In essence, Apple stores the Find My Mac data in NVRAM, which is good for keeping it around even if the hard drive is removed, but bad in the sense that it’s easy to reset NVRAM - just restart while holding down Command-Option-P-R. Will discovered this on his own, but it turns out that others have run across the same fact over the past few years, as evidenced by a quick Google search. There is one other problem that my friend Will Mayall alerted me to recently, which is that resetting NVRAM disables Find My Mac. At least Macs with solid-state storage and Power Nap turned on can report their locations while sleeping, which isn’t true of Macs with hard drives. Plus, since Macs lack GPS chips, the reported location may not be all that precise even when a Mac can be located. Unfortunately, Find My Mac requires that the Mac be powered on and connected to a Wi-Fi network, which means that anything you try to make happen on a lost Mac may be delayed or never occur at all. You can also use the Find My iPhone app in iOS to perform the same tasks. A box in the corner shows your Mac’s battery level, lets you play a sound in case it just slipped between the couch cushions, lock it with a passcode (to prevent it from being erased) and display a custom message, or wipe it remotely yourself.

Click Find iPhone there, and then select the Mac from the menu at the top to see the Mac’s location on a map. #1621: Apple Q3 2022 financials, Slack's new free plan restrictions, which OS features do you use?įinding a Lost Mac - Should your Mac go missing, you can log in to the iCloud Web site to deal with it.#1622: OS feature survey results, Continuity Camera webcam preview, OWC miniStack STX.#1623: How to turn off YouTube's PiP, use AirPlay to Mac, and securely erase Mac drives.#1624: Important OS security updates, rescuing QuickTake 150 photos, AirTag alerts while traveling.#1625: Apple's 'Far Out' event, the future of FileMaker, free NMUG membership, Quick Note and tags in Notes, Plex suffers data breach.

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