{{Short description|Subsystem of Apple computers}} The '''System Management Controller''' ('''SMC''') is a subsystem of [[Intel]] [[Macintosh]] computers and [[Apple silicon]] based computers. It is similar in function to the older [[System Management Unit|SMU]] or [[Power Management Unit|PMU]] of PowerPC based Macintosh computers.<ref>{{cite web |title=HT2368: About the SMC Firmware Updates |url=http://support.apple.com:80/kb/HT2368?viewlocale=en_US |website=Official Apple Support |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223202919/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2368?viewlocale=en_US |archivedate=2008-12-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=HT202040: About the SMC Firmware Updates |url=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202040 |website=Official Apple Support |publisher= |accessdate=2018-04-28 |archive-date=2021-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519004618/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202040 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Overview== The SMC has roles in controlling thermal and power management, battery charging, fan control, [[Motion detector]], [[Light sensor]], [[sleep mode|sleep and wake]], [[hibernation (computing)|hibernation]], and [[light-emitting diode|LED]] indicators. It also enables enforcement of the [[macOS]] [[End-user license agreement|End User License]], allowing macOS to identify when it is running on non-Apple hardware.<ref>{{cite podcast |host=[[Randal L. Schwartz|Randal Schwartz]] |date=2010-08-11 |df=mdy |title=VirtualBox |url=https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly/episodes/130 |website=[[FLOSS Weekly]] |series=130 |publisher=[[TWiT.tv]] |accessdate=2018-04-28 |archive-date=2018-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428181223/https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly/episodes/130 |url-status=live }}</ref>
SMC uses [[ACPI]] on Intel Macs and [https://theapplewiki.com/wiki/RTKit RTKIT] on Apple silicon based Macs for communication.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SMC implementation for Apple Silicon in The Linux Kernel |url=https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/mfd/macsmc.c}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Switch from platform-device to acpi-device on applesmc (Linux Kernel Module). |url=https://github.com/t2linux/linux-t2-patches/blob/main/3003-applesmc-switch-to-acpi_device-from-platform.patch}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Embedded controller]] (EC) * [[Power management integrated circuit]] (PMIC) * [[Power Management Unit]] (PMU) * [[System Management Unit]] (SMU) * [[Apple T2]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201518 EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Macs] *[https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/hwmon/applesmc.c SMC implementation in the Linux Kernel]
[[Category:Products introduced in 2006]] [[Category:Macintosh computers]] [[Category:Apple Inc. hardware]]