Your new Mac: How to set it up the best way

This story is part of Holiday Survival Guide 2019, featuring tips on the best ways to manage the holiday season.

Getting a brand new MacBook Professional, iMac or a Mac Mini is downright thrilling. Whether or not you are changing a worn-down MacBook ($1,zero75 at Walmart), or eliminating a drained PC, it is solely pure to wish to tear open the field, hit the ability button and cruise by the setup prompts. However earlier than you do this, take a deep breath and a step again; there are some issues you could find out about organising a Mac.

For starters, the method can take a number of hours for those who plan on transferring your information from one other pc. Then there are points to contemplate resembling FileVault and for those who want it, or the way you get data off of your outdated Mac or PC and onto the brand new one.

These questions are precisely why we’re right here.

What you may want

Be certain that to put aside round an hour to get your Mac arrange. The method will take longer for those who plan on restoring your Mac from a Time Machine backup of one other Mac.

Along with a dependable web connection, you may want your Wi-Fi community data, your Apple ID username and password, and the Mac’s charger or energy twine. 

Having a bit of paper and a pen close by is useful. In the course of the setup course of, you may be requested to create a consumer account, which features a username and password. We do not suggest storing passwords on paper — it is a lot safer to make use of a password supervisor — however a bit of paper is useful for quickly storing this sort of data till you possibly can enter it into your password supervisor. Simply ensure that to destroy the piece of paper if you’re performed. 

After getting all the pieces so as, join the charger or energy twine to your Mac and switch it on. 

Apple’s Setup Assistant walks you thru a lot of the course of

The primary time your Mac activates, a setup assistant will greet you. The assistant will stroll you thru deciding on your nation and language, and connecting the Mac to the web. You may even be tasked with making a consumer account on the Mac and signing into your Apple ID. 

All through the method you may be requested if you wish to allow providers like FileVault, iCloud Keychain or Discover My Mac. You may even be requested if you wish to allow Siri or present any logs to builders when points are detected. Here is what they imply.

FileVault encrypts your Mac’s laborious drive to forestall unauthorized entry to the data you retailer on it. When you aren’t positive, you possibly can all the time allow or disable it sooner or later.

Now enjoying:
Watch this:

MacOS Catalina: 5 greatest issues

2:02

iCloud Keychain is Apple’s password supervisor that is constructed into all of its units. When you use iCloud Keychain on an iPhone ($699 at Apple) or iPad ($359 at Walmart), these usernames and passwords may even be accessible in your Mac. iCloud Keychain additionally shops your Wi-Fi community credentials, that means you will not must log right into a Wi-Fi community in your Mac for those who’ve beforehand related to it in your iPhone. It is a good suggestion to activate iCloud Keychain. 

Discover My Mac works with the Discover My app that will help you monitor down a misplaced Apple system. I like to recommend turning on Discover My Mac, even for a rig as giant as an iMac that is much less prone to disappear, since you by no means know if you’ll would possibly find yourself with a misplaced or stolen MacBook. Discover My Mac takes little or no time to enroll and there is no disadvantage to turning it on.

Proceed to observe the prompts, coming into any required data resembling your Apple ID or making a consumer identify. 

Restore from a Time Machine Backup

In the course of the setup course of, you may be requested if you wish to restore your new Mac from a Time Machine backup of one other Mac by Migration Assistant. If that’s the case, you may want the laborious drive your Time Machine backup is saved on. 

If you have not backed up your outdated Mac by Time Machine, it is not too late. We’ve a information that walks you thru the method. Or for those who’d fairly straight switch your recordsdata and settings from one Mac to a different, Migration Assistant can do this, too. 

Comply with the prompts within the Migration Assistant software, deciding on that you just wish to switch your data from a Time Machine backup. Choose the Time Machine laborious drive that is related to your new Mac, and choose the newest backup.  

Subsequent, you may be requested to verify which data you wish to switch — together with dwelling folders, functions, settings and different miscellaneous paperwork. 

The method can take a number of hours, relying on how a lot it’s a must to switch. If it will be awhile, you do not have to babysit it. It is completely fantastic to go away your pc and go watch a present, let it course of in a single day, and even run some errands. 

When you’re switching from a PC to a Mac, you should utilize Apple’s Migration Assistant, however the course of is somewhat bit extra concerned and technical (simply in the beginning). Apple walks you thru the method on this help article. 

Set up any software program updates

As soon as you’ve got accomplished the Setup Assistant and end up taking a look at your Mac’s desktop, it is a good suggestion to test for any pending software program updates. 

To try this, click on on the Apple emblem within the top-left nook of the display adopted by System Preferences > Software program Replace. 

As soon as your Mac’s software program is updated, you may additionally wish to test and ensure the entire preinstalled apps are up to date within the App Retailer. Discover the App Retailer icon within the app dock alongside the underside of your display. Click on on it to open the App Retailer after which choose Updates after which replace any apps with pending updates. 

Now that you’ve your Mac all arrange, it is a good suggestion to be ready for any hiccups it’s possible you’ll run into. Listed below are system tweaks it’s possible you’ll wish to make instantly. If that is the primary time you’ve got used MacOS Catalina, you may be shocked that iTunes not exists and you may must learn to take heed to music or sync your iPhone together with your pc. And when your Mac inevitably slows down, learn to velocity it again up once more.