I’ve previously recommended using the System Information utility to look up MacBook battery usage details. Both Battery Health & Repair and Maximize Battery Life made reference to this.
However, the application aggregates a wealth of additional information about your Mac, from details about connected audio, video, and storage hardware; to applications that have been installed; to network connections and statistics.
Much of this appears elsewhere in the operating system, spread among a variety of folders and application interfaces. Some, while possible to reveal via the command line, is only easily accessible in System Information.
Client Notes
Last week, I set up Sammy and Estella’s new Macs, taught Margie some basic productivity shortcuts, discussed iCloud storage conveniences with Nicola, and discovered a hidden storage monster on Rick’s Mac while helping strengthen his backup strategy.
Happy World Backup Day! Are you prepared for the worst?
Open System Information
System Information is an application in your Mac’s Utilities folder, a subfolder in Applications. Apple provides a basic tutorial about this utility and how to access it.
As with all applications, there are a variety of ways to get there. You can browse in a Finder window, choose Utilities from the Finder’s Go menu, search using Spotlight, or find the app in Launchpad.
However, for the sake of efficiency, all of these methods are upstaged by a hidden shortcut using the Option key, some of whose power we learned about in Hidden Options.
Click the Apple menu and notice what happens when you hold Option: About This Mac changes to System Information. Select to open.
Information Overload
You could easily find yourself in overwhelm at all the categories of information. After all, macOS doesn’t filter this list to only those relevant to your Mac’s configuration.
Inapplicable categories show either a generic message like “No information found” or a slightly more helpful one, such as “No disc burning device was found. If the device is external, make sure it’s connected and turned on.”
Hopefully, you have opened System Information in order to find something specific and you know what category it’s in. For example, Storage shows all currently mounted internal and external storage volumes while Power shows power management and battery-related info.
In the Software top-level category, you can quickly check how long since your Mac last started up. And in the Applications subcategory, you an easily discover applications designed for your Mac or unsupported. The bottom pane includes about/version data and the folder path to the app.
Infrequent Access
Fortunately, I rarely need to open System Information for any reason. I suppose its frequent mention regarding MacBook batteries is because that’s my primary motivation. I can simply determine the usage of a battery over its lifetime and estimate how much longer it might last.
One other periodic use is determining whether the Mac sees a peripheral attached by USB. Other than that, I’ve just discovered the value of using this utility to show detailed printer driver information, which can be tedious to access elsewhere.
If you’ve never opened System Information, you’re probably not missing much. However, it’s worth knowing that this application is available on your Mac for the few times its utility proves truly valuable.
What discoveries have you made? Share your findings in the comments…
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