Just ordered the 2015 Macbook Pro 15 2.8 Ghz (First Mac ever)

[malren]

Hi,

I've been waiting for this moment for at least a year and a half.

All my friends keep talking about their Macs and that if I'll try it I'll never go back to Windows...

So I've always waited for a new design to come out but I couldn't wait anymore and I'll be in NY in a month so I ordered the 2.8 Ghz macbook pro 15 inch with 500GB.

Wanted some tips on what's the first thing I should do when I pick it up at the apple store, something to check?

What should I first do when I start using it? Does Mac need a AntiVirus?

Battery tips? Is it ok to leave it charged as long as I want? Does it harm the battery life?

Screen protector? Is it needed? How to keep the screen clean from dust? Any good cleaning kit? Or maybe not needed?

I've got no idea. Any info could help!

Thanks and can't wait to get it

 

[Bending Pixels]

First, you don't need antivirus....unless you're looking at naughty sites (which you shouldn't anyway).

As to the battery, "exercise" it regularly. That is, run it on battery only on a regular basis. You don't have to completely drain it, just use the rMBP both plugged in and on battery power.

You really don't need a screen protector, unless you're using it in a really dusty/dirty place. Personally, I'd recommend a Speck hardshell case to protect it. As to cleaning it, use a clean microfiber cloth moistened with a bit of water.

Congrats on coming to the Dark Side.

 

[Cuniac]

Hi,

I've been waiting for this moment for at least a year and a half.

All my friends keep talking about their Macs and that if I'll try it I'll never go back to Windows...

So I've always waited for a new design to come out but I couldn't wait anymore and I'll be in NY in a month so I ordered the 2.8 Ghz macbook pro 15 inch with 500GB.

Wanted some tips on what's the first thing I should do when I pick it up at the apple store, something to check?

What should I first do when I start using it? Does Mac need a AntiVirus?

Battery tips? Is it ok to leave it charged as long as I want? Does it harm the battery life?

Screen protector? Is it needed? How to keep the screen clean from dust? Any good cleaning kit? Or maybe not needed?

I've got no idea. Any info could help!

Thanks and can't wait to get it

Congratulations. You probably wont need anti-virus but anti-malware is a good idea. The only Apple approved anti-malware right now Is MalwareBytes and it is free. It does not harm it to keep it on the charger but is good to let it deplete at least once a week if used consistently on the charger. No screen protector needed, just use a glasses cleaning kit. Make sure it boots before you leave the store but that's about it. As for anything else it just depends what you want to do. If you have a lot of windows apps your moving away from, you may want to get a copy and install bootcamp so it will be windows and mac, but that's up to you . Most apps are for mac, and actually run better on mac. I personally partitioned my HD 50/50 for mac and windows so I could run everything. as long as you have a copy of windows and a USB stick of at least 16GB Bootcamp assistant will do the rest. If you want to run windows and mac at the same time, Parallels is the best option, it will run it grate but not at native speeds like bootcamp will but its still very cool.

 

[Ovedius]

Congratulations on a new machine, I hope you like it.
Hopefully you've just got yourself a trusty companion for several years to come.



First of all, relax.

Second, don't worry.




Okay, on to your questions.

Store opening?
At the store, if you feel like it, open the box and look for dents on the machine.
Personally I could not do this.
Besides, the reports of dented macs are few and far between outside the forums.
I need to take the box home and have ...a private moment to unwrap it.
Just, savour the moment, you know?
Light a few candles, open a bottle of wine...or unwrap it at the store like a horse merchant inspecting teeth.
Pick one extreme and go with it.

Antivirus?
No, you don't need antivirus.
Just use good sense and caution online and you'll be fine.
...FOR NOW! *ominous music*

Battery?
Don't worry.
Keep it plugged in, constantly keep it between 50 and 80%, screw it.
Just use it.
-but don't let it drain completely too often, that's the only no-no.

Screen protector?
BAH!

EDIT:
Case?
Double BAH!
That crap paradoxically scratches your machine more than just letting it "hang loose" (or whatever euphemism for "nekkidity" you prefer).
Dust and crap gets in between the case and your mac and starts scratching up your mac like sand paper.
STAY.AWAY.
Or don't, whatever, some people love their cases.

Screen cleaning?
Good God, we'll be here all day once that can of worms pops open.
Just use the cloth that comes with the mac, get some extra lint free microfibre cloths of eBay.
To clean the screen, moisten the cloth with water, give it a good twist to get excess moisture out of it.
Open your machine at around 80-90 degrees, place it with the back of the screen down on a table.
Gently, but not like a sissy, wipe the screen.
Then gently wipe the screen with a dry lint free microfibre cloth to finish the job.
Clean screen.
If you get ornery grease marks on your screen, bust out the sanding machine and go to town on that poor bastard.

 

[nazuk]

Tip: when cleaning the screen or body of your new mac, spray lens cleaner on your micro fibre cloth. Sounds like a sensible thing to do, but I have seen people spray it directly on the screen or keyboard!!

 

[Cassady]

Congratulations on a new machine, I hope you like it.
Hopefully you've just got yourself a trusty companion for several years to come.



First of all, relax.

Second, don't worry.




Okay, on to your questions.

Store opening?
At the store, if you feel like it, open the box and look for dents on the machine.
Personally I could not do this.
Besides, the reports of dented macs are few and far between outside the forums.
I need to take the box home and have ...a private moment to unwrap it.
Just, savour the moment, you know?
Light a few candles, open a bottle of wine...or unwrap it at the store like a horse merchant inspecting teeth.
Pick one extreme and go with it.

