M2 Mac mini not sleeping...

[Sowelu]

I am new to the Mac mini and my M2 (non-pro) BTO mini arrived yesterday. Everything is great, it's super fast and runs cool and dead silent. But, for some reason, it will not fully go to sleep.

Just the Apple Studio Display goes to sleep while the Mac mini is still running (I can feel a slight cool breeze in the back indicating that the fan is still spinning). This is true while manually activating 'Sleep' from the Apple Menu, or automatic sleep after inactivity.

I turned off 'Link to Mac or iPad', 'Wake for network activity' and 'Hand Off', but still, only the display goes to sleep while the Mac mini continues to run. The mini should sleep even with these options turned on, but wanted to troubleshoot to see if any of them were the culprit.

I do have the Bluetooth Apple Magic Keyboard and Magic TrackPad connected to the M2 mini, but they are supposed to go into standby after a certain amount of time/inactivity, so I am not sure if that's the problem. Perhaps there is a Ventura BT bug or something?

The last Mac desktop that I owned was a 27" 5K iMac (with BT Apple Keyboard and Mouse) and it never had any issues going to sleep - all my other Macs are MacBook Pros and Airs.

If the M2 Mac mini didn't have a fan I wouldn't care, but I don't want the fan running 24/7 when the Mac is not in use. This can't be normal behavior, so I was wondering if anyone else has this issue with their M2 Mac mini?

 

[Heat_Fan89]

The new Mini's handle it differently now. If you leave the Mac on idle it will eventually go into sleep mode by itself, then a deep sleep. It takes time for that to happen.

With Mini's prior to 2018 you could go into energy saver and select a timer for the screen and Mac. That was taken away with the 2018 Mini's. Prior to 2018 the Power LED would snore when it was in sleep mode. Now it just stays on solid, regardless.

The fans should run and that is normal because even in sleep mode the internals are still on.

Edit: I just checked and the fans do turn off when you manually put the M2 Mini to sleep. Download Mac Fan Control, set the fan speed to a constant 4000 rpm so you can hear and feel the fans. Then manually put the Mini to sleep via the Menu. The fans should stop, at least they do with my M2 Mini.

 

[Sowelu]

The new Mini's handle it differently now. If you leave the Mac on idle it will eventually go into sleep mode by itself, then a deep sleep. It takes time for that to happen.

With Mini's prior to 2018 you could go into energy saver and select a timer for the screen and Mac. That was taken away with the 2018 Mini's. Prior to 2018 the Power LED would snore when it was in sleep mode. Now it just stays on solid, regardless.

The fans should run and that is normal because even in sleep mode the internals are still on.

Edit: I just checked and the fans do turn off when you manually put the M2 Mini to sleep. Download Mac Fan Control, set the fan speed to a constant 4000 rpm so you can hear and feel the fans. Then manually put the Mini to sleep via the Menu. The fans should stop, at least they do with my M2 Mini.

So this is interesting... I did what you suggested and set Macs Fan Control to a level that made the fan audible, then put the mini to sleep manually using the Apple Menu.

As soon as the display went to sleep, the fan noise stopped and appeared to shut off. So, I was like, okay, it is sleeping. But, I still felt a slight breeze in the back, so in total silence, I picked up the mini, put it up to my face and ear, and realized that the fan was still indeed running, just at the usual lowest and inaudible level. I let it sit for two hours, and same thing, it was still on while the mini was supposed to be sleeping.

So, triggering sleep mode reduced the fan to minimal (normal) speed, but it did not put the mini to sleep. I am wondering if this is an M2 mini thing, but it's going unnoticed because you can't hear the fan and the mini is usually cool to the touch. The question is, is this by design? Are Apple silicon minis never supposed to sleep? Or is this a bug, perhaps within Venture that needs to be sorted? Sometimes is takes time for Apple to update software/macOS for newly released hardware.

I will leave it in sleep mode overnight, and see if it does actually go into a proper deep sleep at some point with the fan shut off. But earlier tonight, it did not within a two hour span of time.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

So this is interesting... I did what you suggested and set Macs Fan Control to a level that made the fan audible, then put the mini to sleep manually using the Apple Menu.

As soon as the display went to sleep, the fan noise stopped and appeared to shut off. So, I was like, okay, it is sleeping. But, I still felt a slight breeze in the back, so in total silence, I picked up the mini, put it up to my face and ear, and realized that the fan was still indeed running, just at the usual lowest and inaudible level. I let it sit for two hours, and same thing, it was still on while the mini was supposed to be sleeping.

