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Get a new Mac? Here's what you need to know about setting it up

Get a new Mac? Here's what you need to know about setting it up

Apple's newest computers -- MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini -- are fast, have impressive battery life and can even run iPhone apps. The difference between this crop and previous models? These are powered by the Apple Silicon M1 processor. It's the same kind of processor the company uses in the iPhone and iPad. If you spoiled yourself and picked up a new Mac this holiday season, or were lucky enough to get one as a gift, don't rush through the setup process. 

Whether you're replacing a worn-down MacBook or getting rid of a tired PC, it's only natural to want to tear open the box, hit the power button and cruise through the setup prompts. But before you do that, take a deep breath and a step back. There are some things you need to know about setting up a Mac.

For starters, the process can take several hours if you plan on transferring your data from another computer. Then there are other things to consider: Do you need FileVault? How can you get information off of your old Mac or PC and onto the new one? Those questions are exactly why we're here.

There's something special about getting a new computer. 

Dan Ackerman/CNET

What you'll need

Make sure to set aside around an hour to get your Mac set up. The process will take longer if you plan on restoring your Mac from a Time Machine backup of another Mac.

In addition to a reliable internet connection, you'll need your Wi-Fi network information, your Apple ID username and password, and the Mac's charger or power cord. 

Having a piece of paper and a pen nearby is helpful. During the setup process, you'll be asked to create a user account, which includes a username and password. We don't recommend storing passwords on paper -- it's much safer to use a password manager -- but a piece of paper is helpful for temporarily storing this kind of information until you can enter it into your password manager. Just make sure to destroy the piece of paper when you're done. 

Once you have everything in order, connect the charger or power cord to your Mac and turn it on. 

Setting up a new Mac isn't hard, but it can take some time. 

Apple

Apple's Setup Assistant walks you through most of the process

The first time your Mac turns on, a setup assistant will greet you. The assistant will walk you through selecting your country and language, and connecting the Mac to the internet. You'll also be tasked with creating a user account on the Mac and signing into your Apple ID. 

Throughout the process you'll be asked if you want to enable services like FileVault, iCloud Keychain or Find My Mac. You'll also be asked if you want to enable Siri or provide any logs to developers when issues are detected. Here's what some of those features mean for you.

FileVault encrypts your Mac's hard drive to prevent unauthorized access to the information you store on it. If you aren't sure, you can always enable or disable it in the future.

iCloud Keychain is Apple's password manager that's built into all of its devices. If you use iCloud Keychain on an iPhone ($500 at Best Buy) or iPad ($176 at Amazon), those usernames and passwords will also be available on your Mac. iCloud Keychain also stores your Wi-Fi network credentials, meaning you won't have to log into a Wi-Fi network on your Mac if you've previously connected to it on your iPhone. It's a good idea to turn on iCloud Keychain. 

Find My Mac works with the Find My app to help you track down a lost Apple device. I recommend turning on Find My Mac, even for a rig as large as an iMac ($990 at Best Buy) that's less likely to disappear, because you never know when you might end up with a lost or stolen MacBook. There's no drawback to turning it on.

If you have a MacBook, you'll also be tasked with setting up Touch ID, the fingerprint reader that unlocks your computer, lets you sign into apps or approve Apple Pay purchases. All of it is pretty straight-forward, just continue to follow the prompts, entering any required information such as your Apple ID or creating a user name, to finish the core of the setup process. 

Migration Assistant makes it easy to transfer all of your information. 

Apple

Restore from a Time Machine Backup

During setup, you'll be asked if you want to restore your new Mac from a Time Machine backup of another Mac through Migration Assistant. If so, you'll need the storage device your Time Machine backup is stored on. 

If you haven't backed up your old Mac through Time Machine, it's not too late. We have a guide that walks you through the process. Or if you'd rather directly transfer your files and settings from one Mac to another, Migration Assistant can do that, too. 

Follow the prompts in the Migration Assistant tool, selecting that you want to transfer your information from a Time Machine backup. Select the Time Machine drive that's connected to your new Mac, and select the most recent backup.  

Next, you'll be asked to confirm which information you want to transfer -- including home folders, applications, settings, user accounts and other miscellaneous documents. 

The process can take several hours, depending on how much you have to transfer. If it's going to be awhile, you don't have to babysit it. It's perfectly fine to leave your computer and go watch a show, let it process overnight, or even run some errands. 

One thing to keep in mind, and Migration Assistant will remind you if you run into this, is that your new Mac needs to be on the same OS update as your old Mac (or vice versa). So you may have to finish the setup process without using Migration Assistant, then update your OS (directions covering how to do that are below), and then run Migration Assistant. 

If you're switching from a PC to a Mac, you can use Apple's Migration Assistant, but the process is a little bit more involved and technical (just at the beginning). Apple walks you through the process in this support article. 

Once you have your Mac all set up, it's time to get to work! 

Sarah Tew/CNET

Install any software updates

Once you've completed the Setup Assistant and find yourself looking at your Mac's desktop, it's a good idea to check for any pending software updates. 

To do that, click on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen followed by System Preferences > Software Update. 

Once your Mac's software is up to date, you'll also want to check and make sure all of the preinstalled apps are updated in the App Store. Find the App Store icon in the app dock along the bottom of your screen. Click on it to open the App Store and then select Updates and then update any apps with pending updates. 

