This is a bit of a hot topic at the moment. 9to5Mac has reported in the 10.15.3 Beta there are references to a “PROMODE” option in the OS; pushing the system to its thermal limits at the cost of battery life and quiet fan noise. In the example given it seems to relate to the opposite functionality most have been requesting for a long while.
Lots of professionals and hobbyists alike have been attempting to leverage the settings or with 3rd party software augment the power management capabilities of macOS and iOS.
Common ways of doing this are by:
- Selectively Enabling Low Data Mode
- Selectively Limiting Background Processes or Updates
- Selectively Limiting GPS & Related Location-Sharing Data
- Manually Quitting Applications on iOS (Please for the love of all that is holy don’t do this unless the application needs your intervention).
- Deploying Software to throttle data usage on WiFi or Cellular connections or CPU capabilities.
Examples of this amazing software are:
These applications allow more fine control over the system and application’s behavior given the computing environment. In the past I used some utility long ago on Windows that created profiles based on connected network to perform similar functions but it was never as good as these (shocking, I know).
Suffice to say – people have been rolling their own “Low Power Mode” for awhile.
Introduced in iOS 9, Low Power Mode allows a user to flip a switch that forces the device to use a mix of extreme power-saving measures (throttling down CPU performance, temporarily disabling push mail services, reducing network speed, halting background app refresh & downloads, reducing motion & brightness settings) to extend the available battery life of the device.
Now to me, that’s a small price when I want sustained battery life. I’m more than happy to enable it but its ONLY available on iOS – not macOS, not iPadOS; just iOS.
It’s unfortunate because its easily one of the main features I tell my users when they get their iOS device (because lets be honest; who hasn’t had a last minute adventure and needed every drop of power out of their phone) but when deploying iPadOS or macOS devices – its glaringly gone.
It’s one of those incredibly Apple-like solutions in the ranks of AirPlay or Continuity that remains missing from the lineup that simply shouldn’t be and users are worse off everyday they don’t have it.
jeremyxmentzell 