Thor is moving to Apple - Random Questions

Thor

Thor

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My first question:

Macbook Air M1 or Macbook Pro M1 ? OR wait for the 2021 versions?
They look pretty close to me, am I missing something (ie con of buying the top end Air?)

Displays, it appears I cannot run 2 external screens on Apple?
Source: https://support.apple.com/en-za/HT202351

Background:
This is my current setup
Note 10 Samsung,
Desktop
2 x Dell 27” HDMI

The Desktop
Core i5-7600 3.5Ghz
32GB DDR4 RAM
1080ti GTX card <- overkill.
1TB SDD (I have a 18TB NAS, so not concerned about space, but I know with mails, local dev files, DBs etc 256GB SSD is bare minimum)

I would really prefer to use the 2 x Dell Screens, I am not a laptop screen person…

My day to day apps:
Chrome
MySQL Workbench
phpStorm
Brackets / Visual Studio Code
Outlook
Excel
Word

Basically, a dev with a bit of project management thrown in.

Is the mac mini an option or should I stick to the macbooks
 
Thor said:
My first question:

Macbook Air M1 or Macbook Pro M1 ? OR wait for the 2021 versions?
They look pretty close to me, am I missing something (ie con of buying the top end Air?)

Displays, it appears I cannot run 2 external screens on Apple?
Source: https://support.apple.com/en-za/HT202351
Click to expand...

Apparently you need a display link adapter. My air needs a battery replacement but it isn't cheap. Thinking of just going for the new ones as well. But I am just going to hang on for a bit, till things get more settled

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ive been running my macair daily for 9 years, it is an i3 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD
also using external monitor on dv display (or whatever they called it before thunderbolt)
laptop screen is permanently closed
This laptop has been on for 9 years non stop, I dont think i have ever switched it off
It is still lightning fast as the day I bought it
Macs do not get slower as operating systems change.

my iMac at work (8 years ole) is running 2 externals, so thats a nice 3 monitor display, each monitor is on its own thunderbolt port.
its an i5 with 16GB RAM and a 1TB drive
Even though it is higher spec it takes a bit longer booting up due to spinning harddrive
 
MBP 2020 Here as daily driver...
2 screens, charger, and external kb / mouse (wired)

Let's talk performance.

Wifi drops out during the day, and short on the chassis. Runs HOT when I start caning it with Ae, Nuke or Blender, so make sure your device has plenty cooling. Keeping the vents dust free requires the hands of a Chinese surgeon.

What do I do on it, more a question what DONT I do on it.

One to one compare. All open at once

Thor said:
Chrome - Safari
MySQL Workbench - PGSQL
phpStorm - Hell no, that's too much Java
Click to expand...

Thor said:
Brackets / Visual Studio Code - VS Code with a healthy amount of extentions
Click to expand...
Brackets? Why bro, why?
Thor said:
Outlook - Gmail
Excel - G Sheeeeeets
Word - G Docs
Click to expand...

+ Slack
+ Spotify
+ Adobe XD
+ Adobe Illustrator (Most days)

+ AWS Serverless local proxy
+ Local FE Server (webpack)
+ Zoom

She purrs like a kitten until I open something that uses Gpu properly.

March into the IStore and get ripped off on a anti theft backpack, and thunderbolt to usb / hdmi adapters. Once.

And forget about all the other adapters and k@k, you can use any keyboard, mouse and headphones.

Moral of the story, cool the thing down, and it will serve you well.
 
MagNorthDigital said:
MBP 2020 Here as daily driver...
2 screens, charger, and external kb / mouse (wired)

Let's talk performance.

Wifi drops out during the day, and short on the chassis. Runs HOT when I start caning it with Ae, Nuke or Blender, so make sure your device has plenty cooling. Keeping the vents dust free requires the hands of a Chinese surgeon.

What do I do on it, more a question what DONT I do on it.

One to one compare. All open at once




Brackets? Why bro, why?


+ Slack
+ Spotify
+ Adobe XD
+ Adobe Illustrator (Most days)

+ AWS Serverless local proxy
+ Local FE Server (webpack)
+ Zoom

She purrs like a kitten until I open something that uses Gpu properly.

March into the IStore and get ripped off on a anti theft backpack, and thunderbolt to usb / hdmi adapters. Once.

And forget about all the other adapters and k@k, you can use any keyboard, mouse and headphones.

Moral of the story, cool the thing down, and it will serve you well.
Click to expand...

u have an M1? cuz it doesn't sound like u do
 
The M1s appear to be software locked to 1 external screen?

I saw a video from a company called pluggable, that solves this, do any of you know pluggable?
 
I am also wondering if I should get the M1 Mac mini maybe as a entry into Apple they all seem equally powerful?
 
^ You can't easily take a Mac Mini to a coffee shop or resturant.
With the current battery life and battery protective software, the M1 ought to give many happy years.
 
M1 Mac Mini would solve your problem. Supports 2 displays natively and it's equally powerful. You do lose the mobility aspect though, not sure how much that is worth to you.

EDIT: It's only got 8GB RAM though (the one's available locally, mid-March. And the RAM isn't upgradeable. Might be worth importing a 16GB model maybe?
 
Like I said, get an 27" iMac like I have at work and you connect your 2 x 27" Dells to them via two Thunderbolt --> HDMI Converters
Voila
3 sexy screens, problem solved
 
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