Fact · Dictation on Mac
Apple describes the Energy Impact column in Activity Monitor on a Mac as a relative measure of an app's current energy use, where lower is better, rather than an absolute power figure.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“A relative measure of the current energy consumption of the app (lower is better).”
View energy consumption in Activity Monitor on Mac, Apple Support, n.d., Energy Impact entry in the Activity Monitor column list.
Open the original- What it measures
- The Energy pane lets you see how much energy each app uses and how much the whole Mac uses. A portable Mac also shows battery information there. The column is for comparing apps with each other.
- What it does not show
- Apple gives no units for Energy Impact and no measurement method, and column names change between macOS versions. It cannot tell you how many minutes of battery a dictation session costs.