The parts you probably recognize

Every laptop requires some of the same gizmos. Figure 1-1 helps you track them down. Of course, as you’d expect, a computer has a body of sorts in which all the innards and brains are stored, a display screen, a keyboard, a trackpad or other pointing device, and ports for powering and exchanging data with outside toys.

The holes called ports

The next stop on your tour of Planet Laptop is Port Central — those holes on the sides of your computer. Each port connects a different type of cable or device, allowing you to easily add all sorts of functionality to your computer.

Each of these stellar holes has an icon to help you identify it. Here’s a list of what you’ll find and a quick rundown of what these ports do.

The following connections are used for external devices and networking:

• Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt 3 port: The Thunderbolt 2 port (and its faster descendent, Thunderbolt 3) is the expansion racehorse of today’s MacBooks. It offers the fastest data-transfer rates and the ability to add all sorts of peripherals, from external drives to monitors to wired Ethernet connections. (A peripheral is another silly techno-nerd term that means a separate device you connect to your computer.) Thunderbolt 3 devices are somewhat more expensive than their Thunderbolt 2 and USB cousins, but prices are dropping as more Thunderbolt 3 peripherals arrive on the market.

  Although Thunderbolt-compatible monitors are available, they’re significantly more expensive than standard displays. Luckily, you can also buy an adapter for this port that allows you to send the video signal from your laptop to another VGA, DVI, or HDMI monitor.

• USB port(s): Short for universal serial bus, the familiar USB port is the jack-of-all-trades in today’s world of computer add-ons. Most external devices you want to connect to your laptop (such as portable drives, scanners, and digital cameras) use a USB port, including the iPod touch. (Today’s PCs also include USB ports, allowing you to share external USB peripherals such as optical drives and scanners between your MacBook and your desktop PC.) USB 3.0 connections are much faster than the old USB 2.0 standard, but they still accept USB 2.0 devices running at the slower speed.

  Get the lowdown on Thunderbolt 2 and 3 and USB ports in Chapter 21.

  All current MacBook models use the cutting-edge USB-C port that allows you to charge the laptop, connect a Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C, or connect an external monitor or projector — all from one port! To make the USB 3.0 connection, you’ll need a USB-C–to–USB adapter (about $20) and a USB-C AV Multiport adapter (about $70) to connect an external display.

• Ethernet port: Older MacBook Pro laptops used to include a standard Gigabit (10/100/1000) Ethernet port, so the laptop was immediately ready to join your existing wired Ethernet network. But because today’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are designed to be completely wireless — as I explain in Chapter 11 — they don’t have a built-in wired Ethernet port. If a wired connection is a necessity, you can add a Thunderbolt–to–Gigabit Ethernet (or USB–to–Gigabit Ethernet) adapter to add a wired network port to your laptop. (Apple sells one for about $35.) Or you can invest in a laptop dock with a wired Ethernet port (which I discuss at the end of this chapter).
• SD/SDXC card slot: Your older MacBook Air may include an SD (Secure Digital) or SDXC (Secure Digital Extended Capacity) card slot, allowing you to plug SD or SDXC memory cards from digital cameras, cellphones, and portable devices directly into your laptop.
• Headphone/optical output port: Last (but certainly not least), you can send the high-quality audio from your rectangular beast to a set of standard headphones or an optical digital audio device such as a high-end home theater system.

Don’t forget the parts you can’t see

When you bought your new digital pride and joy, you probably noticed a number of subtle differences between the MacBook Air and the pricier MacBook Pro models. I call these differences the Important Hidden Stuff (or IHS, if you’re addicted to acronyms). They’re just as important as the parts and ports you can see.

Internal storage devices are as follows:

• CPU: Today’s Mac laptops feature the latest Intel Core i5, i7, and i9 processors. The faster the processor, of course, the better. (This is definitely not rocket science.)

• Storage: Today’s MacBook models are equipped with solid-state drives that use memory chips. The drive capacities are different across the entire MacBook product line.

  Solid-state drives have several advantages over traditional magnetic hard drives: You’ll find no moving parts in a solid-state drive, and it offers better performance than a standard hard drive. Think of the solid-state drive as an internal USB flash drive that uses RAM chips rather than magnetic platters to hold your data.

Wireless communications devices include the following:

• Wireless Ethernet: “Look, Ma, no wires!” As mentioned earlier, you can connect your laptop to an existing wireless Ethernet network. All current Mac laptops have built-in AirPort Extreme hardware. With wireless connectivity, you can share documents with another computer in another room, share a single high-speed Internet connection between computers, or enjoy wireless printing. Truly sassy!

  Apple no longer sells the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station or the AirPort Time Capsule unit, which were great devices for building a wireless network. But you can use your Mac with any standard 802.11b/g/n/ac wireless network. And yes, PCs and Macs can intermingle on the same wireless network without a hitch. (Scandalous, ain’t it?)

