MacBooks appear to be getting ‘Pro Mode’ for higher performance
A beta version of macOS Catalina is hinting at the arrival of a Pro Mode, which users can turn on and off. The mode would provide higher performance for apps, but decrease battery life. For now, it would only work on the MacBook Pro 16″.
References to Pro mode are in the beta build of macOS Catalina 10.15.3, according to 9to5mac. The feature is related to macOS’s power management system and appears to be a setting that temporarily disables power management restrictions to allow for higher performance.
The text at the entries refers to a possible decrease in battery life and higher noise production from the fans, because they operate at a higher speed. That seems to indicate a temporary increase in clock speeds for the processor of the Mac system in question. The mode should then prevent power management from throttling the processor due to the higher temperatures.
The Pro Mode seems to remain active for a day at most, after which macOS switches it off anyway. According to 9to5mac, it appears to be a setting specifically developed for MacBook Pro models, especially models that have a particular cooling system, which Apple first introduced with the 16″ MacBook Pro last November. a larger heatsink than previous laptops and there are also larger fans with redesigned blades and larger holes in the housing to transport the warm air from the device.
Looking back: MacBook Pro 16″ video review