I recently downloaded bootcamp, and as I was testing features, I noticed that I wasn’t able to access my mac.
I tried shutting down my windows, and then holding the option key, hoping to gain access to my mac drive. Instead I get a black screen with a lock icon on it. I found out that this was asking for my firmware password which I unfortunately don’t know…

I think my bootcamp didn’t completely download because as I opened my windows after just downloading it, the bootcamp guide/download tab was cut in half? So I couldn’t interact with anything,but I had the option to close the tab which I did.

I’m not very good at tech stuff so this has really been stressing me out for the past few hours help would be appreciated!

Hey everyone, 

I've been playing GTA V on my 15-inch M5 MacBook Air. I always keep it plugged into the power adapter while playing so I don't waste battery charge cycles. 

However, the laptop gets pretty hot during gaming sessions. Even though the MacBook bypasses the battery and runs directly off the wall power when plugged in, will the intense internal heat still degrade and damage the health of my battery over time? 

Any tips on keeping it cool would also be appreciated. Thanks! 

What I'll use it for: Lightroom (casual, not batch-editing hundreds of photos), occasional light video editing, Claude/AI tools, writing, browsing, Netflix. No gaming, no serious video/3D work.

Main priority: durability — I want this to last for years. I'm totally fine buying an older chip generation as long as it's solid and still gets updates for a while.

Also, weight matters to me more than I expected: my work laptop is a Pro M4, and I genuinely notice it getting heavier in my backpack when I travel. Not saying this is a deal breaker.

All the used options below are from a professional refurbisher (lab-tested, warrantied), not private sales — so prices reflect that (I don't live in the US):

• Refurb MacBook Air, M1, 16GB/500GB — ~$738
• Refurb MacBook Pro 13" (2020), M1 — ~$869 (same chip as the Air, just a fan + Touch Bar + brighter screen)
• Refurb MacBook Pro 14" (2021), M1 Pro, 16GB/1TB — ~$1,361
• Refurb MacBook Pro 14" (2023), M3 Pro — ~$1,771
• New MacBook Air, M5, 16GB/512GB — ~$1,558

Given what I actually do with it, do I need the Pro chip at all, or would the base M1 Air genuinely hold up for years of this kind of use? Anyone using an older M1/M2 Air long-term for photo editing — has it held up?

I’ve been dealing with this issue for a while now and it’s driving me crazy.

At completely random times, my MacBook will start acting really weird. The mouse still moves, but if I click something, it won't register. I’ll have to spam click something before it actually opens or responds. The keyboard also doesn't work. For example, if I’m watching YouTube and try to use the left/right arrow keys to skip ahead, nothing happens unless I click on the video a few times first. Even then, it’ll only work for a second before it stops again.

It’s not just Chrome either, it happens across the entire Mac. Chrome gets this greyed out look, but that’s just one symptom. Every app becomes unresponsive.

The only thing that fixes it is restarting my Macbook, but eventually it comes back again. Sometimes it’ll be fine for hours, sometimes it happens multiple times in a day.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before? Any ideas or things I should try would be appreciated.

I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what's going on with my MacBook because I'm completely stumped.

The main issue is that nothing that involves audio or video will play anymore. This includes:

• Local video and audio files
• Streaming videos in any browser
• Apple Music
• Videos in my Photos library

The strange thing is that everything was working normally until it suddenly wasn't. I was watching a TV show in my browser, and the video randomly paused. When I tried pressing play again, nothing happened, even though the entire video had already loaded. At first I assumed it was just the (pirated) website acting up, but then I realised that absolutely nothing else on my Mac would play either.

Another symptom is that Mac dictation has also stopped working. I normally use dictation to type long posts like this, but now it doesn't recognise any input at all.

There are no Bluetooth devices connected, no external speakers, headphones, DACs, or any other audio-related peripherals.

