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Mac maintenance on Apple silicon: what helps, what's myth

An Apple silicon Mac needs very little routine maintenance: keep it updated, backed up and with free space, and restart now and then. Resetting the SMC or NVRAM, repairing permissions and running maintenance scripts are leftovers from older Macs. Keep the targeted fixes for when something is actually wrong.

By Mohamed Elsawy · Updated · 9 min read · For Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 15 or later

The short answer

Most Mac maintenance advice was written for Intel Macs and older versions of macOS. On a Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 15 Sequoia, macOS 26 Tahoe or macOS 27, macOS does much of the old housekeeping itself, and some of the classic chores no longer exist. What's left is short:

  • Routine: updates, backups, enough free space, and a restart now and then.
  • Only when there's a problem: Disk Utility First Aid, rebuilding Spotlight, flushing DNS, clearing the Open With menu, removing local snapshots, and pruning browser extensions.
  • Not needed: SMC and NVRAM resets, repairing permissions, the daily, weekly and monthly scripts, and "cleaning" memory or caches to go faster.

What still matters

Updates

Updates fix bugs and security problems, and they're the maintenance that matters most. Open System Settings › General › Software Update, click the info button next to Automatic Updates, and turn on Download new updates when available, Install macOS updates and Install Security Responses and system files (Apple, Keep your Mac up to date). On macOS 15 the same panel also has Install application updates from the App Store; on macOS 26 and 27 that panel lists only the three options above, and App Store apps update automatically when Automatic Updates is on in App Store › Settings (Apple). Apps from outside the App Store update themselves or need checking by hand; see how to update all your apps.

Backups

Every fix in this guide is safer with a recent backup. Time Machine, in System Settings › General › Time Machine, backs up automatically to an external drive or a network disk. Check now and then that the last backup date is recent.

Free space

macOS needs room for updates, swap and its own temporary files, and Apple lists low free space as one cause of a slow Mac. Apple doesn't publish a minimum. Check System Settings › General › Storage every so often, and see how to free up space safely if it's getting full.

Restarting

Apple publishes no restart schedule. A restart clears swap and stuck processes, finishes installing updates, and on Apple silicon it's also what Apple means by resetting the SMC. Restart when something misbehaves, and whenever an update asks you to.

Myths and leftovers

Resetting the SMC

Apple says the SMC "resets automatically on Mac with Apple silicon". If you'd otherwise reset it, plug the Mac in and restart, or shut down and turn it back on. No key combination is needed (Apple, Reset the SMC of your Mac). The Shift-Control-Option recipes you'll find online are for Intel laptops.

Resetting NVRAM or PRAM

Apple's article is blunt: the steps to reset NVRAM "don't apply to Mac computers with Apple silicon, and aren't needed on those computers" (Apple, Reset NVRAM on your Mac). The Option-Command-P-R key combination you'll see quoted is for Intel Macs. The examples Apple gives of settings kept in NVRAM, such as sound volume, display resolution, startup disk and time zone, can all be changed in System Settings.

Repairing disk permissions

Disk Utility lost its Repair Permissions button with OS X El Capitan in 2015. Apple said at the time that system file permissions "are automatically protected, and updated, during Software Updates", as part of System Integrity Protection, and that the function was "no longer necessary" (quoted by Computerworld, October 2015; Apple's original article has since been removed). There's no need for an app that offers to do it for your system disk.

The daily, weekly and monthly scripts

Older guides tell you to run sudo periodic daily weekly monthly. macOS 15 removed the periodic tool, because Apple had already moved its jobs, such as rotating log files, to other parts of the system (heise, November 2024). On macOS 27.0.1 there's no periodic command and no /etc/periodic folder, so the old command just reports that it can't be found.

"Cleaning" memory and caches

macOS fills spare memory with recently used files on purpose. Apple describes this as files "cached by the system into unused memory to improve performance" (Apple). Apps that "free" memory throw that away, and the Mac then reads it all back from disk. Clearing caches is similar: it frees disk space for a while, then apps rebuild them. Do it when you need the space, not as a routine (how to clear cache, and when not to).

Targeted fixes for specific problems

These are worth knowing, but only for the problem each one solves.

