milo337

Huey52

If that's all you want to do there are many good OBDII "dongle" scan tool devices. But be sure you get one that caters to VAG.

example: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben...868sch01b~scf/

Or perhaps an APP-based: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-obdeleve...UaAs2FEALw_wcB

VAGCom (Ross-Tech) is more for intensive tuning and requires a PC-based laptop (you're buying the software and a cable-connector). It's far more versatile than a handheld scan tool but it would appear overkill for your needs.

McTTRS

VAGCom also works on the Mac but only booted in BootCamp mode running Windows. Have tried to get it to work with a Windows virtual machine (Parallels) in MacOS but without joy.

BRKNJMPR

Better, no. Cheaper, yes. I have OBD11 and Ross-tech VCDS Hex-Net Pro which is a more powerful tool but but the vast majority can get by with OBD11 just fine. There is also an iPhone app for the VCDS Hex-Net Pro which is great for logging almost any metric you wish to capture. OBD11 will work with most Android devices, I use a Samsung tablet which was ~$100 at Costco.

Huey52

From Ross-Tech (re: Mac and BootCamp virtual machine):

System Requirements:

A 1.5 GHZ dual core processor with 1 Gb of RAM and Windows 7 or newer (Windows 7 through 10, but not RT) with an available USB 2.0 (or higher) port. Use a machine robust enough to properly support the operating system. Windows running inside a Virtual Machine (for example on a Mac) is not supported.