As I said in a previous article, I’m having continuing problems with macOS Tahoe “freezing” for a few seconds and any song playing on Apple Music “stuttering” when this happens.
A phone call to Apple Support quickly got in touch with an Apple support person. His solution to my problem: run my Mac in Safe Mode all the time. (Which, by the way, didn’t work.) I’m not sure that makes sense.
I’ve aways believed that you should NOT run your Mac in Safe Mode continuously for these reasons:
- Reduced functionality: Safe mode disables many features, including Wi-Fi, video playback, file sharing, and some audio devices, making it impractical for normal daily tasks.
- Limited performance: It prevents certain software and login items from loading, which is helpful for troubleshooting but not for regular use.
- Purpose is diagnosis: Safe mode is a diagnostic tool for identifying software conflicts, such as problematic startup items or third-party extensions, and for clearing system caches.
In the past Apple’s advice was to use Safe Mode:
- When your Mac is experiencing problems like freezing, crashing, or slowness.
- To identify if a recently installed app is causing issues.
- To determine if third-party system extensions are causing conflicts.
Maybe things have changed with macOS Tahoe, but running in Safe Mode seems like, as the cliche goes, putting a band-aide on a bullet hole. Seems to be I’m masking the symptoms instead of fixing the problem.
I’d appreciate any thoughts/advice on the matter.
(BTW, to run Safe Mode on a Mac, either press and hold the Shift key while restarting for an Intel-based Mac, or press and hold the power button during shutdown and select “Continue in Safe Mode” from the startup options for Apple silicon Macs. The method depends on whether your Mac has an Intel processor or an Apple silicon chip (M1, M2, M3, etc.).
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Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today