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SMART Utility
SMART Utility
3.3
0.0
SMART Utility free download for Mac

SMART Utility

Version 3.2.7

Checks the hardware diagnostics system of hard drives.

3.3
Based on 21 user ratesRead reviews & comments
$25.00
One-Time Purchase

SMART Utility overview

SMART Utility is an application to scan the internal hardware diagnostics system of hard drives. SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a system built into hard drives by their manufacturers to report on various measurements (called attributes) of a hard drive's operation. The attributes can be used to detect when a hard drive is having mechanical or electrical problems, and can indicate when the hard drive is dying. This allows time to hopefully backup, and then replace the drive.

Run this utility once a week or more to ensure your HD, and your data, are okay!

Note: The demo runs for 30 days or 15 launches, whichever is longer.

What’s new in version 3.2.7

Updated on May 02 2022

  • Added support for Little Snitch Internet Access Policy
  • Disabled Dark Mode appearance until fully ready
  • Fixed bug with IDs on NVMe drives
  • Fixed extra unnecessary logging
  • Updated to Sparkle 1.27.1
  • Updated to smartctl 7.3 which supports many more drives

Information

License

Shareware

Size

6.8 MB

Downloads

145108

App requirements

  • Intel 64
  • OS X 10.9 or later
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qb
qb
Mar 11 2019
3.2.4
5.0
Mar 11 2019
5.0
Version: 3.2.4
Does anyone know if this developer post is from 2019? I just see a date of 8-Jan. I believe it is from 2019 and does indicate development is continuing. Yay! https://www.volitans-software.com/2019/01/the-future-of-smart-utility-2/ The Future of SMART Utility We wanted to give an update on SMART Utility. As you probably know, version 4.0 is much delayed. This lead to a re-evaluation of the roadmap. Version 4.0 was too ambitious for a single release, especially re-designing the interface. So the revise plan is this: Version 3.3 (out in a few weeks): Some new features and a bunch of bug fixes Version 4.0 (out in six months): Re-work the algorithm to better match todays drives Version 5.0 (out in one to two years): Re-design the interface
Mcr
Mcr
Dec 29 2018
3.2.4
0.0
Dec 29 2018
0.0
Version: 3.2.4
Users need to realize, this app (and similar ones) are dependent and/or influenced by several external factors.
1) The information returned by SMART is open to interpretation. In many cases, manufacturers themselves don't adhere to the same interpretation of what a particular data field means relative to their product. Ultimately, the manufacturer of the drive decides how and what to report back. There really isn't any enforcement to keep manufacturers in line as far as how their devices report.

Once data is returned, then SOME programs that try to calculate and give a 'probability' of failure or life expectancy rating.; these ratings need to be taken in context, or at least take with grain of salt. There are several industry studies which have shown that correlation between SMART data, predictions made based on the data and actual failure rates, is NOT that strong...possibly only correlated in less than a third of hard drive failures. I've had rotational drives during the initial 'burn in' period that show a increase in some of the so called negative indicators (bad sectors reallocated); but then 'settle down' and continue working fine for years afterwards with no increases. Don't get caught up too much in what SMART data is saying, unless you see a trend overtime. Your strategy should be to always have multiple backups of key data, so that when and if a drive fails, your data is safe, rather than obsessing about whether to replace a drive the first time it shows any negative indication.

2) Regards SSDs, the SMART standard and specification was developed at a time when all drives were rotational. When it comes to SSD/non mechanical drives, many of the data types/info defined by SMART are ambiguous at best, or meaningless, or at worse used by manufacturers to bolster their product when in fact they are irrelevant. Some makers have added on additional data fields to report so called 'SSD' specific info, but other makers are not required to use them, or if they do, don't necessarily report back the same data, since the definition is so open. Or worse, they will come up with a way to report back a lower value and use that in a positive spin, even the meaning of what that data really indicates has been redefined by them. A perfect example is data field 231, loosely defined as 'Life Left' for SSD drive. Remember, this is data reported back by the drive based on the manufacturer's interpretation. Using different criteria, Samsung drives might report back a million erase cycles remaining, but Crucial drives might use that field to report back that 50% reserved space is left.

So, in the case of Samsung, if the drive was rated for 2 million erases cycles, does that mean the drive has 50% of life remaining; on a Crucial drive, if you never get close to using the full capacity, 50% reserved space isn't really a factor; and what actually can be inferred from that as far as 'Life Remaining'. For example, when a manufacturer says this SSD drive reports 'zero' whatever, i.e. my product is good....well, actually ALL SSDs are going to report a zero for that data, or some might report '100', but so what, because it has no relevance for non-mechanical drives.

