10 Best M1 MacBook Pro and Air Tips and Tricks
By: Amaka Chukwuma Jubilee
Tags: Tech, Macpro, Copywriter, Technology, Contentwriter

The 13-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models have been in our faces for a while now. Knowing Apple, we expect a new release of a MacBook pro in 2021. But while we await whatever Apple is cooking, let’s get more acquainted with the older versions of what they currently offer. How well do you know your macbook? Check out 10 hacks and tips that you may not have found out about your device just yet.

1. Spotlight as a conversion calculator

Aside from being a calculator, it supports several conversions in currency, area, length, speed, and mass.

Here's how to pull this.

Activate your spotlight

Enter the number and the unit of currency

You get a response that shows you the amount in different currencies

For instance, if I typed $8000 it converts automatically and gives you the result of $8000 in different currencies like euro, pounds, yen, naira, etc.

Similarly, you can convert millimeters to centimeters, feet to meter, and so on.

2. Run Windows on your Mac

To run windows and a MacOS all at once, do it with visualization apps like Vmware, fusion, parallel desktop, or virtual pox. Alternately, create a partition on your MacOS hard drive to install windows and run it entirely on your hardware using boot camp assistant.

3. Screenshotting with your macbook pro

It's easy peasy, with the shortcut of pressing shift + command + 3 at the same time. The screenshot is automatically stored on your desktop.

If you want just a part of the screenshot, press shift + command + 4 at the same time.

With macOS Mojave and Catalina, after screenshotting a preview emerges on the bottom right of your screen. When you click on this preview, the markup window comes up, you can add notes to the image and save them.

4. Adjust keyboard backlight

To set your backlight as you would like it,

Click on the control center icon on the right of the menu bar.

Select the option of keyboard brightness

Adjust the backlight slider to the left or right to set the degree of brightness you want.

5. Optimize storage on MacOS

MacOS Sierra helps you free up storage space on your Mac. It comes with an inbuilt storage optimization feature. To help you optimize storage, upgrade to the latest sierra MacOS version. It would automatically increase your hard disk space on your Mac. To access this

Go to the Apple menu

Select about this mac

Click on the Storage tab, then click the manage option.

Click the optimize storage option. If you need more tips on storage problems read this article.

6. Show battery percentage

Both Macbook Pro and Air do not show battery percentage on the menu bar.

To make the indicator appear, open the Apple menu

Select system preference

Click on the dock and menu bar icon

Switch to the battery tab

Check the box next to show percent.

7. install iPhone and iPad on the new M1 Mack

You can run apps built natively for iOS and iPad OS. That’s because it shares the same architecture with the A-series chips, iPhone, and iPad.

How to do it?

Go to the Mac app store

Click on the search bar

Search for the app you want

switch to the iPhone and iPad apps, tag to see the result of all the iOS/iPad OS apps.

8. Put mac to sleep

To conserve battery, you can put your Mac to sleep by simply closing the lid of your Mac. When you need to use It again, you only need to open the lid to wake it up and it responds fast. Thanks to the processing speed on the M1 Chip.

Another way to go about this is to open the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen and select sleep from the dropdown menu. but why would you want to take the longer route?

9. Add icons to the menu bar

You can add these icons to the menu bar to access them easily. All you need to do is drag and drop the icons out of the control center to the menu bar.

10. Activating spotlight, dictating, and do-not-disturb mode

The new, Mac model function key rows make keypad shortcuts easy to maximize. To quickly access your spotlight search, press the F4 key and for dictating, press F5.

Activate a do-no-disturb mode on your Mac by pressing F6 on your M1 mac keyboard.

I hope these tips and hacks help you maximize your m1 mac book air and MacBook pro. Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive. Are there tricks and hacks you discovered yourself that you found helpful? do share. Meanwhile, do let me know if you learned something new about these devices from this post.