Now that you have your Mac all set up, it's a good idea to be prepared for any hiccups you may run into. Here are system tweaks you may want to make right away. If this is the first time you've used MacOS Big Sur, we have plenty of tips to help you get started. When your Mac inevitably slows down, learn how to speed it back up again. 

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Best Travel Coffee Mugs

Best travel coffee mugs

If you're serious about your coffee, then you know just how difficult it can be when you have to skip your morning pick-me-up. If you're in a hurry, you can always take your morning cuppa on the go with you, but you'll want to make sure it stays piping hot until you have a chance to actually enjoy it. Fortunately, there's a huge market for reusable, portable and environmentally friendly travel mugs out there, so regular coffee drinkers can partake without sacrificing any of the function or pleasure. Plus, lots of coffee shops will give you a discount for bringing in your own cup, so you can earn a little cash back along the way. 

Like a lot of people, you've probably already made the switch to a reusable water bottle, so a reusable coffee mug for your hot coffee or hot tea is the next logical step. But are you in the market for a stainless steel mug? For a ceramic travel mug with a flip lid? There are many travel cups to choose from.

That's why we've tested out all the leading brands to determine the best travel coffee mug for you. Whether you're looking for something that fits into a standard cup holder or an accessory with modern flair, these stylish travel mugs will keep your tea and coffee hot for hours, and a cold beverage chilled for just as long.

Read more: This $25 Device Makes Iced Coffee in a Minute

Amazon

Coffee drinkers rejoice! Imagine the amazing insulated power of a Yeti cooler -- they're the standard for fishermen and people who like the outdoors -- but as an insulated coffee mug in the palm of your hand. This double-wall vacuum insulation stainless tumbler has great insulation. It keeps your morning coffee piping hot and safe well into the afternoon and the genius magnet sliding lid comes apart when it's time to throw it all in the dishwasher to clean (yes, this baby is dishwasher safe), should that be an option. This vacuum insulated coffee mug is also the perfect size for most car cup holders when you're driving through the great outdoors -- or just, um, to the office. Yeti Rambler tumbler is a stainless steel travel mug and is also available in a standard mug size with handle.

Amazon

If you're picky about your coffee, you probably have opinions on reusable coffee mugs, too. This durable super-chic to-go mug comes in neutral shades and has a stainless steel insulated cup that keeps coffee or tea safe at the same temp for up to six hours. Yasssss. The lid spins off to reveal an opening that you can sip from at any angle and the sleek design on this coffee travel mug is totally museum-worthy.

Amazon

No shame if you're the coffee drinker who gets more coffee on your clothes than in your mouth whenever you're carrying a cup on the go. Thankfully, this one has a spill proof lid. (Maybe you've heard of Contigo's Autoseal technology? It's good. Real good.) This reusable coffee canteen, which holds 16 ounces of your favorite brew, will keep your coffee safe and leak proof. It's also slim enough to fit in a car cup holder, which means even the bumpiest of rides won't threaten the heat of your morning joe. You can practically take this cup of coffee with you anywhere.

Amazon

This attractive 18-ounce insulated tumbler comes in a ton of amazing shades and designs, but it's not just a pretty face: This insulated travel mug is made from durable stainless steel and is triple-walled with insulation so that you'll never get condensation on your hands. But also, did we mention that it's p-r-e-e-e-e-e-t-t-y? Use this gorgeous and reusable coffee cup around the house to drink hot or cold beverages and find one that matches your decor (yes, that's a thing). Heads up, you have to purchase the lid separately if you want to take this one on the go.

Amazon

This is the travel mug for when your work bag is already loaded with notebooks, an iPad, your laptop and a million random receipts from heaven knows where. Made out of super-light, leak-proof BPA-free silicone, this travel coffee cup collapses to just 2.5 inches thick, meaning you can tote it practically anywhere without adding bulk to your bag. Plus, when your beverage needs a heat, it's microwave-safe. Hot tip: This Stojo collapsible cup also comes with a straw for when the iced coffee season hits and you want to swap a piping hot drink like hot java to a cold drink like cold brew, cold coffee, or iced tea. The collapsible travel cup is simply convenient. This reusable cup and the silicone lid last a lifetime.

Amazon

This stylish sipper holds 12 ounces of your beverage of choice and is made in the USA from soda-lime glass, which means it's easily recyclable when you're done with it eventually. It's safe to microwave, in case you want your beverage piping hot and even though it's glass, it's lightweight enough to carry with you on your morning coffee run. Thankfully, the cork band keeps your hands safe from burning and the BPA-free leak-proof lid and plug are dishwasher-safe.

More for coffee and other beverage enthusiasts:

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• The Best Travel Coffee Mugs
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'The Rings of Power': All the Tolkien Terminology You Need to Know

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'The Rings of Power': All the Tolkien Terminology You Need to Know

There's a reason folks who know a ton about the works of JRR Tolkien are often referred to as scholars. Watching The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit is the tip of a genuinely massive iceberg, which is why a lot of people who enjoyed the films are a little confused about what's happening in all of the trailers for the upcoming Amazon series The Rings of Power. 

But don't panic! You don't need to read an epic tome or watch 20 hours of Extended Editions to appreciate this new series when it comes to Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 2. Armed with whatever you remember from the last time you watched The Lord of the Rings and this quick terminology guide, you'll be prepared to enjoy this series without feeling terribly lost at these words you've never heard used in the movies before.

