Advice on the perfect dock/dongle for an M1 Macbook Pro

[bb_mac]

It’s not that simple, unfortunately. Some rules apply, some don’t. There are threads from users scattered on the forum here that make that clear.

Some AV folks get by just fine. On the other hand, a web developer who usually has 32GB posted their issues and it was clear they simply needed more RAM.

Hmm, that's interesting.
As a web developer myself, I wonder if that's down to the writing/reading of thousands and thousands of small files? 🤔
Heck, I've seen a node_modules folder with over 30,000 files for just one smallish project in the past.
I don't really know enough about the memory handling for thousands of small files pulled of disk to really understand it. But sure, it makes sense that it could be an issue.

Thanks for sharing, OP ... ignore my bluster with the 8gb being all you need. This is clearly a contentious and hotly debated topic.!

 

[Henk van Ess]

Pretty much exact set up as myself, i have been through a ton of hubs and none worked as i wanted.

Recently bit the bullet and got the Caldigit TS3+

as it has its on (very large) power supply, it handles :

- dell 3818 connected via thunderbolt
- 2 x External portable 2TB HDD
- 1 x Scandisk 512gb SSD
- 1 x Focusrite 2i2 audio interface
- 1 x USB-C QDOS hub with wireless charger for my iPhone.
- 1 x Ethernet port

All this is a one cable solution to my MBA M1 and works on my 16” MBP as well, just the same on both.

in 3 days now it hasn’t skipped a beat, my laptop stays in clamshell mode, wakes from sleep via the keyboard or my watch. All HDD stay connected, the hubs not a chance after connecting 2 HDD and they all crashed.

I have read reports of some having issues, so far i have encountered nothing wrong yet.

Good luck

Yes, great choice

 

[raknor]

If you are using two displays with HDMI the Mac Mini is a better purchase since you are going to be plugged in 99% of the time. Laptop batteries don’t like being charged all the time and the Mac Mini has better thermals for your use case. I suspect it will be cheaper too.

 

[cutter74]

OWc is also releasing a new Thunderbolt Dock any day now that looks promising. https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-hub

 

[bb_mac]

Hey, @JippaLippa - here's two vids you may like, as you are into video production - this isn't anything to do with the RAM thing at all - just real interesting.

The first is a scathing review of the mac mini M1 for video production:

The second, is the same company/person, retracting that after shooting in a different format:

Really interesting results all around! - watch the first video ... first

I think you'll enjoy it as a video producer.

 

[torncanvas]

Hmm, that's interesting.
As a web developer myself, I wonder if that's down to the writing/reading of thousands and thousands of small files? 🤔
Heck, I've seen a node_modules folder with over 30,000 files for just one smallish project in the past.
I don't really know enough about the memory handling for thousands of small files pulled of disk to really understand it. But sure, it makes sense that it could be an issue.

Thanks for sharing, OP ... ignore my bluster with the 8gb being all you need. This is clearly a contentious and hotly debated topic.!

A lot of it came down to Android Studio, haha. They had that, plus a few browsers open for testing, plus a couple other things (a normal workflow). It led to usability issues and high memory pressure. Those apps should improve with time, but of course there’s no guarantee when, and over the long term apps increase in complexity, too...

So far my conclusion after reading reports and watching first impression testing is that broadly speaking, memory usage is more optimized, but it’s not universal and of course for some use cases there’s not much that can be optimized at all.

 

[vocalnick]

The Caldigit TS3+ is fantastic, albeit fairly pricey.

It’s not that simple, unfortunately. Some rules apply, some don’t. There are threads from users scattered on the forum here that make that clear.

I’ll second this - these are very very good laptops, but I think the “M1 mystical RAM miracle” reports are a bit overblown.

I got carried away with the hype and bought an 8GB from a store so I could have it right away. It worked pretty well, but I was able to bring it to its knees far too easily once I started running multiple creative applications and switching between them - something my much older/slower Mac Pro trash can with 16GB RAM takes in its stride.

Sadly the store had no return policy, so I ended up selling the 8GB for a small loss at six days old, and I’m currently waiting on a custom 16GB/1TB order. Annoying to lose money on it, but better than spending the next few years fighting with RAM limitations.

8GB will be fine for many people, but it’s definitely not enough for everyone, and I think the myriad of glowing benchmark videos don’t always reflect the full story when it comes to real use cases.

 

[trailmonkey]

What creative apps were you running? What was your workflow?

I have a 16gb on order but still wondering about the base 8Gb as a temporary measure.

 

[vocalnick]

What creative apps were you running? What was your workflow?

I have a 16gb on order but still wondering about the base 8Gb as a temporary measure.

I’ll quite often have a couple of jobs in-progress at once, and I like being able to switch back and forth - i.e. set something rendering or exporting in application A, then switch over to application B to work on something else, so I’m not just waiting.

In the specific instance I’m talking about, I set a 1080p motion graphics project rendering in Motion 5, then opened a sound design project in Reaper (running under Rosetta) which contained several sample based AUi plugins. The memory pressure shot up into the red, the system became choppy, and then completely unresponsive. I eventually had to hard reset.