• Bluetooth: Let’s get the old “digital pirate” joke out of the way: “Arrgh, matey, I needs me a wireless parrot.” (Engineers again … sheesh.) Although strangely named, Bluetooth is another form of wireless connectivity. This time, however, the standard was designed for accessories such as your keyboard and mouse and devices like wireless headphones and your smartphone. (The latest Macs support version 4.2 Bluetooth hardware.)

Here’s the hidden display device:

• Video card: The standard Intel video hardware that’s built into today’s MacBooks is fine for typical home and business laptop applications. If your applications rely heavily on high-speed 3D graphics or digital video, however, you’ll be pleased as punch to discover that today’s 15-inch MacBook Pro model can be ordered with the muscle-bound AMD Radeon Pro 560X. This card is well suited to high-end mobile 3D modeling, video editing on the road, and … well, honestly, blasting the latest video game enemies into small smoking pieces with aplomb.

Comparing the MacBooks

Do you remember when Apple introduced the first iMacs? Although they had the same basic components as any other computers — a monitor, keyboard, ports, speakers, and cables — the iMac was revolutionary because it was completely self-contained. And it came in colors. And it didn’t have a floppy drive. In fact, Apple redesigned the common computer with the focus on style and ease of use and scrapped the floppy drive (and rightly so, seeing as how floppies had become practically useless and were unreliable to boot).

I consider the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro to be extensions of the iMac revolution. With these designs, Apple focused on physical dimensions and weight, and tossed out everything that isn’t absolutely necessary for the lecture hall, boardroom, or city park. I’m happy to note, however, that these ultra-light MacBooks are neither toys nor bare-bones netbooks. In fact, the MacBook Air has some of the features of the high-end MacBook Pro.

Look, Ma, no moving parts!

You’re probably familiar with the common species of usbius flashimus, more commonly called the USB flash drive. With one of these tiny devices, you get the equivalent of a 4–512GB hard drive that plugs into a USB 3.0 port, allowing you to carry your data with you as you jet across the continents. But have you ever asked yourself, “Self, why don’t they make internal drives that use this same technology?”

Actually, dear reader, solid-state drives have been around for years. (Think the iPod shuffle and iPod nano.) Unfortunately, however, the solid-state memory used in today’s flash drives gets pretty expensive as capacity increases. In fact, cost has been the limiting factor, because a solid-state drive offers advantages that set it apart from a conventional magnetic hard drive:

• No moving parts: Unlike a typical magnetic hard drive, you find no read-write heads and no magnetic platter — just gobs of happy silicon memory chips. In effect, a solid-state drive works along the same lines as your MacBook’s system RAM. Unlike your Mac’s RAM, though, a solid-state drive doesn’t lose the data it stores when you turn off your laptop. As you can imagine, no moving parts on a computer in motion is superior on two levels:
  • The solid-state drive never wears out or needs replacing.
  • If your laptop is accidentally abused (gets knocked off your desk), it’s far less likely that you’ll lose a hard drive’s worth of priceless data when it hits the ground.
• Speed: Oh my goodness, is this thing fast! Your MacBook will boot, restart, or awaken in far less time, and everything you do on your laptop will benefit from the speed boost. A solid-state drive can read data far faster than a conventional magnetic hard drive.
• Power usage: Forget your hard drive spinning up from sleep mode. The solid-state drive uses far less power than a conventional hard drive, resulting in significantly longer battery life.
• Blessed silence: The solid-state drive is silent. (No more of that gargling noise while the disk is accessed. Sweet.)

What if I need that pesky optical drive?

Can a laptop survive in the jungle that’s Real Life without a DVD drive? The terse answer is no. I’ll be honest: Ripping an audio CD or watching a DVD movie without an optical drive is impossible. (It’s rather like driving a cheap sports car.) And the wonders of digital media are a big part of the iWorld. So what was Apple thinking?

First, a bit of explanation. Today’s DVD drives are thin, but not MacBook thin. To create these stunning designs with truly revolutionary dimensions, Apple engineers had to leave out the drive. If you own a current Mac laptop, however, you have two choices when it comes to reading the contents of a CD or DVD: Go external, or find out how to share.

Unpacking for the road warrior

Follow these guidelines when unpacking your system:

• Check for damage. I’ve never had a box arrive from Apple with shipping damage, but I’ve heard horror stories from others (who claim that King Kong must have been working for That Shipping Company).

  Check all sides of the box before you open it. If you find significant damage, take a photograph (just in case).

• Search for all the parts. When you’re removing those chunks o’ foam, make certain that you’ve checked all sides of each foam block for parts snuggled therein or taped for shipment.

• Keep all packing materials. Do not put the box and packing materials in the trash. Keep the box and all packing materials for at least a year, until the standard Apple warranty runs out. If you have to ship your laptop to an Apple service center, the box and the original packing are the only way for your machine to fly.