The Second Age

The Rings of Power takes place before what you've seen in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but not like 10 years back like you might see in lots of other prequel stories. The Rings of Power takes place thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit, during a period of time referred to as the Second Age. In this world, large segments of time are separated by major global events. For example, the scene at the end of The Lord of the Rings where everyone gets on those boats and sails away marks the end of The Third Age.

One of the cool things about The Rings of Power telling a story in the Second Age is that we'll get to see characters we've only previously experienced through legend and flashback, as well as ancient characters from the movies when they were young. Elves live impossibly long lives unless they are murdered, so in this series there will be character names we've heard before like Galadriel and Elrond and Isildur but much, much younger versions of the people we've already met. 

Harfoots (pronounced har-foots)

One of the Harfoots, a race seen in The Rings of Power and ancestor of Hobbits.

Amazon Prime Video

You may have noticed in all of the trailers for The Rings of Power there are no Hobbits, at least not as you'd recognize them from the movies. There's a very good reason for this: Hobbits don't exist yet! Where Elves, Dwarves, and even Men of The Second Age live long lives and accomplish great deeds, the ancestors of Hobbits have lifespans much closer to an average human here in the real world. That means their evolution happens much faster than the other races of Middle-earth, and what we will see in The Rings of Power are one of the ancestors of Third Age Hobbits, known in this time as Harfoots. 

Unlike the Stoors and Fallohides, which are other races that eventually come together with Harfoots to become Hobbits, the little folk we will see in Rings of Power are nomadic gatherers. They live off the land, with a more earthy and natural look to their clothing and behavior. A few of these Harfoots have been spotted in the trailers already, complete with the tell-tale hairy feet and shorter stature. Unlike Third Age Hobbits, Tolkien described many Harfoots as being darker skinned and are on average smaller than the characters you already know. 

Expect Harfoots to play a pivotal role in this series, even if they don't get as much screen time as the films' Hobbits.

Silvan Elves (pronounced sil-vn)

Arondir's armor from The Rings of Power, on display at San Diego Comic Con 2022

Katie Aiani

One of the coolest costumes seen in trailers for The Rings of Power so far belongs to the character Arondir, who is not mentioned in any of JRR Tolkien's works. Arondir was created as a new character out of necessity; the race he represents is mentioned several times across Tolkien's works but never given the same kind of attention as many of the other races in Middle-earth. 

Arondir is a Silvan Elf, and according to Tolkien these elves are separated from the others and scattered across multiple worlds. Those who made it to Middle-earth have a deep connection to nature, which is why you see Arondir in a wooden breastplate with a tree spirit or Green Man carved into it. What survives of Silvan Elves in the Second Age become part of Lorien, the area of Middle-earth we see Galadriel as ruler of in The Lord of the Rings. 

Outside of looking very cool, Arondir and other Silvan Elves we see will be unique and stand out quite a bit from the Elves of this time.

Valinor (pronounced vali-nor)

The first image Amazon Prime Video shared from The Rings of Power was a still shot of Valinor with the two trees still alive. 

Amazon Prime Video

The Elves you have seen across all of Tolkien's movies -- and soon this TV series -- live in Middle-earth, but they are not from Middle-earth. The Elves as we see them migrated to Middle-earth from a place called Valinor, a massive land with multiple cities and its own separate constructs of time and life. The way Elves and other creatures of Valinor lived while there is wildly different from the way they live in Middle-earth. 

Elves left Valinor and came to Middle-earth because they had no choice: The two trees that allowed life to exist in Valinor were destroyed by a giant spider called Ungoliant and another being called Morgoth. Ungoliant would later give birth to the giant spider Shelob, who nearly kills Bilbo and Frodo in their respective stories. Morgoth passes his darkness to his pupil Sauron, who changes his name to Annatar when he went into hiding from those chasing the remnants of Morgoths army.

Valinor would eventually become a place Elves wish to return to, which you see at the end of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The ships Bilbo, Frodo and other board at the end of the movie are traveling back to Valinor. Being allowed to return home before that point was considered a great honor, so when it's mentioned you will usually hear it in a grand context.

Númenor (pronounced noo-menor)

From a trailer for The Rings of Power, the first shot of the kingdom of Númenor

Amazon Prime Video

We've seen the massive white city of Gondor and the far-reaching lands of the horse lords called Rohan, but there was another Kingdom of Men where Aragorn's ancestors came from called Númenor. This massive star-shaped island was home to Men who lived much longer than most of their contemporaries and could build lasting relationships with Elves and Dwarves. Like Aragorn, many of the people from this island were gifted fighters and great leaders.

The Men of Númenor aren't quite like the men of the rest of Middle-Earth. They live quite a bit longer thanks to their ancestry, which frequently leads to them being treated as something different from someone you would meet in Middle-earth proper. Most Men of this era have never been to Númenor, let alone recognize it as somehow ruling all Men of the era. 

Since this is the biggest kingdom of Men in the Second Age, there's a good chance a significant amount of this show will take place in Númenor. 

Khazad-dûm (pronounced k'hah-zahd-doom)

Elrond and a Dwarf walking through the underground city of Khazad-dûm in The Rings of Power.

Amazon Prime Video

Most folks only know the kingdom of the Dwarves as a tomb and home to an angry Balrog who loses a fight with Gandalf. In The Lord of the Rings, we know this massive underground city as Moria, but in the Second Age it was also known as Khazad-dûm. 

Unlike the scattered, separated version of the Dwarves we see in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, we're going to see Dwarves in their prime throughout The Rings of Power. This is before the Arkenstone and the incident with Smaug, and before the Balrog is awakened in Moria. (All of that happens in the Third Age.) Instead, we're going to see Durin and his kin as master crafters with political agency and hopefully a will to work with the other peoples of Middle-earth. 

