My 2025 New Mac Setup

[swyxio]

---

title: My 2025 New Mac Setup
description: I set up a new Mac for work today. Here's everything I use on a Mac for fullstack web development.
tags: mac, tech
slug: new-mac-setup
category: note
canonical_url: https://www.swyx.io/new-mac-setup/

I set up my new Macbook Pro (14 inch, 2024 M4 Pro 24 GB RAM 500GB HD) today (i recommend more memory but this was not my choice). Here's everything I use on a Mac.

Previous versions of this post: from 2018-2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and 2024. If I update this post in future, these contents will be archived but this URL will remain.

Changes:

Raycast the super app

my goal is to replace as many small utilities i used to use, with raycast plugins

• Caffeine - https://www.raycast.com/mooxl/coffee
• Rectangle - raycast's default window management

Raycast's founder has more here.

Claude maxxing

• Claude Desktop https://claude.ai/download
• Claude Code + iMCP to read your imessages into AI
• Gemini CLI

Windsurf

• https://windsurf.com/download/editor

Beeper

• the super messaging app. https://www.beeper.com/download (i know founder)

other AI apps

• to try
  • cluely
  • hypernote https://deepwiki.com/fastrepl/hyprnote
  • other utils https://evanhahn.com/scripts-i-wrote-that-i-use-all-the-time/
• voice dictation
  • whispering and voiceink

non ai stuff

• podman instead of docker https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45137525

New Mac Setup - from scratch

Immediate first steps

• Browser: Arc Browser: I tried Kagi but too many apps are incompatible with Safari so RIP. set to default.
  • IMMEDIATELY create a google meet, share screen, record screen (to get all permissions working so you dont have to restart browser later). can also do this via discord or zoom webapps - just start call share screen and get all the perms working ASAP)
• Log in to: (this helps with logins for the other services below)
  • Twitter
  • Github (more setup instructions below)
  • Gmail
• Install Warp (my normal terminal of choice, good for AI generated commands, but memory hog)
  • my .zshrc now includes the very nice "please" bash function which can replace Warp
  • install https://ghostty.org/ and add keyboard navigation config

Things that take a while to install

Get these going first so they can run in the background

• Install oh-my-ZSH - sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
  • todo: try starship: https://starship.rs/ curl -sS https://starship.rs/install.sh | sh
• Install Homebrew - /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)" and then

echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> /Users/swyx/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

i have a bunch more stuff in brew list but i'm not sure what i use actively. You can mass install these - dump them in a packages.txt and then brew install $(cat packages.txt)

aom			icu4c@76		libvmaf			python@3.13
aribb24			imath			libvorbis		qemu
brotli			jpeg-turbo		libvpx			rabbitmq
ca-certificates		jpeg-xl			libx11			rav1e
cairo			krb5			libxau			readline
capstone		lame			libxcb			rubberband
certifi			leptonica		libxdmcp		sdl2
cjson			libarchive		libxext			snappy
colima			libass			libxrender		speex
dav1d			libb2			lima			sqlite
docker			libbluray		little-cms2		srt
docker-completion	libdeflate		lz4			svt-av1
dtc			libevent		lzo			tesseract
elixir			libidn2			m4			theora
erlang			libmicrohttpd		mbedtls			unbound
ffmpeg			libnghttp2		mpdecimal		unixodbc
flac			libogg			mpg123			vde
fnm			libpng			ncurses			webp
fontconfig		librist			nettle			wxwidgets
freetype		libsamplerate		opencore-amr		x264
frei0r			libslirp		openexr			x265
fribidi			libsndfile		openjpeg		xorgproto
gettext			libsodium		openssl@3		xvid
gh			libsoxr			opus			xz
giflib			libssh			p11-kit			yt-dlp
glib			libtasn1		pango			z
gmp			libtiff			pcre2			zeromq
gnutls			libtool			pipx		 zimg
graphite2		libunibreak		pixman			zstd
harfbuzz		libunistring		pnpm
highway			libusb			postgresql@14
honcho			libvidstab		python-packaging
flyctl

• Other things to try:
  • entr (rerun commands when files change)
  • tig (git log replacement)
  • boop
  • murder
  • running

Either of these will prompt you to install Apple Command Line Tools - takes 15-25 minutes to download the damn thing so do this first. Don't run them in parallel.

