Working at desk, iMac or Macbook Pro docked?
Discussion
For years I've always had an iMac and a Macbook Pro, but after spending over £3k on my last Macbook pro (2019) I've realised that it was a complete waste of money, as I simply just don't use it enough to justify it's cost. My iMac on the other has been my primary machine for years, and has paid for itself many times over.
I'm contemplating buying an Apple Studio Display to replace my iMac, and just docking my Macbook Pro instead. It's more powerful than my iMac, and it means when it comes to upgrading to Apple Silicone I'll only need to replace one machine instead of two. For the handful of times a year I need a portable device, I can simply undock.
At the minute, I can't see any downsides, but I'm wondering if I've missed something? Are there any negatives?
I'm contemplating buying an Apple Studio Display to replace my iMac, and just docking my Macbook Pro instead. It's more powerful than my iMac, and it means when it comes to upgrading to Apple Silicone I'll only need to replace one machine instead of two. For the handful of times a year I need a portable device, I can simply undock.
At the minute, I can't see any downsides, but I'm wondering if I've missed something? Are there any negatives?
I really can't think of any downsides to that option. I've only seen them in Apple Stores, but that display is about as good as it gets. The only area that you could argue is a downside is price, but the display does more than just work as a monitor. When you look at the inbuilt camera and microphones (presumably meant to work with Mac Studio), plus the inbuilt speaker system, it's clearly got more features than most monitors. If you're planning to use it with a 'closed' MacBook, the camera and speakers will be useful. The other plus point is that it's a 5k display - allowing you to edit 4k objects and still have room for toolbars etc around the object that you're editing.
What's not to like (apart from the price)??
What's not to like (apart from the price)??
I'm also contemplating this. I have a 2009 27" iMac which has done me proud over the years, it's still working well running Mavericks via a patch. Was waiting for a 27" or even 30" replacement, but doesn't look like Apple will make one.
I also have a 2013 Air which I may replace with a new M2 and then get a display, this will replace the iMac. I'm not too fused about getting an Apple display, may just get a good quality Dell or similar, save some £.
I also have a 2013 Air which I may replace with a new M2 and then get a display, this will replace the iMac. I'm not too fused about getting an Apple display, may just get a good quality Dell or similar, save some £.
Magnum 475 said:
I really can't think of any downsides to that option. I've only seen them in Apple Stores, but that display is about as good as it gets. The only area that you could argue is a downside is price, but the display does more than just work as a monitor. When you look at the inbuilt camera and microphones (presumably meant to work with Mac Studio), plus the inbuilt speaker system, it's clearly got more features than most monitors. If you're planning to use it with a 'closed' MacBook, the camera and speakers will be useful. The other plus point is that it's a 5k display - allowing you to edit 4k objects and still have room for toolbars etc around the object that you're editing.
What's not to like (apart from the price)??
I'd be happy with a different monitor, it doesn't HAVE to be the Apple Studio Display, but for me, it has very little competition. I'd said this on here before, but I absolutely love the 5k monitor that comes with the iMac, when you're coding, the text is just so crisp and clear.What's not to like (apart from the price)??
megaphone said:
I'm also contemplating this. I have a 2009 27" iMac which has done me proud over the years, it's still working well running Mavericks via a patch. Was waiting for a 27" or even 30" replacement, but doesn't look like Apple will make one.
I also have a 2013 Air which I may replace with a new M2 and then get a display, this will replace the iMac. I'm not too fused about getting an Apple display, may just get a good quality Dell or similar, save some £.
One issue I have is that my iMac is setup to be worked on every day. The odd time I think about picking up my Macbook, because it hardly gets used, everything needs updating and then I just can't be bothered, so I put it back down.I also have a 2013 Air which I may replace with a new M2 and then get a display, this will replace the iMac. I'm not too fused about getting an Apple display, may just get a good quality Dell or similar, save some £.
At least this way, I can just undock and crack on where I left off.
I'm just not sure how well the batteries hold up being docked for 90-95% of the time.
