Shutdown, or not?

[circatee]

Seen a few conversations about this. Alas, I have my own question.
If traveling back and forth to work, from home with a MacBook, running the latest OS, is it worth it to shutdown the MacBook, or just use Sleep mode?

PS: Windows user, slowly moving over to macOS. Hence, the question.

 

[flowrider]

You'll get many answers (opinions) on this. If it were me, I'd shut it down.

Lou

 

[jz0309]

I shut my iMac down when I’m away from home for 2 or more days, I do not recall ever shutting down any of my MacBooks when traveling…, I don’t see the need for it but do as you please.

 

[chabig]

I never shut down my portable Macs.

 

[Gregg2]

I don’t have a laptop, but when traveling with my iPad, I shut it down. I’ve found that in jostling around, it sometimes wakes up and drains the battery.

 

[circatee]

...thanks for the feedback, thus far.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I grew up with Windows, moved to Mac OS for my primary computing in 2015. Since then I've always just closed the lid to my MBA/Ps and or if in clamshell mode, COMMAND + SHIFT + Q and let them sleep. Granted, they benefit from a reboot now and then, sure doesn't hurt (once or twice a month depending on how heavily I'm using the thing). But besides that, I've been sleeping them.

 

[Apple_Robert]

There is nothing wrong with leaving the Mac on 24/7. I leave all of my Macs running.

 

[ericwn]

My Macs run for many days with the occasional sleep in between. Only **** down to restart for troubleshooting or updates where required.

 

[unixfool]

I read that it's better to hibernate your Macbook, as it considers hibernation as downtime and does tasks such as indexing and other maintenance (which does not consume large amounts of power), so I've been leaving it plugged in. I occasionally run on battery, too.

I've also started using AlDente, and have it set to a max charge of 80%, which should keep the battery's capacity capability healthy.

 

[unrigestered]

i shut my 8GB MBA down every two weeks or so to keep memory management tidy, otherwise i just close the lid to make it sleep when i'm done with it.

my 16GB machine is usually seeing a restart only during an OS update, or when i know that i won't be using it for a while (which has happened once or maybe twice yet since i got it last November or December)

as has been mentioned before, keeping your system on or in sleep mode helps doing it's maintenance tasks, but i also think that it's good to give it a cold start every once in a while

 

[kaardowiq]

Shutting down only on vacation (and unplugging the cable because of lightnings). Except of this, only rebooting for updates or kernel extensions that require this.

 

[Micky Do]

Shutdown the first Mac I owned every night. HDD and power supply failed after less than five years.…. Probably not helped by the fluctuating, unreliable mains supply where I was at.

Mains supply to the neighbourhood was upgraded soon after I got my second Mac early 2009. I followed the recommendation in the handbook (remember those!) that came with it, and only shut down if I was not going to be using the computer for more than a few days. After more than 13 years use, with the original HDD, I have just replaced it…. Was running fine until a couple or three months ago, but recently got a bit noisy and slow, as did my first computer before it failed, so reckoned it was time to get a new one.

Better to leave your Mac on unless you are not going to use it for several days.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Since we are now giving personal experience - Here Gos:

I have been using Macintoshes since the Mac Plus in 1986. I'm currently on a loaded NcMP 7,1. My previous machine was a loaded cMP 5,1 that I used from 2013 to 2020. In that time I have lived in three states. In those years of Mac use I have only had one machine go down, I replaced the PS and was up and running again. That machine was a a Power Mac from 2005.

I shut down my Mac EVERY night and restart EVERY morning.

Lou

 

[Gregg2]

Shutdown the first Mac I owned every night. HDD and power supply failed after less than five years.…. Probably not helped by the fluctuating, unreliable mains supply where I was at.

Better to leave your Mac on unless you are not going to use it for several days.

I have always shut down almost every night. I've never had a power supply failure. I keep my Macs for 8 or 9 years, usually replacing them when the internet renders Safari unusable because sites I visit will no longer load.

 

[adrianlondon]

I shut down at night, but there's no real reason to apart from the fact I just like things shut down overnight! I even turn my phone off overnight. That often kicks off a debate (but not here, this is the wrong thread).

I would otherwise close/re-open Firefox anyway, as I have it configured to delete all non-whitelisted cookies on restart, so I like to do that once a day. Despite having Macs for years, and being a Unix admin in a previous life, I still like rebooting things.

