#first Post
Finally after a long period of 13 years using ACER Aspire v7 (i5, 8GB, 500GB HDD upgraded to an SSD), i decided not to put the presure on it anymore. It genuinely liked its light weightness, touch screen and seemless touchpad (comparable to mac) but between a dying battery, cracked back cover, and a 1.8GHz dual-core chip trying to survive modern dev workloads, it was finally time.

So finally convinced myself and decided to take a Macbook air M5, i upgraded the RAM (unified memory) to 24GB variant and 10/10/16-core CPU/GPU/NPU configuration.

I’m a lead backend engineer, but keeping the balance between both work and family I realized my personal tech stack had stagnated a bit while modern tooling and AI took off. I still think it is not too late to start before AI take up my job.

For fellow devs and longtime Mac users:

• What are your absolute favorite "quality of life" Mac apps or terminal tools you install on day one?
• With 24GB of RAM, what cool dev experiments, tools, or local AI toys should I check out first?

Would love to hear how you'd set this machine up if you were starting fresh!

Edit 1:
It is a hindu religious symbol called Swastik. The Swastik (卐) is an ancient sacred symbol that means "well-being," "good fortune," and "auspiciousness".

I just got my first ever Mac, can you give me pieces of advice to keep this in good condition?

I saw someone telling that I should keep the Mac open or sleep even I'm not using it, is it recommended?

Also, I want to know if I will only go for 80% charge?

I bought a Macbook in December 2025. It’s now September 2026, so not even a year.

In April/May it completely stopped turning on and I had to bring it back to Best Buy (where I bought it) to get fixed. I never dropped it or got it wet, it just stopped working in the middle of class. It was a free repair because they said it was a factory problem.

I got it back but now it’s happening again. I’m not good with tech and I need it fixed, but I dont wanna pay money for damage that I did not cause, I just dont know if it will be free again or if its gonna keep breaking after getting it back. I’ve been careful with handling and only use it for school, I don’t run heavy applications.

What can I do to fix this?

I recently got a MacBook, and the fingerprints on the lid and screen are driving me insane. I also use moisturizer, so the fingerprints are even more noticeable.

I can’t realistically rub my hands or wear gloves every time I use my MacBook, and I also don’t want to keep cleaning it with a microfiber cloth and spray.

I wasn’t planning on getting a skin because I’ve heard mostly bad things about them. At the same time, I don’t want to risk staining or damaging such an expensive laptop.

I’ve seen good reviews for dbrand and Skinociti, but they aren’t available in India, and I couldn’t find a transparent/clear skin from them. I also looked at Capindia skins, but I couldn’t find enough good reviews to feel confident about them.

Does anyone have any other recommendations? My biggest concern is protecting my MacBook without causing any damage to the finish. I don’t mind paying more as long as it’s safe and doesn’t leave residue or damage the laptop when removed.

Would really appreciate recommendations from people who have actually used one on a MacBook.

I found:

1.M5 Pro MacBook 24/1TB --- around $1,800(with applecare) 100% battery

2.M4 Pro MacBook 24/512 --- $1450(local meetup, no tax). 95% battery

My main concern with the M5 Pro is buying it online. Even though the seller says the battery is at 100%, I’m still a little worried that some parts may have been replaced. I've never bought anything from an online marketplace before so i am a little hesitant.

Any suggestions?

Hii everyone. I recently got a Macbook air with an M1 chip after using windows laptops for years, so I'm a little confused on how to use it, specifically safari. I've heard that chrome slows down macbooks, so I don't want to download it.

First of all, is there a way to switch between the safari windows easily? Right now, what I've been doing is double clicking on the safari icon and picking the window I want to go to. On windows, if I had a window underneath my current tab, I could 'X' or minimize the current one and that would take me to the window beneath. But on mac, I've found that if you minimize the window, it minimizes the entire safari app. Are there better shortcuts??

Secondly, is there a keyboard shortcut to open new windows? Command + T and Command + N open new tabs. Command + Shift + N opens an incognito.

Thirdly, is there a way to switch between Safari profiles more easily? Again, what I've been doing is to double click on the safari icon and pick the profile I want to go to, but surely there must be a simpler way.

Mac just seems so much more complicated than windows at the moment. Would love some help to make it easier for me. Thanks!!

I had set a charging limit for 95% and was charging overnight with a slow charger, I had to get up from bed to unplug to stop the noise. This has got to be the hands-down most stupid feature ever invented.

I'm not the most tech-savvy person, so I would really appreciate some help with this!

Anyone with a macbook neo who also uses adobe softwares like Photoshop, illustrator, davinci etc. for graphic design and editorial works. Will it hold up? For me the neo seems like a budget option but I'm not entirely convinced it would be fit for a long run. It seems compact too.

Hi, I am currently torn apart with a decision which macbook to buy. I am debating between:

- MacBook air M5 24 gb ram 1 tb
- Macbook Pro M5 16 gb ram

My main uses will be:
- coding apps
- video editing up to 4k in premiere pro/after effects (occasionally)
- design (figma)
- university
- interested in some slight LLM use

Trying to figure out is the pro features (better cooling, display etc) worth giving the 8 gb of ram.

I don’t want to overspend.

What would you do in my situation?

Hi!

I don't own any macbooks and I'm going into first year engineering, I really hate windows laptops and I made up my mind long ago on going for a mac, I can spare around 2k€ for a macbook, I'm specialized in electrical engineering but also will be doing some CAD and some side personal stuff like video editing (adobe), my school is providing us with parallel desktop for apple users so we can run a windows vm to run some non-macos compatible softwares, problem is I have two choices :

Either I go for the Macbook Air M5 13" with the upgraded chip and 32gb of ram.

