How can you tell if the SMC has _already_ been reset recently?

sberman wrote:

Why would you care?

Because I am curious, and because on that same document, there is this:

Notebook computers with the T2 chip

Before resetting the SMC, try these steps:

1. 1. Shut down your Mac.
   2. Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds, then release the button.
   3. Wait a few seconds, then press the power button to turn on your Mac.

If the issue persists, follow these steps to reset the SMC:

[followed by the somewhat lengthy procedure.]

What does that do, exactly? Why does it not have a name (or nickname), in the sense that "reset the SMC" is the name of a thing that you can do? Such a name would be handy for making a reference to it in troubleshooting notes, instead of typing out a whole paragraph.

And...

Elsewhere, there is a debate about whether or not that three-step procedure also resets the SMC.

I would assert that it does not (by virtue of the wording), but there doesn't seem to be any way to find out for sure.

If the action of "resetting the SMC" left some kind of "fingerprint", you would be able to tell if the simple un-named procedure also could reset the SMC.

I did try Console a few days ago, and it's all pretty cryptic. No help there.

Then it occurred to me tonight that if I had never done a reset, I probably would not find anything about it. So, I just did one.

I got hits in Console this time, searching for MESSAGE contains "SMC" which got these:

By subtracting the "Time since boot: 53 minutes" from the time of day (02:45) in the menubar, I place the SMC Reset and startup at 01:52, and nothing in the above is earlier than 02:02:14.

"Setting PMU offset" sounds interesting, but it looks like it may just be a business as usual sort of event. Perhaps I did not use the right filters last time.

Anybody have an idea of what to search for?

Hmmm.

It's like the difference between "Did you take the drugs?" and "Are you cured of whatever it is that the drugs may cure?"