Exploring Apple Mac: Big Sur Edition: The Illustrated Guide to using your Mac

By Kevin Wilson

We've all been there before, glaring at a computer screen with no idea what to do -- don't worry Exploring Apple Mac is here to help. Written by best-selling technology author, lecturer, and computer trainer Kevin Wilson, Exploring Apple Mac is packed with easy to follow instructions, photos, illustration

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elluminet Press
• Release date: Nov 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781913151386

Kevin Wilson

Kevin Wilson is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Nothing to See Here, which was a Read with Jenna book club selection; The Family Fang, which was adapted into an acclaimed film starring Nicole Kidman and Jason Bateman; and Perfect Little World; as well as the story collections Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, winner of the Shirley Jackson Award; and Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine. His fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, Southern Review, One Story, A Public Space, and Best American Short Stories. He lives in Sewanee, Tennessee, with his wife and two sons.

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Exploring Apple Mac

Big Sur Edition

Kevin Wilson

Exploring Apple Mac: Big Sur Edition

Copyright © 2020 Elluminet Press

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Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos, and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.

The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.

While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

iStock.com/golibo, PeopleImages, ymgerman. Photo 130859010 © Kaspars Grinvalds - Dreamstime.com. Photo 103557713 © Konstantin Kolosov - Dreamstime.com. Yuri Arcurs via Getty Images

Publisher: Elluminet Press

Director: Kevin Wilson

Lead Editor: Steven Ashmore

Technical Reviewer: Mike Taylor, Robert Ashcroft

Copy Editors: Joanne Taylor, James Marsh

Proof Reader: Steven Ashmore

Indexer: James Marsh

Cover Designer: Kevin Wilson

eBook versions and licenses are also available for most titles. Any source code or other supplementary materials referenced by the author in this text is available to readers at

www.elluminetpress.com/resources

For detailed information about how to locate your book’s resources, go to

www.elluminetpress.com/resources

Table of Contents

MacOS Big Sur

What’s New?

