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Originally Posted by New Englander
Never used one before, but tomorrow a new 15" MacBook Air is arriving. Please be patient with me because I most likely will have some really dumb questions.
1st Question. Any advice on the initial setup?
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Congratulations! Your first Mac is like moving up from some Chevy to a BMW in feel, but unlike a BMW, they don’t often break. I bought a 512K Macintosh in 1987, and I’ve used only Apple products ever since. I’m not smart enough to use other computers, but with my Mac I’ve published over twenty books.
Your MacBook is like a HUB for all your needs. I use mine when I need to type a document with Microsoft Word (or Office, actually) or or do the layout for a book. I have a $40 CD/DVD player from Amazon that plugs into the Mac when needed and lets me download all of my CDs onto Apple Music. (I did that and then sold over 400 CDs last fall.) I have 11,000 songs on my Apple Music app that comes with the computer. I also use it when I use the iMovie app that comes with it to create YouTube videos. I have around 10,000 family photos on my Mac, too. (I pay $12 a month to also pay for a huge amount of backup for all this in the Apple Cloud. If you don’t have a huge amount, you can get by with the free version. But for me, if my computer was stolen or destroyed, all those precious things are backed up and easy to recover.)
Here’s what I mean by it being a Hub. I also have two iPads (one with an 8 1/2x11” screen I use for musical activities) and an iPhone. They are all SYNCED together. This is easy to do the first time if you follow the directions. Your Mac will download all of your photos, music, games, apps, etc. onto you iPad and iPhone. Once you tell it to do it, it does it. You don’t have to transfer those files a bit at a time. Thereafter, if you buy a CD on iTunes or download one using a CD drive, your Mac will Sync with your iPhone and/or iPad and you will have them on all your devices. They also serve as backup.
I used to carry my Mac everywhere, but for years, I’ve carried my iPad instead, as it is much lighter and in some ways more convenient, though if I’m writing an article, I use the Mac with its full-size keyboard and great word processing ability. I only use my iPhone for phone calls if I can, as I like the bigger screen of an iPad for visuals. I buy things online a lot, and I nearly always use my iPad. I also use it for watching YouTube videos, checking my bank account, etc., as it’s so much easier to see things.
So if you want to make the best use of your new Mac, get an iPad and an iPhone, too. And welcome to the family.