First ever Macbook - new to MacOS - tips? What to expect

MrRockliffe · 17 Jan 2019 at 08:53

McBain said:
I was coming in to say this, if you're used to Windows management of windows then you'll need magnet.

Enjoy the oh so sweet trackpad, single best thing about MacBooks IMO, its so nice to use

The larger trackpad has actually spoiled the experience somewhat for me - there's this really weird acceleration issue when scrolling with two fingers.

E.g. scroll a bit, stop, scroll a bit, stop etc, and you'll find the speed increases to the point where you're scrolling 50 pages in one go

doogs · 17 Jan 2019 at 09:34

There's a video I watched on youtube when I first got my macbook pro which helped immensely (its nearly 2 hours but I thought it was worth it). I've checked and it was based on Macos Sierra however, i see there is another one based on Macos mojave. Both links below.

Sierra...
https://youtu.be/meb0PABGZ-8

Mojave...
https://youtu.be/_7wmVxUCzs0

Royal Fleet · 17 Jan 2019 at 14:20

doogs said:
There's a video I watched on youtube <snip>

Thanks for that. I will check it out.

The Apple Watch unlock is becoming less hit and miss and now working most of the time.

Other things I am loving.
- The Speed of logging in and being ready to use. The sleep function in general is just so much quicker and more robust than Windows. I now leave Chrome open whereas on Windows I used to shut it down every log off.
- Ease of installing apps, and the fact that it prompts you to clean up the installer.
- Being already heavily in the Apple Ecosystem the integration is so engaging. Having Imessage on your desktop etc
- For this Macbook particularly the lightness, small form factor and complete lack of fan noise is brilliant. Obvs the screen on this one is too small to use on its own for long periods. It is and will remain a travel laptop. Using with the small dock I have bought means I can use it with the office equipment available in most offices I visit. I would not want to be standalone my sole machine though. This is again though where the Apple Ecosystem comes into play as you really don't need a single machine unless you are using lots of large files. I have Icloud (plus Office) to sync docs etc across machines.

I still need to perfect keyboard shortcuts. Found myself lost for the Windows plus M key the other day to minimise all the windows. I'll get there with those though.

McBain · 17 Jan 2019 at 17:07

MrRockliffe said:
The larger trackpad has actually spoiled the experience somewhat for me - there's this really weird acceleration issue when scrolling with two fingers.

E.g. scroll a bit, stop, scroll a bit, stop etc, and you'll find the speed increases to the point where you're scrolling 50 pages in one go

Weird doesn't do that for me.... could be a Mojave thing?

chroniclard · 17 Jan 2019 at 17:16

You will be surprised how unintuitive and cumbersome simple things are to do.

MrRockliffe · 17 Jan 2019 at 18:19

McBain said:
Weird doesn't do that for me.... could be a Mojave thing?

It's done it since I got it (2017 model) :/

McBain · 17 Jan 2019 at 18:24

MrRockliffe said:
It's done it since I got it (2017 model) :/

Sounds faulty to me, this is my 4th MacBook over the years and I don't recall any of them doing that :/

MrRockliffe · 17 Jan 2019 at 18:31

McBain said:
Sounds faulty to me, this is my 4th MacBook over the years and I don't recall any of them doing that :/

I've had the trackpad replaced 3 times (for other issues - whole top case replaced) and also had a complete logic board replacement, still the same

ChrisD. · 18 Jan 2019 at 08:47

Not had that on my 2017 MacBook Pro.

JamesM · 21 Jan 2019 at 22:02

Scrolling also OK for me, 2016 Pro here on Mojave

malachi · 31 Jan 2019 at 12:15

Decided to join the MacOS crew on Tuesday, managed to get myself MacBook Air 2018 for £774 (you when something is going on when Apple start doing trade-ins and price matches!) So I couldn't say no compared to paying RRP £1199.

So far I like it but only be using this for browsing and general office work. As my skillset in MacOS is lacking.

jpmonkey69 · 17 Mar 2019 at 20:37

Paragon NTFS is a good purchase IMO

Colonel_Klinck · 17 Mar 2019 at 20:50

2017 MBP here, no scrolling issues.

For the OP, the biggest difference for me between Mac and Windows is Macs just work and are simple yet a joy to work with. Yeah Windows is far more customisable but it just doesn't have the simplicity of MacOS. My PC is gaming only, Mac everything else and has been for years.

Royal Fleet · 18 Mar 2019 at 09:59

I saw this thread had come back up from my original post in January. Since then I loved the MB so much I spent rather too much money over the weekend on a new Mac Mini and two 4K monitors plus all the required peripherals.

There are still some things I am getting to grips with compared to Windows but would agree the overall experience is positive. The thing I notice more than anything is that in Windows I used everything full screen. It was just easier to maximise everything. With MacOS it seems easier to just use things windowed. Odd thing to have noticed I accept but that has struck me.

ChrisD. · 18 Mar 2019 at 10:15

Those Mac Minis look tempting. I need a small 10 Gb workstation and I can't really find anything that would fit the bill for the same price as the Mac Mini.