Apple Certified Support Professional Practice Test

Booting into safe mode on a Mac with Apple Silicon involves accessing the startup options and then pressing and holding the Shift key. This process is designed to help troubleshoot issues by starting the system with the minimum required software and system extensions, which reduces conflicts and helps to isolate problems.

To perform this action, you must first power off your Mac and then turn it back on while immediately pressing and holding the power button until you see the startup options. From there, you can select the startup disk and then hold the Shift key while choosing "Continue in Safe Mode." Holding the Shift key informs the system that you want to initiate a minimal environment, preventing unnecessary applications and drivers from loading.

In contrast, the other methods mentioned are not applicable for entering safe mode on Apple Silicon Macs. The control key and Command key do not have roles in this specific process, while simply pressing the Shift key after the Apple logo appears does not effectively trigger safe mode, as the correct method requires holding the key from the startup options stage.