Most people I suspect pay particular attention to the 'reallocated bad sector' data; for rotational drives that makes good sense. For SSDs, the data has less relevance, because the standard hasn't evolved to define what that really means for SSDs, so manufacturer's have, of course, used this ambiguity to dictate the data returned to put their product in a better light. With modern SSDs and controlers using techniques likes over provisioning, trim, garbage collection, etc. it can be open to interpretation what a 'bad sector' is. Manufacturer's can take a problem 'memory location' and move it to the over provisioning bucket of memory, or mark it to never be trimmed or garbage collected....does that mean they have to report it as a 'bad sector'. It's straight forward to associate an actual physical location of a bad sector when it comes to rotational device; for a memory device, it's a little more complicated. A "sector of data" on a rotational drive is 512 bytes at a physical location on the disk. With SSDs the smallest block is 512 KB (a thousand times larger), made up of pages, which can be variable, but frequently 4KB. These pages may or not be continguous in the 'traditional' sense, and can CHANGE internally without any knowledge to the operating system. This happens when an SSD drive performs it's own internal clean up, provisioning and trim operations. Windows and macOS still see that 'sector' of your Word document as sitting at sector 143,245; but internally, the drive can move the location and composition of that block around.

3) In order to retrieve SMART data, requires either an interface that is capable of doing so, or a direct method to the drive which requires specific knowledge of the model and how to retrieve the info (without using the standard interface commands). Internal drives on a SATA bus have no issues, the SATA spec provides for the proper commands to query a drive and report back the data. External drives are dependent on the chipset of the enclosure as to whether the interface supports the SMART commands needed to query the drive and return the SMART data. Older USB external interfaces (as well as Firewire) did not have this pass through capability. Newer interfaces which support USB Attached SCSI (UAS) or USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP). do allow for SMART data retrieval, so when you buy an external drive or stand alone enclosure or drive dock, make sure it supports UASP

