calmed down and the CPU was not being PUSHED, things are good. But the moment you ask the CPU to do some real work....HEAT...FREEZE.

But the Pro Mode feature screams to be......."Apple computers can't handle hard workloads without the fans roaring."
Click to expand...
Disregarding any rumored “Pro mode” which may be added in the future, the machine shouldn’t be freezing no matter how “hard” the workload may be. Intel only guarantees 2.3/2.4GHz with all cores; it’s possible Apple is allowing too high of clock speeds beyond that. But given that Apple has sold tens of thousands of these machines—and most don’t seem to be having the problems you describe—it could be an issue with the machine and it will need to go back.
 
Too bad the mindless consumers are falling for the faux pro moniker so they're pushing it more. What if they realize iPadOS 13 on the newest iPad/iPad Pro limits background multitasking time to 20 seconds for tools such as SSH clients? Down from 10 minutes for iOS <=6 and 3 minutes for iOS 7 to 12. So, it's gotten less pro over time.
 
Unless typos and bad/incorrect phrasing are common for Apple Beta's, I'd almost doubt the source of the information and really not worthy of even posting an article about it.

"Apps may run faster, but battery life may decrease and fan noise may increase."
Sounds like a lot of hypothetical non-sense for a "Mode".

"Fan speed limit overridden"
Seriously, overridden? speed limit? Sounds like this was written by someone who just learned to drive. Also, why is only the fan "overridden" when enabled? Would it just say "Pro Mode Enabled".

"Fans will run a normal speed limit untill tomorrow."
Untill is spelled incorrectly. The entire phrase is incorrect. If the 'speed limit' is 'overridden', why would they run at 'normal speed limit' untill tomorrow? Wouldn't it be ' in overridden speed limit' until tomorrow?

Sounds way too fishy to me.

A Pro Mode would say...

"Apps WILL run faster, battery life WILL decrease and fan noise WILL increase if apps you run were previously limited since we desire to open a can of worms about how we have been limiting the ability of your computer so you will upgrade your computer water gate scandel."

"Pro Mode Enabled until Tomorrow Morning"
 
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