I want to operate my M4 mac mini without a system or user password.

RLGolden wrote:

I guess I don't understand the level of concern here. The machine sits at my house in my office with no other person having access to it. If the issue is a fear of someone hacking into the system, it's no big deal. There is no sensitive information stored on this machine, nor on my iPhone, iPad Pro, MacBook Air or Apple Watch. This is a machine I use to learn more about the Apple ecosystem.

You need to have a password on your primary admin account. Period. The primary admin account is the first account you set up when you first installed your Mac. It is also the "owner" account.

At some point in the future, during some unpredictable update, reset or system problem you will need to solve, either Apple or your Mac will require you to enter the password for your Mac. If you don't have one you will be SOL.

Set up your Mac to Automatically log you in ... and Never require a password on the Lock Screen. That way you won't ever have to manually enter a password when you boot the system or wake it up from sleep. But absolutely *DO* have a password on that primary account. Write it down & keep it in a safe place so you don't forget it.

I highly suggest that you follow leroydouglas' advice. it is not recommended.

but if you absolutely want to set your Mac up to open without a password, you can go into System Settings > Users & Groups, and change "Automatically log in as" to the user that you want to login to automatically.

and since I would never run my Mac that way, I cannot speak to if you could do updates / upgrades without needing the password.

[Edited by Moderator]

Attempting to do so can only create other problems going forward as the user password is used internally for other critical functions beyond simple “user access control.”

Does entering a password at startup REALLY impose that much of a burden in your application?

RLGolden wrote:

This machine is used by me only. No one else has access to it. I do not want to have to use a password for updates, etc. Is it possible?

No

This is not advised in the contemporary Apple world ecosystem.

I would set up a password before you run into an issue going forward.

RLGolden wrote:

This machine is used by me only. No one else has access to it. I do not want to have to use a password for updates, etc. Is it possible?

No

If you what to try, during the initial Setup Assist, to bypass the Mandatory and Required Password setup.

Go for it

Setup Assist will not advance past that point.

This sort of answers your question ?

neuroanatomist wrote:

But you can set up you Mac so that you don't need to enter it in System Settings > Lock Screen, set Require password... to Never

nice addition. I wasn't thinking about that setting. and It could apply depending on where the OP is seeing his password request.

The concern is on your behalf, not necessarily for the risk you may or may not be taking with your personal information but rather that there are some functions within the Apple ecosystem where Apple requires you to have a password. Thus, not having one would create operational problems for you.

As pointed out below, an example is that you must enter a password when setting up a new Mac. It doesn’t have to be a strong one, but one must be entered.

If you’re not concerned about the risk, use a simple (e.g., 4-digit) password. Write it on a post-it note on your desk if you like. Configure the system as previously mentioned to not require a password, and you’ll minimize the frequency at which you need to type those four digits.

I would then not shut down your Mac each day. Just have the display turn off then you will not have to bother about PW, etc. but would still need to do updates occasionally.

Definitely have a password. But you can set up you Mac so that you don't need to enter it in System Settings > Lock Screen, set Require password... to Never (if grayed out, launch the iPhone Mirroring app, go to settings and change it to Ask every time).

jeffreythefrog wrote:

since I would never run my Mac that way, I cannot speak to if you could do updates / upgrades without needing the password.

I haven't experimented, but I don't think so.

One of the security features that macOS / Mac OS X has in common with Linux is the idea that Admin users don't get to run with full superuser (root) privileges all of the time. An Admin user is one who can temporarily gain full superuser privileges by authenticating before running a particular command. If you are just doing regular work – and malware attacks – the malware can destroy your data, but may have a harder time infecting & corrupting the operating system and application files themselves.

In the old days, Windows Admin users ran with Admin privileges all of the time, which means that when malware attacked, it had full superuser privileges all of the time, without having to pop up a password request that might make you suspicious and give you a chance to stop things in time.

Modern Mac security has extra layers beyond "Admin users run without superuser privileges most of the time" – but I believe that foundational layer is still there and is still enforced, even if you have the system set up to do an auto-login on startup.

That is a terrible, bad, awful, horrible idea.

No.

RLGolden wrote:

here is no sensitive information stored on this machine, nor on my iPhone, iPad Pro, MacBook Air or Apple Watch. This is a machine I use to learn more about the Apple ecosystem.

Let us ask the question.

Is the user ( you ) saying there is No Pin Code required to access the iPhone, iPad Pro whether it be from a wake up, from a restart and / or during a update / upgrade process ?