Installing a new Apple Mac in 2021

4 min readApr 26, 2021

Installing a new computer is always a hassle. I think I can make it a bit easier for myself, and others, when it is time to do the initial installation and configuration of a new, or refreshed Apple MacOS computer.
These settings and app selection are what suits me personally. I’m quite sure you can find interesting bits here too.

These instructions assumes the OS itself (Big Sur) is installed, and you are ready to start installing apps and other utilities.

Changes in System Preferences

We start by making the system more secure and usable.
Open System Preferences and follow these instructions:

General:
Show scroll bars: Always
Prefer tabs: Always
Security and Privacy -> General:
- Require password after: 5 seconds
Security and Privacy -> FileVault:
- Make sure FileVault is on.
Dock & Menu Bar:
- Automatically hide and show the Dock: Enable
- Magnification: Enable, max
- Size: Smaller
Dock & Menu Bar -> Battery:
- Show Percentage: Enable
Keyboard -> Keyboard:
- Key repeat: Max
- Delay until repeat: Shortest
Keyboard -> Text:
- Use smart quotes and dashes: Disable
Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Keyboard
- Move Focus to the next window: Option-Tab
(cycle between windows of the current app)
Trackpad -> Scroll & Zoom
Smart zoom: Disable
Trackpad -> Point & Click
- Tracking speed: Increase to ca 75%
Trackpad -> More Gestures
- Swipe between pages: Disable
- App Exposé: Enable
(show all windows of the current app)
Battery -> Power Adapter
- Prevent computer from sleeping when the display is off: Enable
(The computer can now complete longer tasks without going to sleep)
Accessibility -> Zoom
Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom: Enable
(Now zoom by holding Ctrl and two-finger swipe on trackpad)

Use stacks on the desktop

Right click the desktop -> Show View Options:
- Stack by: Date Added
- Label Position: Right
- Show Item Info: check

Install Xcode Command Line Tools

In the terminal, type:

xcode-select --install

Install Homebrew “casks” using the Terminal

Homebrew (“brew”) is the tool to use to install and upgrade your apps, tools and libraries. This way, you do not need to go to lots of homepages for the different programs. No licenses to approve, and most often a no-click installation.
We begin by installing “brew” itself:

Install Homebrew (https://brew.sh/)
/bin/bash -c “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

We then install various UI apps (brew casks)

Install Rectangle
brew install --cask rectangle
Install MacUpdater
brew install --cask macupdater
Install AppCleaner
brew install --cask appcleaner
Install Google Chrome
brew install --cask google-chrome

Initialize and configure apps

Some apps needs some initial configuration. Here are some things to consider:

Start Rectangle
Authorize the app in System Preferences.
In the Rectangle app, Click the gear icon:
Move to adjacent window on repeated left or right commands: Disable
Start Photos
Menu -> Preferences -> iCloud,
iCloud Photos: Disable
My Photo Stream: Enable
Start Chrome
Click the three dots in the upper right.
In the Settings page, change:
On startup: Continue where you left off

Install essential tools

Install micro, the modern terminal text editor
brew install micro

Terminal updates

To enable some essential terminal keys for bash.
Copy this content to the file ~/.inputrc

“\e[5~”: history-search-backward # Page Up
“\e[6~”: history-search-forward # Page Down
# “\e[1~”: beginning-of-line
# “\e[4~”: end-of-line
# “\e[5~”: beginning-of-history
# “\e[6~”: end-of-history
# “\e[3~”: delete-char
# “\e[2~”: quoted-insert
# “\e[5C”: forward-word
# “\e[5D”: backward-word
# “\e\e[C”: forward-word
# “\e\e[D”: backward-word
# set completion-ignore-case On
# set colored-stats On
set mark-symlinked-directories On
# set show-all-if-ambiguous On
# set show-all-if-unmodified On
# set visible-stats On

Configure zsh, the default MacOS shell

Install Antigen, a zsh configuration helper:

brew install antigen

Add the following to the start of your ~/.zshrc file:

#8<--- BEGIN: Manually added by user
# Source Antigen (https://github.com/zsh-users/antigen)
source /usr/local/Cellar/antigen/*/share/antigen/antigen.zsh
# Load the oh-my-zsh's library:
antigen use oh-my-zsh
# Bundles from the default repo (https://github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/wiki/Plugins):
antigen bundle git
antigen bundle pip
antigen bundle command-not-found
# Zsh command completion:
antigen bundle zsh-users/zsh-completions
# Syntax highlighting bundle:
antigen bundle zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting
# Load a theme:
antigen theme bureau
# Tell Antigen that you're done:
antigen applyHOST=work # Optional#https://www.reddit.com/r/zsh/comments/eblqvq/del_pgup_and_pgdown_input_in_terminal/
autoload -Uz up-line-or-beginning-search
autoload -Uz down-line-or-beginning-search
zle -N up-line-or-beginning-search
zle -N down-line-or-beginning-search
bindkey '^[[5~'    up-line-or-beginning-search
bindkey '^[[6~'    down-line-or-beginning-search# Disable zsh shared history:
unsetopt share_history# Set the default terminal editor:
export EDITOR=micro#8<--- END: Manually added by user

Test the new configuration and command completion:

In a new terminal session:

Type ls - , and press the tab key multiple times.

Keeping all software up-to-date

To have access to new features, general improvements. But most of all, to secure your computer. You need to keep all your apps updated to the latest available version.
Old software have known vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities can be used by malicious software, sometimes over the network.

Periodically walk through these steps:

Run this command in a terminal window:
brew upgrade
Open MacUpdater, and upgrade apps that are not the latest version.
Open AppStore, press Updates and update all available apps.
Open System Preferences, press System Update. Install any available updates.

Enjoy!

Updates

2021–03–02
Added desktop stack settings.
Added the micro terminal text editor, including updates to ~/.zshrc .