Everything plugged into your Mac, and what it’s actually doing
Is that drive on USB 2? What did the charger negotiate? How much is left in the left AirPod? The Devices tab answers in one place, from the same IORegistry data System Information reads, without its ten clicks.
Bluetooth with batteries
Connected devices first, with battery chips (AirPods left, right and case), signal strength, and connect or disconnect once you allow Bluetooth access.
The USB tree
Hubs and the devices behind them, a USB 1, 2 or 3 speed chip, bus power like “288 of 900 mA”, and which USB-C port each is on. Thunderbolt and USB4 when present.
Ports and the charger
What runs over each USB-C or MagSafe port and the watts it sends out, plus the charger’s name, negotiated 94 W · 20 V · 4.7 A, and live input watts.
Displays
Pixels, looks-like size and refresh rate for each display. Expand one to change its resolution or Hz, make it main, or turn mirroring on and off.
Audio devices
Tap an output or input to make it the default. Expand it for volume and mute, sample rate, and Use for Alerts.
Drives and history
External drives with eject (naming the apps that block it), a Recent list of connects and disconnects, and optional notifications for them.
System Information, made glanceable
macOS knows all of this. It’s spread across System Settings › Bluetooth, System Information’s USB, Thunderbolt and Power sections, Displays settings and the Sound pane, and some of it, like live charger draw or watts sent out per port, only shows up in ioreg. The Devices tab puts it on one screen, laid out as the hardware is: hubs with their children, ports with what’s on them.
Notifications for flaky hardware
Turn on Notify in the tab’s header and Stat Space posts a notification whenever something connects or disconnects, even with the popover closed. It’s the quickest way to catch a dock or USB hub that drops for a second, a Bluetooth keyboard that keeps reconnecting, or a drive that unmounts on its own.
Small answers that save time
- A USB 3 drive showing a USB 2 chip explains a slow copy before you blame the drive.
- A charger reading 60 W when it says 100 W on the box points at the cable.
- The Recent list tells you the dock dropped and reconnected three times this morning.
- Right-click any row to copy its name, address or ID, open its settings, or jump to System Information.
Everything uses public APIs: IORegistry, CoreGraphics, CoreAudio and IOBluetooth. No private frameworks, no root, and nothing installed alongside the app. Pin a Bluetooth device’s battery to Home as a tile to keep an eye on your mouse or AirPods without opening the tab.
Questions
Does the Devices tab need Bluetooth permission?
Not to open it. Connected devices, and battery levels for Apple mice, keyboards and trackpads, come from sources that need no prompt. The full paired list and connect/disconnect buttons appear after you click Allow in the tab, which is the only thing that raises the macOS Bluetooth prompt.
Does it cost anything when I’m not looking?
No. The tab has no background sampler: it reads devices when you open it and on plug and unplug events, refreshes charger and Bluetooth every 5 seconds only while it’s open, and stops when you close it. Notifications, if you turn them on, are event-driven.
Can it change display brightness on external monitors?
No. Display controls use Apple’s public CoreGraphics APIs: resolution, refresh rate, main display and mirroring, the same as System Settings. DDC brightness control isn’t included.
Why does my USB-C SSD show USB 2 speed?
Usually the cable or a hub in between. Many USB-C cables, especially ones bundled with phones, only carry USB 2 data. Try a cable rated for 10 Gb/s or a Thunderbolt cable, plugged straight into the Mac.
Know what your Mac is doing, without adding to it.
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