MP 1,1-5,1 TG Pro, iStat or any other utility you can't live without?

[GlynH]

Hi there,

I would like to monitor temperatures & sensors in my 5,1 but am caught between a rock and a hard place.

You see I don't like loading lots of 3rd Party apps doing lots of different things preferring to keep things nice & clean without impacting resources etc.

And yet I am prepared to compromise my OCD a little in installing a decent fan speed & temperature monitor such as TG Pro or iStat and wondered what you guys prefer/recommend and why?

I know that's a loaded question but as I know nothing about these types of apps your answers would give me a steer to do some research and make my own informed decision.

And are there any other utilities you can't live without on your cMP's or Mac in particular?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[KeesMacPro]

IMHO it comes down to personal preferences.
They all do the job , but above all make sure you dont run multiple fan control software at the same time.

I've tested them all but at the end came back to MacsFanControl : )

 

[th0masp]

MacsFanControl indeed!

 

[mattspace]

iStat is fantastic, for its menubar utilities - especially its power indicator, which keeps a connection to my UPS' battery level, unlike the Apple-provided Energy Saver prefpane menubar indicator, which just decides to disappear from the menubar randomly.

Other than status monitoring, SwitchResX for display control, Stay for window management for *when* macOS fails to remember monitor configurations and window positions, MenuWhere to put the entire menubar as a contextual menu for middle mouse button.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

iStat menus for menu info
Keyboard Maestro for macro everything. This is my favorite app ever.
CleanShot for screen shots. It's the cleanest smallest app of its type.
Synology Drive to sync all data between desktop and laptop
OCRKit Pro for the fastest OCRing app I've seen. Not the most accurate, but fastest when you need to convert big documents.

 

[flyingmanatee]

I have a Mac Pro 3,1 with fan issues, and MacsFanControl is the saving grace as it stops the machine from going leaf blower over time. Pretty much the only "Can't live without" utility. Carbon Copy Cloner isn't something I use often but every few years, it's a godsend.

 

[GlynH]

So despite your recommendations for MacsFanControl & iStat in the end I went for TG Pro just to be contrary!

I already use CCC but I'll take a look at some of the others and see what I just can't live without.

I have always been interested in Utilities since my Amiga days although I do try to limit the amount of apps I install but thanks for taking the time to post...keep 'em coming!

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[robertfrancis70]

Have you checked out MenuMeters?

 

[skodises]

MacsFanControl, iStat, SuperDuper/CCC, and Little Snitch.

Little Snitch is invaluable when/if you must expose the machine to the larger internet swamp in any way.

I have good control over port blocking and forwarding at my router/outer firewall, as well as the Mac's own firewall, but regrettably I have to expose a few specific ports to the swamp for business reasons. I'm currently sitting here watching an ongoing brute-force attack on my VPN server from some script-kiddie's botnet, and playing whack-a-mole with them...

Oh, and on edit: DriveDx. You can never know too much about the health of your storage....

 

[rpmurray]

I use TGPro but have nothing against MacsFanControl, just personal preference.

I couldn't live without TotalSpaces2 but will have to find a way if Apple ever produces an M(whatever) Mac that I'd want to purchase, since it's not compatible with Apple Silicon.

Also ScreenSharingMenulet for doing screen sharing between my Macs.

 

[GlynH]

Some great suggestions here...thanks.

Keep 'em coming!

-=Glyn=-

 

[apostolosdt]

I have promised myself to install apps on my recently bought 6,1 on a on-demand basis. In my 5,1, on the other hand, I've installed a lot. Amphetamine and Jettison are two apps for sleep with external disks connected and never-sleep modes; flux for having monitor follow day-night light changes; OnyX in place of the better but expensive CleanMyMac X; balenaEtcher as a Rufus-like app for Mac.

For non-essential apps but very functional on a day-to-day basis: As I listen to music a lot while writing or photo editing, I use Boom 3D to boost the sound from my simple 2+1 speakers; RawTherapee instead of Lightroom; finally, for those doing arithmetic calculations a lot and love the RPN mode but don't want to buy the HP15C, I suggest the X-41 (or my41cx on Monterey).

 

[Fastsavage]

This is quite thought provoking actually. Macs Fan Control, Little Snitch and CCC.
Mac native apps - Spotlight is my favourite and Time Machine is another

A few of the others mentioned would be worth a look at although some are duplicate of native apps....

CleanShot for instance - what about command-shift-4 and mark-up