And, unfortunately, we will probably also see whatever leads these proud people to retreat fully into their mountain. 

Lindon (pronounced lin-don)

Amazon Prime Video

Middle-earth is a big place, and at this point in the world's history there are a lot of Elvish territories that currently don't look like the ethereal land Galadriel rules or the civilized kingdom Elrond presides over in the movies. Before Lothlorien and Rivendell there was Lindon, ruled by High King Gil-galad. During most of the Second Age, Elrond actually works for Gil-galad as his herald because he is not yet considered a high-ranking Elf.

Lindon is, for most Elves, the harbor used to travel to either Númenor or Valinor depending on your purpose. It's a protected harbor and in many ways the space used for the army Gil-galad sends to fight Morgoth. For the purpose of this series, it's likely Lindon will be considered the political seat of power for the Elves. And because it's an Elven city, you can expect it to be staggeringly beautiful.

Eregion (pronounced eh-reh-gee-on)

Celebrimbor, lord of Eregion in The Rings of Power.

Amazon Prime Video

While Lindon is the seat of political power for the Elves, it's not where the action will likely take place during The Rings of Power. That honor will almost assuredly go to the Elf-controlled region in the western part of Middle-earth called Eregion at this time. Eregion is located a short distance from both Khazad-dûm and what will later be known as Mordor, which means it's close to our cool Dwarven characters and nicely located for battle scenes against Sauron's army of orcs. 

While Gil-galad is High King of all Elves, Eregion is led by Celebrimbor. As a descendant of Feanor, creator of the Silmarils (we'll get into those next), Celebrimbor has an unceasing desire to create something of real value for the peoples of Middle-earth. In the books, Celebrimbor and the other artists of his realm are guided by Annatar to make The Great Rings for all the kingdoms of Middle-earth. 

As you probably know, that doesn't go super well for everyone and takes a few thousand years plus a couple of Hobbits to fully deal with.

Silmarils (pronounced sil-mar-ils)

A representation of the three Silmarils embedded in Galadriel's dagger.

Amazon Prime Video

A common misunderstanding about The Rings of Power is that it will be based on stories told in The Silmarillion. As Amazon was unable to secure the rights to use The Silmarillion to craft the stories in The Rings of Power, the actual source material being used will instead be the Appendices in The Lord of The Rings. It's worth noting these pages contain a ton of the timeline elaborated upon in The Silmarillion, including three jewels called the Silmarils. These are powerful magic stones created from the power within the two trees that kept Valinor alive. Instead of using those stones to restore the trees that Ungoliant and Morgoth destroyed, the stones were stolen by Morgoth and embedded in his crown to make him more powerful. 

When Morgoth is eventually defeated during The First Age, the Silmarils remained behind while the Elves traveled to Middle-earth because they were too powerful to hold and drove otherwise reasonable people to lust for power. You can see a nod to the three Silmarils on Galadriel's ornamental dagger, and it will likely be a major point of discussion before Annatar becomes Sauron and forges the rings of power to give to all the leaders of Middle-earth.

While the creation of the rings will obviously be the focus of this series, the Silmarils which came before them are likely to be mentioned quite a bit in this series. 

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Don't Swap Your Gas-Guzzler for an Electric Vehicle to Avoid High Fuel Prices

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Don't Swap Your Gas-Guzzler for an Electric Vehicle to Avoid High Fuel Prices

This story is part of Plugged In, CNET's hub for all things EV and the future of electrified mobility. From vehicle reviews to helpful hints and the latest industry news, we've got you covered.

There are plenty of great reasons to consider an electric vehicle. They usually offer stellar performance, they're smooth and quiet to drive, you can do much of your "refueling" at home (meaning you never have to visit a gas station unless you need snacks or a bathroom break) and they have zero tailpipe emissions. But despite their considerable advantages, EVs still aren't for everyone, and they don't always make the most economic sense.

If you tow earth-moving equipment or haul gravel for a living, you're probably going to want a heavy duty diesel-powered pickup, because today's EVs aren't going to cut it. Likewise, if you reside in an apartment and don't have a parking space, much less a garage with a Level 2 charger, an electric vehicle may be a hard sell. But what if you're looking for relief from high fuel prices? EVs cost way less to "refuel," though they are often quite expensive upfront.

Let's say you own a midrange, Lariat-trim, 2022 Ford F-150 with four-wheel drive, the lovely 2.7-liter EcoBoost twin-turbocharged V6 and a standard 10-speed automatic transmission, a popular pickup configuration in the US. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, this big bad truck stickers at up to 19 mpg city, 24 mpg highway and 21 mpg combined; frightening figures compared to a Toyota Prius, but everything is relative. For a full-size truck, this rig is actually quite economical.

Electric vehicles offer instant torque for speedy acceleration. 

Nick Miotke/CNET

But what does it cost to fuel this full-size truck each year? Well, let's do a little math to figure it out. (Scary, I know!) According to AAA, at the time of writing the national average price for a gallon of regular-grade gasoline is about $4.24. This varies wildly from state to state: In California, the per-gallon price is around $5.88; on the opposite coast in Maryland, it's a much more reasonable $3.80. As reported by insurance comparison site The Zebra, Americans drive an average of 14,263 miles each year. To keep things simple, let's round up and say you travel 15,000 miles annually in your F-150 and average 21 mpg doing so (the EPA estimate). Dividing 15,000 by 21 means you're burning about 714 gallons of dinosaur juice per year. There are myriad variables on top of that, but we can simply multiply 714 by 4.24, which works out to an annual fuel bill of about $3,028. Ouch.

