A close examination of CPU %, GPU % and Energy Impact measurements in Activity Monitor, compared with reference values, demonstrates their current shortcomings.
power
Some background tasks will only run when a laptop Mac is connected to mains (AC) power. This is also true for XProtect Remediator scans. What can you do to ensure these are still run?
Which type of CPU cores are most active during Visual Look Up? How their frequencies and active residencies change? How demanding is it?
If Visual Look Up is so easy and low-power for Apple silicon Macs, maybe Tahoe’s new Foundation Models will prove more challenging, and wake up the neural engine.
Using powermetrics and log entries, a single image was processed on an M4 Pro, with content analysis and object recognition and look-up. How much power and energy did that use?
How macOS can not only regulate CPU cluster frequencies to control power use, but also moves threads to E cores. This reduces power use of over 50 W to less than 13 W.
Low Power mode operates pre-emptive control of CPU core frequency to deliver the best compromise between low power use and performance. Here’s how it does so.
How CPU P cores have a frequency limit applied in Low Power mode, and how macOS regulates power use or temperature by controlling core frequency.
How Apple silicon CPUs control core frequencies and power use when running in Low Power mode. Includes M4 Pro and M3 Pro data, and estimates of energy requirements.
Apple refers to Energy Modes and Power Modes, and despite older MacBook Pro models offering Low Power mode, tells us that isn’t what Low Power mode is now. Here are the observations and explanations.
The Eclectic Light Company 