Apple released the eighth beta of macOS Monterey for registered developers yesterday evening. Now the preview of Apple's next Mac operating system has revealed the "High Power Mode". In January 2020, it was reported that Apple was working on a kind of "Pro Mode" that would allow MacBook users to get maximum performance by ignoring some power-saving restrictions. However, the feature was never released. Now there are new clues in the macOS Monterey code.
Originally, hints were already provided in macOS Catalina 10.15.3 discoveredBut a "Pro mode" has not yet been officially confirmed. The internal macOS code described this option as a way to run apps faster, but also warned of shorter battery life and increased fan noise. After the code for the feature disappeared at some point, it has now reappeared - in the current macOS Monterey Beta, as the US blog 9to5mac reported.
macOS Monterey Beta: Feature to enable more performance
Interestingly, Apple now refers to the feature as "High Power Mode." While "Low Power Mode" already exists and reduces the performance of MacBooks to save battery life, "High Power Mode" is designed to do the opposite by allowing users to run apps at full power even when the Mac is not plugged in. The newly discovered code, however, does not provide any details on how it works. 9to5mac believes it forces the CPU and GPU to run at their peak performance regardless of whether the Mac is plugged in or not. It could also activate the fans to prevent thermal throttling issues, although these are less common on Apple Silicon Macs anyway.
Will Apple introduce the new power mode?
As already mentioned, the feature is not officially available but is stored in the code of the current macOS Monterey Beta. It is currently unknown whether Apple will introduce the function and which Macs will actually get access to "High Power Mode". Since Apple is, according to various reports, planning to introduce new MacBook Pro models with the so-called M1X chip, "High Power Mode" could be intended exclusively for the devices. So the whole thing will certainly remain exciting.
