I just got a new 14-inch MacBook Pro, and — since the supply chain delays meant I waited more than a month from purchase to delivery — I've had a lot of time to think about how I'd customize it. I've even started thinking about all the stickers I'm going to affix on its lid. But that's a topic for another day.

This piece is going to break down the first nine things to do when you set up a new MacBook Pro. These tips will also come in handy even if you've owned your MacBook Pro for a while. The system preferences to consider changing, the apps you need to download and various other things I've learned reviewing Macs for the last 5 or so years, and using them since started with the original Bondi Blue iMac back in 1999.