Now let's compare that traditional, combustion-powered pickup to the exciting, all-electric F-150 Lightning. In midrange XLT trim with the extended-range battery pack, this truck offers an estimated 320 miles of range. As for efficiency, this version of the Lightning should return 78 mpge city and 63 mpge highway, scores that result in a combined rating of 70 mpge. For reference, mpge is a way of quantifying how much energy is in a gallon of gasoline; it works out to about 33.7 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Next, according to the Energy Information Administration, the national average residential cost of electricity in the US was 13.72 cents per kWh in January 2022; we'll round up and say 14 cents per kWh. The Lightning's large battery pack clocks in at a husky 131 kilowatt-hours, so multiplying that by 0.14 means it would cost about $18.34 to completely recharge this truck from 0 to 100%. This is not something most people will ever do, because who wants to roll up to a charger with zero range? (Also, if you use public chargers, you'll probably be paying a lot more for the privilege.) Still, this is illustrative of how affordable it is to run an EV.

The Kia EV6 is one of our favorite new electric vehicles.

Antuan Goodwin/CNET

But now let's calculate how much it costs to run the Lightning for a year. We could base this off the EPA's estimated 48 kWh/100-mile efficiency figure, but let's do it just like we did with the standard F-150 above. Taking 15,000 miles per year and dividing that by 70 mpge, the combined "fuel economy" rating of this vehicle, gets you 214 "gallons" of electricity. Next, multiply 214 by 33.7, the equivalent number of kWh per gallon of gasoline and you get about 7,221 kWh. Multiply that figure by $0.14 and the result is roughly $1,011 in electricity per year. This is very close to the EPA's estimate of $950.

So, if it costs $3,028 to run the conventionally powered F-150 15,000 miles each year and just $1,011 to power the Lightning, the all-electric model is only one-third as expensive. The annual difference is a not insubstantial $2,017. What could you do with an extra two grand each year?

Combustion vs. Electric

	2022 Ford F-150 Lariat	2022 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT	2022 Honda Accord Sport	2022 Kia EV6 Wind
Vehicle Details	4WD, crew-cab body, 2.7-liter twin-turbo V6, 5.5-foot bed	4WD, crew-cab body, 5.5-foot bed, 131-kWh long-range battery	FWD, 1.5-liter turbo-four, continuously variable transmission	RWD, 77.4-kWh long-range battery
Range (miles)	Up to 546	320	Up to 488	310
City Efficiency (mpg or mpge)	19	78	30	134
Highway Efficiency (mpg or mpge)	24	63	38	101
Combined Efficiency (mpg or mpge)	21	70	33	117
EPA kWh/100 miles	N/A	48	N/A	29
As-Tested Price	$56,020	$74,269	$31,085	$48,255
Estimated Annual Fuel/Electricity Cost to Drive 15,000 Miles	$3,028	$1,011	$1,929	$605

What about payback (and I don't mean revenge) time? Well, that XLT-trim Lighting with the big battery and no options starts at $74,269, including $1,795 in destination fees. That's certainly pricey, but the top-shelf Platinum model is far richer, kicking off at nearly 93 grand. As for our old-fashioned Ford F-150 (a midrange, Lariat trim, crew-cab model with a 5.5-foot bed, four-wheel-drive and the standard equipment group), it stickers for around $56,020, also including $1,795 for delivery. Subtracting $56,020 from $74,269 means the Lightning is a whopping $18,249 pricier, more than the cost of a new Nissan Versa sedan.

Next, dividing the price delta between these trucks by the annual fuel/electricity cost difference means you'd have to own the Lightning for about nine years for your "fuel" savings to make up the price difference, though if you get a more expensive model, a higher-trim F-150 or the same variant with more options, the payback period compared to that all-electric Lighting will be shorter.

Not surprisingly, it's the same story with smaller vehicles. Take the lovely Kia EV6, for instance. This stylish and spacious hatchback is a great choice for folks that want to downsize from a truck and save a big chunk of change in the process. A long-range, Wind-trim, rear-drive EV6 offers 310 miles of range and stickers at 134 miles per gallon equivalent city, 101 mpge highway and 117 mpge combined. Calculating the EV6's efficiency like we did with the Lightning above reveals that the electricity needed to run this vehicle for 15,000 miles should cost around $605 per year, which is very close to the EPA's estimate of $550.

Despite the myriad benefits of owning an EV, sometimes it still makes more sense to keep your combustion-powered vehicle.

Steven Ewing/CNET

Comparing our miserly EV6 to a midrange Honda Accord Sport sedan, which is far more efficient than an F-150, is similarly revealing. With a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a continuously variable transmission and a combined fuel economy rating of 33 mpg, you'd be spending about $1,928 on fuel to drive this Honda for 15,000 miles... nearly 3.2 times more than the Kia. However, including destination and delivery, the Accord is far cheaper at a totally reasonable $31,085 compared to the EV6's $48,255 price tag. It's a difference of $17,170, which is slightly less than the delta between the standard F-150 and the Lightning. 

Dividing that figure by $1,323, the annual price difference of running the Accord compared to the Kia, works out to a payback period of nearly 13 years. In this case, it may make more sense to keep on driving the Accord even if you nearly faint every time you fill the tank.

