Apple Says High Power Mode on 16-Inch MacBook Pro With M1 Max Designed for Tasks Like Color Grading 8K ProRes Video

As we previously reported, we've received confirmation from Apple that 16-inch MacBook Pro models configured with an M1 Max chip feature a new High Power Mode that is designed to maximize performance during intensive, sustained workloads.

m1 max
MacRumors has since obtained an internal Apple document that indicates users will be able to enable High Power Mode in System Preferences on a 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Max chip running macOS Monterey. Apple says that High Power Mode will provide users with "extreme performance" for tasks like color grading 8K ProRes video.

It's still unclear exactly how High Power Mode will function, but we should get a closer look at the feature next week when reviews of the new MacBook Pro models are shared. Based on code-level references to High Power Mode in the macOS Monterey beta found by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser, we do know that the feature "will optimize performance to better support resource-intensive tasks" and "may result in louder fan noise."

Apple only confirmed High Power Mode being available on 16-inch MacBook Pro models with an M1 Max chip, so we presume the feature is not available on any 14-inch MacBook Pro models or any models configured with the M1 Pro chip.

9to5Mac's Filipe Espósito was first to discover references to High Power Mode in the macOS Monterey beta last month.

There are two configurations of the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chip available, including one with a 10-core CPU and a 24-core GPU and another with a 10-core CPU and a 32-core GPU. Pricing starts at $3,099 for this level of performance. The new MacBook Pro models will begin arriving to customers on Tuesday, October 26.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Caution)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

Touchscreen MacBook Feature

Apple Is Expected to Launch These Four MacBooks in 2026

Friday January 9, 2026 8:17 am PST by
2026 could be a bumper year for Apple's Mac lineup, with the company expected to announce as many as four separate MacBook launches. Rumors suggest Apple will court both ends of the consumer spectrum, with more affordable options for students and feature-rich premium lines for users that seek the highest specifications from a laptop. Below is a breakdown of what we're expecting over the next ...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

10 Reasons to Wait for This Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday January 8, 2026 2:56 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
proposed unicode emoji 18%402x

Squinting Face, Pickle, and Lighthouse Among New Emoji Coming to iOS

Friday January 9, 2026 4:24 am PST by
The Unicode Consortium has published a draft list of emoji that could come to smartphones and other devices in the future. The list shared by Emojipedia outlines 19 emoji candidates under consideration for Emoji 18.0, which is expected to be finalized in September 2026. Among the proposed additions are a squinting face emoji, left- and right-pointing thumb gestures, a pickle, a lighthouse, a ...
apple homekit ios 18 5

Apple Reminding Users of Pending Home App Upgrade Requirement

Friday January 9, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Back in late 2022 and early 2023, Apple rolled out a new architecture for its Apple Home platform to deliver improved performance and compatibility, although the rollout came with some hiccups that forced Apple to pull and later re-release the upgrade. Three years later, Apple is now on the verge of ending support for the old version of the Home architecture, which may result in access to...
grok logo purple gradient

U.S. Senators Ask Apple and Google to Remove X and Grok Apps Over Sexualized Image Generation

Friday January 9, 2026 9:43 am PST by
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Ben Ray Lujan, and Edward Markey have requested that Apple and Google remove X Corp's X and Grok apps from their app stores over recent incidents of "mass generation of nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children." X has come under fire over the past week amid reports of Grok's AI image...
iOS 26 Glass Feature

iOS 26 Shows Unusually Slow Adoption Months After Release

Thursday January 8, 2026 3:44 pm PST by
iOS 26 is showing unusually slow adoption among iPhone users months after release, according to third-party analytics. Usage data published by StatCounter (via Cult of Mac) for January 2026 indicates that only around 15 to 16% of active iPhones worldwide are running any version of iOS 26. The breakdown shows iOS 26.1 accounting for approximately 10.6% of devices, iOS 26.2 for about 4.6%, and ...
iphone fold text

iPhone Fold to Pave Way for Thinner, Brighter Display on iPhone Air 2

Friday January 9, 2026 3:37 am PST by
The iPhone Fold will be the first Apple device to adopt a Samsung-made OLED technology called CoE (Color Filter on Encapsulation), which could make the display brighter and thinner than previous panels, reports The Elec. In a traditional OLED panel, a polarizing film sits above the display to cut reflections and improve contrast. The drawback is that this film also absorbs some of the OLED's ...

Top Rated Comments

Mockletoy Avatar
55 months ago
This really does seem like a whole new mindset taking hold at Apple, as if they have finally remembered that these are tools for doing work, not status symbols for influencers and coffee shop posers.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
55 months ago

So are we to presume that all the benchmarks on Johny Srouji's charts were with this off?
We don't know yet; unlikely.


And does that mean that with this on it might actually surpass that most powerful PC laptop they could find?
We don't know yet.


Is it designed to be used only in short bursts?
We don't know yet.


Might it risk shortening the life of your hardware if you keep it on for extended stretches?
We don't know yet.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
55 months ago
So for high intensity task! Very nice. This is such a massive upgrade. Total pure horsepower! That’s all I see.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tmoerel Avatar
55 months ago

play boot camp gamesss. m1 can do canoooot
Who cares....these are machines for professionals. Gaming is irrelevant!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iBug2 Avatar
55 months ago
There was a time when Mac Pro was the only machine I could buy which was fast enough for what I do. I had 7 different models of Mac Pro/Powermac.

Then came a time when an iMac was fast enough and I didn't need a Mac Pro anymore so bought an iMac in 2017.

This week I ordered M1 Max MBP and selling my iMac because even a laptop is already fast enough for what I do. This machine will be more than twice as fast as my iMac anyway, but I realized that I won't need next years iMac update at all.

In the future I bet a Macbook Air will be fast enough for what I do or maybe an iPad will suffice.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iPhysicist Avatar
55 months ago
Turbo ('https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_button') is BACK!!!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)