Question from Ed: What is you feeling about never turning off a Mac (or PC)?
Jason answers: Personally, I always leave my computers on. Right now, the only computer I use is a MacBook Pro and it stays on all the time. When I am not using it, the lid is closed and it sleeps. The only time I have had to turn it off is when I am flying with it, which is a couple of times a year. When I owned desktops, they were always on and they didn’t go to sleep.
I want to make sure that everybody knows how to properly shutdown a computer. For Macs, go to you Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen and choose Shut Down… from the menu. On Windows machines, click on the Start button or Windows logo and choose Shut Down from that menu. Many times, we have seen customers hold down the power button until the computer powers off, thinking this is the correct way to shutdown a computer. This can cause data corruption, including a non-booting computer.
With desktop computers that don’t run off a battery, I have always just left them on. I have an iMac at home that has been on for two years straight because it runs some network monitoring software. With laptops, I have left them powered on all the time, but when I transport it, I close the lid and it goes to sleep.
There isn’t a correct answer here. It depends on your usage. We have customers that use a desktop computer for a few hours a day. They power it on when they use it and then power it off when they are done for the day. This technique uses less energy and I don’t believe that it puts a strain on the computer. We have some customers that leave the computer on all the time and let it sleep after it is idle for some time. Other customers will just leave their computers on 24/7 without letting it sleep.
I would say that however you use your computer dictates how you manage powering it on and off. If you want to use less energy, leave it off when you aren’t going to use it. If you want to be able to just go to your computer, use it for awhile and then come back to what you left off with, then set it to sleep after a certain amount of time.
Jason
24/7 wastes energy unless the machine is in sleep mode. The hard drive will wear out faster if on all the time and not allowed to sleep. Picking the right duration of time to go to sleep mode for typical usage is probably best for a machine that is used every day in the same location. A cool pad is key for amy Macbook Pro considering the heat generated and the fact that the fan comes on within minutes of bootup. Mark with Mac experience back to 1984.
While I understand that the scripts run at odd times and if your Mac isn’t operating, then the scripts don’t get done, it still seems eco-unfriendly to be running any electronics 24/7. In our house, we turn off the cable box and even unplug cell-phone chargers when not in use to reduce our carbon footprint. Wondering about Mac-o-rama’s position on climate change…
Hi David! I would only recommend doing this occasionally, and as I mentioned in my post, I would suggest using Macaroni as a great alternative. You know Mac-O-Rama is all about being green. I think the real question is “what is Apple’s position on climate change”… : )
Hi Mark, Thanks for the comment. The most important thing to remember is that you can’t predict failure. After all, we see MacBooks with failed hard drives all the time that have spent more than half their lives sleeping. On the other hand we’ve seen servers with standard hard drives that run for 15 years! So, everybody: Back-Up!
Hi Jason,
How would leaving the system on all the time affect battery life in the wireless keyboard & mouse for an iMac? I would expect it to be diminished, but could you estimate how much?
thanks!
Shelly
Hi Shelly. Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard and mouse have “intelligent power management” that powers down the keyboard and mouse when not in use, putting it in a standby mode. Since usage differs with every user, it is hard to tell how much life you would gain by switching off the peripherals. From what I have read, people are getting about six weeks out of their batteries when they are using the computers everyday and not switching off the mouse or keyboard. That is a lot of batteries to go through. We recommend rechargeable batteries. We have the Apple Battery Charger at the store. It gives you six rechargeable batteries and the charger for $29.