The entirety of this discussion presupposes you're focused on prioritizing personal finances above all other concerns. But there's a bigger picture to consider: We haven't even discussed the negative environmental impact that burning fossil fuels or digging up rare earth minerals has on climate change, let alone the many and varied downstream costs that come home to roost societally as a result. Those sorts of long-term communal costs are clearly beyond the scope of this article, but they deserve to be considered.

At the end of the day, there are plenty of great reasons to get an electric vehicle, but if you're thinking about swapping your internal combustion-powered car or truck for a new EV just to save money at the pump, make sure to do the math first -- especially if your current ride is paid for -- because plugging in and making a change may not make economic sense for you, even with fuel prices in the stratosphere.

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The future of healthcare future healthcare future health biobank what the future of computers will look like what is the future of work what the future holds meaning what the future has in store what the hell what the peeper saw what s the weather

What the Future of Health Looks Like for Apple

What the Future of Health Looks Like for Apple

Apple's Health app keeps evolving, with aspirations to be a complete combination personal data archive, medical liaison and insight engine. But the goals, while ambitious, aren't fully realized yet. iOS 16 and WatchOS 9 are adding medication management and multistage sleep tracking to a growing list of features. But what comes next, and will it start to become a tool that interfaces with doctors even more than it has?

Apple just published a multipage health report (PDF), which aims to detail where the company sees its health focus heading on the iPhone and the Apple Watch. The report covers the app, research studies and initiatives with medical organizations.

As Google prepares to release a Pixel Watch that will connect to Fitbit's features and services, Apple looks to be strengthening its position by expanding beyond the watch to a larger spectrum of health services. Already, Apple Health and Fitness Plus are evolving into services you don't need an Apple Watch to use.

When will Health start to become an extension of how I connect with my own doctors? Will sleep tracking offer a doorway to other health insights? And why doesn't Apple have its own equivalent of the "readiness score" used by Fitbit and Oura?

Apple's vice president of health, Dr. Sumbul Desai, spoke with CNET about the goals of Apple Health and where goals are being set next. She sees the blend of lifestyle with clinical data, medication data and an increasing number of metrics in one place as helping future insights in other health measurements over time. 

"You have to do it in a really thoughtful and meaningful way," Desai said. "Because there are also correlations you can make that are incorrect. That's where the work is, making sure that when you make those connections that they are correct, grounded in the science and make sense to the user."

Medication tracking on iOS 16 looks like another step to bring medical histories onto Health.

Apple

Where does Apple Health meet your doctor?

As I've found over the last few months, over several surgeries and doctor visits, my own medical care doesn't often connect with my wearable and phone apps. Apple's been aiming to make strides to connect Apple Health with medical providers, but the framework isn't fully there yet for digital health platforms. A lot of Apple's promised benefits are in identifying long-term data patterns and insights.

"I do think how they interact with each other is really important," said Desai, who points to the new tracking of atrial fibrillation patterns over time in Watch OS 9. "We are actually taking how much time you're in AFib and correlating it to your lifestyle. How much you're sleeping. How much you're moving, you'll see the changes in AFib. If you're using Mindful Minutes, do you see a change."

Apple has tried making data sharing easier with doctors, but right now it still doesn't go far enough. At the medical group where I'm a patient, for instance, there's no obvious way to share the data I'm collecting in Apple Health through the patient portal.

Sleep tracking is gaining sleep stages in WatchOS 9. Will that bring a wave of other health insights down the road?

Apple

Sleep as the next frontier?

Apple's addition of sleep stage-based sleep tracking in the upcoming Watch OS 9 looks to close the gap on other fitness trackers like those from Fitbit, Samsung and Oura. Apple's been pulling new features for the Apple Watch from work in some of the company's ongoing heart research studies, and sleep could end up being a place that evolves next.

"What I'm really excited to learn from a scientific standpoint is, does the amount of sleep that you're getting in certain stages, like core [replenishing sleep], does that actually translate to benefit during the day when you're moving?" Desai said. "Are there certain phenotypes of certain people who have more benefit versus others? There's so much to tackle from a research standpoint there. We would never put anything out until we knew we kind of had some scientific grounding. The whole causation-correlation thing can get very tricky."

Desai suggested future research combining sleep stage data with Apple's ongoing heart and move data from its ongoing study will possibly provide more insights, "but we're still a ways away from that."

Could Apple ever develop its own readiness score?

One thing Apple's evolving and elaborate set of Health insights currently doesn't have is any sort of attempt at a distilled score, or personal health rating. Fitbit, Oura, and a number of other wearables have daily personal scores derived from a variety of individual metrics. I asked Desai whether Apple might pursue a similar idea anytime soon. While it sounds like a direction Apple Health could head in, it also seems like Apple is still trying to lock down the best path to get there.

"It's a really good question. I think the answer is, to be honest, is we don't have a firm POV yet," Desai said. "We want to understand the science behind that, and what can we understand and glean from a scientific standpoint."

Desai suggests that the health measurements, and their meanings, can vary. "HRV [heart rate variability] is a great metric. I'm super fascinated by HRV. But HRV can be changed based on multiple reasons." She suggested that Apple's eventual evolution of its insights will need to come with clear guidance, too.

"I think for us, we want to be able to provide actionable information. So to understand to do that, you actually have to be able to draw it back to, what we think is actually causing that? We are really trying to understand the science behind all of these different metrics and focus on how we provide insights that we know we can back up."

