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Apple silicon

Is your Mac dead, in DFU mode, or alive?

You press the Power button, but nothing happens. Has your Mac suddenly died, does it have a problem you can fix easily, or is it just in DFU mode?

February 4, 2026 Macs, Technology

What happens in early kernel boot on Apple silicon?

After the Boot ROM, LLB and iBoot (stage 2), kernel boot starts setting up security services and putting the hardware to work. CPU cores are started up before file systems are mounted, and the Mac starts userspace boot.

February 3, 2026 Macs, Technology

Clean install macOS

First decide what you want to ‘clean’: the Data or System volume, or firmware? Then consider the methods of choice to perform that. Explained for Intel and Apple silicon Macs.

January 28, 2026 Macs, Technology

Should you restart or cold boot?

You’re sometimes advised to shut your Mac down, wait a while, and start it up again, instead of restarting it. Are they different, and if so when should you use them?

January 27, 2026 Macs, Technology

Can you still run old App Store apps?

Apps supplied through the App Store aren’t signed by their developer, but by Apple. Many now have certificates that have expired. When will they stop running?

January 22, 2026 Macs, Technology

Which cryptexes does macOS Tahoe load?

Which system and AI cryptexes are loaded during macOS boot? Here are details of the 28 for AI in Tahoe 26.2, and which are new since Sequoia 15.5.

January 19, 2026 Macs, Technology

What’s happening with code signing and future macOS?

An overview of code signing and certificate requirements to come when macOS 27 is released in a few months, supporting only Apple silicon Macs. How Intel Macs will be affected in the near future.

January 17, 2026 Macs, Technology

Create a bootable external disk for Apple silicon Macs in Tahoe

T T Read More

Apple silicon Macs were designed to boot almost as securely from external disks as from their internal SSD. That makes macOS installation a little more complicated. Here’s how to do that.

December 9, 2025 Macs, Technology

Erase All Content and Settings does what it says

It throws away the encryption key for the Data volume, effectively wiping all its data. It doesn’t alter the System volume, SSV, or the macOS installed.

November 12, 2025 Macs, Technology

Last Week on My Mac: What do those CPU frequencies mean?

Given what we know about the base M5, is it really a significant improvement on the base M4. What features should we be looking at?

November 2, 2025 Macs, Technology

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