MacBook For Dummies, 9th Edition

MacBook For Dummies, 9th Edition

by Mark L. Chambers
Released April 2021
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781119775669

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Book description

Learn how to drive the coolest laptop on the planet

You took the plunge, paid extra, and—even though it looks and feels like perfection—have that fleeting doubt: is my MacBook really worth the investment? You'll be pleased to know that the answer is totally yes, and MacBook For Dummies is the ultimate way to learn the thousand and one reasons why the MacBook Pro or Air you now own is a modern masterpiece—as well as the ten thousand and one (and counting) things you can do with it. With its super-smooth performance, top-shelf LED screen, rugged reliability, and powerful, trouble-free operating system, you're going to have a lot of fun.

Keeping jargon to a minimum, Mark L. Chambers—prolific tech author and all-round Mac whiz—gives you a friendly, step-by-step welcome to everything MacBook, from reviewing the hardware and powering up for the first time to getting familiar with files, security settings, launching apps, and entering the digital netherworld of iCloud. Then, with the basics reassuringly in place, you can begin your journey to power-user mastery in whatever areas of MacBook-ing you're most interested in, from doing the accounts in Numbers to perfecting that soon-to-be-released cinematic classic (with original score) using iMovie and GarageBand.

  • Get familiar with the latest macOS, Big Sur
  • Communicate with Messages and FaceTime
  • Stream music, movies, and TV shows
  • Manage and edit photos and video clips

