Now that you have completed this chapter, you should have a good understanding of the macOS start-up process and the initialization stages involved. This includes the visual cues and sounds that happen at each stage so as to be better equipped to troubleshoot possible start-up issues. You should also be familiar with the available start-up modes, including Safe Boot, Verbose, and single-user modes, which are helpful when it comes to isolating possible issues. Also, you now know what energy-saving features you can configure; namely, Safe Sleep, Standby, and Power Nap, which affect startup and shutdown. Finally, you have learned about a feature in newer Macs, the T2 Security Chip, which allows additional security modes.
In the next chapter, we will look at another important topic at the heart of any system: users. We will see the types of user accounts available, and how to create them, manage them, and much more.
