At the end of last week's entry, 01, I said the next one would cover "the first AI tools I installed after getting the new MacBook."

Here is the promised homework.

In my second week with the new MacBook, the most honest description is not that I have been transformed, but that the places where things used to stick really have become smoother.

The browser has filled 48 GB of memory. Codex and the Dedao Brain desktop app have entered my daily routine. An external monitor has helped me set up a two-screen, two-AI workflow, and along the way I made a list of the Mac software I use as a painter.

But first, something counterintuitive.

48 GB of memory, filled by a browser in a week

When I bought 48 GB of memory, someone commented: going straight to that much without a clear need was quite forward-looking.

I replied that, as a freelancer, I was free to do any kind of work. That included being free to give my computer a workout.

Then, in the second week, I opened Activity Monitor and saw that all 48 GB was in use, and swap memory had come into play too.

The culprit was not professional software. It was the browser.

I tend to keep many web pages open, and a single page can sometimes use 1 GB of memory. Open ten or more, and ten or more gigabytes are gone. Add Codex, the Dedao Brain desktop app, and WeChat, and what sounds like a lot of memory turns out to be just enough.

If you are deciding how much memory to buy in a MacBook, that may offer a point of reference.

The old computer could open a dozen pages too. Its slowness was just a dull ache. You stopped noticing once you got used to it. Like someone accustomed to stairs moving into a building with an elevator: you do not suddenly feel that you walk faster, but you begin to feel willing to go to higher floors.

I am rather insensitive to these things. A few seconds faster or slower does not register much.

But seeing 48 GB fill up within a week made me realize:

I thought I was buying spare capacity. In fact, I was buying just enough.

Replacing a MacBook does not replace your life; it changes the friction

Honestly, by the second week with the new computer, I did not feel especially excited.

I waited until now to replace a thirteen-year-old MacBook not because I could not afford it, but because I truly had not needed to.

There were things I could not do before, such as install new AI tools or even update WeChat on the old operating system. I simply left them undone, and it did not seem a big deal. Had they been essential, I would have found a way to upgrade the hardware long ago, rather than waiting thirteen years.

The new computer arrived, and life did not change.

I was still doing the same things: painting, sketching from life, reflecting on creative work, and organizing material.

The new computer does the work the old one did. Faster? Probably. But for someone like me, who is not very sensitive to speed, a few seconds either way feels much the same.

So what is different?

I can install things.

I can install the latest WeChat and use newer features, such as viewing images in comments. I can install Codex to run automation projects, and the Dedao Brain desktop app to make recording and writing easier.

The frustration of being blocked by an operating system version is gone.

It is less about one dazzling feature than about no longer being kept outside the door.

It does not feel like getting a new life. It feels more like getting a pair of shoes that fits. New shoes do not suddenly teach you to run, but when your feet stop hurting, you naturally walk a little further.

That sums up this week: I have not used the computer particularly intensively, and have mostly continued doing things the old laptop could do. They are simply smoother now, with fewer moments of "Never mind, I cannot install that."

The timing of the upgrade also happened to fit.

AI is changing rapidly, and my own understanding has been changing too, after more than half a year of using AI on mobile devices. The old system could no longer handle the new tools. Replacing the computer felt natural.

After all, most people would have replaced a thirteen-year-old machine long ago. I simply waited until the moment it really made sense for me.

Two screens, two AIs: a painter's Mac workflow

The two applications that truly became part of my everyday workflow this week were Codex and the Dedao Brain desktop app.

I connected a 27-inch monitor, put a main application on each screen, and moved the mouse back and forth between the two.

Codex: research + editing

More than simple questions and answers, it handles a sequence of actions.

For example, I ask it to look for twenty artists in a similar style with more than ten thousand followers, listing the follower counts alongside them. The result becomes material to collect for my WeChat publication, with a big improvement in efficiency.

After writing an article, I also give it to Codex for an editing pass, asking it to read like an editor of online writing: is the hook strong enough, does the emotional tone work, and are there contradictions?

