2024-07-14

Before Starting

Before you start your new machine for the first time, there are a few things to prepare.

• As part of registration of your Mac, the setup process will want your iCloud username and password. (If you don't have one, you will have a chance to get one. Do so, and be sure to write down the password in a safe place.)
• If your home setup has a wireless router, you will want to know your network name (SSID), encryption method (e.g. WPA2, WPA3), and the network password.
• In order to fetch email from your email provider to your computer, you need to specify your email provider's server addresses, and your account name and password. If your email is on an external provider like Gmail or Outlook, you will need to know its network name and your mail account name and mail account password. (I recommend that you get a (free) gmail account anyway, as a backup to any other mail account.)
• The setup process will ask you for a user name and password. It may propose a long user name; you may prefer a short one, like just your initials. Pick a good strong password: don't use the same password for everything. You can use my random password generator for ideas. (With modern Macs you can set up a fingerprint identification, so you don't have to type it very often.) Write this password down in your favorite safe place too.
• The setup process will also ask you to name your computer, and suggest something like "Tom's Macbook." (This is probably not satisfactory: you may not wish to advertise your name to everybody at the coffee shop, and you may have more than one computer, but each computer has to have a different name.) You will probably prefer a shorter name, something unique and not too cute, with no spaces or punctuation. Strangers will use this name to refer to your computer on a network. (I have worked in companies where we tried to name each computer after a planet, or a mythical character: this work for a while, until we ran out of planets, etc. Pick a random string instead.)
• See the list of Essential Hardware and Software. If you plan to use Time Machine , you should have an external drive.

Initial Boot

Connect your machine's power cable. Then boot the Mac up py pressing the Power button. Connect the Mac to the Internet by plugging in a network cable or by connecting to your WiFi.

The first boot of your Mac will ask you to register it with Apple. You can skip this step till later, but it is useful to do in case you ever need service. The installer will also ask for your iCloud user ID and password, and ask if you want to use "Find My Mac." Say yes. You can set up syncing your Mac with iCloud, or do that later. I sync my Desktop, Documents, Contacts, Keychain, and Photos. I don't tell setup my Gmail or social media addresses.. this is up to you.

The first boot setup on a Mac will ask if you want to transfer files.

• From another Mac, if you are upgrading. (Make sure to have a wired connection.. it can be very slow over wireless. You can just connect an Ethernet cable between the machines.)
• From a Time Machine backup, if your old Mac died or was stolen.

You can say no, and transfer files later using Migration Assistant. This will let you select which files to transfer.

A brand new Mac will have a current or nearly current version of macOS. If you are setting up a previously used computer, you may want to bring it up to the newest OS it can support. You will also want to check if the former owner has made settings that you need to change.

Post Setup

After you have finished setting up your Mac, use  ► App Store... ► Updates to get the latest Apple changes. You should also visit every section of  ► System Settings... to make sure all your settings are right for you.

Set your machine to require a login password, and to require it after sleep.

If you have purchased software, and didn't restore it from Time Machine or an old Mac, download the programs from the Internet, or install them from disc. When you install software that you had on an old machine, you may need to register the programs on the new Mac.

Many modern programs are no longer sold, they are rented: for instance, the programs included in Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud. You will have to visit the websites for these programs, log in to your account, and follow directions to get your programs installed and registered to your new Mac. Do this after you have updated your operating system.

You may need to adjust your  ► System Settings... ► Privacy & Security preferences while you are installing software.

See the "Post Install Tasks" section of the Sonoma tutorial. Connect up your printer and make sure you can print with it. If you are new to the Mac, start with Lesson One.

Your Mac will create a new Spotlight index (used when you search for things in the Finder). This will take hours, maybe overnight, and the machine will be slow until this finishes. Be patient.

Read the page about Security. Enable FileVault to encrypt the disk contents.

Read the page about Loss Protection. Write down your Mac's serial number and model number, and your user and iCloud passwords, and put them in a safe place.

I keep a big plastic envelope for each computer, with all the paperwork, manuals, etc. Save the box that the computer came it for a while, in case you have to take it for repair.

You can transfer files from a Windows computer using an Ethernet cable, if the Windows computer has networking installed. See this Apple suport article. (If you want to import Outlook mail into Mail.app, you may need to buy a tool.. see the Apple articles for help.)