Leo Laporte gives his thoughts on Apple's new M1 MacBooks and what it means for the future of the Mac. Get the new Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip: https://amzn.to/3ntda8c Get "In the Beginning...was the Command Line" by Neal Stephenson: https://amzn.to/3h0Yknc Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-mac Discuss episodes in the TWiT Community.

Leo Laporte shares a must-have app for macOS, iStat Menus from Bjango. This system monitoring app gives you real-time info on your Mac's stats, including a CPU monitor, GPU, memory, network usage, disk usage, disk activity, battery, and more. Get iStat Menus: https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/ Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-mac Discuss episodes in the TWiT Community. Sponsor: LastPass.com/twit

Want to know what's new with macOS Big Sur? Watch this! New features: Control center and the menu bar Notification center and widgets Messages Photos Time Machine and APFS New wallpapers and new sounds (including the startup chime!) Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac! Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-mac Discuss episodes in the TWiT Community. Sponsor: itpro.tv/twit promo...

Here's a tool that comes with every Macintosh - the Mac Activity Monitor. It's a lot more useful than you might think! Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac! Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-mac Discuss episodes in the TWiT Community. Sponsor: peakdesign.com/twit

macOS Big Sur is here! now you have to keep it secure. Here are some easy ways (and some pretty tricky ways) to keep your Mac safe. You have a lot of security options with macOS Big Sur, and third party software can give you even more options. Use secure passwords. To keep your information safe, you should use passwords to secure your Mac, and choose passwords that can't be easily guessed. See Tips for creating secure passwords and Learn how passwords are used. Require users to log in. If...

Here is everything you need to know to install macOS 11 Big Sur. Make sure you watch all the previous Road to Big Sur episodes first! Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac! Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-mac Discuss episodes in the TWiT Community. Sponsor: itpro.tv/twit promo code TWIT30

Remember, I'm doing a clean install. To speed up the setup, I want an inventory of all my installed apps and configurations. If you've installed `mas` using `brew`, you have a command-line interface to your App store installs. And `brew bundle dump —all —description —force` will write a list of everything you've installed from brew and the app store to `brewfile` in your home directory. Save that! Running brew bundle install will reinstall everything (you might want to edit the list first...

I have mentioned that this time I'm going to do a clean install of Big Sur, but even if you're going to just upgrade on top of your old macOS it's very important to make a backup of your system. Now is also a good time to think about your backup strategy. https://dpbestflow.org/links/39 FireCuda Gaming Dock 4TB at https://amzn.to/37u2tgF (affiliate) Use Optimized Data to move stuff off your Mac to make room Hit About This Mac under the Apple icon, select storage, and hit manage. Get ready...

Is Big Sur compatible with your old Mac apps? Find out all the answers in this episode of Hands-On Mac. Who can run Big Sur? Just because you're running Catalina does NOT mean you can run macOS 11. Apple says these systems will work: MacBook, 2015 and later MacBook Air, 2013 and later MacBook Pro, late 2013 and later Mac Mini, 2014 and later iMac, 2014 and later iMac Pro (all models), 2017 and later Mac Pro, 2013 and late Free space requirements 50.33GB looks to be the minimum...

When you upgrade to Big Sur, think about starting from scratch. Here's step one of how to prepare: Move your data to a new drive Create a ghost user account in the internal hard drive Create a copy of the home directory on the external drive Get the 970 EVO Plus SSD at https://amzn.to/3iPokBi (affiliate) Get the OWC Express 4M2 at https://amzn.to/2Ic2nj6 (affiliate) Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac! Host: Leo Laporte Download or...

The first part of Mac OS 11 Big Sur is already here: Safari 14! Here's what's new: Customizable Start PagePrivacy ReportImproved Tabs DesignImproved Extensions SupportChoose your own search engineNew security and privacy featuresStop getting annoying website notification popupsTurn off autoplay video and audioKill pop-up windowsCustom style sheetsDevelop menuLeo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac! Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe...

A Better Finder Attributes Core features: batch change file creation date and timebatch change file modification date and timebatch adjust the Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) time & date that pictures were shot to compensate for timezones or incorrectly set camera clocksset the creation date of a digital camera picture file to the time the picture was takenshow invisible files in the Finderremove invisible files (including .DS_Store) from entire folder hierarchiesEXIF date writing support...

