v1.0.10

Fix for menubar visibility issue on macos26+

v1.0.9

PortScope v1.0.9

Cable Tester

• Measures the cable, not USB. Two Macs on one cable also link over USB networking, and the test could pick that link and read ~41 MB/s on every cable. It now always uses Thunderbolt.
• Faster on quick links. The test itself is no longer the bottleneck. Its results now match iperf3.
• Shows how much of the link a run used. The "% of the link" bar is back on Thunderbolt runs, and saved results include the cable's rating and link speed again.
• Stops blaming the other Mac. A port linked to another Mac no longer reports that Mac as the slow part.

Also fixed

• "Update available" always comes with its Download button.
• Choosing a new tether capture folder clears the old folder's warning.

v1.0.8

PortScope 1.0.8

Licensing fixes

• A license no longer lapses while PortScope is running, and it now checks itself regularly rather than only when its window opens.
• Entering your key again no longer uses up an activation.
• Showing "2 of 2" with fewer Macs than that? An earlier version may have stranded an activation, so contact support and we'll free it.
• If PortScope can't reach the licensing server for 14 days, it says it couldn't confirm your license instead of "Not licensed", and unlocks by itself once back online.
• Deactivate This Mac is now always available on an activated Mac and reports any failure.

Fixes

• Port pages no longer jump around with a very low-power device attached, such as a YubiKey.

v1.0.7

PortScope 1.0.7

Link speed alerts

• Find out when a connection slows down, like a 10 Gbps drive falling back to 480 Mbps from a worn cable or a loose connector. You get one alert ("Samsung T7 dropped to 480 Mbps") instead of a disconnect and a reconnect.
• Thunderbolt and USB4 links that slow down (40 to 20 Gbps) are caught too.
• Watch the ports and devices you care about: tick "Notify if link speed changes" on a port's page, from a device's right-click menu, or in the menu bar. Watching a port covers everything plugged into it.
• Choose the notification sound from the Mac's alert sounds, with a preview.

Speed drop alarm

For anyone who keeps notifications off or works in a Focus. Off by default, in Settings ▸ Notifications.

• The menu-bar icon shows a warning, and the drop is listed at the top of the menu until the link recovers or you dismiss it.
• PortScope can play the alert sound itself, so you hear it even in a Focus or with notifications blocked.

Speed Test History

• Easier to scan: each test shows just its speeds. Click it for the connection, drive, verdict and charts.

v1.0.6

PortScope 1.0.6

Speed Test, rebuilt

• Accurate on fast drives
• Sustained runs stop on their own once the speed settles. You set the most it may write.
• See where it slows down: every drop is marked with the time, the data written and the drive’s temperature.
• Honest labels and a clear verdict: quick tests read “Burst”, only long runs are called “Sustained”, and the verdict names the bottleneck, whether that’s the drive, the cable or a hub.
• Warns when a result may be off: another app using the drive, Low Power Mode, battery power, or a hot Mac.

Speed Test History

• Renamed and laid out in cards. Tick tests to export a PDF report or CSV.

Also new

• A charger’s contract above 3 A now shows the cable is rated for at least 5 A.
• Thunderbolt docks are named on their port, and a cable to another Mac says so.

Fixes

• Tether Throughput warns when its capture folder goes missing, instead of silently reading 0 MB/s.
• Devices behind older Thunderbolt 3 docks (such as the CalDigit TS3 Plus) appear on their port again.
• No stale link speed on idle Thunderbolt ports, no false “DSC on” for TVs, and clearer “No e-marker” wording.

v1.0.5

PortScope 1.0.5

New

• System notifications (off by default). Turn them on in Settings ▸ Notifications and pick what you want: devices connecting or leaving, cable warnings, link errors and overcurrent, power adapter changes, an adapter too weak to charge, a drive running hot, a finished speed test, and new releases.
• Automatic update check (off by default) in Settings ▸ About.
• Reference intro: a short card the first time you open the Reference page, with a "Don't show this again" box.
• Speed Test keeps your Mac awake during a run, clears leftover test files from crashed runs, and warns you when you're on battery.
• Erase your speed test and cable tester history from Settings ▸ Data. You can also forget saved display names.

