Mac Unlocked: Everything You Need to Know to Get Cracking in macOS Big Sur

Mac Unlocked by David Pogue, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. 431 pages, 9 x 6 x .75 inches, 431 pages. This book is arguably the best book for mastering MacOS Big Sur. It covers the Mechanics of the Mac with advice about OS organization that makes the transition easier from earlier Mac operating systems. The book begins with the basics and progresses to new features with sixteen chapters that enlighten the reader about new features of Big Sur. When you finish the book, you will have a better understanding of how you can implement Big Sur features into your daily work routine. I particularly liked Chapter 10 on Messages and Facetime. That chapter explained about sending web addresses in an iMessage. 'It shows up with a picture thumbnail of the actual web page. If it’s a link to a YouTube video, you can play it right in Messages by clicking the thumbnail'. Moreover, he explains how to go from an iMessage exchange to Facetime with an example scenario exchange such as ‘Will you bring my sweater when you come? I’m in the closet, Which sweater? The gray one. There are three of them! Ok, show me on FaceTime.’ What I like about Pogue’s writing is that he has a knack for simplifying and expressing technical details that everyone can comprehend.

I really appreciated this book and learned all kinds of interesting new things about Big Sur OS. Big Sur seems to have effected every feature on the Mac and there’s new things. And some of the wit was well-timed and made it easier to learn about Big Sur. Very well written. I learned © can be created using option and g. I learned how to put different color backgrounds for the panel displaying pictures and documents. I learned how to make what is on my iMac appear on the iPad. And then to work on Photoshop on the iPad. I learned about new things in Safari. It was all interesting and useful and money well-spent on his little masterpiece.

I’ve been using Mac for about eight years but have never bothered to buy a book that might guide me. Wish I’d done so years ago. I bought this for my new Mac mini with the Big Sur OS and have uncovered all kinds of cool tricks I never knew about before. Well worth it!

LAST REVIEWOkay let me update my first review to THIS BOOK IS AMAZINGLY HELPFUL.I've had my MacBook Pro for about 2-3 years and knew some stuff, but having been off Macs for about 15 years previous to that...well, I still had training wheels when it came to macs.So I bought this way more expensive book to try and learn a few tricks. What else is a grounded senior citizen with a penchant for technology to do during Covid 19, besides read a LOT. I originally just read it some and put it down, then read it some and tried a trick or two (or more...that day with changing over my passwords after a well-known password/security company's system didn't like Mac....well that was a long day.)Now I read and when tired or needing a break, I open Pogue to the bookmark and try something new. Had my iPhone dinging using the FIND MY app...what a treat. It's rather embarrassing how many times I've had to say, "Husband, call my phone please." Now I can do it myself.FIRST REVIEWI've been using David Pogue books for Mac so long, they were illuminated by monks in monasteries. Or edited by New Yorkers, at some publishing house.Happily Pogue has a witty style, that makes plodding through the books ever so easier. As does his hints as to how to do X or Y, or what to do if I cannot decipher the Google of an issue online. It's like having a friend on my shoulder saying, breathe deep and do this.So I'm definitely a fan.

I usually prefer "tree ware" for books, but in this case, I'm using the Kindle for Mac app. I can't concentrate on any kind of technical writing without immediately trying every little thing that interests me; this is the solution :)I'm keeping the book open and reading about a chapter a day. By having the book open on one of my displays, I can try out all of the new things I'm learning on the other display. I'm also using the "Notes and Highlights" feature of the Kindle app to highlight or comment on the most useful hints I have found. Even if I never refer back to the notes, just making them will help me remember what I have learned.The Kindle version also includes color graphics and the ability to double-click and show enlarged graphics in their own window.I'm only 25% of the way through the book, and despite being a Mac user since 2013 (DOS/Windows user and instructor since 1987), I have learned so much that this book has already proved worth the price.As always, Pogue writes in a humorous and very understandable way. He writes for both complete newbies and for intermediate users like me who want to improve their skills and efficiency. Highly recommend the book and my "method" of using it. I have the ebook in full-screen view on a large external monitor so that I can read it easily while testing things out on the other display. My not-so-young-anymore eyes deeply appreciate that approach. ;)

This is the only book you will need if you're wanting to get the best from Mac OS Big Sur! It will answer your every question and then some. After all, it was written by David Pogue. Simply get it!

Il testo è sicuramente molto utile per chi si avvicina o è da poco introdotto ai sistemi operativi Mac OS.Per quanto mi riguarda, utente Mac da più di 30 anni, mi sarei aspettato qualcosa di più tecnico per poter conoscere meglio le prestazioni e i segreti di macOS Big Sur.

This book is brilliant But, I have tried to upgrade to OS11 Big Sur on several machines since release, I have even tried all the new M1 Processor machines with this built in on order, but they were just not stable enough and its not on my 2019 15" MacBook Pro or 2020 iMac 27" 5K. This book contains warnings about potential problems and is brilliantly written by David Pogue, as all his books are for Mac, and I certainly recommend you heed them before upgrading any machine released prior to the release date of Big Sur. The new M1 machines are very nice if you don't rely on any 3rd party software but be careful if you need to run anything that isn't supplied by Apple themselves.

I've had a MAC for a while . . . the book is highlighting some functions I hadn't seen before.

I have just updated the OS on my Mac for the first time in three years, to Big Sur. And I have bought a computer book for the first time in... I don't know, fifteen years? And I am really pleased with both, very pleasant and many good improvements.Oooh, I just realised the author of the computer book is the same as the very first one I ever read, and on the same subject: David Pogue and Macintosh! David is the rare author who can make tech entertaining, and he writes really clearly.