End of the day, it's fine we have programs that report back SMART info. For rotational drives, more useful, for SSD's, not as much. How you personally, or the programs that retrieve data, interpret what that data means, can be subjective, particularly when it comes to trying to predict failure or life expectancy (again, better for rotational, not so much SSDs). Generally speaking, mechanical devices physically wear down over time, so may be possible to see a trend and they 'fail over time'. Pure electronic components tend to not show 'symptoms' or degradation over time, for lack of a better word; they work until such time that they don't work. That's why I said it's better to be sure that you have multiple backups rather than obsess too much about whether a particular device is showing signs of failure or going to fail.
GeogProf
GeogProf
Aug 2 2018
3.2.3
0.5
Aug 2 2018
0.5
Version: 3.2.3
No responses from developer to any queries. No updates since Oct. 2016 despite the MANY advances and changes in drive tech. No way.
GeogProf
GeogProf
May 7 2017
3.2.3
0.5
May 7 2017
0.5
Version: 3.2.3
THIS DOES NOT WORK ON SSDs (Solid State Drives) — IT ONLY WORKS ON HDDs (Hard Disk Drives, which Apple abandoned years ago in all MacBooks). Developer, please correct me if I’m wrong. If I’m not, do the right thing and indicate as much in your app’s introduction. BTW, DriveDX DOES work on SSDs. So now I have to abandon this $25 license and buy a $25 DriveDX license.
qb
qb
Mar 17 2017
3.2.3
5.0
Mar 17 2017
5.0
Version: 3.2.3
I've owned a 10-pack license and used SMART Utility since mid-2010. I do IT support and offend diagnose the "spinning beachball" on client computers as bad drive sectors. I find it amazing that even a single bad sector, even if reallocated, can cause such problems but they do. S-U has provided the info I need to point out that a replacement HDD is needed and get the client back running smoothly. I look forward to the announced, but late, release of v4!
christian-schaffner
christian-schaffner
Jan 24 2017
3.2.3
1.0
Jan 24 2017
1.0
Version: 3.2.3
25 bucks is way to much when you can find similar apps for US$0.99 in the Mac App Store. I would like to point out our own app SSD Health Check: https://itunes.apple.com/app/ssd-health-check/id1193940657?l=de&ls=1&mt=12 It is fast and delivers not only detailed statistics (like unexpected power losses, power cycles, failed read/write attempts and more) but also real time data like current temperature and more. Definitely worth a try, especially since it is 25 x times cheaper than similar other apps!
GeogProf
GeogProf
Sep 22 2016
3.2.2
0.5
Sep 22 2016
0.5
Version: 3.2.2
Is this useful for an internal SSD on a new MacBook Pro?
GeogProf
GeogProf
Sep 22 2016
3.2.2
0.5
Sep 22 2016
0.5
Version: 3.2.2
Does this version work with Sierra?
A1D
A1D
Mar 7 2016
3.2.2
1.0
Mar 7 2016
1.0
Version: 3.2.2
Of cause, the price is subjective thing. It reflects the amount of work from two side – How the App looks and How the App Works. It looks pretty dull, obviously no designers been involved in this. And developer doesn't bother about the UX / UI as well. Now about how it works. Compared to the competitors (DriveDx for example) it has limited functionality. I've tried to run the short test (App says 2 mins. approx) it never has been completed. I wouldn't conceder to buy this piece of software. Dramatically overpriced, lacks of design and functionality, bugged.
Forn
Forn
Feb 22 2016
3.2.2
0.0
Feb 22 2016
0.0
Version: 3.2.2
25$! Am I the only one who thinks that nearly all APPs are way too expensive? Earlier they cost 5$ maybe 10 $. Now they are 20$ to 40$ and so on… By far to expensive. Not real values.
fwilkinson
fwilkinson
Nov 2 2015
3.2.1
2.0
Nov 2 2015
2.0
Version: 3.2.1
$25? lol
rardin
rardin
Mar 23 2015
3.1.4
0.0
Mar 23 2015
0.0
Version: 3.1.4
Naming of the zip archive aside, the version of SMART Utility 3.1.4 for OS X 10.5 still appears to be version 3.1.3 build 3B134.
Finrod63
Finrod63
Dec 22 2014
3.1.2
0.0
Dec 22 2014
0.0
Version: 3.1.2
Is SMART Utility ready for Yosemite?
JohnP7216
JohnP7216
Jun 30 2014
3.1.2
2.5
Jun 30 2014
2.5
Version: 3.1.2
This program reads only the internal drive on my macbook pro. It seems ok with that drive. I use a number of external drives for data and backups. It will not recognize the external drives although I did install their driver. As it will not recognize 90% of my drives it is of little use to me.
Just-Annutha-Dewd
Just-Annutha-Dewd
Jun 29 2013
3.1.1
4.0
Jun 29 2013
4.0
Version: 3.1.1
I've been using SMART Utility for some time now and am generally pleased with it. What I especially appreciate is the recent addition of the ability to install the SAT driver to enable monitoring of supported external drives. My biggest gripe is that it should be easier to initiate a short run vs long run. It'd make more sense to re-do the UI to run either of those from the main screen, not dive into a sub-menu titled "More Info", which itself doesn't really suggest that's where to go to run a more detailed analysis. Novice users would understandably be confused. My other gripe, which may seem trivial, is the menubar icon. It's hard to make out, being silver on the silver menubar. It also just doesn't look right up there, with a 3D style and sitting next to all the others that are black/white and flat. The icon is fine as a Dock icon, but it just fails on the menubar.
Pmyersjr
Pmyersjr
May 19 2013
3.1.1
3.0
May 19 2013
3.0
Version: 3.1.1
Great App, I know there are similar apps but with this app, everything is under one hood and it's very easy to use.
Macinman
Macinman
Apr 3 2013
3.1.1
5.0
Apr 3 2013
5.0
Version: 3.1.1
