In the past, macOS Beta has found clues to “Pro Mode” that temporarily boosts performance by overriding the power-saving limits of the MacBook series. And now, with the latest beta version of the upcoming macOS Monterey, it’s possible that a similar feature called “Hig Power Mode” is under development.
The first “Pro Mode” clue was found in January 2020 in macOS Catalina 10.15.3 Beta. It said, “App speed will increase, but battery life will be shorter and fan noise may increase” and “The fan speed limit will be overridden.” However, it was not actually installed in the official version of macOS Catalina, and all the descriptions were deleted even in the beta version of macOS Monterey.
However, 9to5Mac found a description about the added “high power mode” in macOS Monterey Beta 8 for developers delivered on the 28th. Already discovered “low power mode”, that is, the ability to extend battery life instead of limiting screen brightness and some features, but “high power mode” is the opposite, with the MacBook plugged into power. It is expected that the app can run at full performance even when it is not available.
It’s still unclear exactly how “high power mode” works, but it forces the CPU and GPU to peak performance (maximum power supply, regardless of whether the Mac is connected to a power source. It is presumed that it will operate with the performance in the ready state). Also, rarely on Apple Silicon Macs, it seems that the fan can be turned on to prevent thermal throttling (performance suppression to protect the hardware).
At the time of writing, it’s unclear if Apple plans to introduce “high power mode” on all MacBooks or only on certain models. There are rumors that a new MacBook Pro equipped with the enhanced version of the M1 chip “M1X” will be announced soon, and it seems that it may become a function exclusively for high-performance Macs in the future.
From the recent macOS Monterey beta, the resolution of the built-in display, which seems to be for the new MacBook Pro, was also discovered. Apple may continue to uncover unreleased product or new feature tips from Monterey’s beta.