Why does the time on my mac gradually get ahead

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It sounds weird but the time on my mac gradually gets ahead, over time.

I reset the clock about a month ago to exactly the right time, and now it's 8 minutes fast.

I know it's not much, but that's weird right??

What's going on???????

BTW - Serious post. lol
 
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Do you have a network connection? If so why not use network time?
 -> System preferences -> Date & Time -> Date & Time Tab -> check "Set date and time automatically"

Computer clocks are notorious for drifts - always better to use ntp when you can.
 

Raz0rEdge

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Do you have Mac to set time automatically or are you constantly setting it yourself? Every RTC has some jitter in it, some more than others and they will drift..setting the option to setting the time automatically will ensure that you are syncing with a remote NTP (network time protocol) server and correcting your local time. The sync should be happening frequently enough that you wouldn't/shouldn't notice any drift..
 

RavingMac

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Proximity to the Bermuda Triangle or an intergalactic wormhole? ;)

BTW - Not a serious post :)
 
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Maybe the Mac was right and all the other clocks just way too slow?
 
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Do you have a network connection? If so why not use network time?
 -> System preferences -> Date & Time -> Date & Time Tab -> check "Set date and time automatically"

Computer clocks are notorious for drifts - always better to use ntp when you can.



So, what exactly is time.apple.com? Is it linked to a government time standard perhaps? Or GMT? Or UTC?
 

vansmith

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time.apple.com is one of Apple's NTP servers (this old article suggests that Apple has three). NTP servers are simply servers set up such that clients (such as your machine) can synchronize their time.
 
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time.apple.com is one of Apple's NTP servers (this old article suggests that Apple has three). NTP servers are simply servers set up such that clients (such as your machine) can synchronize their time.


Okay. But what is the NTP server synchronized to? What time keeping standard?
 
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ntp.org: Home of the Network Time Protocol
Ntp is the network time protocol. It is a pyramid of servers. Basically the top level servers are atomic clock synchronized. They pass sync info on down the chain until it gets to individual users.
 
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Thanks.

That seems like an odd way to do things. I mean, wouldn't that "passing down" process involve time delay and, therefore, inaccuracy? Or am misunderstanding?
 
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If you are worried about that short of a delay - you are getting into quantum physics. Most drift shouldn't be more than a few milliseconds a day ( that may even be a lot) most ntp requests are once a day. It is a pyramid due to server load.
 

RavingMac

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If you are worried about that short of a delay - you are getting into quantum physics. . .

May be a quark in the system?

Sorry, OP, I couldn't resist . . . ;D
 

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