So, triggering sleep mode reduced the fan to minimal (normal) speed, but it did not put the mini to sleep. I am wondering if this is an M2 mini thing, but it's going unnoticed because you can't hear the fan and the mini is usually cool to the touch. The question is, is this by design? Are Apple silicon minis never supposed to sleep? Or is this a bug, perhaps within Venture that needs to be sorted? Sometimes is takes time for Apple to update software/macOS for newly released hardware.

I will leave it in sleep mode overnight, and see if it does actually go into a proper deep sleep at some point with the fan shut off. But earlier tonight, it did not within a two hour span of time.

Deep sleep appears to be different on the Mini’s from 2018 on. When a Mini had a spindle drive, it would put the Mini into a deep sleep state which was equivalent to Windows Hibernation mode. That would usually occur after about 6-8 hours of being idle. With Apple using SSD’s in the Mac Mini, deep sleep is not the same. The Mini could be in deep sleep mode but still receive updates or wakeup from the network.

If you go into systems settings, then go to energy saver, there‘s an option not to let the Mini wakeup from a network request but that will disable updates while in sleep mode.

I personally would not worry about the fan burning out even if it is running at the minimum speed. I have owned several Mini’s and I have yet to have the system fan, fail. The are nearly bulletproof. If it stays on even at minimum speed, it helps keep the temps in check.

 

[Sowelu]

Deep sleep appears to be different on the Mini’s from 2018 on. When a Mini had a spindle drive, it would put the Mini into a deep sleep state which was equivalent to Windows Hibernation mode. That would usually occur after about 6-8 hours of being idle. With Apple using SSD’s in the Mac Mini, deep sleep is not the same. The Mini could be in deep sleep mode but still receive updates or wakeup from the network.

If you go into systems settings, then go to energy saver, there‘s an option not to let the Mini wakeup from a network request but that will disable updates while in sleep mode.

I personally would not worry about the fan burning out even if it is running at the minimum speed. I have owned several Mini’s and I have yet to have the system fan, fail. The are nearly bulletproof. If it stays on even at minimum speed, it helps keep the temps in check.

Thank you for that info.

The fan was definitely going all night, and iStat Menus show CPU activity through the night as well. They've not updated the app to show M2 mini thermal sensor information yet, so I am curious to know if the fan speed is also the same all night, or if it ever shuts off (intermittently).

I can see this behavior on Apple silicon MacBooks as they either have no fans or the fans wouldn't ever turn on under such light load. But I just think it's odd that Apple would want a desktop Mac to run it's fans all night and or whenever it sleeps. Seems like a waste of wear and tear on the fan and a waste of energy usage when the fan isn't even needed for such tasks.

If my powerful M1 16" MacBook Pro never turns the fans on even under moderate load with actual usage, I think it's odd that Apple would force the M2 mini's fan to always run even while 'sleeping'. Still wrapping my head around that. 😵

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Thank you for that info.

The fan was definitely going all night, and iStat Menus show CPU activity through the night as well. They've not updated the app to show M2 mini thermal sensor information yet, so I am curious to know if the fan speed is also the same all night, or if it ever shuts off (intermittently).

I can see this behavior on Apple silicon MacBooks as they either have no fans or the fans wouldn't ever turn on under such light load. But I just think it's odd that Apple would want a desktop Mac to run it's fans all night and or whenever it sleeps. Seems like a waste of wear and tear on the fan and a waste of energy usage when the fan isn't even needed for such tasks.

If my powerful M1 16" MacBook Pro never turns the fans on even under moderate load with actual usage, I think it's odd that Apple would force the M2 mini's fan to always run even while 'sleeping'. Still wrapping my head around that. 😵

I wouldn't worry about the fans running at idle speed. I have yet to have a failed fan on any of my Mini's. I have a 2012 Mini still in service where the fan still works with no problem and that fan I always keep running at 3000 rpm. Don't forget that even in sleep mode the memory and SSD chips in the new mini's still have power to them even in a low state so you want to keep those chips as cool as possible. Heat kills components especially VRM's and SSD's.

The other reason why not to worry about the system fan running at idle speed because these motors have an insane life cycle and will last much longer before you decide to retire the Mini.