Available Macs

Macbook Air

Macbook Pro

iMac

iMac Pro

Mac Pro

Mac Mini

Setting up Your Mac

Upgrading to Big Sur

Power Up

Power Down

Starting your Mac for the First Time

Create a New ID

iCloud

iCloud Drive Setup

iCloud Sync

Storage Management

Setup Internet

WiFi

Using an Ethernet Cable

Phone Tethering

Mobile USB Modems

Virtual Private Networks

Using a VPN Service

Manual Setup

Connecting Peripherals

System Preferences

Add a Printer

Connect Printer to WiFi

Other Email Accounts

Additional Users

Login Options

Change Passwords

Mac Password

Apple ID Password

Setup Apple Pay

Setup Apple Pay on a Macbook

Touch ID

Dark Mode & Light Mode

Setup your Trackpad

Setup your Mouse

Screensavers

Dynamic Desktop

Desktop Wallpaper

Managing Displays

System Audio

Pairing Bluetooth Devices

Fonts

Find My

Setup

Locating & Taking Action

Sharing Locations

Check Someone’s Location

Time Machine Backup

Setting Up Backups

Restoring Items

Transfer Files from a Windows PC

Transfer Files from an old Mac

Getting Around Your Mac

The Desktop

The Menu Bar

Application Menu

Status Menu

The Dock

Stacks

Launchpad

Spaces & Mission Control

Finder

File View Style

Markup

Markup using your iPad

Tags

Tagging Files

Smart Folders

Quick Preview Files

Compress Files

Accessing External Drives

Accessing Data CDs and DVDs

Sharing Files on a Network

Connect to a Shared Folder on Another Computer

Finder Preferences

iCloud Drive

Using iCloud Drive

iCloud Drive File Sharing

Managing App Windows

Moving a Window

Resizing a Window

Minimise, Maximise & Close a Window

Spotlight Search

Notification Centre

Notifications

Widgets

Control Centre

Handoff

SideCar

Universal Clipboard

Using Siri

Voice Control

Voice Dictation

Using Apple Pay on your Mac

Auto Unlock

The Mac Keyboard

The Command Key

The Option Key

The Control Key

The Function Key

Executing Keyboard Shortcuts

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

MacOS Startup Keys

Making Gestures

One Finger Point and Tap

Right Click

Two Finger Scroll

Two Finger Rotate

Two Finger Swipe

Four Finger Open Launchpad

Magic Mouse

Left Click

Right Click

Scrolling

Swipe

Find your Mouse Pointer

The Touch Bar

Touch Bar Layout

Control Strip

Application Strip

Customise Touch Bar

Taking Screenshots

Screen Recording

Split Screen Mode

Digitally Sign a Document

Keychain

Using Applications

Launching Your Applications

Killing Unresponsive Apps

App Store

App Tabs

Maps

Exploring Places

Share a Location

Share a Map

Favourites

Drop a Pin

Guides

Public Transport Routes

Driving Directions

Walking Directions

Look Around

Explore in 3D

Look Inside

Apple Books

Notes

Calendar

Adding an Event

Create a Calendar

Export Calendar

Import Calendar

Add an Event from Email

Subscribing to Public Calendar

Sharing Calendars & Creating Public Calendars

Image Capture

Photobooth

DVDs & Blu-rays

Voice Memos

Recording Memos

Renaming Memos

Trim a Memo

News

Terminal

Opening Terminal

Giving Commands

Pages App

Getting Started

Formatting Text

Adding a Picture

Instant Alpha

Saving

Sharing and Collaboration

Keynote App

Getting Started

Editing a Slide

Adding a New Slide

Adding Media

Animations

Slide Transitions

Formatting Text Boxes

Formatting Text Inside Textboxes

Adding Styles to Textboxes

Saving

Numbers App

Getting Started

Building a Spreadsheet

Entering Data

Changing Data Types

Adding Formulas

Adding Functions

Saving

Internet, Email & Communications

Using Safari to Browse the Web

Launching Safari

Customise your Homepage

Using Safari

Browsing Tabs

Show all Browsing Tabs

Bookmarking Pages

Revisiting Bookmarked & Favourite Sites

Organising Bookmarks

Reading List

Downloads

Extensions

Privacy Reports

Passwords

Managing Passwords

Generate Automatic Strong Passwords

Autofill Forms

Apple Mail

Email Threads

Show BCC Field

Replying to a Message

Forward a Message

Writing a New Email

Mail Drop

Mail Markup

Dealing with Spam & Junk Mail

Contacts

Creating Groups

Add Email Contact from Apple Mail

Facetime

Placing Video Calls

Calling Someone New

Answering Calls

Group FaceTime

Message App

Sending New Messages

Sending Files

Memojis

Message Effects

Air Drop

From Finder

In Safari

Mac Phone

Using Multimedia

Photos App

Importing your Photos

Manipulating & Adjusting Photos

Adding Filters

Creating Folders and Albums

Adding Photos to Albums

Places

Faces

Memories

Create your Own Memory

Smart Search

Sharing Photos

Shared Albums

Printing Photos

Creating Slideshows

Printing & Publishing Photos

Installing the Apps

Creating Photobooks

Ordering Prints

Greeting Cards

Continuity Camera

Insert Photo from iPhone/iPad

Add Sketch

Scan a Document

iMovie

Importing Footage from your Camera

Importing Footage from your iPhone

Adding Clips

Adding Titles

Adding Music

Transitions

Animations

Music App

Subscribing to Apple Music

The Main Screen

Searching for Music

Add to Library

Creating Playlists

Importing CDs

Adding Tracks to your iPhone, or iPad Manually

Burning CDs

Podcasts App

iTunes Store

Apple TV App

Watch Now

Searching for Media

Library

Apple TV+ Streaming

Airplay

Cancelling Subscriptions

Maintaining your Mac

Firewalls

Enabling the Firewall

Firewall Settings

Do Apple Macs get Viruses?

Downloading MacOS Big Sur

Installing MacOS Big Sur

Create a Boot Drive

Booting from a USB Drive

Internet Restore

Recovery Mode

App Updates

System Updates

Mac Storage Management

Disk Utility

Checking Drives

Formatting Drives

Partitioning Drives

FileVault

Encrypt External Drive

Decrypt External Drive

Reset SMC

New Macbooks (2018+)

Older Macbooks

iMac, Mac Pro and Mac Mini

Reset NVRAM

Video Resources

About the Author

With over 15 years’ experience in the computer industry, Kevin Wilson has made a career out of technology and showing others how to use it. After earning a master’s degree in computer science, software engineering, and multimedia systems, Kevin has held various positions in the IT industry including graphic & web design, building & managing corporate networks, training, and IT support.

