Tag: MacOS

Reload Your Mac Camera

Nick MomrikLeave a comment

Last month I bought some simple stickers to cover up the cameras on my laptops. My friend Ingrid bought some fancy covers at about the same time. Ever since, we’ve both been having issues with MacOS recognizing the camera when uncovered. Rebooting the Mac resolved the issue so I figured something was jacked up internally with sensors. Found a solution, but wanted to make it easier than typing in the terminal commands.

I’m an Alfred user, so I made a workflow (available on Github). Save the file and open it, which should import into Alfred. Change the keyword (default is camera) in Alfred if you want.

If you don’t use Alfred, I also made a command script you can launch instead of manually typing in the commands. It’s also on Github. Use File->Save Page in your browser. Open up a terminal window and cd to wherever you saved the reload-camera.command file. Change the execute permissions on the file by running chmod 744 reload-camera.command. Then you should be able to double-click on the file to run the script.

By the way, yes, you probably should cover up your camera, especially if you never use it.

Review: 2016 MacBook Pro

Nick Momrik1 Comment

I posted some very quick initial thoughts after about 10 minutes with the new MacBook Pro. Last week I was able to get everything installed and configured for work and spend some time with it. It’s the best computer I’ve ever used, passing the MacBook Air I had in 2011.

My two favorite things are the keyboard and Touch ID. Not only do I love the clicky sound of the keys, but the feel is completely new and makes it seem like I’m typing a lot faster. Having Touch ID in Mac OS is everything I hoped it would be. Using 1Password is a completely different experience.

I also like the trackpad and the feel of “clicking.” Admittedly, I don’t click much on the Mac since I have Tap to click enabled in System Preferences. I was worried about the increased size of the trackpad but it hasn’t been an issue; their wrist detection software is as good as people said it was.

mac-tap-to-click

The difference in size (all dimensions) and weight are considerable from the previous generation, which hadn’t changed much in years. The battery does seem to drain faster though, which isn’t great.

I’m not sold on the usefulness of the Touch Bar yet. It’s a neat concept and done well. Time will tell on this one. Not having a physical esc button has tripped me up more than I expected.

Being able to plug power in on any of the USB Type-C ports is very handy. The number of dongles I had to order so I could use all of my devices seems ridiculous though.

My only major complaint is not having a MagSafe power connector.