M1-Macs: Help with Problems

The new Apple M1 Macs are true wonder machines. They are fast, efficient and power-saving. They are completely different from the previous Intel Macs. If you are looking for a PRAM reset, NVRAM reset or any other previously known startup handle, you won't find it anymore.

This in turn raises the question, what if the M1-Mac no longer starts or the firmware goes on strike?

There is only one button that you have to press. Thus, you keep the power button pressed until the startup options appear on the screen.

This takes you to options that, for example, reboot the system. This is always helpful if macOS stops working properly and you still want to keep your data. Furthermore, with the help of Disk Utility, you can repair the hard drives, partition them and get rid of most of the problems.

But what to do if that doesn't work either and the startup options don't work anymore? In principle, the Mac remains completely inaccessible.

With the Apple Configurator, which is suitable for many things, Apple offers a program to configure its devices, e.g. to sort the icons on the homescreen and also an excellent tool to repair M1 Macs in DFU mode.

The repair requires a second Mac and a suitable USB cable to connect the working and the defective Mac. It is important to note which USB port the cable is connected to on the defective Mac.

After that, a special key sequence must be pressed on the defective Mac. This puts the Mac into the so-called DFU mode. In DFU mode, the defective Mac appears in the Apple Configurator.

On the Apple Support Website you can find all M1-Mac models with the appropriate connectors and the sequences for the DFU mode.

Now there are two ways to revive the M1-Mac. The first is to repair the firmware of the M1-Mac. This process is safe because no data on the M1-Mac is deleted or changed. The firmware repair reinstalls the startup options and helps to get more repair options of the M1-Mac. In most cases, after that the M1-Mac is ready to run again and you don't need to do anything else.

The second option is to restore the operating system. This leads to the deletion of all data on the hard disk of the M1 Mac and cannot be undone. Therefore, you should always back up your data with a backup. This is especially important if your project files are saved on the Mac.

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