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Apple Mac power consumption runs from about 6 W at idle on a Mac Studio to 902 W at max load on a 28-core Mac Pro, so the model on your desk changes your bill more than most people expect. This guide sets Apple's published readings, thermal output in BTU/h and independent measurements side by side, so you can compare every line and estimate your own energy use in dollars.
Apple publishes two numbers for each desktop: idle and max. Idle is the wall draw with only Finder open under default power management settings, and max is the draw while a compute-intensive test keeps the processor fully loaded. Across the Apple silicon generations, idle stays low while max climbs with the chip tier, which is why a Mac Studio can idle at 6 W yet reach 385 W with an M5 Ultra.
| Mac line | Idle range (W) | Max range (W) | Idle thermal output range (BTU/h) | Max thermal output range (BTU/h) | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac Studio | 6 to 13 | 115 to 385 | 20 to 44 | 392 to 1314 | Compact desktop with the widest idle-to-max gap |
| iMac | 33 to 74 | 68 to 295 | 113 to 252 | 232 to 1007 | All-in-one with a built-in display |
| Mac Pro | 43 to 302 | 205 to 902 | 147 to 1030 | 742 to 3076 | Workstation, highest wall draw on the list |
Apple power consumption on these desktop computers was measured from the wall; every row below is such a reading, so it already includes power supply losses. The measured values cover desktop computers only, and laptop figures come later. Treat the idle figure as what a Mac costs while it sits waiting for you, and the max figure as the ceiling your circuit and cooling must handle.
The all-in-one family is where the Intel to Apple silicon change shows most clearly, because the display adds a fixed load that older chips did little to offset. Compare the iMac rows, including the storage and memory each configuration carries, to see how a 2020 Intel machine at 295 W max compares with a 2024 model at 105 W.
| Model | Display | CPU and memory | Idle power consumption (W) | Max power consumption (W) | Idle thermal output (BTU/h) | Max thermal output (BTU/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iMac (24-inch, 2024, Four ports) | Retina 4.5K display | M4 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, 32GB unified memory, 2TB SSD | 46 | 105 | 157 | 358 |
| iMac (24-inch, 2023, Two ports) | Retina 4.5K display | M3 8-core CPU, 8GB unified memory, 256GB SSD | 40 | 70 | 136 | 239 |
| iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) | Retina 4.5K display | M1 8-core CPU, 16GB unified memory, 1TB SSD | 43 | 80 | 147 | 274 |
| iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) | Retina 5K display | 10-core Intel Core i9 CPU, AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT graphics | 74 | 295 | 252 | 1007 |
| iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) | Retina 4K display | 6-core Intel Core i7 CPU, Radeon Pro Vega 20 graphics | 47 | 166 | 161 | 568 |
| iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) | 21.5-inch display | Dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, 256GB SSD | 33 | 74 | 113 | 253 |
| iMac (27-inch, Late 2015) | 27-inch display | Quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU, 3TB Fusion Drive | 63 | 240 | 215 | 819 |
| iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014) | 21.5-inch display | Dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, integrated graphics | 33 | 68 | 113 | 232 |
A 27-inch Retina 5K display with a 10-core Intel Core i9 sits at 74 W doing nothing, nearly 1.6 times the 46 W idle of the newest four-port model. The thermal output follows the same ratio because heat in BTU/h is simply watts multiplied by a constant.
Thermal output tells you how much heat a Mac dumps into the room. Apple's tables use one conversion for every row, so you can check any figure yourself:
$$\text{BTU/h} = \text{W} \times 3.412$$For example, 46 W becomes about 157 BTU/h, matching the iMac table above. Use thermal output when you size cooling for a small office or a rack of machines. A few quick reference points:
The Mac Studio has the most dramatic spread of any line. Its idle draw barely moves from one generation to the next, yet the max column shows what each Max and Ultra tier pulls under sustained load. It is the best of the Apple computers for comparing electricity usage against raw performance. You can also check how many watts does an electric stove use.
| Model | Chip and CPU | Idle power consumption (W) | Max power consumption (W) | Idle thermal output (BTU/h) | Max thermal output (BTU/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac Studio (M5 Ultra) | 36-core CPU | 9 | 385 | 31 | 1314 |
| Mac Studio (M5 Max) | 18-core CPU | 7 | 200 | 24 | 682 |
| Mac Studio (2025, M4 Max) | 14-core CPU | 6 | 145 | 20 | 495 |
| Mac Studio (2025, M3 Ultra) | 32-core CPU | 9 | 270 | 31 | 921 |
| Mac Studio (2023, M2 Ultra) | 24-core CPU | 10 | 295 | 34 | 1007 |
| Mac Studio (2022, M1 Max) | 10-core CPU | 11 | 115 | 38 | 392 |
| Mac Studio (2022, M1 Ultra) | 20-core CPU | 13 | 215 | 44 | 734 |
An M4 Max at 145 W max uses the same wall power as the 2023 M2 Max but gives more headroom, while the M5 Ultra at 385 W is the highest Mac Studio reading published so far.
