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The P cores in the M1 Pro/Max CPU are managed in two groups of four, sparing load on the second group, and distributing it unevenly within each group. Its two E cores outperform the four in the M1 …
In Sonoma, some healthy Macs are unable to retain complete logs for 24 hours because of the frequency of entries, and even when privacy is removed, some content is censored.
Little seems to have changed in CPU cores in M3 chips, if you read reviews. Dig a bit deeper and there are major changes, as explained here.
New version of ViableS runs in a sandbox, with no shared folders, and can now be isolated from networks. So how well does Ventura work without internet?
Making an external bootable SSD for an M1 Mac has proved tricky. Has this changed in macOS 11.2? If you’ve already got 11.1 running on one, how do you update it to 11.2?
From the 8 cores of the original M1 chip to the M1 Ultra’s 20, this is how macOS manages threads from apps, services and other code.
True or false? Apple supports macOS for three years. Apple’s security updates are sufficient. New versions of macOS are full of bugs. It’s safer to delay upgrading.
How APFS, the boot volume group, hashes, and Secure Boot all combine to guarantee the integrity of your system, and save you trouble and work.
A bug, most probably in the early part of kernel boot in guest macOS, prevents M4 Macs virtualising macOS prior to 13.4.
When making a first full backup of less than 2 GB takes 86 minutes, and you then can’t restore from it anyway.
macOS may alert you when you’re trying to open or run a file, with an alert informing you that malware was detected. But what about in scans?
Every week, Macs running High Sierra will check the integrity of their EFI firmware, in a bid to detect tampering by malware.
Provision of maintenance procedures and tools is at the heart of software engineering, but not in macOS.
Management of kernel extensions has changed significantly in Big Sur and later. This overview for users contrasts kexts with user-level extensions which are replacing them.
Apple’s M2 chip uses a newer version of the CPU core instruction set. This increases its capability, thus how well it will cope with future apps and macOS, compared with the M1.
Differences between CloudKit and iCloud Drive, what each does, and how it works. New version of Cirrus to test and check iCloud function.
macOS manages the loading and frequency of M1 cores according to the QoS set, and rules which differ between the original M1 and the M1 Pro.
APFS adds 6 volume roles, including one which supports Time Machine backups. And per-file encryption is coming.
When running some tasks confined to E cores, the original M1 chip from 2020 completes them significantly quicker than an on an M1 Pro. Here’s the detail.
This article has now been extensively corrected and modified.
Where would you set the default call handler for macOS? And where in System Settings do you set the default web browser?
Although 10.15.3 fixes a serious bug in Mail and Catalina is steadily maturing, there are many users who still shouldn’t upgrade.
Apple has just released the first of its new Rapid Security Responses (RSRs) for macOS 13.3.1 Ventura. This is indicated as macOS Rapid Security Response 13.3.1 (a), and is just just over 300 MB to…
One of the most common reasons for opening Activity Monitor is to check the % CPU of processes that might be running out of control. How accurate are those figures, though, and should you believe t…
What are the penalties in real-world use for running your code on Icestorm cores, using around 10% of the power used by Firestorms?
Making it quicker and simpler to run a macOS VM: with Vimy all you need do is double-click its bundle, and the VM runs using its previous settings.
A complete guide to the structure and layout of APFS startup disks from High Sierra to Big Sur (Intel), together with tear-out PDF charts.
Born secretly on 27 March 2017, it was Apple’s biggest gamble. Introduced in High Sierra, it didn’t work on Fusion Drives and had other problems. Also explains version numbering.
Many folders have them. They’re so invisible that you can’t even see them when you show hidden files. And the only way you know they’re there is when they cause problems.
M3 chips widen the gap between Pro and Max variants. They also change relative performance between P and E cores to make M3 CPUs more versatile.