 

[ericwn]

^^^^Since we are now giving personal experience - Here Gos:

I have been using Macintoshes since the Mac Plus in 1986. I'm currently on a loaded NcMP 7,1. My previous machine was a loaded cMP 5,1 that I used from 2013 to 2020. In that time I have lived in three states. In those years of Mac use I have only had one machine go down, I replaced the PS and was up and running again. That machine was a a Power Mac from 2005.

I shut down my Mac EVERY night and restart EVERY morning.

Lou

Sorry for my confusion but what exactly is a NcMP and a cMP?

 

[Weaselboy]

Sorry for my confusion but what exactly is a NcMP and a cMP?

New Classic Mac Pro and Classic Mac Pro.

 

[Fishrrman]

I've been using Macs since 1987.

I ALWAYS shut down my Macs at night. I can count the number of times they've been left running on my fingers (due to long file downloads).

I will also shut them down during the day if I'm going to be away for a while. For example, I'll shut down my desktop Mini if I'm going to be out of the house for a few hours -- I don't like leaving much of "anything electrical" running when I'm not there (exceptions for things like refrigerator and furnace).

I'll leave my MacBook Pro sleeping during the day, but again, WILL shut it down each and every night.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Those of you that shut down every night, doesn't it bother you that it takes a few minutes every day to start up? I can't imagine not having that instant startup when I come back to the computer in the morning. I imagine it's just a few minutes but a few minutes + 10-15 years... <cough> .

 

[unrigestered]

i rarely shut them down, but it takes my units around 15s from opening the lid until the login screen appears on cold starts

 

[adrianlondon]

Those of you that shut down every night, doesn't it bother you that it takes a few minutes every day to start up? I can't imagine not having that instant startup when I come back to the computer in the morning. I imagine it's just a few minutes but a few minutes + 10-15 years... <cough> .

Open laptop, quickly clean/wipe the display before the login prompt appears (as it's nice to clean a black screen), login, quickly wipe/clean keyboard, go make coffee.

As for it wasting a few minutes ... you may not know this, but it's not compulsory to just sit and watch the thing boot up. One can do other stuff while that happens 😁

On boot, Mail and Firefox open zoomed into their own desktops.

Two reasons for restarting Firefox ... first, it clears all cookies on close and second it logs Bitwarden out. I don't like the thought of it being left logged in even if someone can't unlock the laptop to use it.

 

[circatee]

Side note: I just learned about having certain apps launch when the unit starts.
Tempted to start using this. Still on the fence about sleep vs. shutdown. For now, I will use the Sleep automation process (22:00 - 07:00), and probably add apps to launch on wake, too...

 

[dmr727]

I only shut down my PC desktop - my Macbook Air stays on unless a reboot is needed for an update, etc...

 

[Micky Do]

I've been using Macs since 1987.

I ALWAYS shut down my Macs at night. I can count the number of times they've been left running on my fingers (due to long file downloads).

I will also shut them down during the day if I'm going to be away for a while. For example, I'll shut down my desktop Mini if I'm going to be out of the house for a few hours -- I don't like leaving much of "anything electrical" running when I'm not there (exceptions for things like refrigerator and furnace).

I'll leave my MacBook Pro sleeping during the day, but again, WILL shut it down each and every night.

Welcome to days of yore!

I first used Macs in 1985. The norm back then was to shut down any computer when we finished using it, and switched off or unplugged at the socket. That remained standard practice for many years, so when I bought my first Mac Mini in 2005, I continued to do the same. However, it had to be left off for an increasingly long amount of time before it would successfully boot again. Then I noticed in the handbook Apple advised it should be put to sleep if you were going to be away less than a few days, so I started leaving it on.

The same advice was given in the handbook for my second Mac Mini, the early 2009 iteration.

Nowadays many, if not most, people leave computers (and other appliances) on 24/7. With sleep modes available, power consumption is minimal, and it is reckoned to reduce wear and tear from starting up. Surge protection is available to prevent damage to vulnerable electronics in the event of unstable mains supply.

Since 2009 I have used a voltage regulated UPS with my Mac Mini. The one I have now is monitored by the computer, which I have set to shut down if the power is out longer than 10 minutes.