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AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver on Mac: Why It Shows Up and How to Fix It?

Updated on Thursday, February 20, 2025

iBoysoft author Vain Rowe

Written by

Vain Rowe
Professional tech editor

Approved by

Jessica Shee

English やまと

Summary: This post from iBoysoft guides you in exploring why AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver comes out and what to do as it drains the battery wildly on Mac.

appletopcasehideventdriver

I have a new MacBook Pro M1 Max running Ventura 13.2.1 with just 34 battery cycles but already 92% max capacity. Using log show --last boot --style syslog | fgrep "Wake reason" I was able to see that my Mac is waking up every 10-15 min during the night (and during the day) because of the same reason, which is making me believe this is the root of all my problems :

2023-03-07 22:44:56.603109-0300  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::processWakeReason Wake reason: Host (0x01) 2023-03-07 23:01:04.536040-0300  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::processWakeReason Wake reason: Host (0x01) 2023-03-07 23:18:42.538172-0300  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::processWakeReason Wake reason: Host (0x01) 2023-03-07 23:34:36.508399-0300  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::processWakeReason Wake reason: Host (0x01) 2023-03-07 23:50:05.504202-0300  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::processWakeReason Wake reason: Host (0x01) 2023-03-08 00:08:07.542482-0300  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] 

I tried sudo pmset -a tcpkeepalive 0 and turning off my Bluetooth (manually and with Bluesnooze), but the battery is still getting drained (15%-20%) overnight. Can someone tell me what this process is and how I can kill it? To see if it fixes my issue?

Surfing on the internet, we found numerous users have complained about this AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver issue, which is not limited to macOS Ventura, but also its' further generations - macOS Sonoma and macOS Sequoia.

A single strange process is not as awful as users think unless it causes the Mac to work abnormally, for instance, draining the battery at unexpected speed, making the Mac fan spin super fast, heating the machine, and so on. And AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver is such an annoying program, which draws users' high attention for sure.

Just as the saying goes, where there is trouble, there is a solution. AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver can be resolved by possible workarounds as well. Just follow up on this post for detailed info!

AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver: what is it and why it happens?

Generally speaking, this AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver is a process related to the running activity on your Mac, which can be the network activity, enhanced notifications from FaceTime, Messages, or other apps and services, connected peripherals, and Bluetooth activities. And what activity triggers this AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver process is up to the report you receive.

appletopcasehideventdriver

If you receive a report saying "2016-12-14 10:42:44.710173+0900  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleACPIPlatform) Wake reason: ARPT (Network)", then it's the network activity results in the Mac waking and the AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver process.

If you're prompted by a notification saying "com.apple.driver.AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver 6000.22" or some other seems like this, it's the peripheral's activity recalling.

Do not worry about this weird process since you can always find possible workarounds to resolve it in this post!

If you find this post informative, please share it with your families and friends!

 

How to fix AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver on Mac?

AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver can be fixed with the following solutions, and you can try one or more that fit the most. If you find the one you're working with invalid, please move the the next one straightforwardly.

Solution 1: Change the Mac system sleep settings

When the Mac falls to the issue of improper wake, you can check the Mac system sleep settings. 

1. Check your system's sleep settings

Make sure the sleep settings are set the way you want, especially when the Mac wakes up from a time you don't want.

  1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Lock Screen in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
  2. To set the amount of time that should pass before your computer goes to sleep, do one of the following:
  • Click the pop-up menu next to "Turn display off on battery when inactive", then choose an option.
  • Click the pop-up menu next to "Turn display off on power adapter when inactive", then choose an option.

You can also turn off "Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off" in Battery settings.

2. Check your system's network access setting

Other users may wake your Mac remotely to use its shared resources. If you want to stop this case, choose Apple Menu  > System Settings, then do one of the following:

  • If you're using a Mac laptop: Click Battery in the sidebar (you may need to scroll down), then click Options. Click the pop-up menu next to Wake for network access, then choose Never.
  • If you're using a Mac desktop computer: Click Energy in the sidebar (you may need to scroll down), then turn off "Wake for network access".

appletopcasehideventdriver

Solution 2: Shut down all programs before making Mac sleep

If you have less interest in this AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver process waking your Mac irregularly, you can close all apps and programs running in the Mac background before setting it to sleep.

You can open Activity Monitor to shut down the running apps and their related programs: Activity Monitor > locate the apps and their programs > select the item > click the X button to close it directly.

appletopcasehideventdriver

If you find the AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver hangs over there, select it and click X to kill it straightforwardly!

Alternatively, you can close the app with the Command + Q key combination.

Solution 3: Disconnect the peripherals

If you have peripherals like external hard drives, scanners, printers, sound, extra monitors, mouse, keyboards, or so, they might likely wake your Mac from sleep. To deal with this case, remove the connected devices from your machine before your Mac falls asleep.

Final words

Do never worry about the the strange process or software issue happening on your Mac as you can always find an ultimate workaround to get it fixed! 

This post guides you in figuring out what is AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver and how to troubleshoot it in pertinent ways. You can try the solutions mentioned here and share them on social platforms to help more people!