I know the M1 is power efficient but this is crazy!

[eddie_ducking]

A 60W bulb consumes about 1.4KWh per day, this is a power trace for my 3x M1 Mac Mini's and 1x Studio Ultra (plus Zyxel 24 port switch + Synology mesh AP + Dell 22" screen) since May. All four Macs were at full CPU usage for all the trace, but next to no GPU. Ignore prior May, I had a reshuffle of my NAS's onto a new UPS ... after 11/07 the consumption dropped due to removing one Mac Mini M1 from the UPS and also not using all the CPUs at maximum for 24/7 (though the Studio itself is still redlined CPU wise 24/7)

1,2KWh per day for Studio + 2x M1 Mini's + switch + screen and AP .... astronomical (compared to around 5KWh for my 2010 Mac Pro per day (which is 5x slower than Studio and Minis))

To quote @Feek, significant

 

[davekro]

I just downloaded the free 14 day trial of iStat Menus 6.62. In this thread, a

"... I noticed there's one for "Total Power". I enabled it out of curiosity and this is utterly bonkers (in a good way). My Studio Ultra is drawing just 16W at idle compared to around 110W for my 2017 iMac."

I just downloaded iStat Menus 6.62 (14 day Free Trial) on my MacBook Air M2. I can't find how to see current total wattage being used. How did you get that and how do you get that meter/icon into the menu bar?

I see nothing in the "Battery/Power" section for this. In the "Sensors" section, I see the last thing listed is Power Sensors and below that title is a blue rectangle "Total Power". But I can't right or left click it, or drag/drop to Mac's menu bar or any of the fields on the iStat Menu Sensors window.

Thanks for any insights.

 

[mrbobdobolina]

I just downloaded iStat Menus 6.62 (14 day Free Trial) on my MacBook Air M2. I can't find how to see current total wattage being used. How did you get that and how do you get that meter/icon into the menu bar?

For me, I have the CPU Core Average showing up in my menubar, and if I click on that I get a dropdown of all the other items, with total power at the bottom. (This is under the Sensors section.)

There's a space near the middle of the iStat window which says "Sensors to Show in Menubar" Mine currently has the CPU Core Average temp there, but that is where you can drag the other blue rectangles if you want them to appear.

The other thing I should note is that if you have this in your menubar, and click on it to see the dropdown of all the sensors, you can hover over each item to see a graph of the stat over time.

Hope this helps... if not, let me know and I can maybe upload some screenshots or something.

 

[colodane]

... I noticed there's one for "Total Power". I enabled it out of curiosity and this is utterly bonkers (in a good way). My Studio Ultra is drawing just 16W at idle compared to around 110W for my 2017 iMac." ...

The 16 W for the M1 could indeed be accurate. After all, there is no display. But no way is a 2017 iMac, in any configuration, using 110W at "idle" unless you have the screen turned on and set at near maximum brightness.

Right now as I am replying, with the screen on and at about 40% brightness, my 2017 iMac is using a total of 42 watts. Measured on both iStat Menus and an external Kill-a-watt meter. If I turn the screen to 100%, it is 80 W.
In a true "idle" mode with the display off it is around 25 W.

 

[pastrychef]

When comparing the iStat Menus' reading of my Mac Studio Max vs my Kill-A-Watt clone, iStat Menu is always about 1.5W lower. I suspect that it may not be taking in to account the draw from attached USB and/or Thunderbolt devices.

 

[davekro]

For me, I have the CPU Core Average showing up in my menubar, and if I click on that I get a dropdown of all the other items, with total power at the bottom. (This is under the Sensors section.)
... in your menubar, and click on it to see the dropdown of all the sensors, you can hover over each item to see a graph of the stat over time.

Mr Bob,
Thanks for the info. I actually did find this out, clicking around the menu bar iStat icons. I felt silly. Then, randomly, I saw a chart pop out to the left with detail of each item. WOW!

Just downloading the free AlDente SoC limiting app last night, I am appreciating the idea of limiting my MBA M2's SoC to 75% normally. When I know I may need the MBA away from power for a full day, I can just quickly change the AlDente 'charge limit' to 90% or whatever.

 

[police340]

Many UPSs with a display will tell you the power draw. I use mine to tell when the Mac Studio is actually sleeping. 5W while asleep and 24W when idling with the Studio display asleep. I also have a couple of powered USB hubs attached, so my power draw is probably a little bit higher than just the Mac Studio and Studio display.

What do you use as your UPS?

 

[davekro]

…. Just downloading the free AlDente SoC limiting app last night, I am appreciating the idea of limiting my MBA M2's SoC to 75% normally. When I know I may need the MBA away from power for a full day, I can just quickly change the AlDente 'charge limit' to 90% or whatever.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the OEM software (maybe part of Android, not sure) on my Samsung S21 phone has a setting to limit charging to 85% SoC. I enabled that function! Very nice feature. That would be a great feature option to have on all portable devices to prolong battery life.

 

[n7vy]

Here’s my 2 cents for today…. I’ve been ripping DVD’s for the last 5 hours and the power being used (from iStat) is 35 watts and I put my hand at the exhaust ports and its room temperature. Going from my Mac Pro 5,1 this is huge difference.

 

[DeepIn2U]

My Mac Studio Ultra turned up a couple of days ago and I've started setting it up now. I'm not one for monitoring system statistics but I've always used iStat Menus to display free disk space in my menu bar.

