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Introduction

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XTwipz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 1, 2015
5
0
Hello everyone!
For the first in my life, I buyer myself a MacBook Pro 15" and I just received it today.
So, I would like to know if there is anything to know about my new laptop, things that I should do, things that I shouldn't or stuff you think might help me.

Thank you for your answer, patience and advices.

XTwipz,
 
First thing you should do is hold cmd r whilst turning it on. One booted you'll see a menu in the top left. Select firmware password and set one. Make sure you don't forget it. This stops others wiping your MacBook. It also stops the user password change workaround.

Then enable the guest account in the utilities menu so your MacBook has its honeytrap enabled.

Next make sure your signed into iCloud and enable find my Mac.
 
Thank you for your answer!

I will do this as soon as I can and I already did for this iCloud stuff.

Thank you again and have a nice day!
 
Congratulations and welcome!

Get an external hard disk. Format (Erase) it for Mac OS Extended (Journaled) using the Disk Utilities app in the Utilities folder. Then start routine back ups using Time Machine.

To get help information on Time Machine, click on a clear space on the desktop so that Finder is displayed in the upper left of the menu bar, select the Help menu, type Time Machine into the search field, and select a topic (recommend starting with "Back up with Time Machine").

BTW: External hard drives can be a drag for a portable MBP, so I just connect it and back up once per day with Time Machine and a clone backup to another disk once per week with Carbon Copy Cloner. iCloud should hold you for recent document changes throughout the day.
 
Last edited:

Congratulations on your purchase - the 15 is fantastic

"things that I should do"
As mentioned above a Time Machine backup.
Also look at the Apple AirPort Time Capsule - check for refurbished.
Well worth the money - better WiFi also
http://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/ME177AM/A/airport-time-capsule-2tb
Add some contact info to the lock screen if you wish
System Preferences>Security & Privacy>General>Show a message when the screen is locked
Maybe cover with a Matte skin - I do to reduce dings and scuffs
http://www.bestskinsever.com/macbook-pro-15-inch-with-retina-display-skin
I use an Acme Made Skinny sleeve - carry in notebook bag
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acme-Made-L...Matte-Black-/261831929544?hash=item3cf6662ec8

Two useful but optional items:
https://justgetflux.com/news/pages/mac/
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/index.html


"things that I shouldn't"
Worry about maintaining your MacBook like a PC - OS X mostly takes care of itself
install any type of "cleaner" , "memory manager" or AV apps - at least to start
Avoid scams like MacKeeper etc......
 
Last edited:
LxHunter said:
"things that I should do"
As mentioned above a Time Machine backup.
Also look at the Apple AirPort Time Capsule - check for refurbished.
Well worth the money - better WiFi also
http://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/ME177AM/A/airport-time-capsule-2tb
Add some contact info to the lock screen if you wish
System Preferences>Security & Privacy>General>Show a message when the screen is locked
Maybe cover with a Matte skin - I do to reduce dings and scuffs
http://www.bestskinsever.com/macbook-pro-15-inch-with-retina-display-skin
I use an Acme Made Skinny sleeve - carry in notebook bag
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acme-Made-L...Matte-Black-/261831929544?hash=item3cf6662ec8


"things that I shouldn't"
Worry about maintaining your MacBook like a PC - OS X mostly takes care of itself
install any type of "cleaner" , "memory manager" or AV apps - at least to start
Avoid scams like MacKeeper etc......
Click to expand...


Where is a good place to get a skin for the whole macbook pro retina?
 
Thank you all for your replies which are all really helpful.

I will looking into what you've said for sure since, as I said, it's my first Mac ever. I'm kinda noob for now.

Thank you, it's really helpful!
 
Yeah thought about buying this to me but right now, since it's really new for me and you already told me a lot of useful stuff to know, I want to understand the OS better and what must be done.

Thank you all!
 
Well, enjoy your new MacBook, it's a beautiful machine. Try all the apps that come with OS X, maybe install a game or two, watch some 2K/4K videos on YouTube...

I definitely recommend learning (and using) keyboard shortcuts for basic things like emptying the trash, switching to fullscreen, closing a window or quitting an app, navigating through folders, taking a screenshot, ejecting a drive.

And use Spotlight. The shortcut is Cmd + spacebar, and it's a super ultra fast way to launch apps and open documents. Want to launch Safari? That's Cmd+spacebar, S, A, F, enter, and Safari is running before I could even find the cursor.
 
Keyboard shortcuts are the hardest part since I'm from Windows so far. So, I don't even know what kind of shortcuts I could use for what you listed above. But I'll google it and I'll figure out a way to remember them ;)

Thank you for your answer!
 
XTwipz said:
Keyboard shortcuts are the hardest part since I'm from Windows so far. So, I don't even know what kind of shortcuts I could use for what you listed above. But I'll google it and I'll figure out a way to remember them ;)

Thank you for your answer!
Click to expand...

As mentioned
Spotlight is a great tool
Keyboard shortcut:
Command + space
Option + Command + space
 
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