First Macbook.... bit lost!

chrism_scotland

chrism_scotland

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Well my Windows laptop died over the weekend and I decided to pickup the 15" Macbook Pro that I've had my eye on for a while but I have to admit after 20+ years using Windows I'm struggling to get my head around MacOS a little, most of the main apps I use are broadly the same (Chrome, Photoshop, Lightroom) but I'm really struggling with just basic OS/Settings tasks, can anyone recommend a decent website or guide that might help me any? The machine itself is great, screen is excellent and its brilliantly built but the OS just makes my head hurt!
 
You may find the following video of use, I found David easy to understand and follow

 
Click to open.

Then to close cmd+q or click on the app name and close.

Thats the main two.
 
Takes a while, I flip from Mac to PC all day long, give it time. It's the simple things like file properties for multiple files that will fry your noodle, but in a while you will have it sorted, Google has all the answers :)
 
Best place to start is here: http://www.apple.com/support/macbasics/ which includes a section on switching from Windows.

Also remember you have 90 days of free phone/chat support from Apple regardless of where you purchased the machine from.

Let me know if you have any specific questions (former Mac Genius ;) here)

I got my first Mac in 2007 and I remember spending 20 minutes trying to work out how to install an app before realising it simply involved dragging the application icon into the Applications folder!
 
New Mac (Mac mini)user here too and similarly confused- installing an app (Deezer)confused me too but slowly getting there!
 
Without wanting to start a debate, save yourselves hours of headaches by not installing Mackeeper.

Having made the switch 5 years ago, it's very tempting to start installing apps which promise to protect you from viruses et al, which is fine, but Mackeeper is terrible and a PITA to remove. Google it if you need any more convincing.

Enjoy your new machine, hopefully it'll be a happy relationship!
 
Chuckoir said:
Without wanting to start a debate, save yourselves hours of headaches by not installing Mackeeper.
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I agree, MacKeeper is at best a "Potentially Unwanted Program". Personally, I don't use any antivirus software at all.
 
Thanks folks I'll take a look at the links suggested when I get some time this weekend to play with it!

My only real concern I'm having now is that it seems to get very hot and very loud (fan) when doing almost nothing, I'm just hoping I haven't got a faulty machine as I wasn't expecting it to be so loud!
 
chrism_scotland said:
My only real concern I'm having now is that it seems to get very hot and very loud (fan) when doing almost nothing, I'm just hoping I haven't got a faulty machine as I wasn't expecting it to be so loud!
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That doesn't sound right :(
 
As above, if it's loud and getting hot I would hazard a guess that there's a problem, my MBP has only ever become hot once in the 4 years I've had it and the computer shut down automatically as a safeguard to protect its circuits from overheating, I did an SMC reset and a hard reset too and it seems to have sorted the issue for the time being. (Fingers crossed) Google SMC RESET and give it a try.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Thanks folks I'll take a look at the links suggested when I get some time this weekend to play with it!

My only real concern I'm having now is that it seems to get very hot and very loud (fan) when doing almost nothing, I'm just hoping I haven't got a faulty machine as I wasn't expecting it to be so loud!
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Mine gets hot Chris - I notice it if I rest it on my legs while watching the TV and surfing the net - also when I have LR and PS running and I am editing shots it can get very warm and you then hear the fan, although it is not that loud, (compared with a PC)

there's a free app somewhere that measures the heat, the battery, etc., etc. etc., - have a search on the web
 
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Mine gets warm if editing a lot in LR, sometimes when youtube etc the fan runs slow, on the other hand if I boot into windows 7 (64) the fan runs most of the time! However its so quiet you have to listen hard to hear it, vents are by the screen hinge.
 
Thanks guys it sounds like mine maybe isn't right then as the fan is louder than my old Lenovo a lot of the time and I haven't even tried editing anything yet!
It seems to get very warm in the centre of the keyboard toward the back of the base, I'll see if I can dig out the app that looks at temperature and see how I get on with it over the weekend
 
Mine is pretty much silent even when I'm editing photos/video, the only time the fans spin up is when I'm doing rendering a video/exporting a set in Capture One/quickly flipping between RAW files. It shouldn't be feeling that warm if you're just surfing the web. Although streaming video through Chrome does get my Mac hotter, probably due to Flash. I use Safari most of the time as it uses up less power.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Thanks folks I'll take a look at the links suggested when I get some time this weekend to play with it!

My only real concern I'm having now is that it seems to get very hot and very loud (fan) when doing almost nothing, I'm just hoping I haven't got a faulty machine as I wasn't expecting it to be so loud!
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First question - is this a new machine? If it is then you should call AppleCare.

Troubleshooting steps you can try first:

Reset SMC. Switch the machine of and make sure it is plugged in to power. Press the Left shift, alt and cmd keys down all at once then press and hold the power button as well. Hold for a second and let go all the keys. If the magsafe LED was orange (charging), then it will go green and then back to orange. Press the power button to turn the machine on again. The SMC controls fan speed, so resetting it may stop the fans running at full tilt.

Run Apple Hardware Test. Again, switch off, then switch on while holding the D key (D for Diagnostics). This will boot into a test mode which will check the hardware.

You can see what the machine is doing by using Activity Monitor which is in Applications -> Utilities.

The fans can get quite noisy when running at full speed, Activity Monitor can tell you if there is anything running that shouldn't be. Change the view to all processes and order by CPU %
 
I made the switch a few years back. I solely use a mac (desktop) for photography so it only runs Lightroom & photoshop with a bit of web surfing and maintaining my website. It takes a while to get used to it but you get there in the end. Google is your friend to find out what the shortcuts are. One thing I like is time machine and an app called carbon copy cloner. I have about 3 automatic backups set up and it works well.
 
