USB Device Power Save Mode

Question

t_JM Author

Level 1

10 points

USB Device Power Save Mode

first off I’m new to ARM Macs.

I recently converted my entire family to Mac M4 Computers and iPhones.

Is there any way to have the Thunderbolt/USB ports enable power save mode when the Mac Mini is in standby/sleep mode?

My external raid device uses Type C connectors to share between devices that don’t support 10Gbps+ networking.

My Windows, Linux and Unix machines can be configured to allow USB devices to enter standby/sleep either through power settings aspm or BIOS policy override.

I don’t need to leave my 200watt NAS powering disk when nothing is accessing it.

Models effected:

Mac Mini M4 Pro 24GB

Mac Mini M4 16GB

Mac OS 15.+

Mac Studio with 10Gbps networking lets the NAS enter standby just like Windows, Linux and Unix machines but if I connect it via Type C the NAS is kept awake.

“My Mac Mini’s would have 10G Ethernet if BestBuy sold custom configurations.”

I’m still on the fence about keeping the Macs.

Macs are so locked down. It’s very frustrating!

My 8th gen i5 shouldn’t have more features than my 2025 Mac Studio M4 Max.

it’s disappointing…

NAS has two configurations.

Virtual & Metal via Proxmox/Truenas dual boot.

ASPM is configured for maximum power savings 0,-9 on PCIE-SCSI devices with two second init delay on rust and 0,1 on ssd states.

I can’t force the Macs to disconnect through NAS policy because for some reason they still query disk while the Mac is asleep.

I’m so flustered with Mac desktops. At least their phones mostly work.

Posted on Jul 2, 2025 11:09 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

85,296 points

Jul 2, 2025 5:47 PM in response to t_JM

Energy Saver or Power Settings in Apple menu -> System Settings has put hard drives to sleep as an option.

Alternatively you can learn how to use the Terminal command pmset:

https://www.dssw.co.uk/reference/pmset/

Understand this option can cause some third party USB devices to not be usable until restart.

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Answer 2

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,066 points

Jul 4, 2025 12:39 PM in response to t_JM

What ever you finally do I do not recommend you use the sleep feature on your Mac. Many users report drive and other issues using that feature(?). Just have your display turn off.

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Answer 3

t_JM Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 4, 2025 12:06 PM in response to a brody

I thank you for your help but seems truenas doesn’t support Apple’s implementation even with apple compatibility enabled.

I wish it just worked like Debian Ubuntu Arch and Windows.

I bought a USB 10Gig nic but it just makes the thing complain it doesn’t have enough power on USB and drops connection during transfers.

Steve Jobs must be rolling in his grave.

Apple products are supposed to just work and look beautiful doing it. Now they’re just spitting out products and not testing them for bugs.

The next problem I have is while it’s in Standby and I receive a phone call, when the call ends it turns off all my AV equipment.

I can be playing a game on PlayStation get a phone call then having the Mac turn off my TV, PlayStation and AV equipment when the call ends.

Turning off my phone and Apple Watch is the only fix I’ve found.

I’m hoping pmset has something I can tweak to fix it.

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