 

[JippaLippa]

This solution will be a temporary one anyway (mac mini M1 16 GB of Ram), so I'd be delighted to come back later (in a month or two) to let you know how this machine works in After Effects, as I am a professional user for the software.
Anyway I can't wait to move to Big Sur; for technical reasons I have been stuck with High Sierra, and lots of applications started having issues with it.

 

[kave]

I am just using the 8GB Air. Lightroom importing images in the background. Safari with multiple tabs open and Safari just started stuttering. For the price I am going 16Gb and 1TB or 2TB.

 

[vocalnick]

This solution will be a temporary one anyway (mac mini M1 16 GB of Ram), so I'd be delighted to come back later (in a month or two) to let you know how this machine works in After Effects, as I am a professional user for the software.

I’ll definitely be keen to see how you go. I’ve used After Effects a little bit on the M1, but I’m more of a generalist, so I’m not really putting it through its paces.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I contemplated the purchase of a mac mini quite a lot...
The thing is that I still need to work with 2 displays (it's almost impossible to work with After Effects with just one display), and purchasing a second display for the mac mini would make it cost pretty much like a macbook pro.

I will surely move to more powerful apple silicon systems but I feel the macbook, even in its entry level state, would be a much better investment as it would keep a certain degree of usefulness even when a new desktop machine (like an m1x/M2 iMac) would come, as I'd have this as a portable machine.
A mac mini, while slightly cheaper, would basically feel like buying something that will have to be replaced soon, and the used market for mac minis is much less florid than macbook pros.
I would love with all my heart to wait for these releases, but my current computer has some serious issues and I'm afraid it might die on me anytime soon

Honestly, a Mac mini would've been better. It would've also been cheaper (as you can really just reuse your monitors for a subsequent desktop [such as whatever replaces the higher-end Intel Mac minis]). Otherwise, you're going to slowly kill your poor battery by being plugged in all the time. Plus you get more I/O (albeit not by a whole lot). The used market for Mac minis is proportionate to the used market for MacBook Pros. The Mac minis cost less upfront, so they cost less when they're being sold. But all Apple Macs hold their value really well.

As for when you'd need to replace an M1 Mac mini versus when you'd need to replace an M1 2-port 13" MacBook Pro, both are going to likely become unsupported at the exact same time. They're pretty much the same computer, except one is stationary, has an HDMI port along with two USB-A ports, and one is portable and only has the two Thunderbolt 3 ports on one side with an audio jack on the other and has a built-in keyboard, trackpad and touch bar with TouchID.

Not to induce buyers remorse here, but if it's not too late, I might switch to the mini!

As for docks, which was your original question, I'm not at all keen on Thunderbolt 3 docks. Most of the ones I've used in the past (at least with Intel Macs and Intel Windows PCs) have all been horrible. If there's any company that I'd trust to make a Thunderbolt dock that doesn't suck (at least for the Mac), it's OWC. I'd say, if possible, go with a USB-C dock instead. Your graphics are still GPU-driven on those, thankfully. As for a recommended model, I don't have any one specific one, but I've always had good luck with Dell USB-C docks. Their Thunderbolt docks (again, like every other one I've tried) are garbage; though that might be different on an M1 based Mac.

 

[JippaLippa]

I’ll definitely be keen to see how you go. I’ve used After Effects a little bit on the M1, but I’m more of a generalist, so I’m not really putting it through its paces.

If I forget to give you an update, feel free to contact me in the forum anytime, from mid-january
You can also follow me on my socials, if you're curious about my work and want to contact me directly.

Here are all my links: https://linktr.ee/orange_wedge

 

[JippaLippa]

- cut -

I actually decided to get a mac mini 16GB, cheaper and much more verastile for desktop use.

 

[bb_mac]

Hey, @JippaLippa - here's two vids you may like, as you are into video production - this isn't anything to do with the RAM thing at all - just real interesting.

The first is a scathing review of the mac mini M1 for video production:

The second, is the same company/person, retracting that after shooting in a different format:

Really interesting results all around! - watch the first video ... first

I think you'll enjoy it as a video producer.

 

[bb_mac]

So, it seems that the biggest issue right now, are apps running with the rosetta 2 emulator - and some file formats.
In the example above, that would be video file formats.
In the second video, the presenter says he won't change his workflow to suit the Mac mini M1, but does give it credit for the amazing performance when using a different video format.

We are talking about a $700 computer here (for the Mac mini), I think we need to remember that!
It is the absolute entry level Mac for the new Apple silicon - the cheapest you can buy.
The fact that it runs so amazing well with 8gb of ram, assuming your apps/file formats are supported, is nothing short of incredible.

It would be interesting to see, in that first video ^^^, where the performance is terrible with 8gb, whether 16gb would've made that much difference - I personally don't think it would've made enough of a difference to be really noticeable, but sure, 32gb or 64gb, maybe. But it was the *format* that the Mac mini struggled with, which suggests improvements at a software level would resolve the issue.

This is not a machine that video editing / 3d rendering pro's would use for anything other than casual work, possibly a second rendering option - maybe have a few stacked on top of each other - who knows.
As soon as the beefier machines are out and the M2 chip, now *that* is going to be interesting to see.