Whether you're a PC convert, Mac veteran, or completely new to the astonishing potential of the MacBook world, you'll find everything you need to get the most out of the technical marvel that's now at your command.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Introduction
    1. Foolish Assumptions
    2. About This Book
    3. Icons Used in This Book
    4. Beyond the Book
    5. Where to Go from Here
  5. Part 1: Tie Myself Down with a Desktop? Preposterous!
    1. Chapter 1: Hey, It Really Does Have Everything I Need
      1. An Overview of Your Mac Laptop
      2. Meet the MacBooks
      3. Location, Location, Location!
      4. Unpacking and Connecting Your Laptop
      5. Great — a Lecture about Handling My Laptop
      6. An Overview of Mac Software Goodness
      7. Other Stuff That Nearly Everyone Wants
    2. Chapter 2: Turning On Your Portable Powerhouse
      1. Tales of the On Button
      2. Mark’s Favorite Signs of a Healthy Laptop
      3. You Won’t Lecture Me about Batteries, Will You?
      4. Setting Up and Registering Your Laptop
      5. Importing Stuff from Another Mac
      6. Importing Stuff from Windows (If You Must)
    3. Chapter 3: The MacBook Owner’s Introduction to macOS Big Sur
      1. Your Own Personal Operating System
      2. The Big Sur Desktop
      3. Wait a Second: Where the Heck Are the Mouse Buttons?
      4. Launching and Quitting Applications with Aplomb
      5. Performing Tricks with Finder Windows
      6. Juggling Folders and Icons
      7. Keys and Keyboard Shortcuts to Fame and Fortune
      8. Home, Sweet Home Folder
      9. Working with Mission Control
      10. Switching Desktops with Spaces
      11. Personalizing Your Desktop
      12. Taking Control of Your MacBook
      13. Customizing the Dock
      14. What’s with the Trash?
      15. All You Really Need to Know about Printing
      16. And Just in Case You Need Help …
  6. Part 2: Shaking Hands with macOS Big Sur
    1. Chapter 4: What’s New in macOS Big Sur?
      1. Introducing the Control Center
      2. The Return of the Widgets
      3. Your Guide to the Perfect Trip
      4. Safari Covers New Ground
      5. Messages Adds Effects, Images, and … Pins?
      6. Becoming One with Your Battery
    2. Chapter 5: A Nerd’s Guide to System Preferences
      1. An Explanation — without Jargon, No Less
      2. Locating That Certain Special Setting
      3. Popular Preferences Panes Explained
    3. Chapter 6: Sifting Through Your Stuff
      1. Doing a Basic Search
      2. How Cool Is That? Discovering What Spotlight Can Do
      3. Expanding Your Search Horizons
      4. Customizing Spotlight to Your Taste
    4. Chapter 7: Using Reminders, Notes, Notifications, and Maps
      1. Remind Me to Use Reminders
      2. Taking Notes the Big Sur Way
      3. Staying Current with Notification Center
      4. Introducing the Maps Application
      5. Switching Views in Maps
      6. Getting Directions Over Yonder
      7. Creating and Using Guides
  7. Part 3: Connecting and Communicating
    1. Chapter 8: Let’s Go on Safari!
      1. Pretend You’ve Never Used This Thing
      2. Visiting Websites
      3. Navigating the Web
      4. Configuring Your Home Page and Start Page
      5. Adding and Using Bookmarks
      6. Working with the Reading List
      7. Downloading Files
      8. Using History
      9. Tabs Are Your Browsing Friends
      10. Printing Web Pages
      11. Protecting Your Privacy
    2. Chapter 9: iCloud Is Made for MacBooks
      1. So How Does iCloud Work, Anyway?
      2. Moving, Saving, and Opening iCloud Documents
      3. Putting Handoff to Work
      4. Expanding Your Horizons with Sidecar
      5. Configuring iCloud
      6. Managing Your iCloud Storage
    3. Chapter 10: Your Laptop Goes Multiuser
      1. Once Upon a Time (an Access Fairy Tale)
      2. Big-Shot Administrator Stuff
      3. Tackling Mundane Chores for the Multiuser Laptop
    4. Chapter 11: Working Well with Networks
      1. What Exactly Is the Network Advantage?
      2. Should You Go Wired or Wireless?
      3. Be a Pal: Share Your Internet!
      4. What Do I Need to Connect?
      5. Connecting to the Network
      6. USE YOUR FIREWALL!
      7. Playing Buck Rogers with FaceTime
      8. Sending Instant Messages Across the Network
  8. Part 4: Living the iLife
    1. Chapter 12: The Multimedia Joys of Music and TV
      1. What Can I Play in Music?
      2. Playing Digital Audio Files
      3. Keeping Slim Whitman and Slim Shady Apart: Organizing with Playlists
      4. Know Your Songs
      5. Ripping Audio Files
      6. Tweaking the Audio for Your Ears
      7. A New Kind of Radio Station
      8. iSending iStuff to iPhone and iPad
      9. Burning Music to Shiny Plastic Circles
      10. Feasting on Music Visuals
      11. Exercising Parental Authority
      12. Watching Video with TV
      13. Buying Digital Media the Apple Way
    2. Chapter 13: Focusing on Photos
      1. Delving into Photos
      2. Working with Images in Photos
      3. Exploring iCloud Photos
      4. Putting My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing to Work
    3. Chapter 14: Making Film History with iMovie
      1. Shaking Hands with the iMovie Window
      2. A Bird’s-Eye View of Moviemaking
      3. Importing the Building Blocks
      4. Building the Cinematic Basics
      5. Creating an Honest-to-Goodness Movie Trailer
      6. Browsing Your Video Library
      7. Sharing Your Finished Classic
    4. Chapter 15: Recording Your Hits with GarageBand
      1. Shaking Hands with Your Band
      2. Composing Made Easy
      3. Sharing Your Songs
  9. Part 5: Getting Productive and Maintaining Your MacBook
    1. Chapter 16: Desktop Publishing with Pages
      1. Creating a New Pages Document
      2. Opening an Existing Pages Document
      3. Saving Your Work
      4. Touring the Pages Window
      5. Entering and Editing Text
      6. Using Text, Shapes, and Graphics Boxes
      7. The Three Amigos: Cut, Copy, and Paste
      8. Formatting Text the Easy Way
      9. Adding a Spiffy Table
      10. Adding Alluring Photos
      11. Adding a Background Shape
      12. Are You Sure about That Spelling?
      13. Set Your Font Defaults and Speed Things Up
      14. Printing Your Pages Documents
      15. Sharing That Poster with Others
    2. Chapter 17: Creating Spreadsheets with Numbers
      1. Before You Launch Numbers …
      2. Creating a New Numbers Document
      3. Opening an Existing Spreadsheet File
      4. Save Those Spreadsheets!
      5. Exploring the Numbers Window
      6. Navigating and Selecting Cells in a Spreadsheet
      7. Entering and Editing Data in a Spreadsheet
      8. Selecting the Correct Number Format
      9. Aligning Cell Text Just So
      10. Formatting with Shading
      11. Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns
      12. The Formula Is Your Friend
      13. Adding Visual Punch with a Chart
      14. Printing Your Spreadsheet
    3. Chapter 18: Building Presentations with Keynote
      1. Creating a New Keynote Project
      2. Opening a Keynote Presentation
      3. Saving Your Presentation
      4. Putting Keynote to Work
      5. Adding Slides
      6. Working with Text, Shapes, and Graphics Boxes
      7. Adding and Editing Slide Text
      8. Formatting Slide Text for the Perfect Look
      9. Using Presenter’s Notes in Your Project
      10. Every Good Presentation Needs Media
      11. Adding a Background Shape
      12. Creating Your Keynote Slideshow
      13. Printing Your Slides and Notes
    4. Chapter 19: When Good Mac Laptops Go Bad
      1. Repeat after Me: Yes, I Am a Tech!
      2. Step-by-Step Laptop Troubleshooting
      3. Using Mark’s MacBook Troubleshooting Tree
      4. Okay, I Kicked It, and It Still Won’t Work
      5. And Now … Windows?
    5. Chapter 20: Adding New Stuff to Your Laptop
      1. More Memory Will Help
      2. Considering an Internal Drive Upgrade?
      3. A List of Dreamy Laptop Add-Ons
    6. Chapter 21: Tackling the Housekeeping
      1. Cleaning Unseemly Data Deposits
      2. Backing Up Your Treasure
      3. Maintaining Drive Health
      4. Automating Those Mundane Chores
      5. Updating macOS Automatically
  10. Part 6: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 22: Ten Laptop Rules to Follow
      1. Keep Your Laptop in a Bag
      2. Maximize Your RAM
      3. Keep Tabs on Your MacBook
      4. Keepeth Thy Drive Encrypted
      5. Brand Your MacBook
      6. Disable Your Wireless
      7. Take a Surge Protector with You
      8. Use Power-Saving Features
      9. Use an External Keyboard and Mouse
      10. Not Again! What Is It with You and Backing Up?
    2. Chapter 23: Ten Things to Avoid Like the Plague
      1. USB 2.0 Storage Devices
      2. Phishing Operations
      3. The Twin Terrors: Viruses and Malware
      4. Submerged Keyboards
      5. Antiquated Utility Software
      6. Software Piracy
      7. The Forbidden Account
      8. Unsecured Wireless Connections
      9. Refurbished Hardware
      10. Dirty Laptops
  11. Index
  12. About the Author
  13. Connect with Dummies
  14. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: MacBook For Dummies, 9th Edition
  • Author(s): Mark L. Chambers
  • Release date: April 2021
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781119775669