Apple has a MacBook for everyone. The Neo is a great value for anyone who wants a laptop for light tasks, while the Air is the next step up for tackling a wider range of computing needs. The Pro, on the other hand, is Apple's "premium" machine—or at least, its most capable. It comes with fans for active cooling, extra ports like HDMI and an SD card slot, and a mini-LED display with a high refresh rate. It's really the best choice for professionals who need extra processing power, or for users who want the Mac with the most features possible.

While Apple's latest MacBook Pros work great out of the box, you're leaving a ton of potential untapped by sticking with the default settings. If you have a MacBook Pro, consider these 10 hacks, tips, and tricks to help you use your laptop to its fullest. (I'd also encourage you to scan my list of hacks for MacBook Air users, as most of those hacks apply here as well, giving you extra opportunities to push your MacBook Pro to its limits.)

Use Low Power Mode as an all-day battery booster

Low Power Mode isn't just for iPhones anymore. Since 2021, MacBooks have shipped with the feature as well, reducing processing speeds to give you some extra juice when your battery starts to get low. But you shouldn't think of Low Power Mode as just a tool for making the most out of 20% battery. Instead, think of it as an all-day battery booster. As long as you don't need the power, you can use Low Power Mode any time your laptop leaves its charger.

To set your machine to switch to Low Power Mode automatically, open System Settings, then choose Battery. Under "Energy Mode," find "On battery," then click the drop-down menu and choose "Low Power Mode." Now, every time your Mac leaves the charger, it'll kick on Low Power Mode without you having to turn it on manually. You can undo this at any time from this menu, but if you head over to System Settings > Control Center > Battery, you can set "Show Energy Mode" to "Always" so you can access Low Power Mode from the battery icon in your menu bar at all times.

Use High Power Mode to boost performance

If you have the right "Pro" or "Max" MacBook Pro—meaning something like an M4 Pro or M1 Max—you have access to Low Power Mode's inverse: High Power Mode. Apple says High Power Mode pushes your MacBook Pro's fans further than they'd normally go, keeping its components cooler for longer during intense workloads, but the feature also ignores processes that take up system resources so your Mac can focus on the task at hand. If you need to push your MacBook Pro to its limits, you should definitely flip this feature on, especially when you know you need the extra boost.

This feature is only available on select Pro and Max MacBook Pros. That includes M1 Max and newer (16-inch), M3 Max and newer (14-inch), and M4 Pro and newer, in both 14- and 16-inch models. You'll find High Power Mode under the same settings menu as Low Power Mode, and you can choose to turn it on when you need it, or anytime your Mac is on battery or connected to power. If you use High Power Mode all the time, you will likely use up more juice than usual. In fact, Apple specifically recommends using a 96W power adapter when using the feature on the 14-inch M4 Pro and M5 Pro MacBook Pros, implying the feature is particularly taxing.

Manually control your fans for better active cooling

While High Power Mode is definitely a useful feature, it's a simple on/off switch, with no additional customization options. That leaves your fan speeds at the discretion of macOS. If you want total control over your Mac's cooling system, you'll need to download a third-party tool. There are a number of options out there to choose from, but I've used Macs Fan Control since the Intel days. My 2016 MacBook Pro (with touchbar, mind you) was really slowing down towards the end of its life, but by running the fans on max at all times, I was able to keep that i7 chip cool enough to stay somewhat speedy during working hours. While Apple's M-series Macs haven't quite hit that point yet, I have noticed my M1 iMac slowing down a bit, especially when running a host of tasks at once. I've pushed the fans every now and then to help keep the first-gen Apple silicon chip from overheating, and I imagine I'll have to do the same for my M3 Pro MacBook Pro when it starts to show its age (probably years from now).

Limit your display's dynamic range and frame rate to save battery

Apple's modern MacBook Pros have fantastic displays. They're high refresh, so motion is a buttery-smooth 120Hz, and they support HDR, particularly emphasizing the highlights in images and video. All that extra work could take a toll on battery, however, so if your main goal with your laptop is maximizing time between charges, consider "dumbing down" your display when you aren't plugged in.

Doing so is easy enough: If you're on Low Power Mode, your display automatically drops the refresh rate. However, you can manually adjust it from System Settings > Displays. Here, under "Refresh rate," choose "60 Hertz" rather than "ProMotion." You can also drop your MacBook's display from XDR (which can display a maximum of 1,600 nits) to the standard "Apple Display" option, which will lower the max brightness to SDR limits. (My M3 Pro Mac maxes out at 600 nits, but newer Macs can reach 1,000 nits here.) Alternatively, you can choose for your Mac to drop into SDR only when streaming video on battery power. You'll find this setting in System Settings > Battery > Options.

