MacBook Desktop Mode

A holistic configuration guide for running a MacBook as an always-on-AC desktop workstation. Solves two interconnected problems: USB devices (especially USB 1.1 audio) disappearing during sleep/wake cycles, and unnecessary battery degradation from constant charge cycling.

Self-Evolving Skill: This skill improves through use. If instructions are wrong, parameters drifted, or a workaround was needed — fix this file immediately, don't defer. Only update for real, reproducible issues.

When to Use This Skill

• USB microphone or audio device disappears after sleep/wake
• Battery is cycling unnecessarily on a plugged-in Mac
• Setting up a MacBook as a permanent desktop workstation
• Configuring pmset for always-on-AC use
• Setting up a powered USB hub with uhubctl for software-controlled USB resets
• Enhancing the AudioDeviceMonitor Swift daemon with self-healing recovery

Root Cause Diagnosis Framework

Before applying fixes, diagnose the specific failure mode. This framework was developed from empirical analysis of an Apple Silicon MacBook kept permanently on AC, where the device that kept dropping off the bus was a bus-powered USB 1.1 audio-class microphone with no serial number — the most fragile class of USB peripheral across sleep/wake, and so the worst case these fixes are tuned for. Identify your own device with the ioreg command below rather than by vendor/product ID; nothing here needs one.