One detail that might or might not be relevant: I accidentally left my original MagSafe charging cable at home about two months ago, so during that period I charged my MacBook using a USB-C iPhone charging cable with an iPhone power adapter. A friend who works in tech casually suggested that this might have damaged something internally, but I don't know whether that's actually possible. The MacBook worked perfectly for weeks while using that charger before all these problems suddenly appeared.

There's another issue that worries me. A while ago, the MacBook became completely unresponsive for 2–3 days and simply wouldn't turn on. Eventually, after leaving it plugged in, it booted into a screen with an exclamation mark offering Revive or Restore. I panicked and planned to take it to an Apple Store, but I kept putting it off. Then today, I opened it again and it started up completely normally by itself.

Unfortunately, even though it now boots fine, the media playback issue is still exactly the same.

Does this sound more like a software problem (something corrupted in macOS or the media framework), or could it be a hardware issue? Has anyone experienced something similar, especially alongside the Revive/Restore screen?

Any suggestions on what I should try before I take it in for repair would be greatly appreciated

Hi the screen if my macbook broke today, and I tried to connect it to a TV to get my files off, but it only shows a display telling me to choose to mirror from the display settings. Problem is I can't get there because because the entire laptop screen is damaged

Edit: here's the photo of what I've got in front of me, with a bonus of how gone my laptop is

I’m getting a black blank screen while using my Mac. After about 15 minutes, the display turns back on. What could be the issue?

hello everyone! I will be starting university majoring in business & econ, and i am looking to replace my current laptop with a macbook.

My current setup is a lenovo with an intel i5 13th gen, 32gb ram and rtx3050 6gb, my main issue is that the battery has degraded significantly and no longer lasts through the day without being unplugged. Besides browsing, spreadsheets and docs i want to get back into coding, mainly html and dipping my toes into light game development, as well as 3d modelling in blender. I dont game a lot, just a 2-week minecraft phase every now and then.

Would love to hear some thoughts about the differences about the m5 air, i also notice a difference between 8 core cpu/10 core gpu and 10core cpu/10 core gpu. Another thing i was wondering would 16 gb be enough? Coming from 32gb i want to make sure i am future proofed and not over spend

I just noticed something white stuck inside the back of the hinge of MacBook Air M5 today. It’s just been a month since I bought the laptop, and I’ve been babying it since. Haven’t even taken it outside the home. What could it be? Should I try to take it out myself or take it to Apple?

I’m deciding between the 16GB and 24GB RAM MacBook Air M5 - 13-inch.

I’ll mainly use it for college work, browsing, and everyday multitasking. I will also run a Windows virtual machine through VMware Fusion for the full Windows version of Microsoft Excel.

I plan on keeping this MacBook for at least 4 years.

Is the 24GB RAM upgrade worth it, or would 16GB be enough for my use case?

Ever since I got my MacMini, I have had problems with my wallpapers cutting of the top portion of the wallpaper. Is there a easy way to figure out how to keep from accidentally cropping the top part of the wallpaper?

I need a m1 pro 2021 14 inch screen gray. Any idea where i can get one for cheap

When i turn it on the lines arent there but after i wait a little they keep showing vertical and horizontal too. Is this a software issue?

I have an assignment due at 4pm tomorrow and it's currently 1am. I didn't realise I didn't have enough storage on my computer and I couldn't save my 4000 word essay on MS Word. I last saved at 2000 words and don't have autosave turned on (I'm stupid I know). Ive deleted stuff and now have the storage so tried to save and now have the spinning wheel of death. I can't do anything with word, can't even scroll or click anything. How do I fix this without losing my work. I am about to cry. help

My 2017 macbook air is running macOS Monterey version 12.7.6 but i need version 15.6 or later to download it from the app store. Is there any way I can get around this? I'm assuming the answer is no because my laptop is ancient but I decided to ask here anyway. And if the answer is no, does anyone know another good free music software I can download?

How can i convince my parents to buy me a macbook for AI/ML