How long do you need to hold the Power button to force the Mac to turn off?

To force a Mac to turn off, you need to hold down the Power button for approximately five seconds. This action is used when the Mac becomes unresponsive and does not shut down through the regular means, such as through the Apple menu or using keyboard shortcuts.

When you hold the Power button for the correct amount of time, it sends a forced shutdown command to the system, terminating all active processes and shutting down the device. This is a critical function for troubleshooting and recovering from situations where the OS is not responsive.

The other durations listed, such as three seconds, ten seconds, or fifteen seconds, do not align with the standard procedure for forcing a shutdown on a Mac. Holding the button for too short a time might not register as a shutdown command, while excessively long durations beyond five seconds are unnecessary and can lead to potential file corruption if the Mac is in the middle of writing data.