5 Things to Know About Wake on Demand vs. Wake for Network Access on MacBook Air

Wake on Demand works on all MacBook Airs Both Intel and Apple Silicon models wake from sleep when a Bonjour service like AirDrop or file sharing receives a request, as long as the Mac is connected to power and the network.

Classic Wake-on-LAN is limited on Apple Silicon On M1, M2, and M3 MacBook Airs, Apple disabled the ability to wake from sleep via a magic packet. It only works in specific power states, not from deep sleep.

Battery life is the trade-off Apple chose battery gains over network wake convenience on M-series chips. If you need remote wake, an Intel MacBook Air is more reliable for that feature.

Wake for network access is hit or miss on M-series Even with the “Wake for network access” setting enabled, waking an Apple Silicon Air remotely after it’s been asleep for a while is unreliable. Leaving it plugged in helps but doesn’t guarantee it.

Test before relying on it If you depend on remote wake, test the feature yourself. It may not work as expected on an M-series MacBook Air, especially after extended sleep.