TechTool Pro 11.0.3
Hardware diagnostics and disk repair
$129.99, upgrades from $29.99 From Micromat, micromat.com Needs Any Mac with macOS 10.10 or later
The only comprehensive toolkit for diagnosing hardware problems over the last 30 years, TechTool Pro 11 keeps pace with recent features like T2 chips, Apple’s new file system, and Mojave’s privacy protection. It’s even notarized for compatibility with macOS 10.15.
When you first open it, you’ll be prompted to give it Full Disk Access in your Security & Privacy pane. This adds the four necessary items, provided you follow its instructions.
Before running any tests, even its Check Computer, study its 35,000–word manual and set a configuration which you won’t regret later. By default it will test volume structures on an internal boot SSD, which makes your Mac unresponsive: after 20 minutes with the clock and Finder frozen, we forced our iMac Pro to shut down as the only way out; it’s impossible to tell whether it’s still testing, or has ground to a halt.
In addition to extending existing tests to cover Mojave and the latest version of APFS, version 11 adds the repair of permissions in your Home folder. First recommended by Apple in Sierra, this remains a valuable trick for fixing wide-ranging problems such as preference files that don’t stick, but can take several hours.
There are still enforced gaps in some of its tools. It can verify and repair volumes in HFS+, APFS, FAT32 and ExFat, but defragmentation, much of its data recovery suite, and some storage protection doesn’t work on SSDs or boot volumes. This is mitigated by two invaluable features. eDrive volumes are customized Recovery partitions in which you can include TechTool Pro and other tools. Protogo complements those by building bespoke startup disks such as USB thumb drives for those little emergencies.
TechTool Pro’s hardware coverage remains uniquely comprehensive. Specialist tools can give more detail on storage, but there’s hardly any Mac hardware which it can’t inspect and test. Its coverage of the many sensors in your Mac is superb, and it’ll even do battery checks on tethered iOS devices.
If you support Macs, it’s essential. But this isn’t a tool for the casual user. At the right time, in the right hands, it’s a Mac–saver.
THE BOTTOM LINE. Invaluable for the expert and a compelling upgrade, but be careful of its power.