High Power Mode Expands to 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M3 Max Chip

Apple has expanded High Power Mode to the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Max chip, according to Six Colors editor-in-chief Jason Snell. The feature was previously only available on the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Max and M2 Max.

High Power Mode Feature 2
"For some tests, I switched the MacBook Pro into High Power Mode, which is now available on both 14- and 16-inch models in the M3 Max configuration," wrote Snell, in his review of the new MacBook Pros. "I didn't actually find it made much of a difference in the tests I was running, but it sure did make the fans kick in at a very loud volume."

In a support document, Apple says High Power Mode allows a MacBook Pro's fans to run at higher speeds, and this additional cooling may allow the system to deliver higher performance for "intensive sustained workloads," such as 8K video color grading.

On macOS Ventura and later, High Power Mode can be enabled in the System Settings app under Battery by clicking on the dropdown menus next to "On battery" or "On power adapter" and selecting the "High Power" option.

9to5Mac was first to report this news.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

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Top Rated Comments

eropko Avatar
25 months ago

So the key word is it "may" allow the system to deliver higher performance, not that it "will" allow the system to deliver higher performance.
I think you've overlooked the word 'sustained'. It's not about delivering performance it's about trying to keep that performance up for long(er).
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bradman83 Avatar
25 months ago

So guess thermal pressure of M3Max is higher than it was on M1/M2, at least in 14 inch body.

Back on M1Max this mode did nothing.
I would think the opposite - Apple felt the 14" didn't have the thermal management capacity to enable high performance mode on the M1 and M2 generations but does with the M3. Either the M3 Max runs a bit cooler at peak load than its predecessors or Apple improved the internal cooling capacity of the 14". I'm sure once iFixit does a teardown we'll know more.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eropko Avatar
25 months ago
So guess thermal pressure of M3Max is higher than it was on M1/M2, at least in 14 inch body.

Back on M1Max this mode did nothing.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuzzball84 Avatar
25 months ago
Imagine enabling an ultra low power mode and getting 30 plus hours on a single charge.

I think more people would find that useful than this high power mode.

Especially if you’re not doing anything demanding.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
25 months ago

"For some tests, I switched the MacBook Pro into High Power Mode, which is now available on both 14- and 16-inch models in the M3 Max configuration," wrote Snell, in his review of the new MacBook Pros. "I didn't actually find it made much of a difference in the tests I was running, but it sure did make the fans kick in at a very loud volume."

In a support document, Apple says High Power Mode allows a MacBook Pro's fans to run at higher speeds, and this additional cooling may allow the system to deliver higher performance for "intensive sustained workloads," such as 8K video color grading.
So the key word is it "may" allow the system to deliver higher performance, not that it "will" allow the system to deliver higher performance.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
25 months ago
Software gimmick vs. [S]reducing the performance cores &[/S] cutting memory bandwidth??? [S]Or does high power mode apply to efficiency cores?[/S]

Edit: misread title to think this mode was added for MBpro with M3 PRO... but it's only about M3 MAX which didn't get the amazing cores downgrade.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)