Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Investor27

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 8, 2012
200
98
Just purchased my first Apple laptop (Macbook Pro 13" non-touch bar). Is there anything I need to do after powering it on for the first time? Are there any programs or bloatwares that I need to turn off in order to maximize my battery life, and also to help the machine run faster and more efficiently? Are there any must-have programs that I need to download? And what do most Apple users do right after a firmware upgrade in terms of maintenance? Sorry in advance for all the newbie questions!
 
Just purchased my first Apple laptop (Macbook Pro 13" non-touch bar). Is there anything I need to do after powering it on for the first time?

Use it!

Are there any programs or bloatwares that I need to turn off in order to maximize my battery life, and also to help the machine run faster and more efficiently?

Not really.

Are there any must-have programs that I need to download?

Depends. What do you want to do with your laptop?

And what do most Apple users do right after a firmware upgrade in terms of maintenance?

Expect it to run a bit slow for about ten minutes after a major update, and then it's fine.

You might be thinking "these seem like short answers." The reason Mac fans like Macs is because all this stuff you just asked is the kind of stuff you don't really worry about with a Mac.
 
Is there anything I need to do after powering it on for the first time?

I'd recommend setting up full-disk encryption.

Are there any programs or bloatwares that I need to turn off in order to maximize my battery life, and also to help the machine run faster and more efficiently?

No. There is no bloatware on macOS. There is also no "save battery" setting - the system will take care of it for you automatically. If you want to maximise battery life you'd want to avoid certain programs which are known to be inefficient on macOS (such as Chrome) and also don't krank the brightness all the way up.

Are there any must-have programs that I need to download?

As the poster before me already said, thats totally up to your needs.

And what do most Apple users do right after a firmware upgrade in terms of maintenance?

You don't need to do any maintenance. There are tools who offer that but all they do is run built-in maintenance scripts that are run automatically by the OS to begin with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheAppleFairy
As the others said pretty much just use it. My current machine is 3 1/2 years old and is as good as the day I bought it as far as I can tell.

As for apps I like VLC for movie playback and Pixelmator for photo editing when photos isn't enough (but give photos a good try its pretty good for basic), I like skim for PDF's as preview uses a few too many resources for my liking. Other than that load your music into iTunes and off you go.
 
Hi. Nothing special; just enjoy you're new Mac! You might want to create an Apple ID and "buy" the free iLife (iMovies & Garageband) to create/edit movies and music and iWork (Pages, Numbers & Keynote) an Apple "Office" alternative for Mac; all free... kind regards.
 
Hi. Nothing special; just enjoy you're new Mac! You might want to create an Apple ID and "buy" the free iLife (iMovies & Garageband) to create/edit movies and music and iWork (Pages, Numbers & Keynote) an Apple "Office" alternative for Mac; all free... kind regards.
These are already installed on new Macs. :). Apple ID is important so you can get program and system updates.
 
You can also save at least a couple of gigs by deleting the sound files used for Garage Band if you don't intend on using them.

Is GarageBand still preinstalled on new Macs? I thought it's now a free app on the Mac App Store instead of being bloatware for 90% of users.
 
Is GarageBand still preinstalled on new Macs? I thought it's now a free app on the Mac App Store instead of being bloatware for 90% of users.

It's preinstalled, I think it's been that way for awhile. You can go to About This Mac then manage storage and in there you can delete the additional sound files with one click.
 
Here is what I did after I bought my first Mac in 2015:

  • Set it up with my Apple iCloud ID - even Apple Store employees were shocked I had one. It really makes owning your Mac more seamless, especially for things like storing files. Remember, you get 5 GBs of free iCloud storage with it too.
  • Install favorite apps, in my case - Office 2016, Skype, Adobe CS6 (just Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign), Camtasia Studio for screen recording and screenshots (not necessary, can substitute with cmd + shift 3 or 4 and Quicktime X), Tripmode for saving on data when using mobile hotspot, install sync clients for OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive. Also installed torrent clients.
  • Import my iTunes library, personal files, photos
  • Connect External drive then setup Time Machine
 
  • Like
Reactions: bonalaw
I don't think those are installed from the factory any longer. When I got my new MBP they were not there, and it offered to download them the first time I started GarageBand.
This is exactly what happened when I fired up GarageBand on my new MBP. It offered to download the ~2GB worth of add-ons via dialog box.

Same thing with main stage 3, except that was a 38GB download.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Azl and Weaselboy
Do people unusually reset the factory settings and clear their cache after a firmware update to prevent problems from arising after the newer firmware is installed?
 
I just had two 2017 MBPs, last week was the non touch bar and the other night I exchanged it for the touch bar model. Both times the system had 2.x gigs of the GarageBand stuff on it. I went to Manage Storage and it said the stuff was there and asked me if I wanted to delete it to click the button. Afterwards the Storage bar showed the colored square for garage band sound files was gone. Oh well, who knows!
 
Just purchased my first Apple laptop (Macbook Pro 13" non-touch bar). Is there anything I need to do after powering it on for the first time? Are there any programs or bloatwares that I need to turn off in order to maximize my battery life, and also to help the machine run faster and more efficiently? Are there any must-have programs that I need to download? And what do most Apple users do right after a firmware upgrade in terms of maintenance? Sorry in advance for all the newbie questions!

theres only one thing to do, do not power it off again because its not needed

enjoy your new life ;)
 
Do people unusually reset the factory settings and clear their cache after a firmware update to prevent problems from arising after the newer firmware is installed?

Some unusual people might unusually do that. Usually, you don't have to do anything :) Honestly, don't worry and just use your computer. Deal with issues if they arise and don't think yourself into them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Weaselboy
This is exactly what happened when I fired up GarageBand on my new MBP. It offered to download the ~2GB worth of add-ons via dialog box.

Same thing with main stage 3, except that was a 38GB download.

Hmm idk. I'm pretty sure they were still installed on my 2016 pro. I could be wrong but I thought for sure I went and deleted a bunch of these sound files. They weren't in GarageBand folders or anything but were hidden away somewhere in the library.
 
Hmm idk. I'm pretty sure they were still installed on my 2016 pro. I could be wrong but I thought for sure I went and deleted a bunch of these sound files. They weren't in GarageBand folders or anything but were hidden away somewhere in the library.
All I know is, when I unpacked my new 2017 MBP last week and fired up GarageBand, it promoted me to download 2GB of stuff.

Maybe the receipt was corrupted, forcing a re-download. Just relaying my experience.
 
All I know is, when I unpacked my new 2017 MBP last week and fired up GarageBand, it promoted me to download 2GB of stuff.

Maybe the receipt was corrupted, forcing a re-download. Just relaying my experience.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6690346?start=0&tstart=0

Basically, there are audio files used by a few different programs, not just GarageBand, that are sitting in the OS. Worst case is you can check to see if they are there? Let me know if you find.

GarageBand's loops and instruments are shared with Logic Pro X, iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, SoundTrack Pro X, and MainStage 3. Are you using any of these apps and do they need the loops?
If not, back up your Mac.
  • Then delete GarageBand from the Applications folder
  • Delete the loops from /Library/Audio/Apple Loops and ~/Library/Audio/Apple Loops
  • Delete all files from /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/ and ~/Library/Application Support/GarageBand/
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.