 

[DeltaMac]

The fan in the mini, since 2012 models, is a mag-lev design (spins in a magnetic field). No mechanical bearings, so "wear and tear" isn't really something that happens. The fan can certainly pick up dust from the air, but no bearings to wear out. I would assume that all minis since 2012 use the same maglev principle for the fan.

 

[Sowelu]

I wouldn't worry about the fans running at idle speed. I have yet to have a failed fan on any of my Mini's. I have a 2012 Mini still in service where the fan still works with no problem and that fan I always keep running at 3000 rpm. Don't forget that even in sleep mode the memory and SSD chips in the new mini's still have power to them even in a low state so you want to keep those chips as cool as possible. Heat kills components especially VRM's and SSD's.

The other reason why not to worry about the system fan running at idle speed because these motors have an insane life cycle and will last much longer before you decide to retire the Mini.

Wow, over 10 years, that's impressive! This is good to know, thank you.

I guess I just expected Apple to make the 'fan while sleep' thing variable and turn on and off as tasks are performed, but surely there is a reason for this always on decision.

I am getting used to the idea now.

 

[Sowelu]

The fan in the mini, since 2012 models, is a mag-lev design (spins in a magnetic field). No mechanical bearings, so "wear and tear" isn't really something that happens. The fan can certainly pick up dust from the air, but no bearings to wear out. I would assume that all minis since 2012 use the same maglev principle for the fan.

Wow, cool. I've never heard of this fan type, just did some Googling and it sounds pretty interesting. Good to know.

 

[Sowelu]

So something else I noticed...

I activated the option for the system time to be announced every hour, and when the M2 mini goes to sleep automatically on its own (after inactivity), you can still hear the time announcements and other system notifications even though the display is off. This remained true until the next morning when I started using the mini again.

However, when I select the Sleep option in the Apple Menu, I no longer hear the time announcement or notifications. So, even though the fan is still running in both scenarios, activating 'Sleep' manually seems to be the only way to go into an immediate (or any kind of) sleep mode on the M2 mini.

Since Bjanjo just updated iStat Menus to work with the M2 mini, I will see if at any point the fans ever shut off through the night, or after a couple of days of not using this Mac. At this point, I am just curious.

 

[Fishrrman]

My "usual suggestion"™ ...

The difference in power consumption between a Mini that's "sleeping" and one that's "awake, but idling" is minimal -- almost negligible in any practical sense.

Why not just put the display to sleep, and let the Mini "idle"?
Very easy to do (set up a "hot corner" for display sleep).

At night, power it down.
Reboot in the morning. Takes only a few seconds.

 

[Jonail]

Apple Silicon Mac devices just cannot sleep and it drives me crazy!
My M2 Mac Mini in the Sleep mode flashes my keyboard and mouse lights every 10-30 mins, connects to my bluetooth headphones, sometimes triggers a monitor so it turns on and off at once. Just hate this, on the edge to regret switching from Windows PC...

 

[ACD30"]

I don't see why Apple would retain the "Sleep" option in the menu bar, if they've supposedly removed traditional sleep altogether. Something tells me at this point that all the option does now is put the display to sleep.

Anyway, while I normally cannot live with a computer that cannot enter sleep mode, I've made an exception for the Apple Silicon Macs because most of them are virtually inaudible. Also, as another user mentioned, the difference between the power consumption of a sleeping M1/M2 Mac (if it could do so) and an idle M1/M2 Mac is negligible. Might as well have the computer be ready when it's needed.

 

[Sowelu]

I don't see why Apple would retain the "Sleep" option in the menu bar, if they've supposedly removed traditional sleep altogether. Something tells me at this point that all the option does now is put the display to sleep.

Anyway, while I normally cannot live with a computer that cannot enter sleep mode, I've made an exception for the Apple Silicon Macs because most of them are virtually inaudible. Also, as another user mentioned, the difference between the power consumption of a sleeping M1/M2 Mac (if it could do so) and an idle M1/M2 Mac is negligible. Might as well have the computer be ready when it's needed.

Ironically, I've found that hitting 'Sleep' in the Apple menu is the only thing that sort of puts my Mac mini to sleep. If you do not select that, the M2 Mac mini will just kill the display and the rest will remain awake indefinitely.

