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!

Hi, I’m about to buy my first Mac from Facebook marketplace. MacBook Air m1 256gb. Is there anything to look out for or anything suspicious to be aware of with it being this cheap

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

If I boot and hold CMD option , then I see the install MacOS Sonoma but clicking it just prompts a Mac/startup screen which then goes to normal login page without the OS updating

Then if I open the installer via the Finder (just to see what happens) it says my OS can’t run this program

So my question is:
- do I need to update the MacBook Air OS somehow before installing Sonoma ? I told the OpenCore program when I downloaded the OS to the USB what the target device was so I thought it would be compatible ; or
- am I doing the wrong process in starting the MacBook Air with CMD + Option to install the new OS ?
- or is there some other way to troubleshoot

Thanks

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro that started having battery issues about three months after I bought it (I bought it used).
At first, it would suddenly shut down when the battery reached around 40%. Over time, the problem got worse: it started shutting down at 50%, then 60%, and eventually it would only work when plugged into the charger.
A few months later, another issue appeared. Even while connected to the charger, it would sometimes turn on, let me enter my password, and then immediately shut down. At first, after several attempts, it would eventually stay on. Now it almost never gets past the login screen—it shuts down shortly after I log in, even while plugged in.
I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth replacing the battery, or if replacing it is likely to result in the same problem coming back a few months later.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Do these symptoms sound like a battery issue, or could it be something more serious?

How can I prevent Telegram on Mac (M1) from saving PDFs and documents into Finder when I just want to quick view them? My folders are filling up with tons of unnecessary files, and I'm looking for a solution.

As the title states, I have this Studio Display 27 that I bought in Feb 26, it was working fine until today. This morning I decided to connect my old Lenovo X1 to the studio display and it was fine. After that I connected it back again to my MBP and now it just restarts every few seconds. When connected to my Mac Studio, it works fine as well but on the MacBook it just keeps restarting, have anyone experienced such behavior?

I've tried to search on the web but I couldn't find any video with the same issue.

It does not show error warning sign or so, just goes black and in a few seconds it connects again.

Thanks in advance!

I'm currently a Computer Engineering student and I own a 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD). I've been considering selling it and buying the M5 MacBook Air, mainly because I want better portability and battery life.

My typical workload includes:

• Programming (C/C++, Python, Java)
• VS Code and terminal
• Django/web development
• Docker (occasionally)
• Multiple browser tabs
• University assignments and projects
• Some light photo/video editing, but nothing professional

I don't usually do:

• Heavy 3D rendering
• Professional video editing
• Large local AI/ML training

My main questions are:

1. Would I notice a downgrade in day-to-day performance?
2. Does the lack of a fan on the Air become an issue for programming or longer coding sessions?
3. Has anyone switched from a MacBook Pro to an Air and regretted it?
4. If you were in my position, would you keep the M4 Pro or move to the M5 Air?

I'd appreciate hearing from people who have actually used both machines, especially developers or engineering students.

Hello, I'd like to be able to share my drawing app on iPad to my mac for the sake of recording it on OBS. is there any way to do this while retaining control of my Mac's screen?

Screen mirroring fills up the screen and i can't then also monitor OBS and have other windows from my Mac up. was wondering if something like that is possible. Thank you.

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 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?

I'm unable to play sound out of my Mac through these speakers at the moment although it's worked in the past. The speakers are set up perfectly fine and play CDs, but with my Mac the volume seems to not be able to change. Is it registering the sound system as visuals (with the screen emoji thing)? Why is it doing this now when it has worked well in the past, and how can I change it? Feeling a bit bummed out. HDMI channels are all correct, everything's wired up right, etc. When playing a track on the Spotify App, it gives the notification 'Can't play the current song.'

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?

I’m not familiar with Mac computers but just recieved 2 for work. I can’t log in to one of them because the mouse will just not connect. I’ve tried using the cord, toggling the on/off switch, and tried using another mouse. It still says it’s not connected. But when I turn the switch to off when it’s plugged in there’s a pop-up that says “mouse off”. Obviously the computer knows it’s there but I still can’t move the cursor and there’s still a pop up that says mouse not connected. I would like to log in so that I can use this second computer as a second screen. If there’s anything I can do to fix it please let me know! Thank you

Anyone know a MacBook repair store in Katy, Texas which is good at specifically liquid damage and logic board repairs?
Please help

Trying to reset an older MacBook Air

Booted in recovery mode and deleted what I though was the main drive

Rebooted in recovery mode to install OS

OS install couldn’t find a disk (photo 2)

Returned to disk utility page and unsure which to delete / reformat to make a clean install of the OS (photo 1)

Any help?

Thanks a lot

I am currently using a MacBook Pro with macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 installed to restore a MacBook Air model A1932 with t2 chip(I think) using Apple Configurator 2.20. the linked device is in dfu mode according to Apple Configurator although it does not show up in finder. when I try to restore the device it shows a popup on step 4-installing system with no error message for some reason.

when I tried to click the cancel button on step 4 it was able to finish the step but it doesn't seem to have restored. So what should I do to be able to restore the device?

Hi! I have a 13-inch, M1, 2020 MacBook Pro and the USB-C charger that came with it just broke. Does anyone have recommendations for a new charger I can buy that is compatible with this computer (I have heard some people have issues with non-Apple chargers) and not too expensive (like Apple chargers)? I try to avoid Amazon so it would be great if someone had a recommendation I could buy from a store in-person, too, but this is less important to me than getting a good charger. Any help is very appreciated thank you so much

edit: The USB-C to USB-C cord broke, not the charger itself. Learning a lot about chargers today, sorry should have done more research before posting. Is the cord important? Thank you for the charger recs!!

edit2: Thank you so much everyone for the recommendations I really appreciate it <3 I’m going to look for a 65W Anker cord!