TechTool Pro has long been one of the foremost utilities for keeping your Mac running smoothly and efficiently. With the release of version 9, it has become more proficient than ever.
- TechTool Protection - Reengineered to better protect your Mac - TechTool Pro 9 includes the option of installing a system preference pane to keep watch over your Mac. New features include check for I/O errors, Power On Self-Test errors, Mac notebook internal battery condition, and RAID status (if applicable). It also includes the same improvements to the SMART check in TechTool Pro. All of that, wrapped in an entirely new interface.
- Check Computer - Now you're in control - Check Computer is a handy way to tell TechTool Pro to run the entire suite of tests to give you the best possible snapshot of your Mac's health. Sometimes, though, it's nice to be able to leave tests out, or to skip certain drives. Using the new configuration panel, you have total control of the Check Computer suite. Power to the people.
- Partition Map - new drive test - TechTool Pro has long been known for testing your Mac's file system. It is important also to test the data structures that contain the Mac's file system: the Partition Map. The new Partition Map test checks the partition map of a given drive for errors. Partition map errors can cause entire volumes to go missing, or prevent a Mac from booting. If errors are found, they can be repaired usin the Partition Repair tool.
- Partition Repair - new drive repair tool - Along with Volume Rebuild, which repairs Mac file systems, the Partition Repair tool repairs the remaining portions of the drive which keeps track of the volumes on your hard drive. This includes hidden partitions which keep track of your Mac's startup process. The Partition Repair tool does just what it says, repairing the partition maps or drives where needed.
- SMART Check - Now even smarter - Hard drives include a technology called SMART (Self Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) which can inform a computer about the health of its hard drives. In most utilities, just the overall results - passed or failed - are reported to the user. In the failed state, often there is little or no time to back up data before the drive fails entirely. Previous versions of TechTool Pro reported the overall status of each attribute, but some attributes don't contribute to the failure of a drive. Now, the SMART Check has gotten smarter. TechTool Pro now knows which attributes contribute to drive failure, and will report a failing result before the drive fails completely. Giving you time to rescue your data.
- Memory Test - Now better than ever before - TechTool Pro 7 took a revolutionary step in testing memory, making TechTool Pro's memory testing suite the most comprehensive test available for the Mac. In TechTool Pro 9, we've taken some of the additional advancements used by ATOMIC, our dedicated Memory Tester, and integrated them into TechTool Pro. Now, memory is 'cleaned' before testing, reclaimed from macOS, maximizing the amount of RAM that can be tested.
- Processor Benchmark - Get an objective measurement of your Mac's processor performance. The Processor Benchmark too uses industry-standard measurement algorithms to test processor performance. Using this tool, you can get metrics that can be used to compare processor speeds apples-to-apples. Avoids the confusion of comparison using Megahertz.
- Bluetooth - New test - Most Macs depend on Bluetooth to connect to the tools we use to interact with our computers: the keyboard and mouse. Bluetooth problems can result in dropped connections with those devices, which can be very frustrating. Verify the proper operation of your Mac's Bluetooth hardware. Make sure that not only your input devices, but also your audio and fitness devices can connect to your Mac by checking the Bluetooth hardware on your Mac.
- Network Interfaces - New test - Most Macs spend the majority of their lives connected to the internet. If the ethernet or wifi adapters in your Mac aren't working, the valuable connection to the internet can fail. The new Network Interfaces test can test any connected network interface for errors. It not only tests ethernet and wifi, but also any other supported internet connection, ethernet over USB, VPN connections, even a FireWire network conneciton. Ensure the reilability of your internet and intranet connections by testing your Mac's network interfaces.
Version 9.6.2:
Note: Owners of earlier versions of TechTool Pro 8 or 9.0.x can upgrade to version 9.6 for $19.99; owners of version 5, 6, or 7, as well as TechTool Protogo 1 through 4 can upgrade for $29.99.
- Added iMac Pro (2017) support.
- Fixed issues encountered with the release of macOS 10.13.4.
- Fixed reported SMART Check crash on certain Macs with internal NVMe (PCI-Express) drives.
- Fixed switching to Tools category under macOS 10.12 with an APFS volume mounted.
- Fixed a volume size calculation error when creating an eDrive on APFS formatted volumes.
- Fixed reported blank TechTool Protection preference panel.
- Fixed 'red bar' display issue in TechTool Protection Volume Usage.
- Fixed APFS encrypted volumes failing erroneously in Volume Structures test.
- Fixed reported Video Memory VRAM size issue.
- Fixed Video Memory card manufacturer logo information and added AMD company logo support.
- Fixed icon not loading correctly into the Menu bar in TechTool Protection.
- Fixed window resizing issue for Internet Speed tool.
- Fixed missing iPod icons in TechTool Protogo.
- Fixed LaCie RAID external drive for SMART Check in the TechTool Pro and TechTool Protection system preference.
- Fixed incorrectly active fields in Techtool Protection Email Alerts when the feature was not enabled.
- Fixed reported font issue in the SMART Check NVMe panel for Japanese localization.
- Correction to the File Optimization tool for macOS 10.13 startup volumes.
- Correction to TechTool Protogo’s Mac OS X Basic keyboard layout for international users.
- Added an active APFS boot volume live verification dialog in the Volume Structures test.
- Added FileVault support for APFS volumes and enhancements to the HFS+ implementation.
- Added a FileVault password dialog when booted from either a TechTool Protogo Minimal or Recovery HD profiled device.
- Updated eDrive mount/unmount status control to be handled by the active operating system.
- Updated Volume Structures testing routine to detect additional structure errors.
- Updated Volume Cloning updated to better handle mixed source and target APFS and HFS+ volumes.
- Updated Volume Cloning for macOS 10.13 users when using File Sync Cloning and Disk Image Cloning.
- Updated eDrive to support alternate Home directory locations for APFS and HFS+ volumes.
- Updated Ping and Jitter results for the Internet Speed tool.
- Updated Macintosh identification and location strings for Check Computer.
- Updated TechTool Pro 9 PDF manual.
- Updated Sparkle to version 1.18.1.
- Updated French, German, Italian, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified) localizations.
- Many other improvements and enhancements.
What justifies the upgrade fee to TechTool Pro v9.5 is the APFS repair functionality added in v9.6. Micromat is the FIRST macOS utility developer to add this functionality. Otherwise, High Sierra users are stuck with Apple's meagre Disk Utility. Bravo to Micromat!
Keep in mind that this is 'initial' APFS compatibility. Further APFS functionality features are on the way. To quote Micromat:
"Trust us when we say that there is a lot going on with this new file system, so this is just *initial* support. Techtool Pro can now test and repair these disks, even eDrives on them, but we're still hard at work exploring the depths of this file system. Some more advanced features will be coming down the road."
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We're still waiting for:
- Alsoft DiskWarrior repair compatibility with APFS.
- Prosoft Engineering Drive Genius repair compatibility with APFS.
- Apple to finish APFS such that it is compatible with both conventional hard drives and Fusion drives. (Apple provided initial Fusion drive compatibility in the first beta of High Sierra, then removed it. There has been no sign of it since!)
Note that the inability of HFS+ Macs to access APFS Macs can be a CRITICAL problem. Therefore, unless your network consists of only SSD Macs, I currently recommend NOT upgrading to High Sierra. If you want your HFS+ Macs to access APFS Macs, you're thoroughly hosed. As such, I consider High Sierra to be an unfinished beta OS.
Hurry up Apple! We're beyond impatient here! (@_@)
Upgrade policy stinks.
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