Hi,
Recently got a i7/256/8gb 2018 Mac mini. It's my first Mac after years of PC use (and working in Windows IT Support). Slowly getting used to it, and so far I am liking it, and like the way it just seems to work / integrate with my iPhone (messages, photos etc).
I wanted to check power usage (especially in sleep mode as where I have it I can't reach the power button on the back very well) so plugged it into my TP-Link Smart plug that also has an energy monitor. The app that control the plug just shows current usage and an average for the last 7 and 30 days, but (with the help of a reverse engineering blog post on the plug) I wrote a (windows) powershell script to "poll" the plug every 1 min, and output the power usage to a CSV file.
In sleep mode the Mac used about 1W (compared to about 0 - 0.5W when totally switched off), but I noticed that every few hours the Mac would "wake up", and use about 10W for about 30 mins, and then "sleep" again. I had seen / read about Power Nap, so assumed this was the Mac waking for that, so I turned it off, but it seems that the Mac still "wakes" every few hours, but for only about a minute.
Below is a chart showing this. To the left of the big spike (me using the Mac), you can see it sleeping and then waking for 30 mins at a time every few hours, and to the right you can see it waking for about a minute every few hours.
![upload_2019-1-29_20-47-29.png]( "upload_2019-1-29_20-47-29.png")
Couple of thoughts / questions.
I have the Mac set to "Turn screen off" after 10 mins, and if I have been using the Mac and leave it, it does seem to sleep after 10 mins (the energy usage drops to 1W), so not sure why its staying awake for 30 mins when it's in one of it's auto wake cycles.
I wonder why it's still spiking every few hours with power nap off. I do have "Wake for Network Access" enabled, so wonder if that's anything to do with it (not that I have anything trying to connect, but wonder if it's announcing itself every few hours).
Anyway, these spikes are only costing fractions of a penny, but thought the chart / info may be of interest to someone.
Recently got a i7/256/8gb 2018 Mac mini. It's my first Mac after years of PC use (and working in Windows IT Support). Slowly getting used to it, and so far I am liking it, and like the way it just seems to work / integrate with my iPhone (messages, photos etc).
I wanted to check power usage (especially in sleep mode as where I have it I can't reach the power button on the back very well) so plugged it into my TP-Link Smart plug that also has an energy monitor. The app that control the plug just shows current usage and an average for the last 7 and 30 days, but (with the help of a reverse engineering blog post on the plug) I wrote a (windows) powershell script to "poll" the plug every 1 min, and output the power usage to a CSV file.
In sleep mode the Mac used about 1W (compared to about 0 - 0.5W when totally switched off), but I noticed that every few hours the Mac would "wake up", and use about 10W for about 30 mins, and then "sleep" again. I had seen / read about Power Nap, so assumed this was the Mac waking for that, so I turned it off, but it seems that the Mac still "wakes" every few hours, but for only about a minute.
Below is a chart showing this. To the left of the big spike (me using the Mac), you can see it sleeping and then waking for 30 mins at a time every few hours, and to the right you can see it waking for about a minute every few hours.
Couple of thoughts / questions.
I have the Mac set to "Turn screen off" after 10 mins, and if I have been using the Mac and leave it, it does seem to sleep after 10 mins (the energy usage drops to 1W), so not sure why its staying awake for 30 mins when it's in one of it's auto wake cycles.
I wonder why it's still spiking every few hours with power nap off. I do have "Wake for Network Access" enabled, so wonder if that's anything to do with it (not that I have anything trying to connect, but wonder if it's announcing itself every few hours).
Anyway, these spikes are only costing fractions of a penny, but thought the chart / info may be of interest to someone.