Last night, I tried something more adventurous. After a Codex update, I asked it to build a personal portfolio website. When it finished, the site did not open properly on my computer. I still need to check whether the issue is the domain, deployment, or the connection between them. But with AI now, there always seems to be a way to break a blockage into smaller problems and continue.

Dedao Brain desktop app: collecting + recording + writing

It records what I see, hear, think, and feel each day. It also collects articles and videos from different platforms as material for learning and writing.

Previously, I tapped away on my phone and iPad, and used the web version on the old laptop. Now that everything is in a desktop application, the experience feels entirely different.

I send finished writing to both Xiaobu in Dedao Brain and Codex. With their comments side by side, the final judgment remains mine. But an extra pair of eyes makes me feel much more secure.

I also keep an "Ask Runyu" mini program open on the second monitor.

It is a tool from an annual paid community I joined a few months ago. I mainly use it as another reference when thinking about how to run my work. I do not use it every day, but when judging a topic, a product, or a direction for content, it offers another place to look.

How I use the ports

Of the new laptop's three Thunderbolt ports, one connects to an external drive and another to a hub. The hub holds the microphone, mouse, and a second external drive with a USB-A connection.

HDMI goes to the monitor, and charging uses the magnetic MagSafe connector. That leaves a USB-C port free for a gimbal camera later.

Beyond these physical connections, I am using the links within Apple's ecosystem too. Occasionally, I open a chat window on an iPad. The continuity features let one keyboard and mouse work across the laptop and iPad, which is convenient. iPhone Mirroring is useful too: I no longer need to pick up the phone just to read a verification code in a text message.

A small tip

The new MacBook's keyboard picks up marks very easily. For someone like me, who eats at the computer, wiping it with a lens cloth once a day has become routine. A few days ago, I lost patience and bought a keyboard cover for 15 yuan. Since I type on a Bluetooth mechanical keyboard, the cover hardly affects how typing feels. It mainly protects the laptop keyboard from crumbs and splashes when I eat or snack.

A painter's Mac software list

Last week, a reader asked what I had installed. Here is what I currently keep.

This is not a recommendation list, just a record of my own Mac setup. Everyone's workflow is different; take what fits your needs.

AI tools

Codex: research + editing + automation

Dedao Brain desktop app: collecting + recording + writing

Ask Runyu mini program: another reference for decisions about running my work

Productivity tools

Jianying: video post-production

DaVinci Resolve: video post-production

OBS: livestreaming

Polarr: photo editing

Typora: writing

Drawing and painting

Affinity: vector + raster work

Clip Studio: comics / illustration

Everyday applications

WeChat

QQ

QQ Music

Baidu Netdisk

Quark cloud storage

A third-party browser

Network tools

Other things

Steam: I installed the Windows version through Tencent App Store and bought Sniper Elite 5. I had been interested in it on the Nintendo Switch but thought it was a little expensive. Now that the computer could run it, keyboard and mouse seemed the better way to play, and a sale made it much cheaper.

A few games I installed and then deleted: Don't Starve, Fight for the Golden Spatula, and Honor of Kings. I downloaded Fight for the Golden Spatula through Tencent App Store, with AI-assisted tips. For a relaxed novice player like me, that was quite friendly.

Installing software is a little like painting: cover the surface first, then take things away. What remains is what you really need.

Week two: no transformation, but things are smoother

At the end of 01, I said I wanted to see whether I could push the limits of 48 GB.

After the second week, I have hardly set out to push anything. Instead, the need for 48 GB has found me on its own. Multiple browser pages fill it without any deliberate effort.

The biggest change this week was not suddenly creating something earth-shattering with the new computer. It was the disappearance of many small obstacles that used to make me stop.

I can install new tools, open more pages, run Codex and Dedao Brain together, and move between reference material, writing, and editing across two screens.

It has not transformed me, but it has made things smoother.

In the third week, I want to do something the old computer could not: run a complete creative project with Codex, from research to a finished draft, and see how far one person with a new MacBook can go.

And, along the way, see whether I can get the portfolio website made in week three.