Putting Your MacBook To Sleep Faster

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Upgrading my 2 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook to 4 GB of RAM several years back speeded it up nicely in most regards, and I’m convinced that 4 GB should be the minimum memory configuration for any Mac user who does more than light-duty stuff on their computer. However, the downside to having more RAM is that it can result in tedius lags – sometimes as long as 20 or 30 seconds – in putting the machine to sleep, and wake-up is more sluggish as well.

That’s because since 2005, OS X’s default “safe sleep” mode has been to write the entire memory content to your hard disk or SSD, and it’s especially tiresome if you have a slow HDD like the one in my MacBook. I’ve been pondering another upgrade to 8GB while RAM prices are low, but am concerned that go-to-sleep time will get really ridiculous. However, there are happily workarounds.

If your laptop is almost always plugged into a wall socket like my workhorse MacBook is, and you rarely run the battery low, this one-line Terminal hack courtesy of LifeHacker can restore the rapid sleep/wake-up cycles we used to expect from Apple laptops:

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

If your usage profile changes and you deem it prudent to reactivate safe sleep, running the same command substituting a “3” instead of a “0” at the end will do the trick – ergo:

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3

You can check it out at:
http://lifehacker.com/367911/speed-up-sleep-mode-on-macbooks

A more elegant, albeit not free, solution is Patrick Stein’s $3.99 SmartSleep utility that offers five different sleep modes to chose from:
• system default:
– sleep & hibernate – machine sleeps and hibernates. (default)
– sleep – machine will go to sleep only (saves state in RAM only, battery keeps RAM contents)
– hibernate only – machine will go to hibernate only. (saves state on disk, battery will not be used)
• smart sleep (if your Mac has a battery )
• sleep only
• hibernate only
• sleep and hibernate

Note that just sleep means that while the notebook will go to sleep fast, you lose the ability to change the battery as the battery is needed to keep the contents of the memory (RAM) alive. Just sleep and hibernate will wake the computer fast, but sleeping will take ages as the contents of the memory are saved to disk before entering the sleep.

SmartSleep lets you select each sleep state, and the new SmartSleep state lets your notebook just sleep while the battery has a high level of charge. If the battery level drops below a certain point (default is less then 20% or 20 minutes) it will switch to sleep and hibernate. Consequently you get the best of both worlds and the lifetime of your SSD (if you have one) will be expanded since your MacBook won’t write a hibernate file as often.

SmartSleep Features
•QuickSleep feature New – sleep your Mac immediately the way you want.
•SmartSleep Menu Item New – figure out the current Sleep State and QuickSleep.
•Insomnia feature in Menu Item New to keep your Mac awake.
•Timed insomnia. Keep your Mac awake only for a time.
•Five different sleep modes to chose from:
– system default
– smart sleep (if your Mac has a battery )
– sleep only
– hibernate only
– sleep and hibernate
•Does not need admin privileges
•Runs as a application not a preference pane
•Beeps when closing the lid, so you don’t forget that you have insomnia enabled (plugin).

System requirements:
Mac OS X 10.6 or later

$3.99

For more information, visit:
http://www.jinx.de/SmartSleep.html

Mac App Store:
http://bit.ly/rxiNTG

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