Need more battery life out of your MacBook Pro? You can use the built-in Low Power Mode feature to get more juice out of it.
Make Your MacBook Pro Last Longer and Run Quieter with macOS Monterey's Built-in Low Power Mode
Apple's MacBook Pro is a fantastic laptop if you're a content creator. It even excels in the battery life department, putting a lot of high-end laptops to shame, especially if you have a model with Apple Silicon inside.
But, imagine a situation where you just want a little bit more battery life out of your MacBook Pro. For instance, you forgot the charging brick at home and you just need to squeeze out extra minutes or an hour or two so you can get your work done before plugging everything in.
In that case, you will be pleased to learn that there is a built-in Low Power Mode in macOS Monterey, which when enabled, will put your laptop in a low power state, ensuring you not only get more battery life and run quieter at the same time. That last part is actually hilarious, given how quiet the M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro laptops are when performing basic tasks such as web browsing, checking email etc.
Let me show you how you can enable this feature right now.
Tutorial
Note: This feature is available on MacBook Pro models from early 2016 up until the recent one and MacBook from 2016 and later. If you don't see the feature even with the latest macOS Monterey update installed, it means your notebook is simply not supported by it.
Step 1. Click on the battery icon in the menu bar.
Step 2. Now click on Battery Preferences.
Step 3. If you're using the MacBook on battery, then click on the Battery option on the left. Select Power Adapter if you want to turn on Low Power Mode while being plugged in.
Step 4. Select the Low power mode option here.
If you're already doing CPU intensive tasks, then we will not recommend turning this feature on. If time is not critical, but battery life is, then it's a no-brainer.
However, you'll be surprised to learn that there is actually a 'high power mode' in macOS Monterey as well, as long as you have a 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro with you. It basically turns everything up to 11, making sure that the task at hand gets every bit of CPU power. This also means that you'll trash your battery life as well.
To wrap things up, you can always opt for Lower Power Mode on your MacBook or MacBook Pro to keep things going for a longer period of time. Especially useful for moments when you forget your charger at home or just don't want the notebook to heat up at all.
Looking for more tutorials? Make sure you head over to this section.