On whether Apple Health could come to other non-Apple devices

Apple's aiming for Health to be a comprehensive, secure system for anyone to use, but it still flows through Apple hardware, which means a portion of the population will always be left out. I asked Desai whether Apple Health might ever be available beyond iPhones.

"We're always looking at ways to support the ecosystem. We just want to make sure we can support that in a private and secure way. That's fundamentally what drives our decision making," Desai said. "We have a ton of things in the App Store ecosystem that are super interesting that people are doing, and we're very supportive of supporting that work.

"Honestly, we make a lot of decisions driven by privacy. And there's a lot of things we choose not to do and choose to do, based upon that."

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Dell XPS 12 review: A unique take on the convertible laptop/tablet

Dell XPS 12 review: A unique take on the convertible laptop/tablet

If you're one of the few who remember the original Dell Inspiron Duo from 2010, pat yourself on the back. Like that Duo, the new XPS 12 has a screen that swivels at the middle of the lid's sides, so it can rotate 180 degrees along its horizontal axis and end up facing out from the back of the lid's frame. This allows you to display the screen in what some call a "stand" mode, or else fold the clamshell shut to form a slate-style tablet.

While inventive, the original Duo was hobbled by a low-power Intel Atom processor and never lived up to its potential. Dell walked away from the Duo, which seemed doomed to be another too-early hardware leap, much like Dell's long-lost proto-ultrabook Adamo laptops.

Imagine my surprise when Dell announced that the Duo was back, originally showing us the system behind closed doors this summer. The new version, now part of the high-end XPS line, has gotten a massive physical upgrade. Now it's ultrabook-thin, with a slim metal frame around its screen, and a button-free clickpad. The new version trades up to current-gen Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors, along with solid-state-drive (SSD) storage, meaning that in terms of hardware it can stand toe-to-toe any mainstream ultrathin laptop.

Between our preview this summer and now, the biggest change has been in the name. Dell has decided to drop the "Duo" branding altogether (perhaps it still has negative connotations) and simply call this the XPS 12. That's certainly apt for a laptop with 12-inch display, but I do miss the descriptive nature of the Duo moniker -- now there's nothing in the name to indicate this laptop's special physical features.

The XPS 12 starts at $1,199 for a Core i5 CPU and 128GB SSD, and goes up to $1,699 for the hardware we tested, with a Core i7 CPU and a 256GB SSD.

This is one of the first laptops with Windows 8, the new touch- and tablet-friendly OS, and it's meant to be used as both a traditional laptop and a tablet. But when evaluating new hardware and new software at the same time, the question is: how much of the user experience in the XPS 12 comes from Dell, and how much from Microsoft? In an Apple laptop, it's fair to consider software and hardware together, as a single company is responsible for both. For Windows-based systems, it's sometimes hard to tell on which side of the fence the faults lie.

And, there are faults. Even though the XPS 12 is a slim, well-built, and frankly ambitious convertible, it works better as a laptop than as a tablet. In the closed, slate mode, it's obvious that the Windows 8 operating system still doesn't always know what to do with your apps and fingers. The not-Metro interface (my own shorthand name for the Windows 8 tile-based UI) works fine, but jumping into apps, even Windows 8-specific ones such as Internet Explorer 10, can yield unpredictable results.

For example, at this point, nearly everyone in the universe uses some form of Web-based e-mail, but Gmail navigation on the small screen in IE10 is tough. Shift the screen just a bit and the orientation changes, with just enough lag to be annoying. Tapping on a text field sometimes brings up the Windows 8 onscreen keyboard, sometimes not (and it takes several steps to call it up otherwise).

That onscreen keyboard is miles ahead of previous Windows ones, but the layout of some keys is counterintuitive, and I ran into just enough lag to make using the Shift and Caps Lock keys especially troublesome.

But, these are the same problems I've found on other Windows 8 systems, so is it fair to lay them at Dell's feet? On the excellent Acer Aspire S7, the touch screen was a secondary experience, mainly used for finger-swiping and scrolling. On the XPS 12, you're expected to use touch much more. And as a touch-screen laptop, the XPS 12 works well. Folded up as a slate, it's still not an entirely satisfying tablet experience.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$1,699 / $1,199
Processor	1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U
Memory	4GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	256GB SSD
Chipset	Intel QS77
Graphics	Intel HD 4000
Operating system	Windows 8
Dimensions (WD)	8.5x12.5 inches
Height	0.6-0.8 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	12.5 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	3.4 pounds / 4 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

Design and features
Aside from the swiveling lid, the XPS 12 shares an overall design with Dell's other recent high-end laptops, such as the XPS 14 and XPS 15. All are thin, with full or partial metal construction and dark accents. When closed, the XPS 12 looks like any small ultrabook, although at nearly 3.5 pounds, it feels dense and sturdy.

The interior is minimalist, with only the keyboard and touch pad. A power button, in the uncommon form of a slider switch, is located along the left edge, and most other functions, from the Wi-Fi antenna switch to volume control, are mapped to the row of Function keys. The wrist rest, keyboard, and keys are all matte black, with a powdery finish that resists fingerprints and nicely offsets the metal trim along the outer edge.

The XPS 12's island-style keyboard is similar to the ones found on most current laptops. In Dell's version, the keys have more-rounded corners than most, and the top row of Function keys is half-height. Typing was comfortable and accurate, and the keyboard is backlit.