  And now, a dramatic Mark’s Maxim about cardboard containers:

  Smart computer owners keep their boxes far longer than a year. If you sell your laptop or move across the country, for example, you’ll want that box. Trust me on this one.™

• Store the invoice for safekeeping. Your invoice is a valuable piece of paper.

  Save your original invoice in a plastic bag, along with your computer’s manuals, original software, and other assorted hoo-hah. Keep the bag on a shelf or stored safely in your desk, and enjoy a little peace of mind.

• Read the Mac’s manual. “Hey, wait a minute, Mark. Why do I have to read the manual from Apple along with this tome?” Good question, and here’s the answer: The documentation from Apple may contain new and updated instructions that override what I tell you here. (Say, “Never cut the red wire. Cut the blue wire instead.” Or something to that effect.) Besides, Apple manuals are rarely thicker than a restaurant menu.

  You can always download the latest updated manuals for Apple computers in electronic format from Apple’s website. (Adobe’s PDF format is the standard for reading documents on your computer. You can open and display any PDF document in Catalina by using the Preview application or the Quick Look feature.) I always keep a copy of the PDF manual for my MacBook Air on my drive, just in case.

Connecting Cables 101

Your laptop makes all its connections simple, but your computer depends on you to get the outside wires and thingamabobs where they go.

What comes with my laptop?

Currently, Apple laptops ship with the following major software applications installed and ready to use:

• macOS Catalina: Naturally, your MacBook comes preloaded with Catalina.

• Apple’s digital lifestyle suite: You know you want these applications! They turn your Mac into a digital hub for practically all kinds of high-tech devices, including camcorders, digital cameras, tablets, portable music players, and even smartphones.

  Chapters 12 through 15 focus on the major applications that will appeal to MacBook owners: Music, TV, Photos, iMovie, and GarageBand.

• Apple’s digital productivity suite: Owners of new MacBooks can download all three of Apple’s great productivity applications — Pages, Numbers, and Keynote — for free in the App Store. Pages is a desktop publishing jewel, Numbers is a great spreadsheet tool, and Keynote is a superb slideshow/presentation application. Chapters 16 through 18 are your guides to the basic functions of all three applications. ’Nuff said.

The installed software on your MacBook may change as new programs become available.

Connecting to the Internet from your lap

What’s a modern computer without the Internet? Apple gives you great tools to take full advantage of every road sign and off ramp on the Information Superhighway right out of the box:

• Web surfing: I use Apple’s Safari web browser every day. It’s fast and well designed, with features such as tabbed browsing and Facebook and Twitter sharing.

  If tabbed browsing sounds like ancient Aztec to you, don’t worry. Chapter 8 is devoted to Safari.

• Instant messaging and video chat: Messages lets you use your MacBook to chat with others around the world for free on the Internet. You can also use the FaceTime application to video-chat with folks who have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, as well as another Mac. If you’ve never seen a video chat, you’ll be surprised just how good your friends and family look!

  Always wear a shirt when videoconferencing.

• Email: Soldier, Apple has you covered. The Apple Mail application is a full-featured email system complete with defenses against the torrent of junk mail awaiting you. (Imagine a hungry digital predator with an appetite for spam.) Send pictures and attached files to everyone on the planet, and look doggone good doing it.

Applications that rock

Dozens of small applications are also supplied with macOS Catalina. I mention many of them in later chapters, but here are three good examples to whet your appetite:

• DVD Player: If your MacBook has an internal or external DVD drive, put all that widescreen beauty to work by watching your favorite DVD movies with a DVD Player! You have all the features of today’s most expensive stand-alone DVD players, including spiffy onscreen controls.
• Contacts: Throw away that well-thumbed collection of fading addresses on paper. Use the Catalina Contacts application to store, search, and recall just about any piece of information on your friends, family, and acquaintances.
• Chess: This isn’t the chessboard your dad used! Play the game of kings against a tough (and configurable) opponent — your MacBook — on a beautiful 3D board. Heck, your Mac even narrates the game by speaking the moves!

You can use the data you store in your Contacts in other Apple applications included with Catalina, such as Apple Mail and Messages.

Boot Camp For Dummies

macOS Catalina includes one particularly exciting feature for Windows switchers: You can use the Apple Boot Camp utility and your licensed copy of Windows 10 to install and boot Windows on your Mac laptop!

Boot Camp creates a Windows-specific partition (or section) on your drive where all your Windows files are stored. Other than the slightly strange key assignments you have to remember, Boot Camp is reliable and easy to use. I strongly urge you to back up your laptop on a regular basis, however; inviting Windows onto your Mac laptop invites potential viruses as well.

Apple’s Boot Camp Assistant provides step-by-step instructions, making it easy to configure your laptop for Windows. To run the Boot Camp Assistant, click the Launchpad icon on the Dock, click the Utilities folder icon, and then click the Boot Camp Assistant application icon. You’ll find more detailed information on using Boot Camp in Chapter 19.