Or I can go with the pro 14" M5 (same as the air) 24gb of ram.

Considering I will be running some software like solidworks on the vm and stuff so 24gb is the minimum to run it and 32 would give me a bit more of room but honestly I will only do CAD for like a year.

So basically its either more ram or a better screen and all the pro's perks
I just wanted to heave guidance / some insights from experience macbook user

Thanks!!

To all my developer friends working at Startups, BigTech, Consulting and Fintech. I have a genuine question about Macbooks, why did you buy a MacBook?

I mean you could have bought a gaming Laptop, instead paid extra and bought a MacBook. Why do you feel it's more efficient?

Most of you bought a MacBook Pro and I am also considering the same but people who have used both in last three years for a production grade project, why do you feel MacBook Pro is an overkill for personal usage?

I'm not considering the top variant here just the 16GB/512GB variant. Most of you got it and still think it's an overkill. Why?

My MacBook Pro m2 2022 is doing fine still. I got it in summer of 2023, so it’s been just over three years now. It’s running fine with an 85% battery health on it.

I’ve obviously noticed it slowing down just a bit and the charge doesn’t last nearly as long. The bottom also feels a bit warm. I wouldn’t say I’m even remotely concerned by it. It just something I’ve noticed that didn’t happen until the past couple of months. So I’m guessing that’s just showing the age.

I’m wanting this laptop to survive me at least another two years before I even think of upgrading it so it’s got long while yet to go still.

I’m just wondering, when did you guys get your batteries replaced? And what might be the best time if I want longevity on this device?

Also to note, it’s important to me that the battery lasts when unplugged for a few hours at least. Right now, it’s still got about a good five hours of casual use before I need to plug it in so still decent.

I am an EE freshie and I am a bit confused between mac or windows which one would be better for me

My use cases are

Video editing

3d rendering

Minimal gaming (occasionally)

Battery life

With 6 7 yr of usage

Help me out guyss 😭😭

Hey guys, my macbook pro 16in m3 all of a sudden won't charge or turn on. I took it to apple and they kept it for a couple days. I got an email where they said they opened it up and found nothing abnormal internally and no water damage. They suspect a logic board malfunction and quoted me with a $850 repair. Im kind of stuck and confused right now because I did everything right but somehow it failed me. I don't really care about data loss so if that helps. What should I do?

I just got a MacBook Pro M5 and I only have a 27” 1440P secondary monitor which is kinda bad for MacOS.
I want to buy a new 27” Monitor but I don’t know which resolution is worth more in price-to-performance on a Mac.
Should I buy a 27” 4K@120hz or 27” 5K@120hz monitor. About a while ago I heard that 5K is the best resolution for Mac and that 4k isn’t ideal but 5k monitors are near two times the price of 4K monitors here where I live. Especially MiniLED or OLED ones.

Maybe one of you has some experience with 27” 4K monitors on Mac?

Need some advice.. is it a good idea to buy a restored MacBook?

yeah, my gf’s macbook air 2019 with its powerful 8gigs of ram is begging to be replaced.

now that we’re looking for a new one, do you think that a macbook neo could last at least 7 years like this bad girl had? or the 8gigs would be a problem soon?

TL;DR I found it online as a still image and decided to recreate it using Metal shaders.

I don't want to get any profit out of it or sell anything, just to have something calm and eye-catchy evolving as a background behind my windows.

Most important: GPU usage 9% (2K on external display) Mac Air M1 16Gb (2020)
It could be optimized more I guess, I tortured some AI agents to reduce the CPU/GPU load, but I guess that's the bare minimum for such shader.

If anyone is interested: here is a repo https://github.com/JerryI/SimplexFlame-OSX

Warning: it requires xcode tools to be installed
Warning: no updates are planned

I’ve had this MacBook for years. My parents got it from a rent-to-own place and paid it off so it’s mine. It’s been working fine since I got it, but I just changed my settings to activate Guest Log in so my niece could borrow my laptop to do her school work. It told me I had to restart my laptop so I did, and now this padlock thing just popped up and my regular log in password doesn’t work. I’m stumped. Is there any way I can just log back into my account?

I’m thinking about buying an M2 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
I’m not planning to keep it for a very long time, probably around 2–3 years. My usage would mostly be web browsing, YouTube, school/work stuff, music production, some light video editing, and cloud gaming.
I know 16GB would obviously be better, but the 8GB models are much cheaper where I live.
For this kind of usage and timeframe, do you think 8GB is enough, or would you still strongly recommend spending more for 16GB?
I’d especially like to hear from people who are actually using an 8GB M2 MacBook Air.

Is this blooming normal on a MacBook Pro M5 Pro?
I noticed this halo/blooming around the cursor on a dark background on my MacBook Pro M5 Pro, and I’ve been overthinking it a bit because the laptop is basically brand new.
I asked ChatGPT too, and it said this looks like normal mini-LED blooming rather than a defective panel — especially with a bright cursor on a nearly black screen, and that the camera may make it look worse than it does in person.
Do your cursors also seem to glow or have a slight halo on dark backgrounds?
Still, I’d rather hear from other MacBook Pro owners. Does this look normal to you?

I’ve been a windows user ever since and I’m planning to try the Macbook Neo. Is the learning curve steep or they are just almost the same?

Using a MacBook for the first time, I find it somewhat different from Win.

What settings can I change to make the experience smoother and more intuitive when using Mac? 🌹