OS/Browser Settings

• System Settings:
  • Disable Spotlight search for all miscellaneous crap except apps and system preferences
    • including stupid Developer option (make sure to add Xcode.app to /Applications not /user/swyx/Applications)
    • the "touch xcode.app" trick failed recently for homebrew. fix is xcode-select --install and sudo xcode-select -s /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools i think
  • Disable Ask Siri
  • Turn off autocorrect in Keyboard
  • 
  • Set to Big cursor for accessibility during presentation
    • some reports of memory leaks when doing this
  • Fix trackpad direction: Trackpad -> Scroll & Zoom - Natural off
  • Disable dictionary lookup: Trackpad -> Point & Click -> Look up & data detectors off
  • (if using windows keyboard) remap alt and cmd keys for ergonomics
• Finder settings:
  • Settings → advanced -> show filename extensions
    • When performing a search -> Search the Current Folder
  • Enable showing dotfiles (just hold Cmd + Shift + . (dot) in a Finder window)
  • Show path bar in footer for easier navigation (View -> Show Path Bar)
  • Prune the excessive sidebar bookmarks
    • create "Work" folder and pin it
  • Settings -> general - New Finder Windows show -> Work
• Keyboard:
  • remap command+Q to literally anything else - to prevent accidental close-all
  • Shortcuts: copy picture of selected area to clipboard -> Cmd+E
  • AUDIO KEYBOARD - I used to use SuperWhisper but have now shifted to Wispr Flow
• MacOS Dock:
  • Remove everything from the Dock except: Finder, System Preferences and Trash
  • Turn Dock Auto Hiding on - to get more screen real estate for presentations
    • turn this on for MacOS Menu bar as well
• Chrome extensions: (tied to Chrome account)
  • https://github.com/dnakov/little-rat to see chrome extension traffic
  • Paywall blocker https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome/
  • See Tweets about any page https://github.com/swyxio/Twitter-Links-beta (my blogpost here)
  • better history https://github.com/chrome-enhanced-history/enhanced-history
  • Morpheon Dark theme
  • Lastpass
  • Display Anchors
  • React Devtools
  • Refined Github
  • Code Copy
  • Video Speed Controller ← VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
  • Palettab
  • Privacy Badger
  • RescueTime
  • uBlock Origin
  • Octolinker

Setup Terminal

• Download, install, and set font - Inconsolata for Powerline and Meslo LG M for Powerline
  • autosuggestions: git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
  • syntax highlighting
  • If you encounter warnings, you may need to chmod stuff or warnings show at start of every session

    $ sudo chmod -R 755 /usr/local/share/zsh
    $ sudo chown -R root:staff /usr/local/share/zsh
    

• Copy my dotfiles (vimrc, zshrc, .gitignore_global): https://gist.github.com/swyxio/7fa1009e460ecb818d5e6d9ca4616a05
  - source ~/.zshrc to load the zshrc
  • Note: good guide to dotfiles here https://dotfiles.github.io/tutorials/ that i have not yet read
  • note: gitconfig discusison here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43170015
  • am trying out https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k
• You installed zsh above ZSH, now set up the rest
  • git config --global init.defaultBranch main
  • git config --global user.name "swyxio"
  • git config --global user.email YOUR@EMAIL.HERE
  • once you have installed diff-so-fancy
    • set git config --global core.pager "diff-so-fancy | less --tabs=4 -RFX" - makes for much nicer git diff
    • You can also diff with this bash function dif() { git diff --color --no-index "$1" "$2" | diff-so-fancy; } or with VSCode code --diff file1.js file2.js.
    • You can also try https://github.com/dandavison/delta
• customize the /.oh-my-zsh/themes/agnoster theme from dotfiles
• set font for Warp: https://warp.dev/
  • only settings I really need to make are setting the font to "Inconsolata for Powerline" - which I downloaded above.

