Mac Studio system preferences — documented here so they can be replicated on a fresh install. Each page shows current values and the defaults write commands to reproduce them.
System Settings
macOS preferences worth knowing about
Desktop & Dock
Current settings (Mac Studio):
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Dock Size | 80px |
| Auto-hide | Off |
| Show Recent Apps | Off |
| Hot Corner — Bottom Left | Application Windows |
| Hot Corner — Bottom Right | Desktop |
To replicate on a new Mac:
defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 80
defaults write com.apple.dock show-recents -bool false
defaults write com.apple.dock wvous-bl-corner -int 3
defaults write com.apple.dock wvous-br-corner -int 4
killall Dock
Displays
Resolution, Night Shift schedule, and True Tone. Use “More Space” for extra screen real estate.
Keyboard
Current settings (Mac Studio):
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Key Repeat Rate | 2 (Fast) |
| Delay Until Repeat | 15 (Short) |
| Press and Hold | Disabled (ApplePressAndHoldEnabled = false) — key repeat works instead of accent popup |
Text expansion is handled by Typinator rather than macOS built-in text replacements.
To replicate on a new Mac:
defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 2
defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 15
defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false
Login Items
Background items (launchd agents): 15 custom agents running under com.bee.*, com.beedifferent.*, and com.edmd.* prefixes. See Cron Jobs & Scheduled Tasks for the full list.
Key persistent services:
| Agent | Purpose |
|---|---|
com.beedifferent.hugo-hub |
Bee Hub docs site on LAN (:1313) |
com.beedifferent.embed-server |
gte-Qwen2-7B embeddings on MPS (:1235) |
com.beedifferent.life-archive-api |
Life Archive RAG API (:8900) |
com.beedifferent.life-archive-mcp-http |
Life Archive MCP server (:8901) |
com.beedifferent.syncthing |
Syncthing file sync |
com.edmd.check-telegram-bridge |
Gotify-Telegram bridge health monitor (every 30 min) |
List all custom agents:
launchctl list | grep -E 'beedifferent|com.bee|com.edmd'
Privacy & Security
Control which apps access your files, camera, microphone, and location. Manage Full Disk Access here.
Trackpad
Current settings (Mac Studio):
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Tap to Click | Enabled |
| Three-finger Drag | Not enabled (via Accessibility → Pointer Control → Trackpad Options) |
Note: Mac Studio primarily uses a mouse. Trackpad settings matter more for the MacBook.
To replicate on a new Mac:
defaults write com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad Clicking -bool true