I have the time announce on the hour on all my Macs, and the only time this is silenced on my Mac mini is when I hit 'Sleep' in the Apple menu. I've found that when you select this, the M2 Mac mini turns off the display, silences notifications and system sounds, and goes into a light sleep. My iStat Menus CPU historical data shows that as more time passes, it goes into a deeper sleep, but always awake enough to process various iCloud updates and the like.

I too am fine with silicon Macs not having to go into deep sleep since most are silent and even fanless, but I just think it's odd when a Mac doesn't go into any kind of sleep mode on its own and that a user has to manually put their M2 Mac mini to sleep. If anything, they should behave like MacBooks when it comes to sleep.

 

[TheOtherAndy]

Apple Silicon Mac devices just cannot sleep and it drives me crazy!
My M2 Mac Mini in the Sleep mode flashes my keyboard and mouse lights every 10-30 mins, connects to my bluetooth headphones, sometimes triggers a monitor so it turns on and off at once. Just hate this, on the edge to regret switching from Windows PC...

Trust me, Windows devices are just as bad. Microsoft killed their sleep as well, and my Dell laptop spins its fans up to max every minute or two. A Lenovo I had before it would just overheat, cook its internals and die until it cooled off for an hour or two. And I'm talking about sitting on a tabletop, not in a bag or anything.

 

[ACD30"]

Ironically, I've found that hitting 'Sleep' in the Apple menu is the only thing that sort of puts my Mac mini to sleep. If you do not select that, the M2 Mac mini will just kill the display and the rest will remain awake indefinitely.

I have the time announce on the hour on all my Macs, and the only time this is silenced on my Mac mini is when I hit 'Sleep' in the Apple menu. I've found that when you select this, the M2 Mac mini turns off the display, silences notifications and system sounds, and goes into a light sleep. My iStat Menus CPU historical data shows that as more time passes, it goes into a deeper sleep, but always awake enough to process various iCloud updates and the like.

I too am fine with silicon Macs not having to go into deep sleep since most are silent and even fanless, but I just think it's odd when a Mac doesn't go into any kind of sleep mode on its own and that a user has to manually put their M2 Mac mini to sleep. If anything, they should behave like MacBooks when it comes to sleep.

Maybe light sleep doesn't appear any different on the surface? I tried the classic manual option, put my ear to the back of my Mac mini, and noticed the fan never spun down. If there is a light sleep, it's probably equivalent to Apple's "Power Nap", which predates Apple Silicon Macs and used to have an on/off toggle. If I search "Power Nap" in today's System Settings, I see a "Power Nap" tab, with the closest option being the existing "Wake for network access" toggle. By the way, that toggle has the same description that the Power Nap toggle had in prior versions of macOS.

Something tells me they don't bother to cut the fan because it's virtually silent and it doesn't draw much power. I wonder though if the fans in the Apple Silicon Mac Pro for example will spin down when the Mac is "sleeping."

 

[ferences]

If you want to know what's going on during the sleep of your Mac, you should get Sleep Aid for Mac App.

 

[Sowelu]

Trust me, Windows devices are just as bad. Microsoft killed their sleep as well, and my Dell laptop spins its fans up to max every minute or two. A Lenovo I had before it would just overheat, cook its internals and die until it cooled off for an hour or two. And I'm talking about sitting on a tabletop, not in a bag or anything.

Sleep works perfectly on all my MacBooks - they are never hot or even warm if left sleeping for hours or days (for those that have fans, you never hear them while sleeping). If updates are happening, you'd never know as battery life stays put for the most part when unplugged and sleeping. But, for some reason, they configured the sleep patterns and behaviors in their desktops differently.

 

[Sowelu]

Maybe light sleep doesn't appear any different on the surface? I tried the classic manual option, put my ear to the back of my Mac mini, and noticed the fan never spun down. If there is a light sleep, it's probably equivalent to Apple's "Power Nap", which predates Apple Silicon Macs and used to have an on/off toggle. If I search "Power Nap" in today's System Settings, I see a "Power Nap" tab, with the closest option being the existing "Wake for network access" toggle. By the way, that toggle has the same description that the Power Nap toggle had in prior versions of macOS.

Something tells me they don't bother to cut the fan because it's virtually silent and it doesn't draw much power. I wonder though if the fans in the Apple Silicon Mac Pro for example will spin down when the Mac is "sleeping."