Set up apps/environments

You should have already installed a bunch of stuff with Homebrew as per above. Below I will list other stuff that you may wish to use:

• Github CLI: brew install github/gh/gh
  • you need to login to git - if you have 2fa enabled, you cant use your normal github password. try pushing to any random repo and enter in a Personal Access Token for password.
  • then run gh auth login
  • add GitHub SSH key (not optional)
• Python: no more pyenv and no more Anaconda for me. the new hotness is uv from Astral. it's a replacement for pip, virtualenv, pyenv, poetry, etc. very new but not a ton of personal experience and intend to try next time. pip install uv, then instead of future pip install use uv pip install, or uv venv instead of virtualenv or python -m venv. much faster and interchangeable with other tools... but still may have minor dependency resolution issues particularly for old projects.
  • pyenv virtualenv needs some zshrc setup, or else get Failed to activate virtualenv. Perhaps pyenv-virtualenv has not been loaded into your shell properly. errors, which i fixed with this.
  • install pytorch: pip3 install torch torchvision
• Setup Node.js/NPM using - you should already have fnm (a faster alternative to nvm) from the Homebrew install done above so no separate download needed.
  • todo: try mise instead of nvm which handles multi lang fnm curl https://mise.run | sh
  • fnm install 24 to install node 24
  • we did brew install pnpm earlier <- seems to be increasingly the norm
  • npm login
  • npm config set loglevel="warn"
  • npm i -g undollar for removing $
  • npm install -g npm-check-updates for updating deps
  • sudo npm install -g trash-cli to add a trash command to so you dont permanently delete files
• Used to recommend yarn. now brew install pnpm as fast node package manager
• you may need to work around Mac OS Sierra
• brew install z - doesnt work out of the box exactly - see my issue on the rupa/z repo - homebrew changed the default install path of the z.sh script so just make sure you are pointing to the right new path - . /opt/homebrew/etc/profile.d/z.sh in your zshrc
  • see HN reviews of rupa/z, as well as some alternatives.
• Misc - stuff i used to install and maybe dont need anymore
  • pip3 install --user powerline-status
  • go to a neutral folder and git clone <https://github.com/powerline/fonts> && cd fonts && ./install.sh

Setup Apps

• I hate Docker Desktop so i am using "docker" without it - Colima - though podman is up and coming

  • brew installed https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/ and
  • sudo curl -L https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/v2.5.1/docker-compose-darwin-aarch64 -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
  • chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

• brew install --cask notunes - so that you dont launch itunes/apple music

  • VLC: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
  • you also need to reassign the default music player for music files to QuickTime or VLC - the usual way of "Always Open With" never works, you have to do this: Select any MP3 file, Press "Command+i", Change "Open with:" to VLC, Click the "Change All…" button. Tada.

• download Audacity - and install ffmpeg for audacity - the instructions are intentionally opaque - just go to https://lame.buanzo.org/#lameosx64bitdl and download and run the pkg - Audacity will detect it from there

• Emojis: I used to use https://matthewpalmer.net/rocket/ but now I just use the naive Mac emoji picker (hit Fn key)

• Privacy unfucker: Pure Paste from Sindre Sorhus

• Password Manager: I use both 1password and lastpass depending on contexts

• Window Manager: https://rectangleapp.com/ (there's mild history w/ spectacle/magnet but they're basically the same thingz. 2024: try https://github.com/MrKai77/Loop open source)

• Screenshots: https://shottr.cc/ (shottr does OCR, but you may like a dedicated OCR utility)

• Superhuman for Mac and https://mail.superhuman.com

• Clipboard Manager: I now just use the one that comes with Alfred since I bought a lifetime upgrade a while ago. has good search and images, and can add snippets.

