Unlike Intel Macs, M1 models always start booting from internal SSD, and can only offer full Recovery from there too. This has benefits, and some drawbacks too.
Secure Boot
Why do Macs with T2 chips show a black screen when starting up or updating their firmware, and why so long that it’s scary?
Three workthroughs considering options and issues in migrating to a new Mac, with info on late migration, macOS upgrading, and Thunderbolt adaptors.
More work to be done before your migration is fully complete: check your workflows, key security settings, disk health, licensing, backups.
So you’ve just got your new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or Mac mini – or iMac Pro – with its T2 chip. How does that change things? Practical advice and solutions.
What to do when your Mac won’t boot into the Desktop and Finder – another summary diagram for diagnosis and suggested solutions.
The Mac has completed its self-test routines, and now prepares to load the EFI firmware or ‘boot loader’. Where it finds it, what it needs, and how Secure Boot changes this.
What happens in your Mac when you press the Power button? Before it loads the EFI firmware, it goes through self-testing, and initialising key chips.