Work in multiple spaces on MacIf the desktop on your Mac gets cluttered with open app windows, you can use Mission Control to create additional desktops, called spaces, to organize the windows. When you work in a space, you see only the windows that are in that space.If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can set an option in Keyboard preferences to show spaces in the Touch Bar. Then just tap a space to open it.If you assign an app (or System Preferences) to a specific space, the app will always...

Syncthing, a free open-source program, syncs multiple computers securely. Use it for backup, file sharing, or to keep the same files on all your computers - Mac, PC, and Linux. Leo gives a demonstration by setting up some synchronization between his devices. Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac! Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-mac Discuss episodes in the TWiT...

On macOS the Finder is the program that runs all the time. With it, you can manage files, launch applications, and as we've learned, automate many of the tasks you perform all the time. Learning to use the Finder more effectively can make a big difference in how happy you are with your Mac. So here are some tips from a variety of sources. Some you may know, some you may not. Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac! Host: Leo Laporte ...

Now it's time to really make folder actions sing with your own custom code. You can do this in Automator or Applescript (easier), or using a scripting language like shell, python, or Perl (advanced). Follow these steps in order: Create a script with Script Editor or another script application. 1. In that script, write a handler that conforms to the syntax documented here for the `[adding folder items to] ' folder action. Your handler can use the aliases that are passed to it to access the...

Before we go too crazy creating scripts to attach to your folder actions let me show you the easiest way to automate your mac: a little utility called Hazel. Hazel watches whatever folders you tell it to, automatically organizing your files according to the rules you create. Have Hazel move files around based on name, date, type, what site it came from, and much more. Automatically sort your movies or file your bills. Keep your files off the desktop and put them where they...

From the TWiT Community forums, MrHomebrew says: "I've used a Mac for a while now (since 10.2) and have some geek cred, but I've never utilized folder actions and would love to hear Leo's take on how useful they can be." Leo dives into Folder Actions and how to get started with them on macOS! Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac! Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-mac Discuss...

From zapping the P-RAM to booting in safe mode, these are the secret key combinations handed down from Mac guru to guru. If your Mac is having trouble, give them a try! Mac startup key combinations To use any of these key combinations, press and hold the keys immediately after pressing the power button to turn on your Mac, or after your Mac begins to restart. Keep holding until the described behavior occurs. Command (⌘)-R: Start up from the built-in macOS Recovery system. Or use...

Here's how to use Homebrew and the Terminal command line to quickly install fonts.Leo likes to use Fish, but you can use Bash as well. If you haven't already, install and update Brew and its cask feature.Then type the following into the Terminal command line:brew updatebrew tap homebrew/caskbrew tap homebrew/cask-fontsbrew search font-brew search font- | lessbrew search nerd-font | lessbrew cask install font-fira-codebrew cask install font-daddytimemono-nerd-fontfor $font in (brew search...

Sick of paying for Ringtones? You can make any song a ringtone for free on your Mac! Here's how: Open Apple Music, or iTunes on older Macs. Open Music -> Preferences click Files, click Import Settings and choose AAC Encoder, High-Quality 128kSelect a track to use as the source.On the Get Info > Options tab set start and stop times to 40 seconds or lessUse File > Convert > Create AAC version.Right-click on the new copy and click Show in Windows Explorer or Finder.Change the file...

Want to learn some powerful Mac keyboard shortcuts and how to create your own? Last week we spent some time in the Keyboard system preference pane, but you may have noticed many more features in there. Let's explore. Keyboard → Modifier Keys Text - abbreviations and completions Shortcuts - macOS comes with a ton of keyboard shortcuts, but you can add your own, or modify them as needed here If you want to create a keyboard shortcut to launch an application or perform a more complex action...

As usual, go to the Accessibility System Preference pane to see Speech option. Select the "Speak selected text when the key is pressed" checkbox. By default, speaking is enabled when you press Option-Esc. Choose a voice. Alex is the default but there are many others.For full screen-reading capability (like JAWS) you can turn on voice over.If you'd like to convert web pages and text tiles to recordings stored in Apple Music, open the Keyboard system preference pane and select the Shortcuts...

Should you buy a Mac now? Should you wait for the new Apple Silicon Macs? Here's what we think. TWiT's Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac. Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-mac Discuss episodes in the TWiT Community. Sponsor: LastPass.com/twit

​Dictate your messages and documents on Mac Say the name of the punctuation mark, such as "exclamation mark." Say "new line" (equivalent to pressing the Return key once) or "new paragraph" (equivalent to pressing the Return key twice). After you say "new line," the dictated text appears when you're done dictating.Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at...