  • To explore: Clipbook

• App Quitter: https://swiftquit.com/ (Close Mac Applications Automatically When Their Windows Close)

• Loom: https://www.loom.com/desktop

• Zoom: https://zoom.us/download

  • create a meeting, share screen, record screen

• Caffeine (Keep Mac awake for talks): https://intelliscapesolutions.com/apps/caffeine

  • maintained version: Amphetamine (thanks Matt Mischuk!) - but Caffeine is plenty

• QuickShade (mac app controlled brightness)

• NoTunes - disable itunes/apple music

• Descript: https://www.descript.com/download/mac

• Stuff I no longer use often but will bring in when i have the need

  • SkyFonts: [https://www.fonts.com/web-fonts/google]
  • Disk Space: Disk Inventory X - you can clean node modules with this bash command or as a cronjob(https://www.fonts.com/web-fonts/google)

• Chat: Slack and Discord

• Note taking:
  - Obsidian and set it up as mentioned in my post on Obsidian as a Second Brain
  - Microsoft Todo: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1274495053?mt=8
  - SimpleNote: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simplenote/id692867256?ls=1&mt=12
  - Notion: https://www.notion.so/desktop
  - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/notion-web-clipper/knheggckgoiihginacbkhaalnibhilkk?hl=en

• Stretchly: https://hovancik.net/stretchly/

• Editor: Download Cursor use Settings Sync to sync across machines

  • have to set up powerline fonts "Meslo LG M for Powerline" (download)
  • auto-close-tag v0.5.6
  • auto-rename-tag v0.0.15
  • Bookmarks v9.1.0
  • code-settings-sync v3.1.2
  • debugger-for-chrome v4.10.2
  • es7-react-js-snippets v1.8.7
  • graphql-for-vscode v1.12.1
  • mdx v0.1.0
  • prettier-vscode v1.6.1
  • python v2018.9.2
  • python v0.2.3
  • rainbow-brackets v0.0.6 - this is now deprecated, use the native "editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": true
  • shades-of-purple v3.17.0
  • vscode-graphql v0.1.5
  • vscode-import-cost v2.9.0
  • vscode-styled-components v0.0.23
  • vscode-wakatime v1.2.3
  • TabNine AI completions
  • GitHub Copilot
  • to try: File Utils - recommended by Stolinski

• Screenflow 11 download

---

Other good "new laptop setup" lists:

• https://eugeneyan.com/writing/mac-setup/
• Christoph Nakazawa's setup: Part 1, Part 2
• Robin Wieruch's setup
• Mina Markham's automated mac setup
• Tania Rascia's setup
• Nick Nisi's dotfiles
• Mathias Bynens macos defaults
• Jamon's MacOS maintenance tips
• VMWare Tanzu house script: https://github.com/pivotal/workstation-setup
• Vendasta: https://github.com/vendasta/setup-new-computer-script
• You can automate dotfiles/homebrew setup with Sheldon Hull's tool
• Physical equipment setups from prominent people: https://setups.co/
• A decade of dotfiles by Evan Hahn
• please send me yours!
  • thanks for Daniel Kehoe's mac setup

[fullstackjam]

Great list! I've been maintaining a similar setup doc for years and finally got
fed up with the manual process.
Built OpenBoot to solve exactly this - one command bootstraps your entire Mac:
Homebrew, apps, dotfiles, Oh-My-Zsh, even macOS preferences. Interactive TUI
lets you search/select packages (or use presets).
The kicker: it detects what's already installed and only installs new stuff.
No more "wait, did I already install that?"
Would love your feedback: https://github.com/openbootdotdev/openboot

[NickJLange]

What I think would be a nice vibe-coded experiment is to have something that amalgamates these lists (including config files) to compare "my setup" versus "peer group" and offer to teach/upgrade "my setup".. or generate PRs for "peer setup"