i recently got a new macbook pro. i wanted a fresh start instead of transferring all the things from the old macbook air. so set up everything manually instead of going through migration assistant or time machine backups
things i did in the old laptop
- github repos
- made sure to commit and push changes in all the repositories to github
- noted down which projects had the .env files with the keys (since those are not pushed)
- dia browser as of this point did not have import from a different browser option nor they are syncing the data to the account.
- i chose to say goodbye to the bookmarks and history
- i had to manually copy a few passwords to my other passwords app.
- copied documents, downloads, and screenshots from the old laptop onto an external ssd
- used daisydisk to look at all the things and then figured out what to copy over
- made sure lightroom changes are all synced to the cloud
new mac setup
immediate first steps in the new laptop
- new setup, i was intentional with my choices as i wanted a clean and baggage-free setup
- icloud sync for the documents and desktop folders
- i did not do this in my previous laptop but seems like a useful feature
- earlier, had to manually move files into icloud drive to see them in phone and ipad
- set up dia browser
- dia browser doesn’t have an auto-import for extensions, so manually re-installed necessary extensions.
- log into
- important websites i use like github, gmail, twitter, readwise
- used google meet and gave the permissions for screen sharing
- obsidian setup
- installed obsidian, imported the vault from obsidian sync.
- manually reinstalled a few obsidian extensions i was using
- files
- copied the files from ssd and put them all in one folder and called it baggage. i gotta clean these later
development environment setup
- installed homebrew fresh
- skipped the option to import old packages to avoid clutter.
- setup dotfiles, including ssh keys and git configs, by copying from the old mac.
- installed github desktop and github cli; re-added ssh key to github.
- cloned important repositories into a dedicated code folder in home directory.
- backend setup
- installed only uv for now (uv is so much better and made dealing with python ecosystem a breeze)
- frontend setup
- set up fnm for node version management and installed bun
- shell setup
- installed oh-my-zsh for shell improvements, plugins, and theming.
- installed cursor
- copied environment variables from old mac with copy paste
- ran bun install and bun run dev, everything just worked.
- repeated similar steps with uv for backend stuff.
essential apps
- adobe lightroom: photography
- bear: note taking
- aqua voice: speech-to-text
- daisy disk: good for freeing space (this came in clutch many times for my previous 256gb macbook air)
- display pilot 2: to manage my benq monitor settings
- iina: video player
- send to kindle
- maccy: clipboard history
- phoenix slides: fast image viewer
- rectangle: window management (i like the ctrl + opt + cmd + → shortcut for quick monitor switching)
- scroll reverser
- remnote: spaced repetition
- things 3: task management
- chatgpt desktop
- zoom
overall, the manual setup took some effort, but the fresh start feels good.
things yet to try
- i’ve installed ollama, i want to see what models i can run locally