I would Like to say, I just purchased this utility today. I have a white macbook that has held up for 6+ years, and is still going well. I had upgraded the stock toshiba 80 GB drive to a WD scorpio black 250 G B 5400 RPM about 6 years too (right after i got the macbook within a month or so). Recently i was having slow downs and odd behavior, I also own a copy of SmartReporter, which had been giving random I/O error reports for the internal drive, with no smart failing reports, and Apple's disk utility had always just said Verified,for Smart status. So I didn't know which tool was giving me accurate results based on drive activity. I knew that SmartReorter had a known bug a while back for giving false positives on i/o error check. so i kept that in mind when they'd pop up, and they kept happening while disk utility said nothing of interest. Then I started digging for smart failure articles and drive failure signs articles I have a computer background, I never got apple Certified, but I did get A+ certified and with the exception of the os and the rom of a mac the rest of the hardware is the same, so I was brushing up on skills since i hadn't had to do any major repair in years, i had gotten rusty. Anyway, I read an article about smart utility, downloaded the trial, and sure enough it confirmed the drive was failing. I wasn't sure how long it was going to hang in there since it was getting worse, so i ran next door picked up a Seagate momentus, 5400 RPM drive 500 GB for $65, and put it in the macbook all was good. The moral of this story is, the right tool gave me the right results in the right time frame to address the issue before things got worse. Just to avoid negative comments, i'm legally blind, i can't drive, office depot is right next door to my apartment complex and since the situation was somewhat serious it was an easy and quick way to get a replacement drive for a reasonable price, without risking damage in the mail, and the other advantage is if it fails within 14 days, i can walk on over and exchange it. Being I've always had better success with seagate drives then WD, i'm pretty confident that won't happen. I'm actually grateful and bless the WD that died, gave me as long as it did, usually WD drives for me have died right away. and i have an ATA wd drive about the same age in a 2.5 enclosure, and it died in a really funky way at about the same age too. Smart can't prevent failure but it usually, from what I've seen gives a fair warning to replace the drive in time to prevent loss. Hope this personal experience helps someone else :)
Johnleh
Johnleh
Dec 16 2012
3.1
1.0
Dec 16 2012
1.0
Version: 3.1
I'll upgrade my review if the developer updates this to work with SSDs, or if I find it's actually correct and my SSD is dying. Based on a handful of reallocated sectors (in an SSD!) it gave my main drive a FAILING warning. This caused me to waste hours researching, and some time in panic. Based on reports from other utilities and my research (which brought be full circle to the knowledge I started with before this stupid thing made me panic) I am quite well aware that SSDs do reallocate sectors, and it doesn't mean they are failing. They have many many blocks of extra capacity, for this purpose. It's called over provisioning, and it's common practice on any decent SSD. Mine certainly has over provisioning. I give this software, until an update to address SSD reads, a warning of FAILING. I wasted money on it, and I wasted time and panic.
Psychos
Psychos
Aug 3 2012
3.1
0.0
Aug 3 2012
0.0
Version: 3.1
I will say this again: this is a simple GUI to smartmontools (http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/). Only it costs $25, just as a GUI wrapper on otherwise-free software. On top of that, this utility does NOT use the included smartd to proactively monitor drives. (Nor does it poll them itself in any useful fashion.) No SMART utility is going to protect you against all drive failures, but you may get a warning of impending failure. This just isn't a good utility to watch those warnings, due to a poor polling setup. (Not to mention the price; I imagine others can point at various utilities that also use smartmontools.) But $25 for a utility that took many hours to build for free, just wrapper in a GUI that gives you text output? Ridiculous.
I-Love-Techno
I-Love-Techno
Jun 22 2012
3.0.2
0.0
Jun 22 2012
0.0
Version: 3.0.2
I can't work out how to use this on external drives - does it work for this?
GeogProf
GeogProf
May 7 2017
0.5
May 7 2017
0.5
Version: null
qb
qb
Mar 17 2017
5.0
Mar 17 2017
5.0
Version: null
christian-schaffner
christian-schaffner
Jan 24 2017
1.0
Jan 24 2017
1.0
Version: null
A1D
A1D
Mar 7 2016
1.0
Mar 7 2016
1.0
Version: null
fwilkinson
fwilkinson
Nov 2 2015
2.0
Nov 2 2015
2.0
Version: null
teamspike
teamspike
Jan 18 2015
4.5
Jan 18 2015
4.5
Version: null
JohnP7216
JohnP7216
Jun 30 2014
2.5
Jun 30 2014
2.5
Version: null
Just-Annutha-Dewd
Just-Annutha-Dewd
Jun 29 2013
4.0
Jun 29 2013
4.0
Version: null
Pmyersjr
Pmyersjr
May 19 2013
3.0
May 19 2013
3.0
Version: null
Vid
Vid
Apr 10 2013
4.0
Apr 10 2013
4.0
Version: null
Macinman
Macinman
Apr 3 2013
5.0
Apr 3 2013
5.0
Version: null
Johnleh
Johnleh
Dec 16 2012
1.0
Dec 16 2012
1.0
Version: null
Xenophile
Xenophile
May 9 2012
3.5
May 9 2012
3.5
Version: null
Thinking-Differently
Thinking-Differently
Nov 14 2011
5.0
Nov 14 2011
5.0
Version: null
Captain5
Captain5
Sep 30 2011
5.0
Sep 30 2011
5.0
Version: null
Mail3
Mail3
Mar 8 2011
5.0
Mar 8 2011
5.0
Version: null
anonymous-camel-2414
Mar 3 2010
3.0
Version: null
Cuchulainn
Cuchulainn
May 5 2009
2.0
May 5 2009
2.0
Version: null
Marco114
Marco114
Apr 29 2009
4.0
Apr 29 2009
4.0
Version: null
Dubbelish
Dubbelish
Mar 22 2009
5.0
Mar 22 2009
5.0
Version: null
Akrobat
Akrobat
Sep 23 2007
3.0
Sep 23 2007
3.0
Version: null
$25.00
One-Time Purchase
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