Takes 12 seconds to fully enter sleep on MacBook Pro 13?

[MrCheeto]

I had a 2.4ghz MacBook aluminum with 2gb of memory and a 250gb hard drive. After closing the lid it took a total of 5-7 seconds for the light on the front to blink and you could hear the hard drive noise fade away in that time.

Now with a 2.53ghz MacBook Pro 13" with 4gb of memory and a 250gb hard drive it takes 12 seconds before I can move it without possibly damaging the hard drive. What gives? And why are the new MacBook Pros so damn sensitive to being moved? Did the other models do this too but were too quiet to hear when they parked?

At any rate, it takes 12 seconds to hear the drive spin down, it takes less than 3 seconds to be up and on the internet when waking.

What is going on when it's asleep? Is the drive on? Is the memory still loaded? Is the processor being used at all? Is there something I can do to speed up the sleep process?

Thanks for any help in understanding the quirk.

 

[spinnerlys]

Modern Apple notebooks also save the RAM's content to the HDD (the spinning you hear), so in case of a power failure, all the contents are saved and when you boot up the computer, after having it connected it with some kind of power again, it will start the saved state.

It's called hibernating and there is a System Preferences pane called Smart Sleep, which lets you switch it off, and just let the MacBook go to sleep without saving the RAM's content to the HDD.

 

[AaronX]

Since it's copying the RAM to HDD, having 4 GB of RAM should take more time to copy (assuming all is used). What do you mean sensitive to being moved?

 

[MrCheeto]

WTF?! This crap took up a whole 605kb of disk space >8 but seriously, tiny as. I suppose it's just a visual interface to the command line mod you can use to accomplish the same.

I like it, it's everything I need right now!

GOOD LAWDY! IT TAKES 2 SECONDS TO SLEEP!!! AND it will hibernate once it gets to a predetermined power level!

It's perfect! If I say I love you...will you strike me?

@Aaron, any time you pick the computer up it will park the drive and it makes a very clear "tink". As much as I moved my old MacBook and my current White MacBook I never hear it. Is it that it's programed to park in less abrupt accelerations than the old ones, or is it parking just as much only much LOUDER?

 

[AaronX]

Hmm can't hear it. Must try somewhere more quiet.

Real sleep uses more battery than hibernate. I think the major concern though, is that to go from sleep to hibernate the HDD must wake up again and store the RAM, and you have no control over when this happens. Is it better to let it save to HDD when you're at a desk and can keep it stable until the HDD is securely parked?