Back in late September, mentions of a "High Power" mode were spotted in macOS Monterey code, and it appears Apple is still working on the feature. Battery code in the macOS Monterey release candidate mentions a "High Power" option, and this time, includes additional detail.
"Your Mac will optimize performance to better support resource-intensive tasks. This may result in louder fan noise," reads the code. The mention was discovered by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser.
There is no High Power mode that appears to be present in the macOS Monterey beta on an M1 Mac, so it's possible that this is something that's exclusive to the M1 Pro and M1 MaxMacBook Pro machines that are launching next week. Such a feature was not mentioned on stage today.
It's also possible that this is a forthcoming feature that's not quite ready to launch and that's why we're not yet seeing it as a consumer-facing option in macOS Monterey.
macOS Monterey is set to be released to the public on Monday, October 25, and the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models will begin arriving to customers the next day, so we won't have long to wait to find out if there's a hidden High Power mode.
Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces.
The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014.
This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019.
Q.ai...
Thursday July 30, 2026 3:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
We're less than two months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a dramatic change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year,...
Hopefully you can just configure it to tie "high power mode" to being plugged in. If my Macbook is plugged in, it can have all the chunky watts it wants. I don't want to have to think about it. :)
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
