I was talking about operating systems last night with my boyfriend.....

[pigoo3]

I visit the Chicago area fairly regularly...and I seem to remember at one time (years ago)...local pickup was possible...but can't find anything on the OWC website now regarding local pickup. Could give them a call...email them...or use their online Chat to verify if possible to pickup locally.

- Nick

 

[Brian1230]

I think I will later, it would be something to do and somewhere to go besides sitting home actually doing the job for work and maybe going to a coffee shop that is allowing indoor seating a couple times a week.

 

[chscag]

Also, if you decide to upgrade the SSD in your MBA, make sure you're able to do the work. It's a bit involved so unless you feel comfortable doing it, it might be best to have it done for you.

You can see the procedure for changing the SSD out by going to www.ifixit.com, select your model MBA, and then look for changing the SSD. The ifixit site also sells the tools you may need if you don't already have them on hand.

 

[Brian1230]

Thanks, not sure if I will be in a huge hurry to upgrade it, and if I did I may let my friend who has a computer shop here in Cary do it, since he is an apple tech, I fix his Duramax pickup and he fixes my computers. my boyfriend got his new MacBook Air with the new chip, and he used it for a partial days work, and says well, I guess your right, Apple is a far superior computer, he said it didn't act stupid at all, and it is so nice not to be swearing at the computer. The awesome thing is since he moved in with me, we spent the morning getting his stuff from his parents house and his new computer, figured working from home we can choose the hours as long as we get the work done, we will be able to learn Big Sur together. overall I think he is happy I talked him into switching to Mac. I also told him to join this wonderful forum as well, told him there's a lot of awesome people here, especially since the last version of osx I used was lion, we both have a lot to learn likely.

 

[Rod]

Just one little word of advice from me. I can see from this thread that your boyfriend is somewhat security conscious, which is definitely not a bad thing but you will find that during initial setup of your new device you will be offered the option to encrypt your HD. Apple pushes this option a little more than I would like by suggesting that it will improve security which of course it does but it adds a level of complexity which most of us here on these forums believe is both undesirable and completely unnecessary, unless you are an international spy.
Given that you are purchasing a new device with new architecture as well as a new macOS I would strongly advise against encryption at this stage.

The other major option offered at setup is to save your Desktop and Documents folders on iCloud. This is not something I have ever opted to do myself as being an old fogey I still like to keep all my personal data "in house" but I have observed on this forum that it has caused a number of users problems down the line. The concept seems to cause confusion over what is "local" and what is not and how to restore data to the device seems problematic for some. I dont like being reliant on a remote data base for access to my data but that's just me. If you have sufficient storage on your device it just seems unnecessary.

Lastly, I think everyone would agree that making a bootable backup of your device is highly advisable. On these forums we regularly recommend Carbon Copy Cloner (Bombich) and SuperDuper (Shirt Pocket) for this purpose. An external HD will be required about the same size as your internal drive, an SSD is best but at the very least a full backup using the native Time Machine app even to a HDD will ensure that you can repair and restore your data or device into the future.

 

[MacInWin]

+1 for avoiding encryption. Don't add another layer of complexity.

 

[Brian1230]

Just one little word of advice from me. I can see from this thread that your boyfriend is somewhat security conscious, which is definitely not a bad thing but you will find that during initial setup of your new device you will be offered the option to encrypt your HD. Apple pushes this option a little more than I would like by suggesting that it will improve security which of course it does but it adds a level of complexity which most of us here on these forums believe is both undesirable and completely unnecessary, unless you are an international spy.
Given that you are purchasing a new device with new architecture as well as a new macOS I would strongly advise against encryption at this stage.

The other major option offered at setup is to save your Desktop and Documents folders on iCloud. This is not something I have ever opted to do myself as being an old fogey I still like to keep all my personal data "in house" but I have observed on this forum that it has caused a number of users problems down the line. The concept seems to cause confusion over what is "local" and what is not and how to restore data to the device seems problematic for some. I dont like being reliant on a remote data base for access to my data but that's just me. If you have sufficient storage on your device it just seems unnecessary.

Lastly, I think everyone would agree that making a bootable backup of your device is highly advisable. On these forums we regularly recommend Carbon Copy Cloner (Bombich) and SuperDuper (Shirt Pocket) for this purpose. An external HD will be required about the same size as your internal drive, an SSD is best but at the very least a full backup using the native Time Machine app even to a HDD will ensure that you can repair and restore your data or device into the future.

We did not use any encryption on his new MacBook Air, I am unsure if the person I bought my 2015 MacBook Air from last Wednesday did or not. One thing I need to do is get a portable hard drive to do regular back ups, as that is something I have never done, I know that's stupid....but for some reason I never thought it was needed, even though numerous people have said it is. I think our devices are set to store the documents on the device, however I am not sure about my 2015 Air, because the person I bought it from upgraded it to Big Sur and made an account so that I could see it was working properly when I met him to purchase it, and I simply made my own account with my Apple ID, and then deleted the account the previous owner set up so I could test the machine.

As much as I really like my 2015 Air, if we actually get a $2,000 stimulus payment, like our alleged incoming president promises.... there is a good chance that I will purchase one of the new MacBook Airs with the new chip.... they look like an awesome unit, and my boyfriend let me play with it a little, it is his laptop so that's ok, but the new pure Apple chip seems to perform like a rocket ship. Because my Air is awesome, and very fast, unless we get that stimulus payment, I will be happy with my 2015 Air, and just maybe get a larger ssd from OWC, and keep my air for daily use. Mine is just so much more of a pleasure to use than my 6 month old dell i7 laptop running windows 10, and it is so nice to be using a real computer with a real operating system, APPLE is truly the absolute BEST!!!!

 

[pigoo3]

...my boyfriend got his new MacBook Air with the new chip, and he used it for a partial days work, and says well, I guess your right, Apple is a far superior computer, he said it didn't act stupid at all, and it is so nice not to be swearing at the computer.

Nice...that was fast...and very awesome he's pleased with things so far!

- Nick

 

[Brian1230]

He seems to like it, which is a good thing. I think his iPad also helped convince him too a little.

 

[Brian1230]

He let me play with it a little tonight, and all I can say is wow!! My Air is more than fast enough and the new Air with the new Apple chip, m1 or whatever its called seems twice as fast. I'm in no hurry because I really like my 2015 MacBook Air, but if we actually get a $2,000 stimulus payment, I know what I am going to go buy.... even though I really do not need it, my Air is perfect.

 

[chscag]

I'm in no hurry because I really like my 2015 MacBook Air, but if we actually get a $2,000 stimulus payment, I know what I am going to go buy.... even though I really do not need it, my Air is perfect.

You might want to wait until Apple refreshes the MacBook Air with an updated (more powerful chip) M1 or M2 CPU. We should see new Macs around the end of Spring this year. I'm kind of anxious to see what the new iMacs will be like.

As for the stimulus payment.... I guess maybe you're not aware, but the IRS has already issued a $600.00 per person stimulus payment this January. I already received mine last week. I seriously doubt that we will see an additional $2000.00 payment. I personally take that promise or proposal with a grain of salt.

 

[Brian1230]

That may be an idea to wait and see what apple releases in the spring, since I just got my 2015 MacBook Air and it does everything I want it to do and is quite fast.

As far as the recent $600 stimulus payment, I got it last week and used part of it to purchase my 2015 MacBook Air, however since the government is continuing these restrictions, they really need to pay people to comply with them and take precautions over it, however I also will not believe that we will be getting it, even though we are owed it, until I see it. If we were getting paid to take health precautions, I would not be complaining, because I would be getting paid to do something that really is unimportant to me.