Fixed

• A slower device is no longer blamed on the cable. A 5 Gbps drive on a 10 Gbps cable, or a 10 Gbps drive on a 40/80 Gbps cable, is reported as the device being the limit.
• A USB link that hasn't trained no longer shows as if it were up at the connector's rate.
• Cable power ratings now follow the spec (EPR rules and all voltage codes), and long optical cables no longer show a wrong length.
• Two identical cables plugged in together now both record errors.
• Random-write speed no longer includes the final flush.
• A history file that can't be read is set aside instead of being overwritten.
• A server error no longer revokes your license.

Improved

• Settings now has a left sidebar.
• Text is slightly larger, and low-contrast text was fixed for light and dark mode.
• Reference and Help corrected after an accuracy review, including the Cable Tester troubleshooting guide.
• Volume cards in the Speed Test picker show a used-space bar.
• Buy buttons open the checkout page directly, and About links to the Faini Made Software Policy.

v1.0.4

[1.0.4] — 2026-09-23

Added

• Vendor names — cable, device and charger vendor IDs now show the
  company name (e.g. "Apple Inc. (0x05AC)"): first from the USB-IF list
  macOS ships, then from the Linux USB ID Repository (bundled, used under
  the BSD 3-clause license; see Settings ▸ About ▸ Acknowledgments), and
  otherwise the hex ID.
• Charger profiles — every voltage the charger offers is listed, with the
  one in use marked and any the cable can't carry at full current flagged.
• Battery state — charging, full, charging paused (Optimized Battery
  Charging, a charge limit or temperature), or not charging because the
  adapter is too weak. Shown on the port page, in the sidebar and in the
  menu bar.
• Unusual e-marker values — the Cable card flags a cable whose chip
  contradicts itself: no vendor ID, EPR claimed on a 3 A or 20 V cable, a
  passive 40/80 Gbps cable claiming over 2 m, reserved codes, or a chip that
  doesn't identify as a cable.
• Display signal — for external monitors: the resolution actually being
  sent (not just the desktop mode), whether it's the panel's native
  resolution, bit depth, and whether DSC compression is on, with the
  bandwidth the mode needs against what the link carries.
• Charging-path resistance — an estimate of the resistance between the
  charger and the Mac, from how the voltage sags as the load changes.
• Per-row sources — the Power and Power Contract cards now tag each row
  with where it came from (charger, cable chip, negotiated, measured).

v1.0.3

New

Cable Tester results saved on both Macs. After a test, either Mac can name and save the result, and it shows up in the history on both. The host Mac now gets the Save card and verdict too.

Fixed

Tether Throughput: Tether "Average frame" too small. Frames are now measured at their finished size, and only image files count. A RAW+JPEG pair counts as one frame, and sidecar files (Capture One settings and thumbnails, .xmp) no longer count as frames.
Tether "Per frame" skewed by breaks. A pause between sets no longer inflates the time between shots.
Cable Tester directions on the host. The host showed Send and Receive swapped. Both Macs now report them from their own side.
Both Macs need v1.0.3 to use the Cable Tester together.

v1.0.2

Fixed an issue where devices would advertise 5gbps despite being connected at 10gbps.

v1.0.1

[1.0.1] — 2026-08-20

Added

• Live Data usage percentages — each storage/network row now shows its
  share of the port's own link ceiling, plus a total-usage bar for everything
  moving through the port at once.
• Live Data volume names — a storage row now leads with its mounted
  volume name ("2TB") instead of the drive's model, with the model demoted
  to a subtitle, matching the menu bar.

Fixed

• Menu bar eject button — was missing for Thunderbolt/USB NVMe drives
  (the kind of external SSD enclosure macOS reports as "Fixed" rather than
  removable media); it now appears for any external drive, matching the
  main window's behavior.