Show battery status in menu bar<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n3. Set up Siri<\/h2>\n
Siri should be enabled by default, but if you would prefer to use Siri only on your iPhone, then you can disable Siri by going to\u00a0System Preferences > Siri<\/strong>\u00a0and unchecking the box for\u00a0Enable Ask Siri<\/strong>. If you plan on using Siri frequently, then you can use this Siri window to choose Siri’s voice, language and a keyboard shortcut.<\/p>\n4. Customize the Touch Bar<\/h2>\n
If you have a new\u00a0MacBook Pro\u00a0model with the Touch Bar, then head to\u00a0System Preferences > Keyboard<\/strong>\u00a0and click the\u00a0Customize Control Strip<\/strong>\u00a0button and then simply drag the buttons you want to show up on the default view of the Touch Bar to the Touch Bar below the display. Don’t worry, they’ll make the leap from your display across the hinge and to the Touch Bar. (And please don’t ask me why Apple calls it the Control Strip in some places and Touch Bar in others because I don’t know.)<\/p>\n5. Sync folders via iCloud<\/h2>\n
I find it incredibly useful to sync the Desktop and Documents folders between my two Macs and my\u00a0iOS\u00a0devices. To sync these two folders, go to\u00a0System Preferences > iCloud<\/strong>\u00a0and click the\u00a0Options<\/strong>\u00a0button for\u00a0iCloud Drive<\/strong>. Next, check the box for the top item,\u00a0Desktop and Documents folders<\/strong>.<\/p>\n6. Choose default browser<\/h2>\n
Even though it uses more system resources than Safari, I use Chrome instead of Safari because the favicons help me keep track of all of my open tabs. To set a default browser, go to\u00a0System Preferences > General<\/strong>\u00a0and make a selection other than Safari for\u00a0Default web browser<\/strong>.<\/p>\n7. Set scrolling direction<\/h2>\n
A MacBook’s “natural” scrolling direction doesn’t feel natural to me. If you want the two-finger swipe gesture to scroll vertically in the opposite way, head to\u00a0System Preferences > Trackpad<\/strong>\u00a0and click on the\u00a0Scroll & Zoom<\/strong>\u00a0tab. Next, uncheck the box for\u00a0Scroll direction: Natural<\/strong>.<\/p>\n8. Get your Dashboard<\/h2>\n
MacOS Sierra lets you juggle multiple\u00a0desktops\u00a0via Mission Control, which you can swipe through using the three- or four-finger swipe gesture. The Dashboard is a special desktop that lets you pin various apps to it for quick access to current weather conditions, your calendar, a calculator and other info. To enable the Dashboard, go to\u00a0System Preferences > Mission Control<\/strong>\u00a0and change the\u00a0Dashboard<\/strong>\u00a0setting from Off to either\u00a0As Space<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0As Overlay<\/strong>. The former sets up the Dashboard as your leftmost desktop, and the latter overlays it on your current desktop with the press of the F12 key.<\/p>\n9. Add and remove items from Dock<\/h2>\n
Apple throws a number of stock apps into the Dock at the bottom of the screen. You can make room for the apps you use most frequently by removing others you don’t need in the Dock. To remove an app from the Dock, simple click on its icon in the Dock and drag it to the desktop until you see\u00a0Remove<\/strong>\u00a0appear above the icon and then let go. Poof, it’s gone! To add an app to the Dock, open it and then right-click on its icon in the Dock and mouse over the\u00a0Option<\/strong>\u00a0line in the menu and click\u00a0Keep in Dock<\/strong>.<\/p>\n10. Move the Dock<\/h2>\n
The Dock sits at the bottom of your screen, but on a widescreen MacBook display, you might find it better to have it on the side. To move the Dock, go to\u00a0System Preferences > Dock<\/strong>\u00a0and choose either\u00a0Left<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0Right<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0Position on Screen<\/strong>. While you’re there, you can also drag a slider to adjust the size of the Dock. You can also make it disappear from view when you aren’t using it by checking the box for\u00a0Automatically hide and show the Dock<\/strong>.<\/p>\n11. Set up Safari<\/h2>\n
Safari now combats two of the bigger internet annoyances: autoplay videos and ad trackers. Ad tracking is stopped by default, but there is a global setting for stopping autoplay videos that you’ll want to enable. Open Safari’s\u00a0Preferences<\/strong>\u00a0and click on the\u00a0Websites<\/strong>\u00a0tab. Choose\u00a0Auto-Play<\/strong>\u00a0from the left panel and for\u00a0When visiting other websites<\/strong>\u00a0at the bottom of the window, select\u00a0Never Auto-Play<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0Stop Media with Sound<\/strong>\u00a0(if you are okay with muted videos playing) and sit back and rejoice in the silence.<\/p>\n12. Enable Night Shift<\/h2>\n
Staring at a blue screen before bed can shift your body’s natural clock and make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. With Apple’s Night Shift feature, the colors of your display are shifted to the warmer end of the spectrum during the evening hours. Head to\u00a0System Preferences > Displays<\/strong>\u00a0and click the\u00a0Night Shift<\/strong>\u00a0tab. You can set Night Shift to come on from sunset to sunrise, or you can select a custom time period. Use the slider to adjust the color temperature of the effect between less warm and more. Once you start using Night Shift, you’ll wonder how you ever sat in front of a cold, blue screen in the evening hours.<\/p>\n13. Set hours for Do Not Disturb<\/h2>\n
Along with overly blue screens, notifications have no place in my home after a certain hour. As with iOS, MacOS lets you disable notifications in the evening so you aren’t disturbed while watching Netflix or sleeping. Go to\u00a0System Preferences > Notifications\u00a0<\/strong>and check the box Turn on Do Not Disturb. By default, it’s set for the hours of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. but you can set your own Do Not Disturb Window. There are options to enable the feature when your MacBook’s display is sleeping or when you are mirroring the display to a TV or projector (and presumably watching a movie or show or video). You can also let calls come through (if you\u00a0use your MacBook to answer calls) or just repeated calls, which might mean there is an emergency or something urgent to which you may need to respond.<\/p>\n14. Set app download tolerance level<\/h2>\n
If you want to download apps from the web at large and not just from the Mac App Store, you’ll need to tell MacOS to loosen up on the reins a bit. Go to\u00a0System Preferences > Security & Privacy,\u00a0<\/strong>click the lock in the lower-left corner and enter your password to make changes. Next, for\u00a0Allow apps downloaded from<\/strong>\u00a0choose\u00a0App Store and identified developers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n15. Choose how quickly your MacBook locks<\/h2>\n
While on the\u00a0Security & Privacy\u00a0<\/strong>page, you can set the length of time your MacBook can sit idle before the screen locks. It’s more convenient to set a longer time but also less secure. The time period to set here doesn’t start ticking until the screen saver begins, so you also need to set the length of time before your screen saver kicks in. Go to\u00a0System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver\u00a0<\/strong>and you can select the style of your screen saver and also the time by using the drop-down menu in the lower-left corner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After you have jumped through the initial screens from the Mac Setup Assistant that had you log in with your\u00a0Apple\u00a0ID, connect to the network and so on, then your work is not completed. There are 15 settings to change here, at least to check a new MacBook. 1. Check for updates Has Apple released an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,6],"tags":[279,463],"class_list":["post-2296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-battery-knowledge-base","category-laptop-batteries-tips","category-tech-info","tag-apple-15-inch-macbook-pro-battery","tag-apple-a1322-laptop-battery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2296"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2299,"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296\/revisions\/2299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.battaussie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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