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Guides, How Tos, and Tips for New Mac Owners

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MacRumors readers who were lucky enough to receive a new Mac for the holidays will want to check out our collection of Mac how tos and guides to learn the ins and outs of your new machine.

Whether you're new to the Mac or are upgrading from an older model, there's likely to be a useful tip or two here for you. These how tos apply to Apple's latest Macs, from desktops to notebooks, and it includes macOS Catalina tutorials.

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Beginner Tips
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Every few months we do a video series where we recommend a useful selection of Mac apps, and these articles are worth checking out if you're looking for great Mac apps for your new Mac.








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Know other great Mac-related tips and tricks that MacRumors readers should be aware of? Let us know in the comments.

For more details on Apple's newest 2019 Macs, check out our roundups: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, iMac, and Mac Pro.

Article Link: Guides, How Tos, and Tips for New Mac Owners
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/guide/new-mac-tips/
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Just had to download Logitech software to use my Marathon Mouse (M705, wireless) with my new Mac mini (2018) because the MacOS has a built-in restriction on such a mouse (keyboard, too, probably). It was working fine at first, but then started being unresponsive and erratic. Now it's fine, hopefully to stay that way.

And I am using my 23 inch Apple Cinema Display with it.
 
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doctor-don said:
Just had to download Logitech software to use my Marathon Mouse (M705, wireless) with my new Mac mini (2018) because the MacOS has a built-in restriction on such a mouse (keyboard, too, probably). It was working fine at first, but then started being unresponsive and erratic. Now it's fine, hopefully to stay that way.

And I am using my 23 inch Apple Cinema Display with it.
[doublepost=1545862845][/doublepost]
You might want to CLONE your startup drive, too.
Click to expand...
I am having the same issue. I love my M705, and can't configure it on Mojave at all, and its pissing me off to no end. I'd love to know how to bypass this, since it works fine in High Sierra
 
I could have saved a dozen hours fighting with the photos app if there was a good tutorial. My dates were really messed up. Here is what I learned:

1. Command line perl program exiftool is your best friend
2. Exiftool’s website forum is your second best friend to find help
3. Photos likes to use the exif meta tag Original Date Created
4. If you’ve been using file folders on your windows machine to store images (for instance by date) you might want to consider importing the photos by keeping photos in the original folders. Let the database create links to the photos.
5. If you have photos that you scanned or a really old camera that didn’t do exif metadata correctly, see #1 and #2 above
6. If you have photos that you scanned or a really old camera that didn’t do exif metadata set the exif originaldatetime setting, or in some cases set the picture’s originaldatetime to the modified date. Learn what pictures have what dates and where with the exiftools.
7. You can drag and drop the full directory and/or filename into terminal to use exiftool
 
doctor-don said:
Just had to download Logitech software to use my Marathon Mouse (M705, wireless) with my new Mac mini (2018) because the MacOS has a built-in restriction on such a mouse (keyboard, too, probably). It was working fine at first, but then started being unresponsive and erratic. Now it's fine, hopefully to stay that way.

And I am using my 23 inch Apple Cinema Display with it.
Click to expand...


There's only one reason I could think of to use (this) a mouse, (cheap)price, other than that I can't even get it why you're not using an Apple Magic trackpad, it's so much better than a mouse.
What a mouse can't do:
Swiping
Pinching
Double click with 2 fingers
.... lots more....

Not only that, a trackpad is also better for your hand, it's more ergonomic.
 
justperry said:
There's only one reason I could think of to use (this) a mouse, (cheap)price, other than that I can't even get it why you're not using an Apple Magic trackpad, it's so much better than a mouse.
What a mouse can't do:
Swiping
Pinching
Double click with 2 fingers
.... lots more....

Not only that, a trackpad is also better for your hand, it's more ergonomic.
Click to expand...
You’re not kidding. I just bought my first trackpad for real daily use, a magic trackpad 2. Wow. Amazing. I’ve spent the past 2 days re-dating scanned photos and dragging them into Photos. I used the trackpad which works very well. We had the original trackpad for a mac mini used for movies and it was horrible. I’ve used a trackpad on my old dell inspiron as a secondary machine and it was usable, but not my favorite. This trackpad is very usable and helps my wrist not be sore after several hours of continuous use. I got it on ebay for $100 shipped but it was pretty much brand new. As a person that doesn’t like trackpads and has hung onto my 15 plus year old dell mouse and keyboard I can heartily recommend the magic trackpad 2 (mine is even space grey!).
 
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harriska2 said:
You’re not kidding. I just bought my first trackpad for real daily use, a magic trackpad 2. Wow. Amazing. I’ve spent the past 2 days re-dating scanned photos and dragging them into Photos. I used the trackpad which works very well. We had the original trackpad for a mac mini used for movies and it was horrible. I’ve used a trackpad on my old dell inspiron as a secondary machine and it was usable, but not my favorite. This trackpad is very usable and helps my wrist not be sore after several hours of continuous use. I got it on ebay for $100 shipped but it was pretty much brand new. As a person that doesn’t like trackpads and has hung onto my 15 plus year old dell mouse and keyboard I can heartily recommend the magic trackpad 2 (mine is even space grey!).
Click to expand...

I forgot one major one, swiping spaces.

Glad you're happy with it, only one drawback, they are not cheap.
 
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14 comments on an extremely helpful and well thought out front page post from yesterday shows what a sad state the mac lineup is in.
 
You failed to mention that Apple released TWO updates to the MacBook Pro line in 2018. The July upgrade and the silent November upgrade that pissed off a ton of longtime customers.
 
Anyone know the secret to having the AirPods show up in the System Preferences > Sound > Output with the Mac mini 2018?
Bluetooth is ON but Now discoverable as indicates it is connected to my former computer, not my current new mini.
scottinlexky said:
I am having the same issue. I love my M705, and can't configure it on Mojave at all, and its pissing me off to no end. I'd love to know how to bypass this, since it works fine in High Sierra
Click to expand...
Don't download Logitech Options - waste of time because it's PROBABLY not what you need to get the mouse to work. Instead download the Logitech Control Center - if you haven't already done that. Followed the steps to install and restart. It took a while to establish the connection, but my M705 functions without the wonky erratic pointer now - with one exception: the pointer gets HUGE if the mouse is moved back and forth quickly.

As for a trackpad - no thanks. Imprecise for editing pixels in photos.
 
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scottinlexky said:
i think I have the 1. i still couldn't get LCC to work, but it works fine with steermouse.
Click to expand...
I had the magic trackpad 1 and it was awful. I gave it away. It took a ton of effort just to click. My magic trackpad 2 is a completely different animal. It is fully electronic, bigger, and much more ergonomic.
 
rob hill said:
Great article guys. Any chance of an icon on the home page straight to these hints and tips? Might need them in the future and would be nice to be able to find them quickly....
Click to expand...
We are shifting things around so guides and these sort of “mega” guides will be easier to find.
 
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