When you select 'Sleep' in the Apple Menu, the system sounds are muted and the Mac mini is in partial sleep mode. The fans do eventually cut out after a few days (or week) in sleep mode (though I am yet to find a steady pattern with this). But yet, the fans are so quiet it's hard to tell unless you put your hands by the back of the mini. And, based on info from other more knowledgeable users on these forums, apparently these fans can spin for many, many years non-stop without issues or burn out (and use very little energy).

 

[saldin]

When you select 'Sleep' in the Apple Menu, the system sounds are muted and the Mac mini is in partial sleep mode. The fans do eventually cut out after a few days (or week) in sleep mode (though I am yet to find a steady pattern with this). But yet, the fans are so quiet it's hard to tell unless you put your hands by the back of the mini. And, based on info from other more knowledgeable users on these forums, apparently these fans can spin for many, many years non-stop without issues or burn out (and use very little energy).

I had that problem myself. Please take a look at my thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/m2-mac-mini-not-sleeping-at-all-and-wasting-power.2388545). For me, having iStat Menus made it much easier to see if my Mini was sleeping or not, and in hindsight, the fact that cups was listed on the pm assertions report should have been a red flag that prompted a further investigation.

 

[ACD30"]

When you select 'Sleep' in the Apple Menu, the system sounds are muted and the Mac mini is in partial sleep mode. The fans do eventually cut out after a few days (or week) in sleep mode (though I am yet to find a steady pattern with this). But yet, the fans are so quiet it's hard to tell unless you put your hands by the back of the mini. And, based on info from other more knowledgeable users on these forums, apparently these fans can spin for many, many years non-stop without issues or burn out (and use very little energy).

Right, this is what I'm suspecting is the case. I only wonder what is the case with Apple Silicon Macs whose fans are still somewhat audible from a distance. For example, while the M1/M2 Mac mini are virtually impossible to detect unless you put your ear beside it, other Macs (Mac Pro, Mac Studio) may have a more audible fan noise. I wonder if their firmware tells those Macs' to cut out the fan sooner. I am mildly interested in seeing what 'sleep' is like with the Apple Silicon Mac Pro as an example.

 

[kattam]

Interesting thread. I have a question to OP. Seems you have a similar setup as me with a mac mini M2 and Apple Studio Display.
While I have also noticed that my mac mini keeps the fan going I have also noticed that the Apple Studio Display keep the fan running even if mac mini is put to sleep and display is supposedly „off“. The fans of the display keep running. I can hear them if I put my ear on top on the display. When I plug off the Thunderbolt cable to my mac mini the fans of the display instantly turn off. Have you also noticed this behavior?

However it behaves differently with the MacBook Pro M1 I got from work. When I put the MacBook to sleep, the Display‘s fans also stop running even if the Thunderbolt cable is attached to the MacBook. I find this behavior odd and it annoys me quite a bit. Why is the sleep behavior different on MacBooks and mac minis and why does it also seem to have an impact on the Apple Studio Display? Both are M chip machines.

 

[DeltaMac]

One Mac has a rechargeable battery, the other does not have a battery as a primary power source.
Power settings would be different, based on the hardware needs of the battery.

 

[kattam]

One Mac has a rechargeable battery, the other does not have a battery as a primary power source.
Power settings would be different, based on the hardware needs of the battery.

Thanks. But why would the Display be running when it‘s supposed to be off?

 

[DeltaMac]

Display is not off... the screen is not lit, but the display is not actually off.
It is in a power-down mode of some kind, similar as your Mac, sleep or standby, whatever.
As your Mac is sleeping, the display would need to be in a mode that allows a quick power up when you press a key, or whatever method you use to wake up your Mac.
The point I was trying to suggest was that the display may be on a different power scheme, depending on the computer that is in use.
I am curious, however... If you sleep your Mac, and note that the display's fan continues to run--then return to the computer later (maybe 30 minutes, or an hour), while the computer is still sleeping. Listen for the fan (don't touch anything, just listen for the fan). Is the fan still running after that time period? If the fan has shut itself off, then that's just how it works in standby mode when connected to a desktop Mac, and continues to a low power mode (fan off) more quickly on a laptop.
I guess that the difference is when there is a rechargeable battery in the power chain. The external display would likely power down more quickly (so no fan in sleep)
I don't know, I'm just guessing about this - Ask a "genius" at an Apple store, maybe you will get lucky and talk to someone that knows the right answer.