I've previously done this using a 2019 MacBook Pro (that I coincidentally got out of my bag earlier today to update, since it hasn't even been switched on this year!), connected to a couple of monitors. It generally runs fine, however there can be some downsides, which ultimately led me to get a Mac Mini instead. My findings were:
The battery holds up well, and the OS will learn that it stays connected to power, so doesn't charge the battery to 100% to preserve the battery life
Lack of ports might be an issue for you - it was for me, so I got a Thunderbolt dock to resolve that
I had mine in clamshell mode living under the monitors, however that meant I had to move stuff around to slide it out to be able to open it to sign in whenever I restarted it (annoyingly the bluetooth keyboard doesn't seem to function until after login)
The biggest problem I had (and why I ended up firstly getting an eGPU, and then changing to use a Mac mini) was the noise from the fans. My MacBook is an i9 with the Vega GPU - so a fairly powerful one - but whenever I did anything that required moderate CPU or GPU usage, the fans would spin up very noisily. The eGPU mostly solved that problem for the GPU, but the CPU was still a problem. Even watching a Youtube video would have the fans spinning away, which I got fed up with (other people might not have been as bothered though). Things like running scaled resolutions on the monitors also made it worse (I've got 4k monitors, but don't always run them at 4k)
Comparatively, I have never heard any noise at all from my M1 Mac mini, which is also noticeably quicker (albeit limited to 16GB RAM, which can be less than ideal for some of my tasks - a Mac Studio might be on my shopping list), plus the Mini was much cheaper than my MacBook was.
As a counter point, my wife has a slightly lower spec 2019 MacBook Pro, and whilst hers can be noisy at times it seems much better than my one was. Obviously your needs might be different, but hope this helps.
The battery holds up well, and the OS will learn that it stays connected to power, so doesn't charge the battery to 100% to preserve the battery life
Lack of ports might be an issue for you - it was for me, so I got a Thunderbolt dock to resolve that
I had mine in clamshell mode living under the monitors, however that meant I had to move stuff around to slide it out to be able to open it to sign in whenever I restarted it (annoyingly the bluetooth keyboard doesn't seem to function until after login)
The biggest problem I had (and why I ended up firstly getting an eGPU, and then changing to use a Mac mini) was the noise from the fans. My MacBook is an i9 with the Vega GPU - so a fairly powerful one - but whenever I did anything that required moderate CPU or GPU usage, the fans would spin up very noisily. The eGPU mostly solved that problem for the GPU, but the CPU was still a problem. Even watching a Youtube video would have the fans spinning away, which I got fed up with (other people might not have been as bothered though). Things like running scaled resolutions on the monitors also made it worse (I've got 4k monitors, but don't always run them at 4k)
Comparatively, I have never heard any noise at all from my M1 Mac mini, which is also noticeably quicker (albeit limited to 16GB RAM, which can be less than ideal for some of my tasks - a Mac Studio might be on my shopping list), plus the Mini was much cheaper than my MacBook was.
As a counter point, my wife has a slightly lower spec 2019 MacBook Pro, and whilst hers can be noisy at times it seems much better than my one was. Obviously your needs might be different, but hope this helps.
The studio display 5k panel is very nice, but definitely last gen. The Apple shop had it side by side with the 6k display. The differences in contrast, brightness, colour saturation etc were really obvious. Apart from PPI, it can’t even compete with current gen premium 4k panels on this basis, although I suppose if your work is text based, this won’t really matter.
Edited by wyson on Thursday 14th July 16:35
wyson said:
The studio display 5k panel is very nice, but definitely last gen. The Apple shop had it side by side with the 6k display. The differences in contrast, brightness, colour saturation etc were really obvious.
By comparison most displays are last gen compared the Pro Display XDR, it's £4.4k vs the Studio Display which is only £1.5kFor me though, the Studio Display is fine. I don't watch movies, I don't edit video. I just want a bright, crisp and clear display with decent docking capabilities built in.
I may opt for a Dell Ultrasharp 4k in the meantime to see how I get on. The only issue is I believe that Mac OS does some scaling up to 5k and then downscales it to 4k or something, which uses GPU resources.
Edited by TheBinarySheep on Thursday 14th July 16:41
There aren’t any downsides, unless you need serious power. Which I’m guessing you don’t, using an iMac.
Actually, I suppose one is that the 2019 Macbook Pros are noisy. I swapped out of a 2018 15 inch Macbook Pro. During the recent heatwave, the fans would pretty much have been on all the time.
My new M1 16 inch Macbook Pro, the fans didn’t spin up once!
Actually, I suppose one is that the 2019 Macbook Pros are noisy. I swapped out of a 2018 15 inch Macbook Pro. During the recent heatwave, the fans would pretty much have been on all the time.
My new M1 16 inch Macbook Pro, the fans didn’t spin up once!
Edited by wyson on Thursday 14th July 17:09
wyson said:
There aren’t any downsides, unless you need serious power. Which I’m guessing you don’t, using an iMac.
I suppose one is that the 2019 Macbook Pros are noisy. I swapped out of a 2018 15 inch Macbook Pro. During the recent heatwave, the fans would pretty much have been on all the time.
My new M1 16 inch Macbook Pro, the fans didn’t spin up once!
I do plan to switch to one of the newer macbooks, because as you say, the 2019 macbook is loud when the fans get going, and it can get pretty hot.I suppose one is that the 2019 Macbook Pros are noisy. I swapped out of a 2018 15 inch Macbook Pro. During the recent heatwave, the fans would pretty much have been on all the time.
