Mark Piaskiewicz1
Level 3 (578 points)
Notebooks

Q: EFI or UEFI

Does Apple use EFI or UEFI there days, and how do I find the version?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 2.8,16,512 MacBookPro11,3

Posted on Jun 20, 2016 1:53 PM

by judysings,Solvedanswer
judysings judysings
Community Specialists
A:

Hey there Mark,

 

It sounds like you want to know how to check your EFI version, and yes our computers use EFI according to this article:

 

About EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Mac computers

 

You should be able to check that version number using System Information:

How to check your firmware version

Use these steps to check your Mac's EFI Boot ROM and SMC firmware versions.

  1. Open System Information.
  2. Select the Hardware section to view the Model Identifier, Boot ROM version, and SMC version numbers.

If the firmware version you see in System Information is newer than what's listed for your Mac, you don't need to apply the updates listed for that model. If you try to use a manual updater that's not designed for your Mac, or if it's not needed, the installer alerts you and the software isn't installed.

 

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities, all the best!

Posted on Jun 21, 2016 12:13 PM

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Mark Piaskiewicz1

Q: EFI or UEFI

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  • Helpful answers

  • by judysings,Solvedanswer

    judysings judysings Jun 21, 2016 12:13 PM in response to Mark Piaskiewicz1
    Community Specialists
    Jun 21, 2016 12:13 PM in response to Mark Piaskiewicz1

    Hey there Mark,

     

    It sounds like you want to know how to check your EFI version, and yes our computers use EFI according to this article:

     

    About EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Mac computers

     

    You should be able to check that version number using System Information:

    How to check your firmware version

    Use these steps to check your Mac's EFI Boot ROM and SMC firmware versions.

    1. Open System Information.
    2. Select the Hardware section to view the Model Identifier, Boot ROM version, and SMC version numbers.

    If the firmware version you see in System Information is newer than what's listed for your Mac, you don't need to apply the updates listed for that model. If you try to use a manual updater that's not designed for your Mac, or if it's not needed, the installer alerts you and the software isn't installed.

     

    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities, all the best!

  • by Mark Piaskiewicz1,

    Mark Piaskiewicz1 Mark Piaskiewicz1 Jun 21, 2016 2:16 PM in response to judysings
    Level 3 (578 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 21, 2016 2:16 PM in response to judysings

    System Information shows:

    Boot ROM Version: MBP112.0138.B17

    SMC Version (system): 2.19f12

     

    UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface AND the industry body that controls it. (Apple sits on the board).

     

    EFI v1.1 was developed by Intel in 2005. UEFI depreciated EFI and v2.1 (UEFI) was introduced in 2007. The current version released in January 2016 is v2.6. 

     

    I'm trying to find out if Apple is still using v1.1 or if they've moved on to a newer version but still call the partition EFI, and how to determine the actual version number of whatever they're using.

     

    So far it's been like pulling teeth!