Mac Power Users 454: MPU+: Did You Just Fall Down?

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I think Katie could have saved herself all that hoopla before sending in her MB Pro by just deleting her user account and give the Admin account a simple password.

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Did anyone else glance to their phone to check if they were listening to the wrong episode when @katiefloyd introduced this episode as episode 354? :slight_smile:

Didn’t notice that one but I did rewind to hear the date of the next Apple event a few times because I heard David say it is June 30 which made me question if I was listening to an old episode.

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I am sorry to heard Katie is leaving Evernote. I have doubled down on it recently, after a period experimenting elsewhere. I find it indispensable

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I followed Katie’s same path with Evernote. I now use nested files in DropBox/iCloud and Apple Notes primarily, though I also use DEVONthink for one specific information need. Once your Evernote subscription is canceled, you can still access your notes and notebooks using the free tier, just from a limited number of devices. That came in quite handy if you ever need to track down an old receipt, etc. from the system.

Katie’s MacBook Pro: I was surprised to hear Apple asked for access to the admin or any user account. In August I had major repair issues that required sending the computer to Apple. When I asked if I should log out of iCloud and if they’d need my admin password, they said no. As David said, the new logic board resulted in a new Mac – all I had to do was delete the original Mac. Nothing was lost.

MacBook Pro 2016 is the worst computer I’ve ever known. I love the look and weight, retina screen, etc. Even the infamous keyboard does not bother me. But, if it were an automobile I’d call it a lemon and wonder if it had been assembled on a Friday or the last day of the month.

  • At 9 months the Retina display developed three thin gray horizontal lines. The genius barman sent it away for a replacement screen.

  • At 20 months the keyboard backlighting failed. At first only a few keys lit up, after a week they started to flicker, then they went totally dark. At about the same time the computer failed to recharge overnight. The barman sent it off for a new logic board and keyboard. As far as I can tell, the only original equipment is the al-oo-min-ium case and batteries.

The best computer I ever owned was the MacBook Air.

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Too bad Katie is dumping the laptop, I was going to suggest Macbook Deplorable as a name for it.

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If your computer is repaired, I would imagine the serial number could change in some cases. It would be worth checking and updating insurance / inventory documents if needed.

Can you keyword search in folders on iCloud Drive or Dropbox? That’s my biggest reason for sticking with Evernote. Trying KeepIt these days, but I’m not thrilled.

I have been listening to MPU for years. I am glad Katie solved her Evernote issue and he R MacBook Pro issue.
If I had to listen to yet another lengthydiatribe about her trying to give up Evernote, I was going to unsubscribe.
Guys you took up almost the whole first hour of the show with these repeated Katie indecision issues.
Cheers
Greg

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@katiefloyd Regarding the use of iCloud Notes as a replacement for some of your old Evernote notes, please pay attention to the fact that there is no restore functionality provided through iCloud, unlike for contacts, calendars, reminders, bookmarks, files and pictures.

I’ve been bit by this recently when a note I took during a client meeting vanished while moving it between 2 folders in Notes on my iMac running 10.12.6 Sierra.

Totally gone!

And when I accessed icloud.com and tried to restore it, I realized there is absolutely no option for notes.

Luckily, I remembered I had printed the note as PDF so I could still find the information I was looking for, but since then I’ve stopped using iCloud Notes for my business and switched to Microsoft OneNote instead.

@MacSparky I watched the video where you showed your experiment using solely Shortcuts on your iPhone home screen.

I noticed the top row of app icons is blank.

Did you use makeovr.io to do that or do you have another trick?

Curious to know

I understand using Apple Notes or Bear for saving text, but @katiefloyd, where do you file-save-dump pdf’s, images, etc. if not in Evernote? Especially for temporary items that are only needed for a week or month.

I save images and screnshots in Apple Notes all the time. (Not password-protected ones, though, and I read elsewhere on this forum that that’s something that can’t be done.)

I believe Apple reprograms internal chips to match the original serial number when a motherboard or similar is replaced. The only issue would be if the case bottom was replaced since the s/n is printed on the case.

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Thanks. Fortunately I’ve never had to have a MBP serviced.

I think the shortcut launchers are interesting, but what advantage does it have over something like launch center pro? I can copy URL links to the launcher, categorize them, etc. Maybe shortcuts offer more slots? Seems to be reinventing the wheel. I know David mentions something about this, but I think Launch Center Pro fills that need.

Anyone else hear some random chimes in the background, during the latest episode, or just me?

Ok. I would be a tad worried were it just me. :slight_smile:

Initially thought it was a similar attempt to the ATP “file system” bell, since I heard it initially at words like “automation” and the like, but then heard it a couple of more times with no discernible pattern - so might have just been notifications coming in somewhere?

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I have a dark sense of humor sometimes and I do not expect to scratch that itch listening to MPU. However, I literally just laughed out loud at @MacSparky’s joke about a bag of poodles.

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