Exploring Apple Mac: Monterey Edition: The Illustrated, Practical Guide to Using MacOS

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, illustrations, helpful tips, and video demos.

Updated to cover the Monterey release of MacOS, Exploring Apple Mac will help you understand the fundamentals of your Mac. You'll learn how to:

Upgrade your Mac to Monterey and explore new features

Find your way around the desktop, dock, finder, and launchpad in MacOS Monterey

Master touch gestures, trackpads and the magic mouse to get around your Mac

Use Notification Centre, Handoff, Spaces, Control Center, Universal Control, and Universal Clipboard

Organising files and folders in Finder

Browse the web with the Safari Web Browser safely and efficiently in MacOS Monterey

Keep in touch with friends and family using email, iMessage, and FaceTime video chat

Set important appointments with Calendar in MacOS Monterey

Keep the people you correspond with in the Contacts app

Set yourself reminders and 'to-do' lists

Check the weather

Record voice memos

Download countless apps from the App Store in MacOS Monterey

Catch up with your favourite podcasts and the latest news

Read ebooks on MacOS Monterey

Find your way around with the Maps App, get directions, create guides, explore places in 3D, and use the new interactive globe

Stream music with Apple Music, buy tracks & albums from iTunes Store

Stream TV programs & movies with the Apple TV App

Getting started with Pages, Keynote and Numbers on your Mac

Using iCloud storage on your Mac

Use time machine to back up your data

Get to know Siri in MacOS

Use the photos app to store and enhance your photos

Create slideshows, photo albums and use iMovie to edit your home movies and more...

Finally, system updates and maintenance tips to help you keep your Mac running smoothly complete this invaluable user guide. You'll want to keep this edition handy as you make your way around the new OS.

We want to create the best possible resource to help you, so if we've missed anything out then please get in touch using [e-mail] and let us know. Thanks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elluminet Press
• Release date: Feb 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781913151645

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.

Book preview

What’s New?

Monterey looks similar to its predecessor and introduces a few new features. Lets take a look at some of the main ones.

Universal Control allows you to work across multiple Apple devices, such as your Mac and iPad, or between two Macs. This means you can move your mouse pointer, drag files and windows between devices, in a similar way to using multiple displays.

When you move your mouse pointer over to an iPad, it turns into a dot allowing you to select objects and work.

Universal Control only works on the later Macs and iPads, such as Macbook and Macbook Pro 2016 or later, Macbook Air 2018 or later, iMac 2017 or later, iMac Pro, Mac Mini 2018 or later, Mac Pro 2019 or later. Your iPad will also need to be iPad Pro 2019 or later, iPad Air 3rd Gen, iPad 6 Gen, or iPad mini 5 Gen.

In Safari, the tab bar at the top of the screen has been redesigned giving it a more streamlined look while taking up less screen space. Website tabs now appear along the top bar.

There is also a redesigned sidebar and a new Tab Groups feature which allows you to group website tabs together into a group to help organise your workflow.

The shortcuts app makes its way to MacOS.

With Monterey, it’s now possible to Air Play content from an iPhone or iPad to your Mac.

FaceTime now supports Windows and Android users. Monterey also introduces a new feature called SharePlay to FaceTime. SharePlay allows you to bring music and videos into your FaceTime calls so you can watch a movie or listen to music together. SharePlay also lets you share your screen with others on a FaceTime call.

You can use Live Text, a new feature that detects text in image files.

You can look up extra information in a photo or copy and paste the text. You’ll also find Visual Look Up, a new feature that recognizes objects and scenes in a photograph.

The maps app now has an interactive Globe of the Earth. You’ll see this if you zoom all the way out. You’ll also see a new detailed city view, although only a handful of cities have been rendered.

There is also a new passwords section on the system preferences which allows you to manage your saved passwords for apps and websites. You’ll also get security recommendations and warnings about reused passwords or passwords that have been compromised.

You can also create a quick note using the shortcut on the bottom right corner of the screen.

There are also visual improvements, focus mode, and various other minor changes. You’ll find a full list on Apple’s website.

www.apple.com/macos/monterey/features/

Available Macs

Let’s take a closer look at the latest 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. The Macbook Pro now incorporates the M1 chip.

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. The Macbook Pro now incorporates the M1 chip in the 13 model, and the M1 Pro and M1 Max chip in the 14 and 16" models.

iMac 24"

The iMac is Apple’s ‘all in one’ desktop computer and comes in various colours with 24" displays and the M1 chip.

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 27"

The iMac is Apple’s ‘all in one’ desktop computer and with a 27" 5K display and the M1 chip.

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.

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. The new Mac Mini uses the M1 Chip.

M1 Chip (Apple Silicon)

In recent years, Apple have developed their own processor chip for the Mac called the M1, which has started the transition away form Intel Chips.

The M1 chip combines the CPU, Graphics Processor (or GPU), memory (or RAM), SSD drive controller, and a neural engine which is a component designed to use machine learning and artificial intelligence for tasks such identifying objects in photos, or applying an automatic filter to a picture, analysing videos, voice recognition, and so on.

The M1 also includes a thunderbolt controller with USB 4 support, and a few other minor components. All these components are integrated onto a single chip, known as a system on a chip (SOC), and is why the M1 is much faster and more efficient than the Intel chips.

Higher end machines such as the new Macbook Pros feature the M1 Pro and M1 Max. These are similar to the M1 but offer much greater performance and are aimed creative professionals and power users. Here are the specs for the three chips currently available.