You'll get there Chris - took me a while - and then you'll try a windows machine again and really pull your hair out :D
 
chrism_scotland said:
Again thanks folks, does anyone know what sort of average cpu/gpu temperatures I should be looking at as "normal"
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Can't tell you technically tell wise, but generally I can sit for hours (if needed) with the macbook pro on my knees without much of an issue - does tend to get warm towards the middle to the rear and can get warm if doing update etc when plugged in...

If you're not sure if it's running too hot, pop back to the Apple store with it and see what they say...
 
chrism_scotland said:
Again thanks folks, does anyone know what sort of average cpu/gpu temperatures I should be looking at as "normal"
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Chris, have you tried the SMC reset and looked at the CPU usage graph?

I've just installed iStat Menus to test the temperature/speed changes. My machine only has a single fan, but the temperatures should be similar.

I'm currently at 55° C and 1300rpm. I'll run a quick CPU stress test and watch the fan speed.
 
My test was to run the CPU at 100% using a terminal command. The CPU temp increased and the fan sped up:

70° - 1900 rpm
73° - 2200 rpm
75° - 2500 - 3000 rpm

The temperature stayed steady at this point, so I added a GPU stress test. The temperature rose to 83° and the fan speed increased to around 5800 over a 5 minute period.

83 - 4000 - 5800

Stopping the CPU/GPU stress test, the temperature quickly reduced to 50° and the fan speed went back to around 1300rpm after a couple of minutes.

One important consideration is that the fan speed will continue to rise if the temperature remains the same.
 
Well I already feel like I'm getting to grips with MacOS a bit more after using it a bit more over the weekend, now I know a few of the main shortcuts and bits it does seem to be well setup!

Still keeping an eye on the CPU temperature but it seems to have settled down a little today for whatever reason.

I only bought the 512GB Macbook Pro (as I wasn't paying £400 extra for the 1TB!) but I'm looking to add some further external storage, partly for backup and partly just so that I can off load anything that doesn't "need" to be on the laptop itself.
I was half looking at a 2TB Time Capsule as it seems like it would do everything I want but some of the reviews seem to suggest they aren't super reliable, I've also had a look at External Thunderbolt drives, at £250 the Western Digital 4TB Drive seems good value for money.

Also can anyone suggest a good USB 3.0 Hub? 2 USB ports on opposite sides of the machine just isn't enough!!
 
As a follow up I finally feel like I'm getting to grips with MacOS but I'm still suffering heat and fan issues.
This morning I was importing images into the Photo application (JPEGS which are already stored somewhere else on the internal SSD) and the CPU load went mental and the temperature on all 4 cores spikes up to 100 degrees C with both fans running at maximum, surely that can't be right for whats meant to be a fairly powerful laptop?
 
chrism_scotland said:
As a follow up I finally feel like I'm getting to grips with MacOS but I'm still suffering heat and fan issues.
This morning I was importing images into the Photo application (JPEGS which are already stored somewhere else on the internal SSD) and the CPU load went mental and the temperature on all 4 cores spikes up to 100 degrees C with both fans running at maximum, surely that can't be right for whats meant to be a fairly powerful laptop?
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Hi Chris. Did you try the things I suggested before? I would like to know what Activity Monitor is saying the CPU/energy usage is when the fans are on full. Make sure that Activity Monitor is showing all processes - (View Menu - all processes).
 
100c does not sound right, depending what 15" macbook you have on some CPU versions that's in the max temperature (before thermal shutdown) territory. even at full load that is excessive.

i wonder if the heatpipes are damaged or not seated correctly.
 
That doesn't sound right to me either. Apple are just as prone to producing duff machines as anyone else (except their user base tend to be much more accepting than, say, Dell's). I'd suggest booking an appointment with a 'genius' and demonstrating he problems to him: he'll probably make you think you're making it up even if you demonstrate the problem* in front of him (it's not common for them to acknowledge to possibility of faulty hardware to a customer) but is able to have the machine sent off for repair/replacement.

*I had a Macbook with a fault that was common to that model - genius was not inclined to acknowledge it could be hardware even when demonstrated to him - required a new motherboard.
 
I did check the activity monitor and it was purely the Photo's App that was using the CPU which seems strange, I also did an SMC reset this morning so I'll see if thats made any odds.
Its a brands new Mid 2015 Macbook 15" (the £2000 one with the AMD GPU) the 100 degrees does seem odd to me..
 
Could be a faulty sensor, and it's not actually getting that hot.
 
I would be looking at taking it back and getting it replaced
 
How much memory have you in it ?
 
chrism_scotland said:
Its a brands new Mid 2015 Macbook 15" (the £2000 one with the AMD GPU) the 100 degrees does seem odd to me..
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The aluminium casing is designed to help dissipate heat and the machines do get warm when in use. Apple are always careful to call their machines anything but laptops because they are not intended to be used on your lap.

I would definitely be reporting this to AppleCare, as a brand new machine, it is under warranty and may need to be repaired or replaced.
 
I think the term laptop is outdated generally across all makes these days.

Macbooks do tend to get very hot under high load (honestly who'd put the hot air exhaust right next to the air intake) but to be reporting 100c I'd agree that it needs checking out.
 
neil_g said:
Macbooks do tend to get very hot under high load (honestly who'd put the hot air exhaust right next to the air intake) but to be reporting 100c I'd agree that it needs checking out.
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The retina machines pull air from the side vents and push it out the back where the hinge is. They are quite tight on the thermal dynamics though.

I've also found some stuff about how the Photos app can absolutely hammer the CPU for minutes at a time, so this may be the culprit. I don't use it myself.
 
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