While setting it up, I was curious as to what other sensors are available and I noticed there's one for "Total Power". I enabled it out of curiosity and this is utterly bonkers (in a good way). My Studio Ultra is drawing just 16W at idle compared to around 110W for my 2017 iMac. Even taking into consideration the 30W for the Studio display, this is amazing.

To put it into perspective, I have a Raspberry Pi4 (in fact I have quite a few RPis) which runs my ADS-B feeder and that draws just under 5W.

Yep, the M1 processors have been astounding. I had an M1 13' MBP for awhile and that thing sipped a few watts while I was reading. My M1 Max is sipping 4.64 w doing this post right now.

These chips are amazing. And I used to be someone who built gaming computers - i7s with MASSIVE cool master heat sinks - often having to add window ac units to the room I was in to keep it habitable.

I’ve always been a fan of Apple silicon in terms of energy efficiency. Considering the high cost of energy in various parts in Europe, and elsewhere many don’t consider this. The sheer huge amounts of savings on energy bill will be palpable, yet many would scoff or just say they’d use the savings as a trade off to using other things.

Anyone remember the power drain at idle the PowerMac G5 low end model used! Eeek!!

 

[Gudi]

GitHub - exelban/stats: macOS system monitor in your menu bar

macOS system monitor in your menu bar. Contribute to exelban/stats development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Stats is a freeware alternative to iStat Menus and if the "System Total" power sensor means what I think, than the 24" iMac including M1 chip and 4.5K display is using 16 Watts when reading MacRumors.

 

[er-minio]

Did anyone plug their Mac Studio to an energy consumption meter ?
That could give interesting results (average consumption over a while, peak consumption...)

Not exactly, but I have a smart meter (UK) and recently replaced a Mac mini (not really power hungry) connected to an external GPU (moderately hungry).

I tend to work from home and the computer stays on 24/7.

I've had the Studio for a few weeks now and I've seen a reduction on the daily energy usage (small flat, everything else is the same) and I suspect that it might be getting rid of the eGPU enclosure – as the Mac mini should be comparable or less than the studio on power consumption.

The thing that really amazes me about the Studio is... temperature. I don't do anything extreme, but I've been through some tasks (renderings, etc) where the mini would go to volcano temperatures, and the eGPU would start all fans and warm up the room... while the Studio powers through and there is just cool air coming off from the back vent

It is not my first Apple Silicon Mac, I do have a 15" MBP Intel and a 13" MBP M1 and the difference is striking there too. But the Studio is... something...

 

[chrfr]

I've had the Studio for a few weeks now and I've seen a reduction on the daily energy usage (small flat, everything else is the same) and I suspect that it might be getting rid of the eGPU enclosure – as the Mac mini should be comparable or less than the studio on power consumption.

At full load, a Mac Studio with M1 Max is very slightly less power hungry than a 2018 Intel Mac Mini; an M1 Ultra Mac Studio draws a lot more power.
At idle, both versions of Studio draw less power than the 2018 Mini:

Mac Studio power consumption and thermal output (BTU) information - Apple Support

Learn about the power consumption and thermal output of Mac Studio computers.

support.apple.com

Mac mini power consumption and thermal output (BTU) information - Apple Support

Learn about the power consumption and thermal output of Mac mini computers.

support.apple.com

 

[er-minio]

Oh wow. I was, wrongly, looking at the power consumption for a M1 Mac mini!
Yep I have a Max Studio.

 

[chrfr]

Oh wow. I was, wrongly, looking at the power consumption for a M1 Mac mini!
Yep I have a Max Studio.

so for sure, your old Mini and the eGPU was definitely drawing much more power.

 

[BigMcGuire]

so for sure, your old Mini and the eGPU was definitely drawing much more power.

Agreed. As someone who used an eGPU with my i7 MBP 13' - it's a noticeable difference on my power bill to go to an M1 Max.

The thing that really amazes me about the Studio is... temperature. I don't do anything extreme, but I've been through some tasks (renderings, etc) where the mini would go to volcano temperatures, and the eGPU would start all fans and warm up the room... while the Studio powers through and there is just cool air coming off from the back vent

I'm surprised at how cool my M1 Max 16' MBP runs compared to the i7 13' MBP that I had before. Same tasks - I never hear the fan on the 16' and I have a wattage meter on the 16' MBP and it sips 7-11 watts just doing normal operations (like posting here).

I can only image how the Studio is with its design.

 

[er-minio]

Just to give you an idea, if the sensor data is correct:

I kept my old old 2012 Intel Mac mini and I run it headless to do some menial tasks: S3 Glacier uploads/downloads when necessary, run VirtuaBox from time to time and run some older apps.
Most of the time it sits idling.
CPU die temperature is around 50 degrees (Celsius). Idling.

Mac Studio I'm currently use for work (nothing very intensive at the moment) has the CPU die at about 30 degrees.
Yesterday It was running some easy 3D renderings via Adobe Dimension + running Photoshop and a few other apps at the same time and it was at around 35/40 Celsius top.

Room temperature is 20.

I don't usually spend my time monitoring the temperature but this is a new toy, so still playing around with it, and also you can really feel the temp difference in this case.

I've had the fan of the 13" on this summer a few times, but ambient temperature was about 32 degrees and the computer was working hard. Only time it happened.

We have regular meetings at work and we have a mix of Intel and Apple Silicon MBPs in my team, and it is easy to spot (or hear) the people with the Intel Macs after just 10 minutes working together, especially if when running electron apps.