He currently serves as Elluminet Press LTD’s senior writer and director, he periodically teaches computer science at college in South Africa and serves as an IT trainer in England. His books have become a valuable resource among the students in England, South Africa and our partners in the United States.

Kevin’s motto is clear: If you can’t explain something simply, then you haven’t understood it well enough. To that end, he has created the Computer Fundamentals Series, in which he breaks down complex technological subjects into smaller, easy-to-follow steps that students and ordinary computer users can put into practice.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all the staff at Luminescent Media & Elluminet Press for their passion, dedication and hard work in the preparation and production of this book.

To all my friends and family for their continued support and encouragement in all my writing projects.

To all my colleagues, students and testers who took the time to test procedures and offer feedback on the book

Finally thanks to you the reader for choosing this book. I hope it helps you to use your mac with greater understanding.

Have fun!

MacOS Big Sur

Named after the rugged region of the Central Coast of California, MacOS Big Sur moves to version 11.0, and is the seventeenth major release of Apple’s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers.

According to Apple, the following Macs will be able to run MacOS Big Sur, so keep this in mind if you’re upgrading from a previous version of MacOS.

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 (2017 and later)

Mac Pro (2013 and later)

What’s New?

Version 11 introduces a revamped user interface. Windows now have a curved design around the edges with a lighter, more spacious look.

The dock has been moved off the bottom of the screen and the icons have a more uniform curved shape, similar to that found on an iPhone or iPad.

Control Center has been redesigned to incorporate menu bar items into a single place giving you instant access to commonly used controls such as wi-fi, bluetooth devices, display brightness and volume.

Notification Center puts all your notifications and widgets into a single place.

There are also new widgets for Calendar, Stocks, Weather, Reminders, Notes, and Podcasts.

The menu bar along the top of the screen is translucent, and menus are a bit larger with more space separating the commands making them easier to read.

Safari has had a few improvements. There is a new start page you can customise, launch your favourite sites, see frequently visited websites and check your reading list.

A new dedicated category in the App Store makes it easy to find and install extensions in Safari.

With the redesigned Maps App you can create guides, discover new places, find indoor maps, and share them with friends and family.

You can also explore certain cities in 3D with the ‘look around’ feature.

System sounds have been updated with new system alerts that sound familiar. Software updates now download in the background and complete faster than before.

Also various other minor changes. You’ll find a full list on Apple’s website.

www.apple.com/macos/big-sur/features/

Available Macs

Let’s take a closer look at the different Macs available from the Apple Store.

Macbook Air

The Macbook Air is great for an on-the-go lifestyle as they are small and light, but is only suited to basic computing such as internet browsing, email, photos, music, messages, facetime, and so on.

Macbook Pro

The Macbook Pro offers more processing power, is aimed at creative types and those who use more power-hungry apps such as games, video editing, music production, graphic design, and so on.

iMac

The iMac is Apple’s ‘all in one’ desktop computer and comes in two different sizes.

All iMacs come with keyboard and mouse. These are great for the average user and can run a variety of power hungry apps as well as internet, email, facetime, etc.

iMac Pro

The iMac Pro is similar to the iMac, except the iMac Pro has much faster processor and comes with an SSD drive. The iMac Pro is a dark grey colour instead of the silver on the iMac.

These machines are aimed at creative types and power users and are very fast. They are well suited to video editing, graphic design, and music production.

Mac Pro

The Mac Pro is a rather unique looking machine and is the most powerful of the Mac computers. This machine does not come with a screen, nor a keyboard and mouse - so you’ll need to buy these separately.

These machines are aimed at creative types and power users and are very fast. They are well suited to video editing, graphic design, and music production.

Mac Mini

The idea behind the Mac Mini was to allow users to use their existing screen, keyboard, and mouse. It’s worth noting that you will need a screen that connects to the computer using an HDMI cable.

If your screen uses VGA or DVI, you’ll need an adapter to convert to HDMI.

Setting up Your Mac

In this chapter, we’ll take a look at setting up your Mac from powering up, running the initial setup, to setting up WiFi connections, adding email accounts, printers, and time machine backup.

We’ll also take a look at managing fonts, configuring your system, and pairing bluetooth devices.

To help you better understand this section, take a look at the video resources. Open your web browser and type the following URL into the address field at the top of the window:

videos.tips/using-sur

Upgrading to Big Sur

To update your mac, open the system preferences. Select ‘software update’.

If