Antivirus?
No, you don't need antivirus.
Just use good sense and caution online and you'll be fine.
...FOR NOW! *ominous music*

Battery?
Don't worry.
Keep it plugged in, constantly keep it between 50 and 80%, screw it.
Just use it.
-but don't let it drain completely too often, that's the only no-no.

Screen protector?
BAH!

EDIT:
Case?
Double BAH!
That crap paradoxically scratches your machine more than just letting it "hang loose" (or whatever euphemism for "nekkidity" you prefer).
Dust and crap gets in between the case and your mac and starts scratching up your mac like sand paper.
STAY.AWAY.
Or don't, whatever, some people love their cases.

Screen cleaning?
Good God, we'll be here all day once that can of worms pops open.
Just use the cloth that comes with the mac, get some extra lint free microfibre cloths of eBay.
To clean the screen, moisten the cloth with water, give it a good twist to get excess moisture out of it.
Open your machine at around 80-90 degrees, place it with the back of the screen down on a table.
Gently, but not like a sissy, wipe the screen.
Then gently wipe the screen with a dry lint free microfibre cloth to finish the job.
Clean screen.
If you get ornery grease marks on your screen, bust out the sanding machine and go to town on that poor bastard.

I'm quoting this, because others deserve the chance to read it again.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go see a horse about a sanding machine.

 

[MBHockey]

First, you don't need antivirus....unless you're looking at naughty sites (which you shouldn't anyway)

As to the battery, "exercise" it regularly. That is, run it on battery only on a regular basis. You don't have to completely drain it, just use the rMBP both plugged in and on battery power.

You really don't need a screen protector, unless you're using it in a really dusty/dirty place. Personally, I'd recommend a Speck hardshell case to protect it. As to cleaning it, use a clean microfiber cloth moistened with a bit of water.

Congrats on coming to the Dark Side.

lol

 

[malren]

Thank you guys so much.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

Hi,

I've been waiting for this moment for at least a year and a half.

All my friends keep talking about their Macs and that if I'll try it I'll never go back to Windows...

So I've always waited for a new design to come out but I couldn't wait anymore and I'll be in NY in a month so I ordered the 2.8 Ghz macbook pro 15 inch with 500GB.

Wanted some tips on what's the first thing I should do when I pick it up at the apple store, something to check?

What should I first do when I start using it? Does Mac need a AntiVirus?

Battery tips? Is it ok to leave it charged as long as I want? Does it harm the battery life?

Screen protector? Is it needed? How to keep the screen clean from dust? Any good cleaning kit? Or maybe not needed?

I've got no idea. Any info could help!

Thanks and can't wait to get it

I can only second Ovedius' wonderful post.

1. Unboxing is a personal moment. Keep it to yourself.
2. Just experiment, learn. It will be easy as OS X is very intuitive. You won't need an AV application, especially if you practice safe computing. If not, you might try to download: https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/ (free).
3. You can leave it charged as long as you want, it won't harm the battery. To check the overall satus of your battery, download: http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/.
4. Just by a sleeve for you Mac, like this one: http://www.thule.com/en/lt/products...untlet-15-macbook-pro-sleeve-_-tl_85854221252.

And enjoy it!

P.S.: Some useful applications you might have a look at: EasyFind, AppCleaner, Disk Doctor, Chrome and/or Firefox, Pixelmator, VLC, HandBrake, WiFi Explorer. And finally extensions for your preferred browser: AdBlock or AdBlock Plus or µBlock as well as ZoomBySite for Safari.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Enjoy your new Mac. I've been running with Macs since 2007 and never had an issue with viruses, etc. so I wouldn't recommend an antivirus program.

 

[snaky69]

Hi,

I've been waiting for this moment for at least a year and a half.

All my friends keep talking about their Macs and that if I'll try it I'll never go back to Windows...

So I've always waited for a new design to come out but I couldn't wait anymore and I'll be in NY in a month so I ordered the 2.8 Ghz macbook pro 15 inch with 500GB.

1. Wanted some tips on what's the first thing I should do when I pick it up at the apple store, something to check?

2. What should I first do when I start using it? 3. Does Mac need a AntiVirus?

4. Battery tips? Is it ok to leave it charged as long as I want? Does it harm the battery life?

5. Screen protector? Is it needed? 6. How to keep the screen clean from dust? 7. Any good cleaning kit? Or maybe not needed?

I've got no idea. Any info could help!

Thanks and can't wait to get it

I numbered your questions for ease of answering.

1. It's new and comes with a warranty, just take it home and unbox it. If anything's wrong that's what the warranty's there for.

2. Set it up as you want it, screen resolution, trackpad settings, wallpaper, load whichever app you want to use on there.

3. No, there are no viruses for OS X in the wild. If you are a bit smart about how you browse and use the web you shouldn't run into any malware problems, ever. (Same goes for Windows, using common sense will prevent pretty much all viruses).

4. None. A LiPo battery doesn't care how you treat it. The only thing it doesn't like is deep discharges (as in, using your computer until it is completely drained and goes to sleep, and leaving it like that for more than a few hours) and being stored at excessively high temperatures (think car dashboard in very hot and sunny weather). No matter how much or how little you worry about your battery, it'll die in 3 to 5 years (more if you're lucky) from plain old age. I bet you don't even give your cell phone's battery a second thought, do the same with your Mac.

You can leave it plugged in for weeks and even months on end, it will not overcharge nor harm the battery. The power supply is only that, a supply. Think of it as a well. When the battery needs power to charge, it draws it, otherwise, no power is going to it at all.

5. You don't need one, and they make the screen look like utter crap. Why pay for retina if you're going to put a nasty plastic film on it?

6. Slightly damp microfiber cloth.

7. They're a waste of money, see above.