What about apps? Apps are written with a specific hardware in mind. Macs with Intel chips use the x64 instruction set, while Macs with the M1 chip use the ARM instruction set - they don’t speak the same language. To solve this problem and ease the transition, Apple designed Rosetta 2, which is a translator that converts apps built for Intel chips, so they will run on Macs with the M1 Chip. This process happens in the background.

You might also come across some other technical terms such as, native apps. These are apps written specifically for the chip they are running on - so M1 native apps are written specifically for the M1 Mac. Universal apps are apps designed to run on both Intel and M1 Macs. Emulation is a process where an app written for an Intel Mac runs on the M1 Macs.

Setting up Your Mac

In this chapter we’ll take a look at updating to MacOS Monterey, as well as:

Powering up and starting your Mac for the First Time

Internet, WiFi & VPNs

Connecting Peripherals

Other Email Accounts

Additional Users & Login Options

Passwords

Setup Apple Pay

Touch ID

Dark Mode & Light Mode

Setup your Mouse & Trackpad

Dynamic Desktop, Wallpapers & Screensavers

Managing Displays

Setup Universal Control

System Audio

Pairing Bluetooth Devices

Fonts

Time Machine Backup

Transfer Files from PC or Mac

To help you better understand this section, take a look at the video resources. Open your web browser and navigate to the following website:

elluminetpress.com/using-mac

Updating to MacOS Monterey

MacOS Monterey is a free update to all compatible Macs. If you are updating your Mac, you’ll need to check whether your Mac is compatible, as older Macs won’t receive the update.

According to Apple, the following Macs will be able to run MacOS Monterey:

iMac late 2015 and later

iMac Pro 2017 and later

Macbook Air early 2015 and later

Macbook Pro early 2015 and later

Mac Pro late 2013 and later

Mac mini late 2014 and later

Macbook early 2016 and later

Check your Mac Version

To check, click the Apple menu on the top left of the screen. Then select ‘about this mac’.

This particular Mac is a Macbook Air 2020 and is currently running MacOS Big Sir. This mac meets the requirements and will receive the update.

Updating your Mac

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

If there are any updates available, they will be listed here. Click ‘update now’ to apply the updates.

Select ‘automatically keep my mac up to date’ and MacOS will automatically apply the updates in the background. Click ‘advanced’ to select which updates to apply automatically.

Select them all, then click ‘ok’. This will ensure your mac is always up to date and it will do this in the background without prompting you.

If you don’t see any updates, try downloading from the app store. Click the Apple menu on the top left, select ‘app store’.

In the search field on the top left hand side, type:

macOS Monterey

In the search results, click on ‘view’ next to ‘macOS monterey’

Click ‘get’ on the top right to start the upgrade.

Click ‘download’ on the confirmation prompt.

The update will start to download. This can take a while.

Your mac will restart to apply the update. Again this will take a while. Once the update is complete, you’ll be running macOS Monterey.

Power Up

The power button on the mac is on the top right of the keyboard on a Macbook Air and Macbook Pro.

or

On the Mac Pro, you’ll find the power button on the top panel.

On the iMac and Mac Mini, the power button is situated on the back panel.

Press the button once to start up your mac.

You can also use the power button to force your mac to shutdown in the event of a crash or lock up. Hold the button until the screen goes blank. Only use this option if you’re having problems.

Power Down

To power down your mac or send it into sleep/standby mode, go to the Apple menu on the top left of the screen...’

From the menu...

Click ‘shut down’ to shut down and power off your mac.

Click ‘restart’ to reboot your mac.

You can also click ‘sleep’, this will put your mac into standby mode and is convenient if you use your mac on the go a lot and don’t have time to wait for your machine to start up.

If you are using a Macbook laptop, you can just close the lid and your Macbook will go into sleep mode.

Starting your Mac for the First Time

When you turn on a new mac for the first time, you’ll need to go through some initial steps to set up WiFi, select language, regional preferences and sign in with your Apple ID.

To begin, select your country of residence. Click ‘continue’.

Tap ‘continue’ on the ‘written and spoken languages’ page.

If the language settings aren’t correct, tap ‘customise settings’.

Click ‘not now’ on the accessibility screen. You can configure these later in the settings app if you need to make any changes according to your needs.

Select your WiFi network and enter your password when prompted. Your Wi-Fi password is usually printed on the back of your WiFi router.

Click ‘continue’ on the ‘data & privacy’ screen.

Click ‘not now’ on the ‘migration assistant’ screen. You can transfer data from an old machine later.

Sign in with your Apple ID email address and password. Click ‘continue’.

You may be prompted to enter a verification code. This code will be sent to another Apple device such as your iPhone or iPad. On your iPad or iPhone tap ‘allow’, then copy the code into the boxes on your Mac.

Accept the ‘terms and conditions’, click ‘continue’.

Create your computer account. This is the account you’ll use to log into your Mac and it is different from your Apple ID account. Enter a password, then click ‘continue’.

Click ‘customise settings’ on the ‘express setup’ screen.

Enable location services. It is safe to enable this and it will allow you to make use of location based services such as maps, local news, and weather. Click ‘enable location services on this mac’, then click ‘continue’.

Click ‘continue’ on the ‘analytics’ screen

Click ‘continue’ on the ‘screen time’ page.

Enable Siri, click ‘continue’.

Then on the next screen, click ‘not now’, click ‘continue’.

If you’re using a Macbook with a finger print scanner, you will be asked to set up your finger prints so you can log into your Mac. Click ‘continue’ and follow the instructions to register your finger print.

Select your look. You can choose from light mode or dark mode. Dark mode is good for low light conditions and night time viewing. It removes most of the bright white colour from the screen. Click ‘light’ or ‘dark’, or select ‘auto’ to use light mode during the day, and dark mode during the evening.