firmware

In computing, firmware[a] is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware can either provide a standardized operating environment for more complex device software (allowing more hardware-independence), or, for less complex devices, act as the device's complete operating system, performing all control, monitoring and data manipulation functions.

Typical examples of devices containing firmware are embedded systems, consumer appliances, computers, and computer peripherals; most electronic devices beyond the simplest contain some firmware.

Firmware is held in non-volatile memory devices such as ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and Flash memory. Changing the firmware of a device was rarely or never done during its lifetime in the past but is nowadays a common procedure; some firmware memory devices are permanently installed and cannot be changed after manufacture. Common reasons for updating firmware include fixing bugs or adding features to the device. This requires ROM integrated circuits to be physically replaced, or EPROM or flash memory to be reprogrammed through a special procedure. Firmware such as the BIOS of a personal computer may contain only elementary basic functions of a device and may only provide services to higher-level software. Firmware such as the program of an embedded system may be the only program that will run on the system and provide all of its functions.

iMac 24" M1

24-inch 4.5K Retina display

Base Configurations
$1,299 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, WiFi only, Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
$1,499 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, WiFi/Ethernet, Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, Two USB 3 ports, Touch ID
$1,699 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, WiFi/Ethernet, Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, Two USB 3 ports, Touch ID

Special Order/ Custom Configurations:
16GB RAM maximum
2TB SSD maximum

jailbreaking

Jailbreaking refers to privilege escalation on an Apple device to remove software restrictions imposed by Apple on iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, bridgeOS and audioOS operating systems. Typically it is done through a series of kernel patches. A jailbroken device permits root access within the operating system and provides the opportunity to install software not available through the iOS App Store. Different devices and versions are exploited with a variety of tools. Apple views jailbreaking as a violation of the End-user license agreement, and strongly cautions device owners from attempting to achieve root access through exploitation of vulnerabilities.

daemon

n multitasking computer operating systems, a daemon (/ˈdiːmən/ or /ˈdeɪmən/)[1] is a computer program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user. Traditionally, the process names of a daemon end with the letter d, for clarification that the process is in fact a daemon, and for differentiation between a daemon and a normal computer program. For example, syslogd is a daemon that implements system logging facility, and sshd is a daemon that serves incoming SSHconnections.

USB-C

USB-C (formally known as USB Type-C) is a 24-pin USB connector system with a rotationally symmetrical connector.

The USB Type-C Specification 1.0 was published by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) and was finalized in August 2014. It was developed at roughly the same time as the USB 3.1 specification. In July 2016, it was adopted by the IEC as "IEC 62680-1-3".

A device with a Type-C connector does not necessarily implement USB, USB Power Delivery, or any Alternate Mode: the Type-C connector is common to several technologies while mandating only a few of them.

USB 3.2, released in September 2017, replaces the USB 3.1 standard. It preserves existing USB 3.1 SuperSpeedand SuperSpeed+ data modes and introduces two new SuperSpeed+ transfer modes over the USB-C connector using two-lane operation, with data rates of 10 and 20 Gbit/s (1 and ~2.4 GB/s).

USB4, released in 2019, is the first USB transfer protocol standard that is only available via USB-C.

black dots under application icons on dock

Close an app. When you click the red dot in the top-left corner of an open window, the window closes but the app stays open. Open apps have a black dot beneath them in the Dock. To close an app, choose “Quit app name” from the app menu (for example, in the Mail app, choose Quit Mail from the Mail menu). Or Control-click the app icon in the Dock and click Quit.