My new M1 16 inch Macbook Pro, the fans didn’t spin up once!
My iMac is a Core i5 3GHz with 40GB. I don't really need performance or top notch graphics, as long as code compiles fairly quickly and I can have loads open and run docker then I'll be fine.
When you say portable, what do you mean?
If its using it at a desk in another location, could you buy something like this:
https://www.imacpower.com/product/curmio-rolling-c...
My colleague used to use this, in lieu of having a work Macbook Pro. We thought he was a bit doodally, but he said he hated the titchy 15inch screens. It was the 27 inch iMac as well. LOL
If its using it at a desk in another location, could you buy something like this:
https://www.imacpower.com/product/curmio-rolling-c...
My colleague used to use this, in lieu of having a work Macbook Pro. We thought he was a bit doodally, but he said he hated the titchy 15inch screens. It was the 27 inch iMac as well. LOL
Edited by wyson on Thursday 14th July 16:53
wyson said:
When you say portable, what do you mean?
If its using it at a desk in another location, could you buy something like this:
https://www.imacpower.com/product/curmio-rolling-c...
My colleague used to use this, in lieu of having a work Macbook Pro. We thought he was a bit doodally, but he said he hated the titchy 15inch screens. LOL.
I've been using something similar (an LTA iLugger backpack, so without a trolley) with my iMac since about 2006, and it's gone all around the world with me (for work).If its using it at a desk in another location, could you buy something like this:
https://www.imacpower.com/product/curmio-rolling-c...
My colleague used to use this, in lieu of having a work Macbook Pro. We thought he was a bit doodally, but he said he hated the titchy 15inch screens. LOL.
Already had a trolley for my normal luggage, and 2 would have look very, erm, 'special'!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304283147871
wyson said:
When you say portable, what do you mean?
If its using it at a desk in another location, could you buy something like this:
https://www.imacpower.com/product/curmio-rolling-c...
My colleague used to use this, in lieu of having a work Macbook Pro. We thought he was a bit doodally, but he said he hated the titchy 15inch screens. It was the 27 inch iMac as well. LOL
As I'm self employed, I need to take my laptop with me when I'm away on holiday, or traveling to see clients. Occasionally I might want to work in the garden or sit in the living room doing some work. If its using it at a desk in another location, could you buy something like this:
https://www.imacpower.com/product/curmio-rolling-c...
My colleague used to use this, in lieu of having a work Macbook Pro. We thought he was a bit doodally, but he said he hated the titchy 15inch screens. It was the 27 inch iMac as well. LOL
Edited by wyson on Thursday 14th July 16:53
I've got an iPad, which does allow me to do some stuff while on the move, i.e. server admin, or some code changes, but as we all know, it's limited so I still need a laptop.
Edited by TheBinarySheep on Thursday 14th July 17:06
Switched last year, went from 2018 iMac to M1 MacBook Pro - I bought an Anchor Dock and it runs 2 additional monitors + other peripherals from a single thunderbolt port, giving me 3 screens which is ideal for my needs. The iMac is still used regularly by my wife and children (as is my 2017 MacBook Pro).
Currently have a M1 MacBook Pro and a 27" HP display and it works perfectly.
The studio display will be a better option than my set up as its a higher resolution display and it can power a MacBook so you only have one USB C cable connecting the MacBook to the screen. The only down side is the cost!
The studio display will be a better option than my set up as its a higher resolution display and it can power a MacBook so you only have one USB C cable connecting the MacBook to the screen. The only down side is the cost!
LeeM135i said:
Currently have a M1 MacBook Pro and a 27" HP display and it works perfectly.
The studio display will be a better option than my set up as its a higher resolution display and it can power a MacBook so you only have one USB C cable connecting the MacBook to the screen. The only down side is the cost!
My Dell P3221D monitor does USB C charging too. Its very convenient to charge and connect the laptop to the display using 1 cable (a very expensive cable I might add).The studio display will be a better option than my set up as its a higher resolution display and it can power a MacBook so you only have one USB C cable connecting the MacBook to the screen. The only down side is the cost!
eeLee said:
Colour me interested....I have a HP 27" screen with USB-C. What is this expensive cable you speak of? 
From my trusted accessories manufacturers:£35.99
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-Thunderbolt-Support...
£78.29
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Thunderbolt-Connec...
Your monitor will come with one included if its a premium model from Dell etc. Probably won't if a budget model.
Of course you can get cheaper uncertified cables, but I wouldn't trust £3K worth of equipment to an el cheapo cable off amazon for £13, not when value / quality brands like Anker charge £35.99.
Edited by wyson on Friday 15th July 17:13
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