Disk Utility First Aid

For the problems Apple lists: several apps quitting unexpectedly, a corrupted file, an external device that doesn't work properly, or a Mac that won't start up. Open Disk Utility, choose View › Show All Devices, and run First Aid on each volume, then each container, then the disk itself, in that order (Apple, Repair a storage device). To check your startup disk, Apple says to restart in macOS Recovery and use Disk Utility there: on Apple silicon, shut down, press and hold the power button until "Loading startup options" appears, then click Options and Continue (Apple, How to start up from macOS Recovery). Check both Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD - Data.

Rebuild the Spotlight index

Only when Spotlight misses files you know exist or shows deleted ones. It takes hours and keeps the processor busy. Steps in What is mds_stores?

Flush DNS

When a website works on other devices but not on your Mac, typically after it moved servers or you changed networks. One Terminal command: see how to flush the DNS cache.

Clear duplicates from the Open With menu

If Open With lists the same app several times, or apps you deleted, macOS's Launch Services database is out of date. Apple doesn't document a fix. On macOS 27.0.1, the lsregister tool's own help lists -delete to "Delete the Launch Services database file", with a warning that you must restart afterwards. The older -kill option that many guides quote no longer exists on macOS 26 and later (Eclectic Light, August 2026).

Before you run this: it deletes the database of which apps open which files. macOS rebuilds it after the restart, but file types you set to open in a particular app with Get Info › Open with may go back to their defaults. It runs as you, with no sudo. Restart straight afterwards. Duplicates come back if extra copies of the app are still on a disk, so remove those first.

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -delete

Remove Time Machine local snapshots

Time Machine keeps hourly snapshots on your Mac for 24 hours, and Apple says your Mac counts the space they use as available storage and deletes them as space is needed (Apple, About Time Machine local snapshots). Remove them by hand only when an installer or app needs the space right now; see how to delete local snapshots.

Review browser extensions

Extensions you've forgotten about run on every page you visit. In Safari, choose Safari › Settings › Extensions and turn off or uninstall the ones you don't use (Apple); in Chrome, open chrome://extensions.

Maintenance apps: when they're useful

Free tools such as OnyX put many of these jobs behind buttons. OnyX has a separate build for each macOS version: as of 13 October 2026, 4.8.5 for macOS 15, 5.0.6 for macOS 26 and 5.1.1 for macOS 27 (Apple silicon only), and its developer says not to use a version made for an earlier system. A tool like this is handy for the targeted fixes above. Its cleaning and scheduled-maintenance options do the jobs this guide says you rarely need, so use those deliberately, not by habit. For the bigger "cleaner" apps, see CleanMyMac alternatives.

How Tend helps

Tend's Maintenance page lists your browser extensions (Safari, Chrome-family browsers and Firefox) and your local Time Machine snapshots for free. With Pro, it runs the targeted fixes: clear the DNS cache, rebuild the Spotlight index, remove local snapshots, and move Chrome-family extensions to the Trash. macOS asks for an administrator password where it's needed, and Tend asks before anything that's hard to reverse. Snapshot removal is permanent, and Tend says so before it starts. It deliberately has no "free memory" button, for the reason above. It also shows macOS, App Store and Homebrew updates in one list, free (Updates in Tend).

Questions

How do I reset NVRAM on an M1, M2, M3 or M4 Mac?

You don't need to. Apple says the steps to reset NVRAM don't apply to Macs with Apple silicon and aren't needed on them. If a setting seems stuck, change it in System Settings, or restart.

Do I need to reset the SMC on Apple silicon?

No. Apple says the SMC resets automatically on Macs with Apple silicon. Where you'd have reset it on an Intel Mac, plug in and restart, or shut down and turn the Mac back on.

Should I repair disk permissions?

No. Repair Permissions was removed from Disk Utility in OS X El Capitan, because macOS protects system file permissions and updates them during software updates. Use Disk Utility's First Aid if you suspect a disk problem.

How often should I restart my Mac?

Apple doesn't publish a schedule. Restart when an update asks you to and whenever something misbehaves. A restart clears swap and stuck processes, and on Apple silicon it also does what an SMC reset used to.

Do Macs need regular maintenance?

Very little. Keep macOS and your apps updated, keep a current backup, keep some free space, and restart now and then. Tools like First Aid, a Spotlight rebuild or a DNS flush are for specific problems, not a routine.

How to flush the DNS cache on a Mac

The command, and when it helps

What is mds_stores? Spotlight indexing on Mac explained

When and how to rebuild the index

Why is my Mac so slow? How to find the cause

Find the real cause before reaching for fixes

How to delete Time Machine local snapshots on Mac

When the space is needed right now

Sources

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