# System Management Controller

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Management_Controller
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Subsystem of Apple computers

The **System Management Controller** (**SMC**) is a subsystem of [Intel](/source/Intel) [Macintosh](/source/Macintosh) computers and [Apple silicon](/source/Apple_silicon) based computers. It is similar in function to the older [SMU](/source/System_Management_Unit) or [PMU](/source/Power_Management_Unit) of PowerPC based Macintosh computers.[1][2]

## Overview

The SMC has roles in controlling thermal and power management, battery charging, fan control, [Motion detector](/source/Motion_detector), [Light sensor](/source/Light_sensor), [sleep and wake](/source/Sleep_mode), [hibernation](/source/Hibernation_(computing)), and [LED](/source/Light-emitting_diode) indicators. It also enables enforcement of the [macOS](/source/MacOS) [End User License](/source/End-user_license_agreement), allowing macOS to identify when it is running on non-Apple hardware.[3]

SMC uses [ACPI](/source/ACPI) on Intel Macs and [RTKIT](https://theapplewiki.com/wiki/RTKit) on Apple silicon based Macs for communication.[4][5]

## See also

- [Embedded controller](/source/Embedded_controller) (EC)

- [Power management integrated circuit](/source/Power_management_integrated_circuit) (PMIC)

- [Power Management Unit](/source/Power_Management_Unit) (PMU)

- [System Management Unit](/source/System_Management_Unit) (SMU)

- [Apple T2](/source/Apple_T2)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["HT2368: About the SMC Firmware Updates"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081223202919/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2368?viewlocale=en_US). *Official Apple Support*. Archived from [the original](http://support.apple.com:80/kb/HT2368?viewlocale=en_US) on 2008-12-23.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["HT202040: About the SMC Firmware Updates"](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202040). *Official Apple Support*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210519004618/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202040) from the original on 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2018-04-28.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Randal Schwartz](/source/Randal_L._Schwartz) (August 11, 2010). ["VirtualBox"](https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly/episodes/130). *[FLOSS Weekly](/source/FLOSS_Weekly)* (Podcast). 130. [TWiT.tv](/source/TWiT.tv). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180428181223/https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly/episodes/130) from the original on 2018-04-28. Retrieved 2018-04-28.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["SMC implementation for Apple Silicon in The Linux Kernel"](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/mfd/macsmc.c).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Switch from platform-device to acpi-device on applesmc (Linux Kernel Module)"](https://github.com/t2linux/linux-t2-patches/blob/main/3003-applesmc-switch-to-acpi_device-from-platform.patch).

## External links

- [EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Macs](https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201518)

- [SMC implementation in the Linux Kernel](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/hwmon/applesmc.c)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [System Management Controller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Management_Controller) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Management_Controller?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.