Macs - do you shut them down at night or just close the lid

Hi

Seeking advice yet again -

I have read in a few places that you don't turn off you Mac every night; just close the lid. Something about the Mac updating itself/fine tuning when in sleep mode?

I dunno!!

Comin' to the "source of all knowledge" for advice......

Thanks

Turn It Off.!

I say turn it off. That's what I do from now on I would just close my lid and after some days it would be really slow. Once you turn it off for the night and turn it on once you wake up its fresh.

Generally speaking -- and according to Apple -- the system is designed to be put to sleep (you don't have to close the lid, but that's one way of accomplishing that) if you're coming back to it relatively soon, and should be shut down only if you're going to be away from it for a while (they don't define it exactly, but I'll offer "more than two days").

The LATEST MacBook Pros have a feature called Power Nap which DOES INDEED do things like updates, backups, maintenance and more during sleep. Earlier models do NOT do this.

Many shut it off…many just close the lid (sleep). From my own experience, friends, family, and what I've heard/seen from folks on Mac-Forums…sleep/close the lid…is probably more common.

The point of "sleep"…is so that the computer is ready to use much quicker the next time it is needed (even if the "next time" is the next day). But it certainly doesn't hurt to shut it down/reboot it occasionally. This is actually very good sometimes when the computer starts to feel a bit sluggish…since it clears the ram…and other things.

- Nick

chas_m said:

Generally speaking -- and according to Apple -- the system is designed to be put to sleep (you don't have to close the lid, but that's one way of accomplishing that) if you're coming back to it relatively soon, and should be shut down only if you're going to be away from it for a while (they don't define it exactly, but I'll offer "more than two days").

The LATEST MacBook Pros have a feature called Power Nap which DOES INDEED do things like updates, backups, maintenance and more during sleep. Earlier models do NOT do this.

Click to expand...

Hi, if you were up for member of the month - you get my vote!

When you say "away from it for more than two days", clearly if I was literally leaving it alone for more than a day I would shut it down.

However, 99% of the time, it is unused at night (for a few hours - I do not sleep!) and used all day long - every day!

I live in my computer.

And, with two SSDs/16GB RAM it should start rather quickly from a shut down or sleep mode.

With that in mind, what are your recommended settings for when I do not touch it for a period of time during the day, or when I close the lid at night?

Thanks,

I don't think you need to do anything special. I would suggest that you run OnyX or some other maintenance solution (NOT MacKeeper!!!) once a month if you're going to use it that much. And of course have a good backup strategy.

Luvntravln said:

With that in mind, what are your recommended settings for when I do not touch it for a period of time during the day, or when I close the lid at night?

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I don't believe there are any set rules…other than some folks like to shut the computer of entirely if they're moving the computer around a lot (I mean outside the home/traveling). This is potentially because with a traditional spinning HD…there's the possibility it could "wake up"…and "maybe" do some damage (but these HD's are supposed to have technology in them to prevent this).

Personally…I travel with my laptops in "sleep" mode all the time (plane, train, car, etc.)…and I've never had an issue.

In your case (with 2 SSD's installed)…you wouldn't have this problem.

- Nick

chas_m said:

I don't think you need to do anything special. I would suggest that you run OnyX or some other maintenance solution (NOT MacKeeper!!!) once a month if you're going to use it that much. And of course have a good backup strategy.

Click to expand...

When you say use it that much, I live in Lightroom and Photoshop most of the day when I am not shooting or playing on this or other photo sites.

I do not turn off the computer from the moment I wake till going to sleep.

Should I just leave the default setting when walking away or shutting the lid?

Should I do a total shutdown every night or every other night?

Yup, I try to eliminate the guess work when I can.

Thanks,

Luvntravln said:

Should I just leave the default setting when walking away or shutting the lid?

Should I do a total shutdown every night or every other night?

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You're looking for too many rules! Just do what's convenient.

Either way…nothing is going to be damaged, hurt, or prematurely aged.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

You're looking for too many rules! Just do what's convenient.

Either way…nothing is going to be damaged, hurt, or prematurely aged.

- Nick

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Nick, you are 100% correct! ;D

Rules gently give by experts keep me out of trouble!

Choices made by unknowledgeable me get me in trouble all the time; it is fun to get into trouble most of the time but not with my new Mac. ;P

Luvntravln said:

Nick, you are 100% correct! ;D

Rules gently give by experts keep me out of trouble!

Choices made by unknowledgeable me get me in trouble all the time; it is fun to get into trouble most of the time but not with my new Mac. ;P

Click to expand...

I totally agree…and if there were some "rules" or "good habits" to follow…I and others would certainly mention them. But in this case…I don't really think there are any downsides to "sleeping" the computer when done for the day/night…or shutting it down completely.

And like you mentioned. With SSD's installed in your computer…a startup from a completely shut down state is MUCH faster than with a traditional "rotational" HD. So you don't even have the "downside/inconvenience" of a slower startup (when shutdown at night) that you would have with a traditional HD. So it's really your choice. Shut it down completely at night…or just close the lid (whatever is convenient).

But as I mentioned above…just closing the lid EVERY night for weeks on end I wouldn't recommend. I would recommend shutting it down (or doing a complete reboot) at least once every 1-2 weeks…especially if you use the computer for many hours each day.

- Nick

chas_m said:

The LATEST MacBook Pros have a feature called Power Nap which DOES INDEED do things like updates, backups, maintenance and more during sleep. Earlier models do NOT do this.

Click to expand...

What would you call The"latest" MacBook Pro's and How do I know if I have that?



This is not entirely accurate. Now I'm running 10.8.2

Berk said:

What would you call The"latest" MacBook Pro's and How do I know if I have that?

Click to expand...

You do an internet search…then find & read the document I linked below:

Mountain Lion: About Power Nap

As you can see from the link…Power Nap is something primarily found with the newer MacBook Air models…and the new retina MacBook Pro.

- Nick

The "latest" of anything is the one that came out most recently. The MacBook line was refreshed on June 11th, 2012, so yours is now old and obsolete.

Just kidding of course, but sadly your model doesn't (yet?) qualify for Power Nap. Only the MacBook Airs from mid-2010 on and the latest MacBook Pros (2012) can use the feature currently. Because it appears to be dependent on MacBooks that came with SSDs as native equipment, I don't think your model will be updated to take advantage of it.

More on Power Nap: Apple (Canada) - See everything the new OS X Mountain Lion can do.