On the plane to Tokyo, he wrote a quick note in his phone: “Mac sleep downloads: Apple's own stuff = yes with Power Nap. Third-party = no. Lid closed = sometimes. Dim screen + prevent sleep = always yes.”
Then, heart pounding, he clicked from the Apple menu.
As he zipped his bag, he realized the real answer wasn’t yes or no. It was: “It depends—on Power Nap, on the source of the download, and on whether you close the lid or just let the screen dim.”
But he also desperately needed sleep.
He smiled. One more lesson learned from the 2 AM tech trenches.
His update was a direct system update—Apple’s own. That was safe. But if it had been a Steam game or a massive file from Chrome? Those would have paused.