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Firmware update brings 'Power Nap' to Retina MacBook Pro

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Apple on Friday rolled out a firmware update for the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display enabling Mountain Lion's new Power Nap feature two days following the new operating system's release.

The update, titled "MacBook Pro Retina SMC Update," comes on the heels of a Thursday firmware release which brought the same functionality to mid-2011 MacBook Airs.

As MacRumors reports, the system management controller (SMC) update enables the new Power Nap feature that comes with Mountain Lion.

Limited to newer MacBook Air models and the MacBook Pro with Retina display, Power Nap keeps Macs up to date and allows for the automatic backup of data while the machine is sleeping. The automatic data-refreshing service, which handles Time Machine and iCloud syncing, is both silent and power-efficient.

From the release notes:

This update fixes several sleep/wake issues to improve the stability of MacBook Pro with Retina display (Mid 2012) computers and is recommended for all users running OS X v10.7.4. It also enables Power Nap support for users running OS X v10.8 or later.

The update can be found in the Mac App Strore while settings for Power Nap reside in the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences.



10 Comments

solipsismx 19562 comments · 13 Years

Off topic: I don't know why Apple is so against showing the size of the update. For something like firmware it's trivial but they don't show it for anything until after you hit Update.

bryanl 67 comments · 14 Years

PowerNap is definitely one of the biggest features I've been waiting for in Mountain Lion. Backing up at night while the mac's lid is close is a big deal.

solipsismx 19562 comments · 13 Years

[quote name="bryanl" url="/t/151580/firmware-update-brings-power-nap-to-retina-macbook-pro#post_2155858"]PowerNap is definitely one of the biggest features I've been waiting for in Mountain Lion. Backing up at night while the mac's lid is close is a big deal. [/quote] Now you've done it. Just wait for the haters to claim that this is nothing new and that all other OSes would allow you to close the lid and still work in the background.

rokrad 141 comments · 15 Years

Glad to see this in my updates list!

just_me 590 comments · 13 Years

[quote name="SolipsismX" url="/t/151580/firmware-update-brings-power-nap-to-retina-macbook-pro#post_2155875"] Now you've done it. Just wait for the haters to claim that this is nothing new and that all other OSes would allow you to close the lid and still work in the background.[/quote] ihate