If you are having serious or persistent problems with your Mac such as (Mac won’t turn on) and the usual tricks don’t work, there are lesser-known solutions you can try, like resetting the SMC (System Controller). management).
The SMC stores settings related to energy and temperature management, among other things, and if it starts to misbehave it can lead to noise, ventilation, and performance issues.
Therefore, it is worth resetting its values if you find that the most obvious solutions on your Mac (such as force quitting apps or restarting the Mac) are not helping you. How a Mac returns to SMC depends on the type of Mac you’re dealing with.
Reset SMC on M1 Mac Computers
In November, Apple released its first Macs with the M1 chip. With Apple’s new system, it is not possible to reset the SMC.
There is a simple reason why you cannot reset SMC on M1 Macs: there is no System Management Controller on M1 Macs. Thus, all the functions previously managed by the chip are now integrated into the processor M1.
The same goes for the iPhone and iPad, which also don’t have a similar reset feature. However, the good news is that you can still change some of the settings that could have been handled by the SMC.
For example, you can still use the ‘pmset’ terminal tool to change sleep mode settings and other things that were previously handled by the SMC, but there is no reset function.
If your computer has a problem with the Equipment which can usually be fixed with a restart of SMC, the only solution we know of is to put the computer in DFU mode and reinstall the firmware with Apple Configurator 2 from another Mac computer.
DFU is the update of the firmware From the device. Apple explains how to restore firmware in its web page.
According to comments on the Reddit and Apple support forums, Apple Support mentions that the M1 Macs should act the same as restarting SMC by shutting down the computer and leaving it off for 30 seconds before turning it back on.
Since there’s no way to prove if he’s actually doing something, we can’t determine if it’s true.
Reset SMC on Desktop Macs (Intel)
Follow these steps to reset SMC on macOS desktops i.e. iMac, iMac Pro, or Mac mini:
- Shut down the computer.
- Unplug the power cord.
- Wait 15 seconds.
- Reconnect the power cord.
- Wait 5 seconds, then press the power button to turn it on.
Reset SMC on MacBooks (no removable batteries)
In this case, follow the steps with which you can reset SMC on MacBook if your battery is not removable. This includes all MacBook Air, MacBook, and MacBook Pros from 2009 or later.
- Shut down the computer.
- Unplug the power cord.
- On the built-in keyboard, hold down the “ Shift, Ctrl, and Option (Alt) ” keys (on the left side) and the power button at the same time for 10 seconds.
- Release all keys and the power button at the same time.
- Press the power button to turn on the computer.
- Note: The LED on your MagSafe power adapter may change state or turn off temporarily when you restart the SMC.
Older MacBooks with SMC (removable batteries)
Follow these steps to reset SMC on a MacBook with a removable battery. If your laptop is older than mid 2009, you probably are, but check the Apple terms ensure:
- Shut down the computer.
- Unplug the power cord.
- Remove the battery.
- Press and hold the power button for five seconds, then release it.
- Replace the battery.
- Plug in the power cord.
- Turn on the MacBook again.
We have a full tutorial on how to reset NVRAM, PRAM and SMC of a Mac.
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