'High Power Mode' coming to 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max, Apple confirms

Credit: Apple

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Rumors of a "High Power Mode" first surfaced in late September, when code strings within the macOS Monterey revealed the existence of a special operating mode that could make a Mac run faster at the expense of decreased battery life and increased fan noise.

Although just a rumor up until Thursday, Apple has now confirmed the existence of the feature to MacRumors. According to the site, High Power Mode will only be available on 16-inch MacBook Pro models with an M1 Max chip. In other words, 14-inch MacBook Pros and all MacBook Pro variants with M1 Pro chips won't get it.

Code strings discovered in October by Steve Moser suggested that Apple will warn users when they enable the setting, advising them that their Mac "will optimize performance to better support resource-intensive tasks. This may result in louder fan noise."

The feature appears to be the opposite of Low Power Mode, which is being introduced in macOS Monterey. Similar to how the mode works on iPhone, Low Power Mode on macOS cuts down on battery-intensive tasks in an effort to squeeze a bit more life out of a charge.