PowerMate
PowerMate is a hardware control application from Griffin Technology that manages the company's PowerMate USB controller, an aluminum knob device that connects via USB to control system functions like volume, brightness, or custom shortcuts. The software allows users to configure the knob's rotation and button-press behavior, map those inputs to specific application actions, and customize the LED indicator behavior. It has a long history dating back to the early 2000s and maintains a small but dedicated user base who value its hardware design and simple, reliable interface for quick system control.
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1 suggestionPowerMate has been abandoned by Griffin Technology — the company discontinued active support around 2016 with no official updates shipped since. While the old PowerMate Manager software continues to function on recent macOS versions including Ventura when running on Apple Silicon (thanks to Rosetta 2), Griffin has not released a native Apple Silicon build and shows no signs of doing so. This means the Intel-only version will stop launching entirely when Apple removes Rosetta 2 in macOS 28 (September 2028). If you still own a PowerMate hardware device, you have a few options: (1) if your workflow is simple (volume control, brightness, media keys), consider using macOS's native keyboard shortcuts or built-in accessory support for standard USB controllers; (2) if you rely on advanced custom mappings, explore open-source alternatives like Controlly or Karabiner Elements, which offer programmable hotkey remapping and run natively on Apple Silicon; (3) preserve your setup now by documenting your custom key bindings and keeping an offline copy of the PowerMate software installer, in case you need to refer back to it. The hardware itself will continue to work (it is just a USB input device), but you will lose the software configuration interface after macOS 28.
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