| Firmware is the set of low-level instructions that allows your computer to identify itself and communicate with the OS. Certain settings are directly affected by your firmware. For example, a laptop's firmware will tell the OS that the computer is a laptop and requires extra power maintenance features, like using battery or adapter power, while a desktop's firmware will tell the OS that the computer is a desktop, therefore always plugged in, therefore it doesn't have a power adapter or a battery.
Firmware updates help sort out bugs in your firmware that can cause confusion between your OS, your computer, and its devices.
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System:
• 2.5 GHz MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM, 200 GB hard drive, runs 10.5.5
• 1.6 GHz iMac G5, 1.5 GB RAM, 250 GB hard drive, runs 10.4.11 (slightly out of commission at this time)
• iPhone, 4 GB, OS X 2.0.2 |