The buttonless clickpad is only used when the system is set up as a traditional clamshell laptop. It's a good size, considering this is a small laptop, and works well for general pointing and navigation. But, again, Windows 8 sometimes seems to not know what to do with touch-pad gestures. With some apps and Web pages, two-finger scrolling works well, other times it's too fast and jumpy, and still other times, it's very slow. Trying to execute Windows 8 moves such as displaying the Charms bar or calling up the Taskbar is a pain on a touch pad, and I usually found myself performing these tasks via the touch screen.

The biggest feature here, as previously described, is the rotating screen. Unlike other convertible laptops with rotating screens that swivel along the vertical axis via a central hinge, the XPS 12 rotates along the horizontal axis, flipping end over end. This is possible because the screen is placed inside a thin metal all-around frame, hinged in the center of the left and right sides.

The screen mechanism feels well-designed, and it stays in the traditional laptop position without slipping. Dell says the mechanism has been tested to 20,000 cycles, and it certainly feels sturdy enough.

When you want to flip the screen, a gentle push pops it out of the frame, and it rotates freely, locking in again at 180 degrees; this leaves the screen pointing out from the back of the lid, making it easy to show your screen to someone sitting opposite you (the motion sensor automatically flips the screen image over, so everything appears right-side-up). From there, you can push the lid all the way closed, so the keyboard and touch pad are inside the clamshell but the display is pointing up, making this a slate-style tablet.

When the XPS 12 is folded down as a tablet, you can access the onscreen keyboard built into Windows 8. As I mentioned above, it's thankfully better than the onscreen keyboards in previous Microsoft operating systems, with responsive, well-spaced keys. I found the Shift key would lag a little occasionally, leading to some typing mistakes, and you'll have to spend some time getting used to the layout, which is slightly different from that of the iPad's familiar onscreen keyboard. Besides the standard keyboard layout, there are also split-key and handwriting options.

The biggest difficulty I encountered was the onscreen keyboard not popping up when it should have, in Google Docs, for example. If you need to call up the onscreen keyboard manually, it's an unintuitive procedure, requiring too many steps (slide out the Charms bar from the right side of the screen; tap Settings, tap Keyboard, then pick the style of keyboard you need).

The 12.5-inch screen has a native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels, which is incredibly high for an ultraportable laptop. The Windows 8 not-Metro interface scales nicely to it, but Web pages and the traditional Windows desktop view can look very shrunken. Fortunately, the display's pinch-to-zoom feature works great, much as it does on an iPad or Android tablet. That said, I found some Web sites didn't render correctly after pinching to zoom, and in Google Docs, for example, the onscreen cursor and the zoomed view didn't quite match up.

Audio was predictably thin, but fine for basic online video watching. Interestingly, the original Dell Duo had a sold-separately docking stand with bigger speakers built in.

	Dell XPS 12	Average for category [ultraportable]
Video	DisplayPort	HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 3.0, SD card reader	2 USB 3.0, SD card reader
Networking	802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet (via dongle), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	None

Expandability, performance, and battery life
With such a small body, the port selection on the Dell XPS 12 is likewise slim. The most notable deviation from the norm is the video output -- you get a DisplayPort output, rather than the more common HDMI.

Dell offers four base configurations of the XPS 12 (the unit I reviewed is the most expensive one). The entry-level model starts at $1,199 for a Core i5 CPU and 128GB SSD, and by adding either a Core i7 CPU, a larger 256GB SSD, or both, you can take it all the way up to $1,699. Several of the more design-heavy Windows 8 laptops we've seen have targeted that premium price range, but a $1,600 laptop is still a very tough sell, no matter how clever its engineering.

With an Intel Core i7 low-voltage CPU and 8GB of RAM, the XPS 12 was predictably fast in our benchmark tests. Honestly, if you're interested in this system, the lower-end Core i5 configurations will be more than fine for everyday Web surfing, productivity, and media playback tasks.

Battery life was, unfortunately, not the strongest in this laptop. That's a shame, as this is a slim system clearly intended for travel or use as an untethered tablet. In our video playback battery drain test, the XPS 12 ran for 4 hours and 43 minutes, which is on the low side for an ultraportable laptop -- especially one with a power-efficient SSD hard drive. Anecdotally, while using this laptop I found myself reaching for the A/C adapter more often than I'd expected.

Conclusion
The Dell XPS 12 is unique among the Windows 8 laptops we've previewed and reviewed, offering a different take on the convertible laptop/tablet concept. At the same time, it's not exactly an original idea, being based on one of Dell's previous high-concept designs, the Inspiron Duo.

The flip-screen construction is surprisingly practical for sharing your screen with others, and using a touch screen with a keyboard and touch pad works well in Windows 8. But it's hard to justify spending $1,699 when the XPS 12 doesn't entirely satisfy as a slate-style tablet, even if Microsoft shoulders most of the responsibility for that. If you're in love with the XPS 12's design, I'd suggest sticking to the less expensive configurations.

Find out more about how we test laptops.

System configurations:

Dell XPS 12
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 32MB (Shared) Intel HD 4000; 256GB Lite-On IT SSD

Sony Vaio Duo 11
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 6GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 32MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 128GB Toshiba SSD

Toshiba Satellite U925t
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 32MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 128GB Samsung SSD

Asus Zenbook Prime UX32VD
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 620M / 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 500GB Hitachi 5,400rpm

Vizio Thin and Light CT14-A2
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 256GB Toshiba SSD

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