What is DFU Mode?

DFU mode is a low-level mode that allows you to reinstall the device firmware, or operating system, even if the target machine is not fully functional.

Revive vs Restore

On Apple Silicon machines, when you’re in DFU mode, you can perform two similar operations, however the outcome of each is markedly different. Whilst a Revive shouldn’t touch any user data on the drive, I strongly recommend having a full backup of anything important before performing either of these operations.

Revive

A Revive is generally the first operation to try. Revive will update the device’s firmware and recovery partition without erasing the data on the internal drive.

Restore

Performing a Restore is a much more in-depth operation as it completely wipes the device, updates the device’s firmware and recovery partition, and then reinstalls the latest operating system, and returns it to factory settings.

Which one to use?

Reviving is faster and preserves your data; Restore is like a full factory-reset. Try Revive first, and only if that fails, then proceed with a Restore.

How to Identify the DFU Port

Apple has an article explaining how to identify the DFU port on Mac.

When you’re facing the left-hand side of the machine, the DFU port is:

MacBook Neo: The USB-C port closest to the hinge.

MacBook Pro: The USB-C port closest to the hinge, except for Intel MacBook Pro with T2 chip, M4 and M5 non-Pro models in which case it’s the USB-C port closest to the front of the laptop.

MacBook Air: The USB-C port closest to the hinge, except for Intel MacBook Air with T2 chip and 2025 and later models in which case it’s the USB-C port closest to the front of the laptop.

iMac: The rightmost USB-C port when you’re facing the back of the Mac.

Mac mini: The leftmost USB-C port when you’re facing the back of the Mac on all Apple Silicon models, except for the 2024 model in which case it’s the middle USB-C port. On Intel with T2 chip, it’s the rightmost USB-C port.

Mac Studio: The rightmost USB-C port when you’re facing the back of the Mac.

How to enter DFU Mode

On a laptop, Apple says to perform the following procedure:

• Connect both machines to power
• Plug the USB-C cable into the DFU port on the affected Mac.
• On the other Mac, I’ve had more success plugging into the DFU port as well, however Apple says you can use any USB-C port.
• On the affected Mac laptop, to enter DFU mode:
  • Press and hold the power button for up to 10 seconds to force the Mac to turn off
  • Press and release the power button, then immediately press and hold all four of these together on the built-in keyboard:
    • Control ⌃ on the left-hand side of the keyboard
    • Option ⌥ on the left-hand side of the keyboard
    • Shift ⇧ on the right-hand side of the keyboard
    • Power button
  • Keep holding all four keys for about 10 seconds, then release all keys, except the power button.
  • Keep holding the power button for up to 10 more seconds
• The Mac should now show up in Apple Configurator as being in DFU mode.

I’ve had mixed success getting the timing right for this and usually can’t do it reliably the first time.

Another way

Timothy Perfitt, over on X, has written up an easier way, and in my testing, I’ve found it to be more repeatable:

Here is his procedure, paraphrased:

Turn on the Mac.

Hold the power button as well as the left Control, Left Option and right Shift keys until it shuts off. Keep holding them and count to 3. Release all but the power button and count to 7 or until it shows up in Apple Configurator 2.

Works every time and better feedback.

You just have to count to 3 once instead of 10 twice.