Apple’s MacBook series packs a ton of features into an incredibly light, easy-to-use range of laptops. With so many features available, some handy shortcuts and useful tips simply don’t get the attention they deserve.
Whether you’re busy with graphics work, playing table games online, or just browsing the web at your leisure, all of these hidden shortcuts save significant time and energy, freeing up precious resources so you can focus on more important things.
To give these timesavers the spotlight they deserve, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most useful, less well-known features of MacBooks. Below you’ll find 10 tips and tricks guaranteed to improve the end-user experience.
10. Add emojis to any text
Command + Control + Space will open the Character Viewer on MacBooks. The Character Viewer gives you the option to add emojis (or other special characters) to any text-based format you’re working on. Whether it’s an email or an essay, a blog post, or a Livestream chat, there are plenty of scenarios where this feature comes in handy. Try not to add emojis to absolutely everything, no matter how tempting it is to do so.
9. Adjustable refresh rate
Did you know you can adjust the refresh rate of your screen? Aside from the standard 60 FPS option, there are four additional settings to choose from; 59.94 Hz, 50 Hz, 48 Hz, and 47.95 Hz. These options allow for greater control of the MacBook’s battery life, performance, and graphic fidelity. Lower refresh rates aren’t the greatest for gaming, but they will definitely make you appreciate 60 Hz more.
8. Advanced Spotlight features
Spotlight search isn’t just a search engine. It’s got several additional features you can take advantage of, such as a built-in calculator, currency converter, and flight tracker. It’s very intuitive, and, similar to Google Search, all you have to do is put in your equation, currency denomination, or flight number. Using this feature saves you from having to open a web browser or calculator app.
7. Give your Mac a voice
Text-to-speech might not be new technology, but it’s a lot more refined than it used to be. The MacBook’s standard text-to-speech software is incredibly advanced, with the ability to recognize multiple languages. Languages that don’t come standard with the MacBook can be downloaded from the Apple Store at no extra charge. At present, Apple products support over 30 official languages.
6. Paste and match style
Copying and pasting are perhaps the two most well-known keyboard shortcuts in the world. However, not many people are aware that you can customize these shortcuts. The next time you need to copy a body of text, explore the Selection menu to reset the layout style, remove unwanted hyperlinks, or even change the formatting style to match your own.
5. Picture-in-picture
Apple devices provide the option to watch any video via picture-in-picture. This is extremely useful, especially on sites like Youtube, for multitasking purposes. Instead of a video window taking up too much precious screen space, picture-in-picture will generate a thumbnail-sized window that you can position anywhere on-screen.
4. Power of force touch
Instead of opening every file you want to take a closer look at, why not use the Preview window instead? Pressing Space on any file will give you a concise overview of that file. What’s more, the Preview window has a ton of useful features that come along with it. You can edit PDFs, crop pictures, and edit all kinds of other digital media with Preview.
3. Snipping, clipping, and cropping
There are three shortcuts for screen capture available on the MacBook; Command + shift + 3 takes a picture of your entire display, Command + Shift + 4 allows you to select a portion of the screen for capture, and Command + Shift + 5 offers various options for screen capture, including options for video recording.
2. Sync for ease of access
Beyond iTunes, not many Apple users take full advantage of the shared functionality between all iOS devices. For instance, if you own an Apple Watch, syncing it with your MacBook means you can log in to your laptop using your smartwatch. Instead of typing login details, simply double-click your watch, and you gain instant access.
1. Universal Clipboard
As we mentioned earlier, syncing your Apple devices provides several additional benefits. One of those benefits is Apple’s Universal Clipboard technology. Basically, this feature allows you to cut, copy, and paste any content across all your devices. You can copy a link from your iPhone, for example, and instantly paste it into your MacBook web browser.