The tower shows the biggest historical swing of any of these Mac computers. The 2019 Intel configurations idle at 101 W to 302 W, a draw that the 2023 Apple silicon Mac Pro cuts to 49 W while still topping out at 330 W.
| Model | Processor | Idle power consumption (W) | Max power consumption (W) | Idle thermal output (BTU/h) | Max thermal output (BTU/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac Pro (2023) | M2 Ultra 24-core CPU, 76-core GPU | 49 | 330 | 167 | 1126 |
| Mac Pro (2023) | M2 Ultra 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU | 47 | 300 | 160 | 1024 |
| Mac Pro (2019) | 28-core Intel Xeon W CPU, two Radeon Pro Vega II Duo modules | 302 | 902 | 1030 | 3076 |
| Mac Pro (2019) | 8-core Intel Xeon W CPU, Radeon Pro 580X module | 101 | 430 | 345 | 1467 |
| Mac Pro (Late 2013) | 6-core Intel Xeon CPU, dual AMD FirePro D500 | 43 | 238 | 147 | 812 |
| Mac Pro (Mid 2010) | 12-core Intel Xeon CPU, ATI Radeon HD 5770 | 145 | 285 | 494 | 972 |
A fully loaded 2019 model at 902 W max needs nearly a full household 15 A circuit share on its own, so check the outlet before you add monitors or a second machine to the same strip.
Apple's pages for portables and the compact desktop are not part of the tables above, so the next best reference is the Power Consumption Database, a user maintained list of electricity readings submitted with a source such as Apple documentation or a review site. Treat these measurements as community data rather than lab results. Compare with ice crusher power consumption.
| Model | Normal (W) | Standby (W) | Max (W) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac Studio (M2 Ultra) | 20.0 | 0.1 | 118 |
| Mac Studio (M1 Ultra) | 18.6 | 1.2 | 109 |
| Mac mini (M4 Pro, 12-core) | 11.9 | 0.1 | 79 |
| Mac mini (M2 Pro, 12-core) | 5.4 | 0.2 | 56 |
| Mac mini (M2) | 4.2 | 0.2 | 44 |
| MacBook Pro 16-inch (M1 Pro) | 8.0 | 0.7 | 34 |
| MacBook Air 13-inch (2022, M2) | 3.1 | 0.1 | not listed |
The Mac mini rows show how a small desktop can idle near 4 W, while a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air spends most of its life far under its charger rating. Among portable computers, standby readings of 0.1 W to 1.2 W mean a sleeping Mac costs almost nothing.
Published figures describe a reference configuration, so use Activity Monitor to see what your own Mac does. Open the Energy pane to view overall energy consumption and the draw of each app, so you can spot the apps that keep fans spinning. These columns matter most: Related: how much energy does a voip phone use.
On a Mac laptop the bottom of the window also shows battery charge, time on AC power while plugged in, and the time remaining when unplugged.
Knowing the test conditions keeps you from over-reading the numbers. The same rules apply to every Apple table:
Turn watts into a yearly bill with a simple duty cycle: 3 hours at max load and 9 hours at idle each day, at $0.164 per kWh. The daily total in kilowatt-hours is the sum of each state's watts times its hours, divided by 1,000.
$$\text{kWh per day} = \frac{(3 \times W_{max}) + (9 \times W_{idle})}{1000}$$For the 2025 M4 Max Mac Studio, that is (3 × 145 + 9 × 6) ÷ 1,000 = 0.489 kWh per day, or 178.5 kWh and $29.27 over a year. The 2020 27-inch iMac running the same schedule uses 566.1 kWh and costs $92.84.
| Model | Idle (W) | Max (W) | Daily kWh | Annual kWh | Annual electricity cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac Studio (2025, M4 Max) | 6 | 145 | 0.489 | 178.5 | $29.27 |
| iMac (24-inch, 2024, Four ports) | 46 | 105 | 0.729 | 266.1 | $43.64 |
| iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) | 74 | 295 | 1.551 | 566.1 | $92.84 |
| Mac Pro (2023, 76-core GPU) | 49 | 330 | 1.431 | 522.3 | $85.66 |
| Mac Pro (2019, 28-core) | 302 | 902 | 5.424 | 1,979.8 | $324.68 |
Your own pattern will differ, so replace the hours and the rate with your own. An office Mac that sleeps overnight will land well below these totals, while one running renders around the clock will exceed them.