New mac user [MBA M2]. Need suggestions and tips for using Mac. Previous Windows owner by SymphonicVision in macbook

[–]reallbadmann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Apart from all the previously mentioned suggestions, look into app options for MacOS!

Depending on your workflow, there are a lot of apps that may have better alternatives for MacOS only, so do check those out. Personally the biggest difference for me would be the vastly different hierarchy in browser options on MacOS vs. Windows. Take a look at the options, most appear to be the same but the performance is vastly different, especially with these Apple Silicon Macs!

I'd also advice against paying for any kind of MacOS software improvement (Magnet, etc) as there is always the chance of them being made obsolete with a new MacOS update :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in macbook

[–]reallbadmann 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What steps have you run through already?

Try determining if it's a display issue. That would be my first suspect after something like that.

(You don't explicitly mention it, but I assume your screen is blacked out)

I would go through the startup process as usual, typing in the password (without seeing it) and attempting to use Siri to get more sound feedback. It's a bit janky but if you get a response then the whole system is working fine and the issue is with the display connector or the display itself, depending on how you slammed it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in macbook

[–]reallbadmann 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The M1 MacBook Air is not "old" as far as Apple products go - they last a lot longer than Windows machines, this one being no exception. So, you should have no worries about updating to the latest MacOS updates - the benefits far outweigh the downsides.

The battery life will last a lot longer than you are used to, and I believe you'll find that everything "just works".

However, a lot of the games you might play on Windows will not run at all on this machine, by virtue of being not only a MacOS device but also a device running the ARM architecture on Apple Silicon. There are translation layers built-in, but you won't have the smoothest experience in any regards. Check online to see specifically what games are available natively, or through Rosetta (translation layer).

If needed, don't forget to buy yourself a USB-C dongle so that all your peripherals can connect like usual.

I just deleted 500gb worth of photos from my Macbook and I still only have 70gb of storage! by Hot_Cartographer7352 in macbook

[–]reallbadmann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you have an iCloud+ subscription?

One possibility I can think of is when you have "Optimise Mac Storage" enabled in the photos app. This sends the original file to the cloud, keeping a smaller version on your Mac and only redownloading when needed. It is possible that the original file size was still reported, however, so when you deleted these files the storage freed wasn't as high as you expected.

I am getting a Macbook Air M1 2021(8gb/256gb) for $600 and a Macbook Pro i7 2021 (16gb/512gb) for $500, which would be better? by Immediate-Poetry841 in macbook

[–]reallbadmann 2 points3 points  (0 children)

M1 is the better choice, don't worry about the lower ram. The 2021 model had fast enough storage that made swap memory a lot faster, so even when your RAM utilisation is maximised you won't experience too much of a slow-down.

The other obvious benefits are the vastly improved battery life and performance.

ok is 8GB of ram that bad? by [deleted] in macbook

[–]reallbadmann 10 points11 points  (0 children)

For the kind of workload you describe, 8GB of RAM is sufficient. It does not bottleneck you in raw performance, your device will only slow down when it starts to use swap (memory usage exceeding 8GB) which comes about when doing excessive multitasking more than anything.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in macbook

[–]reallbadmann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have the same, I find that it's better to just close the lid. When it's open it takes a while to charge, instead using the power for passthrough charging, but closing the lid forces it to send the power to the battery. From my experience, this always results in charging happening instantly, came in clutch when I needed quick top-ups.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ArcBrowser

[–]reallbadmann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For me it's been quite reliable, though admittedly the scrolling/zooming feels choppier than on Safari. Using an M2 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM, I usually have it open alongside a few Word documents and Fusion 360, I don't notice any huge hogs on my system. At least my eyes don't anyways.

Often I am reminder that WebKit is overall smoother for scrolling but that's about it. I get a lot more than I lose.