GoKawiilApple details differences between Mac sleep, restart and shutdown modes
Apple's support guidance explains how MacBook power states differ: a full shutdown closes all apps, clears RAM and stops power draw, while sleep and restart preserve more system state. Shutting down via the Apple menu includes a one-minute cancellable countdown and an option to reopen previous windows, and holding Option skips that countdown. Holding the Touch ID or power button for several seconds forces an unresponsive system to shut down, though this risks losing unsaved work.