How power efficiency is just as important to desktop Macs as it is to notebooks, and the story of the Mac mini in power from 2005-2023.
power
A gentle introduction to the new architecture, from how macOS allocates threads to core types, overflow, variable frequency, ending in huge differences in power.
Looks at power use and energy efficiency in M3 Pro chips, deriving equations for energy use according to numbers of cores used and their role.
Using assembly language test loops to understand the differences between M1 Pro and M3 Pro CPU cores casts new light on their differences.
How to work out how many threads and which cores are needed to achieve a compression rate up to 1.7 GB/s, and how to estimate power and energy.
Using a test of compressing a 1 GB file with AppleArchive, measurements of power used by core clusters show how efficient using the E cores really is.
How can you tell when software uses the Neural Engine in an M1 series Mac? How much power does it use, and what is Espresso? Mysteries unravelled.
Asymmetric Multiprocessing (AMP) can bring great economy in power and heat production. So why don’t we make better use of it on M1 Macs?
A UPS is essential for Macs without internal batteries, to ensure they can shut down in an orderly fashion when mains power is lost. Here’s how to choose one.
If you power your Mac from a UPS with a USB connection, sleep may not be all it’s supposed to be.
The Eclectic Light Company 