Why don't laptops have proper low power states where useful stuff like downloads can run during sleep/with the lid closed? - eviltoast

Basically every laptop I’ve owned I’ve had to disable sleep when the lid is closed as I often leave them plugged in and want background tasks like downloads or updates to be able to run while I’m not using the machine. However, I don’t think PC laptops have a way to switch to a super low power state and just run background tasks like downloads, alarms and notifications or running scheduled tasks without just being left on in regular power mode. Why is this not just a default feature of laptops, given that phones and tablets have been doing this kind of thing for the last decade or more?

Does anyone know if there are plans to make power management for laptops allow for running certain tasks in Windows or Linux in the future? My smug Apple using friend tells me his Macbook already does this, but is the lack of this feature on PCs software related or something innate to x86 vs ARM architecture?

  • MrFlamey@lemmy.worldOP
    65·
    1 year ago

    Fair enough, but I hope it would be something that is able to be enabled or disabled by the user and easily configured to avoid using too much power or data. I was just unsure of why PC laptops seemed to apparently lack the ability to sip power when not in heavy active use, such as when the lid is closed. It’s not the electricity bill, but the battery running out when not on AC power, or the laptop getting hot and generally being inefficient when it’s supposed to be a mobile device that bothers me about just having it keep working as normal with the lid closed.

    • Blizzard@lemmy.zipEnglish
      5·
      1 year ago

      It’s not the electricity bill, but the battery running out when not on AC power, or the laptop getting hot

      Ok, that makes sense

      I hope it would be something that is able to be enabled or disabled by the user and easily configured

      Options (choice) is always good and this would be the only scenario I’d approve. But if you’re referring to Windows, let me just predict the future: Microsoft will first introduce this advertising it as a feature and it will be enabled by default with possibly an option to disable it, and then, after some time they will take that option away because “they know better”.

      As for Linux, I’m still too n00b to have a say about it but I’m pretty sure there’s a way to keep it working in low energy consumption mode if you configure it that way (allow only the required processes to run, no need for GUI, etc.).