Apple Silicon Macs and Power/Heat

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Those with Apple Silicon Macs: Have you noticed if your energy bills have gone down since switching to them, and do they seem to put out less heat?

 

My iMac Pro puts out a decent amount of heat. My power bill isn’t too bad after eliminating some devices, but I wonder if I’ll still save on my energy bill, plus have a less toasty environment, after moving to Apple Silicon.

 

Thanks!

[Frank Jones]

I think the energy bill drop would not be noticeable unless you set up your own lab measurements prior. You could put a meter on the plug of your Intel PC to measure; then, the same with the Silicon Mac. You will not notice heat unless you are maxing it out (noise is much less also); and then, really not noticeable in comparison with an intel machine. I have a MacBook M1 Pro, and could not be more happy with it. Your work efficiency will definitely increase. Accordance is always fast. Logos was one of two last apps that were not running natively. Logos is finally usable in reference to snappiness of operation. I have no appreciable gap between hitting an operation in Logos and it bringing the results.

[Rich]

Considering idle wattage draw of the iMac Pro is around 65w and max is less than 400w (and unless you're processing video or mining bitcoin your never going to maintain that for even brief moments) AND includes the monitor — and the Mac Studio is around 10-15w and 120w to 220w max depending on the model (and the other Silicon Macs much less than that), it's probably not going to be too much.  Average kWh price is around 13 cents — so maybe a couple dollars a month if you leave everything on all the time and have an incredibly efficient and small monitor?

 

But to answer anecdotally since I've switched all my computers to M1s at this point (including a loaded 27" iMac / not Pro)... no... it's actually gone up quite a bit, but unlikely due to the computers.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Rich

[Kristin]

I agree with what the guys above said. I moved from an Intel Mac to M1, and I have not noticed a difference one way or the other with my energy bill. I had finally got a new computer since my old Intel Mac was giving me spinning wheels, but Accordance has actually run really well on both the Intel and M1.

[jarcher]

Running your clothes dryer one time less or more per month is likely to make more of a difference on your energy bill. Unfortunately, you cannot use that at an excuse to buy a new laptop  ;-) 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by jarcher

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Good discussion! My energy bill is pretty low overall, and I’ve taken other steps to reduce usage. Since Apple touts Apple Silicon as being super energy efficient, it was something that interested me. 

[dandennison]

Energy differences between architectures is not usually a concern unless you have an entire room full of them