Just got a MacBook Pro for work; what are your tips?

Shortcuts I rely on every day:

Command-space: shortcut to search

Command-tab: Toggle between recent applications

Command-~: Toggle between windows in same application

Shift-Cmd-4: screenshot

Productivity things:

I uncheck natural scroll direction.

Trackpad set to fast.

Change screenshot destination to a folder, drag folder into dock, set display to date added, display as fan.

Do the same as above with downloads folder.

Disable zooming in the dock.

Enable dictation in accessibility and set the activation to double tap “control” on key board: dictate emails and other writing when you get bored of typing.

Install chrome and never look at safari again in my life.

Delete all the useless apple apps from the dock (maps etc).

I used the app rcmd and karabiner together to ensure I have deterministic app switching. I remap caps lock to right-command key using karabiner and then use rcmd for app switching.

Caps-lock + letter key means I can jump to any app instantly.

Other people map caps lock to escape or turn it into a "super key" but I don't like fiddling very much.

If you are doing web dev I find using chrome beta to always have your app front and center so it doesn't get lost in research tabs, since mac used "app switching" instead of "window switching" it's a nicer workflow.

So I have capslock+a mapped to terminal, +s mapped to chrome beta, +d mapped to editor, +c mapped to normal chrome, etc..

I've used a bunch of different approaches over the years like workspaces, multi monitor, global terminal hotkey, windows style "alt-tab" etc... I've found deterministic app switching to be way better.

deanmoriarty · 2 years ago

I have always wanted to move to a "deterministic app switching" workflow, since on any given day I go through cmd+tab thousands of times. I rely on it so much that on every macbook I've ever used the cmd key becomes visibly discolored and beaten up after a couple years :)

Have you found a way to do it for free, without paying for rcmd?

fellowniusmonk · 2 years ago

I just paid for it, it was $4 at the time. It and bettertouchtool (for tiptap window tiling, moving windows between monitors and 3 finger middle click) and sublime's text and merge are the primary dev/env gui tools I've paid for over the years.

efxhoy · 2 years ago

The only customization app I use is Rectangle. Try to embrace the oddities of the system instead of trying to make it behave exactly like you’re used to. Make it yours but don’t bother trying to make it i3 or windows or whatever.

brew is probably the package manager you want.

For terminals I’ve used the built in, warp and iterm2. The built in works best for me.

asdf works great if you need multiple versions of programming languages.

I use and paid for Sublime Text and Merge. One thing about MacOS is it broke my idea to only use Free (as in beer) software. Paying for software that feels right becomes less strange when the rest of the system has the feeling that you paid more for the feeling of it.

I gave up on safari and switched to chrome, because I also use windows and the sync is convenient. If mac is now your only system I suggest giving Safari a fair chance.

Don’t feel tethered to your power cord or screen, M cpu macbooks have great battery life, use it.

clay_the_ripper · 2 years ago

slater · 2 years ago

"I sometimes minimize a window"

First thing to learn in macOS: Never do this. It's like the #1 thing Windows users new to Macs have to un-learn. Leave the app windows open and where they are, and learn to love the CMD-tilde (top left next to the "1" key on most keyboards) command to jump between an application's open windows.

user_7832 · 2 years ago

Do you know any application or desktop environments that could emulate this MacOs (or a linux/unix) type behavior on windows? I'm curious to see what it means in practice (I've never used a mac.)

Pooge · 2 years ago

What I meant is that instead of pressing "@" I press the shortcut to minimize windows unwillingly. I use Alt+Tab or 3-finger swipe to switch open windows.

FinalDestiny · 2 years ago

Try Cmd+h to quickly hide a window. Night Shift is also nice to have. Cmd+tab for switching between apps. Alt+backspace is really handy (it deletes the previous word.) In fact, the alt key has a lot of functions that are often overlooked.

Rectangle is awesome for macOS. It makes it easier to put windows in the corner of the screen, etc. I also like to install Dozer to keep the menu bar clean on macOS.

nickjj · 2 years ago

Disable mouse accel by running this from the terminal: defaults write -g com.apple.mouse.scaling -integer -1

There's a setting in iterm2[0] to disable the terminal from growing and shrinking if you adjust the font size. By default iterm2 will resize the terminal but it does it in the worst way possible by extending it past the viewable screen. If you pair or screenshare a lot this setting is critical to disable IMO.

https://github.com/p0deje/Maccy is really nice for managing multiple clipboards. It's about as good as Ditto for Windows.

[0]: https://iterm2.com/faq.html#:~:text=Q%3A%20How%20can%20I%20p....

unilynx · 2 years ago

If you do anything in editors or edit command lines in the terminal, maximise the keyboard repeat rate and minimise the repeat delay.

speedgoose · 2 years ago

FYI you can use many "emacs" shortcuts in shells like bash or zsh but also many CLI programs using the GNU readline lib.

In a text editor you should favour vim mode, obviously.

Then you will very rarely feel the need to press a key and wait.

k310 · 2 years ago

There are many things to learn. Start with terminal :-)

You can modify key mapping.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-the-behavior...

And here is a giant list of shortcuts. You won't need them all! Good to know.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236

Others can point to developer tools such as homebrew and so on.

Good luck.