Use "Audio MIDI Setup" to maximize wired sound quality

Your MacBook Pro likely has a built-in DAC (digital-to-analog converter) that makes it possible to listen to lossless music—or, in other words, to hear your songs without compression. There are many debates about whether the average listener can tell the difference, and you definitely need the right headphones or speakers to notice. But if you do have the necessary equipment, and you subscribe to a streaming service that supports lossless like Apple Music, it's worth giving the added fidelity a try.

The thing is, your MacBook Pro might not be set up to deliver that output by default. You'll have to check through an app called "Audio MIDI Setup," which you'll find via Spotlight, or in your Utilities folder in Applications. From there, select your audio source from the list on the left, then click the menu next to "Format." You can boost the output up to 96 kHz on your MacBook alone. If you want to go higher, as some Apple Music tracks support up to 192 kHz, you'll need a dedicated DAC or audio interface.

Use iPhone Mirroring to keep your focus entirely on your Mac

Your iPhone is often a distraction when you're working on your Mac, but it's pretty difficult to go an entire workday without checking it. While this feature might not save you from getting sucked into Instagram, it may stop you from constantly picking up your iPhone while at your desk. "iPhone Mirroring" lets you view and control your iPhone's display directly on your Mac, so you can do things like catch up on messages, review notifications, and scroll through your apps without actually touching your iPhone itself. Check out Lifehacker's full guide to the feature for more.

Use your iPad as a second display

One of the best ways to turn your MacBook Pro into a true workhouse is to connect it to an external display, which instantly transforms your MacBook into a desktop computer. If you already have a monitor, great! If not, you'll need to pick one up, which can be costly—especially if you're looking for something optimized for MacBooks.

But if you happen to have an iPad, you can actually use it as a second display. Apple's Sidecar feature lets you treat an iPad as an extended display, which means you can move Mac windows over to your iPad's screen. Alternatively, you can use Universal Control to interact with your iPad's windows from your MacBook's keyboard and trackpad, if your workflow is better set up that way. It works both wirelessly and via a wired connection, and there are some limited touch controls available on the iPad side when displaying Mac windows. (Fun fact: macOS 27 will introduce full touch controls for Sidecar, so your iPad can essentially run a touch-based version of macOS for the first time.) Once set up, you can simply "push" your cursor from your Mac into the iPad to interact with it. It's one of those things that reminds you why it's so hard to leave the Apple ecosystem.

Turn your MacBook's display into a "ring" light

In response to how popular "ring" lights have become for video calls and short-form video production, Apple added a native ring light feature to the Mac. When enabled, macOS displays a light ring around the edges of your display, simulating the effect of a dedicated light. While this works across many different Mac models, it is likely most effective with MacBook Pros, since they alone have XDR displays with higher peak brightness.

To use this feature, open a video calling app and turn on your camera. (If you're just testing the feature out, open FaceTime, which activates the camera right away.) Here, click the FaceTime icon in the menu bar, then choose "Edge Light" from the drop-down menu. If you click the arrow alongside the feature, you'll find options for controlling the brightness of the light ring, as well as its color temperature.

Change these settings to "fix" your trackpad

I love my MacBook Pro, but I can't stand Apple's default cursor speed. Personally, I need it set to its fastest speed, though I imagine there are many opinions on this front. But speed isn't the only consideration here: Apple also sets the scrolling direction to "Natural" by default, which means "scrolling up" on the trackpad scrolls down on a page, and vice versa. It's supposed to replicate the experience of scrolling on a touchscreen device, and I'm quite used to it, but I know plenty of users who can't stand it.

Whether you're in one camp or another, "fix" your trackpad from System Settings > Trackpad. Here, play around with the different trackpad speeds to see which one feels best for you. Below that, adjust the click "feel" of the trackpad, which doesn't actually move, since it uses haptic vibrations rather than a physical button to work. (I find "Firm" the best setting, since I think it most accurately represents a physical click.) There are many settings here to explore, but if you're looking to reverse the scrolling defaults, click "Scroll & Zoom," then disable "Natural scrolling."

Make sure your MacBook Pro's power adapter supports fast charging

Your MacBook Pro likely supports fast charging, which means you can get up to 50% battery in about 30 minutes. If you find your supported MacBook Pro doesn't charge this fast, it's likely because you're not using a large enough power adapter. Apple has a list of the power adapters that support fast charging on each of its compatible MacBooks, and when it comes to MacBook Pros specifically, the options are limited. If your Pro is a 14-inch from 2021 or later, you'll need at least a 96W charger for fast charging. A 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021 or later, however, needs a 140W charger for fast charging. Anything less than that, and you'll be charging more slowly than you could be. Mind the cable you use too: You'll need a MagSafe 3 cable, or a USB-C charging cable.