The most efficient way to use your MacBook

Introduction

My computer usage history is quite diverse. As any 90s kid, I started off — of course — with Windows. The first experience using a computer was at my cousin’s place using his Windows 98 and then Windows 2000 setup. I felt right at home — it was exciting to use a computer and I was hooked. Once I convinced my parents to get my own PC, Windows XP was already out and therefore I consider Windows XP as my first true computing experience.

Initially without Internet, Minesweeper, Ping Pong and store bought games and Paint filled all my computing needs. I was spending quite some time playing games. I enjoyed Stronghold, Age of Empires and Tony Hawk.

Fast forward to Windows 7 — a more polished operating system arrived — and I loved it. It felt modern to me. I grew up with it and it was my main operating system until I started with university where the need for a laptop arose. I started my computer science studies with a switch to macOS and bought myself a new MacBook Air 13.3 running macOS Mountain Lion. I loved the experience.

The Big Change

I noticed something during the beginning of university: There were three types of people. The Windows kids, the Apple fanboys and the Linux nerds. And as I studied computer science, the split was more like 10% Windows, 50% Linux and 40% macOS. And my curiosity kicked in. What is Linux like? Why is everyone using it? And why on earth is everyone running Linux on these office laptops called ThinkPads. But I got curious and wanted to see what the experience was. And so I bought myself an X240 ThinkPad and installed Arch Linux on it. Yes, you read that right. I didn’t start with Ubuntu, I went full nerd and installed Arch.

Additionally to Arch, I found the unixporn subreddit and the concept of a tiling window manager was introduced to me. Therefore, I went and installed i3wm and I loved it. Once I played around I started to use this system more and more in daily tasks and kind of switched over from my MacBook. Eventually, I bought myself an X1 Carbon 14inch and used Linux as my main operating system for 1,5 years.

The Switchback

Due to work reasons and the interest in mobile app engineering, I switched back to a MacBook in early 2019. My love for Linux is still there and I kept my X240 as a “tinkering device”. I’ve used 15inch MacBook Pros and then a 14inch MacBook Pro and recently a MacBook Pro 16 inch with an M2 Processor. The main reason for the 16inch device is that I’m constantly on the road and I need the screen real estate to work efficiently. 14inch was too small and felt slightly cramped to work with. But I was missing the ease of use of a tiling window manager, especially when you are working only on a laptop without an external monitor. And then I stumbled upon something magical for macOS.

AeroSpace — The Missing Tiling Window Manager for macOS

AeroSpace is a tiling window manager for macOS inspired by i3. It came into my life in the middle of 2025 and it felt like I finally got what I wanted: macOS merged with i3-like window tiling.

For work on the laptop it’s a godsend. Once you get used to working with a tiling window manager (I was already due to my time with i3) it’s like a cheat code. Navigating around macOS feels so much quicker and snappier and I don’t have to move my hands to the trackpad as often. It feels like a 50% speed improvement over regular swiping navigation.

Together with a quick app launcher like Raycast working on a laptop is extremely efficient. It’s so efficient that I also switched to working on a single monitor on my desk as I feel like it’s much better and I can focus better on tasks when having quick access to everything with a keyboard shortcut away.

Conclusion

Go try it out, it’s magic. Window tiling managers are your cheat code to a much more efficient and speedy navigation on macOS. It’s extremely addictive and I’d love for everyone to experience it. But I get that it’s nerdy and not for everyone, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt.

Cheers, Michael