3 ms·

I'd love to know about this as well. Reports I found around the web are from the pre GPU driver era.

• nextos 4y ago
  It seems like the parent post was asking something slightly different, but regarding energy usage Linux can get really close to macOS on m1 machines. I have tested this myself quite extensively. The keyword is can. No distribution ships with most optimizations enabled by default. Powertop can be a good starting point to see what you need to turn on. If you run stock settings, power usage is going to be disappointing. Powersaving is not turned on by default because lots of hardware, e.g. some audio cards and keyboards, misbehave on powersaving states. macOS has the advantage of dealing with tightly controlled hardware, and might use powersaving blacklists for peripherals. The distinguishing feature of Macs in terms of powersaving is IMHO Safari, which is an energy efficiency marvel, especially if you play videos. I don't play videos often, so Firefox is not that bad for me. Aside from this, my Linux desktop has a lot less services than macOS, so it compensates the difference. Someone should start a serious Firefox energy saving initiative. By simply tweaking compilation parameters, I am sure some significant savings can be accomplished.
  • mikae1 4y ago
    > It seems like the parent post was asking something slightly different, but regarding energy usage Linux can get really close to macOS on m1 machines. I have tested this myself quite extensively. The keyword is can. No distribution ships with most optimizations enabled by default. Powertop can be a good starting point to see what you need to turn on. If you run stock settings, power usage is going to be disappointing. Thanks! Perhaps you should write a guide with your findings and optimizations. It's sorely missing.