External monitor users, what are your must-have accessories?

[ilovemym1mba]

Getting myself a 4K 120Hz Dell (S2527QC) for my M1 MBA very soon. I was wondering which accessories go nicely along with the monitor setup. Lightbars? Soundbars? Desktop Toy? Anything else? Which one is your favourite?

This will be my first ever monitor experience with a Mac so, be gentle!

 

[drrich2]

Are you a general mainstream home user, or do you do anything unusual or work-related? Are you a content creator who needs a microphone?

Do you want a webcam? Will you use an iPhone in Continuity Camera mode?

Do you already have an external speaker system?

Do you listen to a lot of music, otherwise use the sound system a lot, are you an audiophile, etc...?

The Dell has some external hub capability (e.g.: if you connect via USB-C DisplayPort Alt. Mode, you can use the other ports on the display); do you plan to use those ports for cables to charge your phone, attach an external SSD, etc...?

Do you think you'll be happy with the included display stand, or want an adjustable monitor arm?

I assume you'll be using the single display, not adding a second?

Do you anticipate running your MacBook Air mainly in 'clamshell mode' (like a stationary desktop), or just attach it sporadically?

How much storage you got? I suspect one of the 1st things you'll want is an external SSD, either a 10 Gbps USB-C version (e.g.: Samsung T7/T7 Shield) or Thunderbolt 3 drive (faster, more expensive). Then the big question is how you'll divvy up what to put on it vs. the Mac's internal drive. If you take and keep a lot of photos, your Photos Library is a prime candidate for offloading to an external SSD.

Do you anticipate using a dock or hub? If so, then you've got USB-C or Thunderbolt, new or used to think about. I recently picked up a used CalDigit TS3+ for $90 locally. Note: stand alone external SSDs tend to be Thunderbolt 3 and the newer hubs/docks Thunderbolt 4. There's also USB-4.

Some people have monitor risers under their display, a platform it sits on so there's like a 'shelf effect' underneath to keep things - might pick the display up higher than you want, and unless you dust often it may get dirty in there.

What I'm suggesting is that while it's human nature to want to accessorize the bright new shiny toy to enjoy it more, take some time to think through what you aim to do with it, and why sort of things you tend to get more pleasure out of over time.

I've got a Dell U2723QE, and use it with an M4Pro Mac Mini that replaced by old 2017 27" 5K iMac, which has a built-in webcam. I had a several years old Logitech webcam lying around, so I plugged it into one of the monitor's ports and it works fine. I have a USB-to-Lightening cable I use to SLOWLY charge my iPhone and transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.

Here's what I suspect you will do...get an external dock and/or hub (the Air only has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports) + a headphone jack) and an external SSD. If you don't have an external speaker system, you'll probably get that.

 

[ilovemym1mba]

Are you a general mainstream home user, or do you do anything unusual or work-related? Are you a content creator who needs a microphone?

Do you want a webcam? Will you use an iPhone in Continuity Camera mode?

Do you already have an external speaker system?

Do you listen to a lot of music, otherwise use the sound system a lot, are you an audiophile, etc...?

The Dell has some external hub capability (e.g.: if you connect via USB-C DisplayPort Alt. Mode, you can use the other ports on the display); do you plan to use those ports for cables to charge your phone, attach an external SSD, etc...?

Do you think you'll be happy with the included display stand, or want an adjustable monitor arm?

I assume you'll be using the single display, not adding a second?

Do you anticipate running your MacBook Air mainly in 'clamshell mode' (like a stationary desktop), or just attach it sporadically?

How much storage you got? I suspect one of the 1st things you'll want is an external SSD, either a 10 Gbps USB-C version (e.g.: Samsung T7/T7 Shield) or Thunderbolt 3 drive (faster, more expensive). Then the big question is how you'll divvy up what to put on it vs. the Mac's internal drive. If you take and keep a lot of photos, your Photos Library is a prime candidate for offloading to an external SSD.

Do you anticipate using a dock or hub? If so, then you've got USB-C or Thunderbolt, new or used to think about. I recently picked up a used CalDigit TS3+ for $90 locally. Note: stand alone external SSDs tend to be Thunderbolt 3 and the newer hubs/docks Thunderbolt 4. There's also USB-4.

Some people have monitor risers under their display, a platform it sits on so there's like a 'shelf effect' underneath to keep things - might pick the display up higher than you want, and unless you dust often it may get dirty in there.

What I'm suggesting is that while it's human nature to want to accessorize the bright new shiny toy to enjoy it more, take some time to think through what you aim to do with it, and why sort of things you tend to get more pleasure out of over time.

I've got a Dell U2723QE, and use it with an M4Pro Mac Mini that replaced by old 2017 27" 5K iMac, which has a built-in webcam. I had a several years old Logitech webcam lying around, so I plugged it into one of the monitor's ports and it works fine. I have a USB-to-Lightening cable I use to SLOWLY charge my iPhone and transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.

Here's what I suspect you will do...get an external dock and/or hub (the Air only has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports) + a headphone jack) and an external SSD. If you don't have an external speaker system, you'll probably get that.

Thank you for so many recommendations. Yes, you are right I did get a bit excited and wanted to accessorise it even before getting it or exploring my uses cases. SSD and desk riser suggestions given by you sound solid though! Yes! I do need more storage for all my large files.

I am a developer so I spend lot of time looking at text, occasionally I have to edit couple of vector images but that is not a big deal.

Now that I think about it, I've always taken the camera of my Mac for granted, since I will be having the monitor in front and centre of me, I no longer would have camera to do the meetings! Initially, I would try to use my Mac as a secondary display shoved to side and see if I can use that camera comfortably or I will have to get a new one sadly.

I am largely okay with below average speakers as long as I can hear the dialogue. I have some nice IEMs which I put on whenever I want to truly listen to the music.

SSD sounds nice though. So here is a little pickle I'm in, along with my air, I also have an old windows desktop which I tend to use whenever something very windowsy work comes in. I have keyboard and mouse connected to a cheap hub along with a Time Machine HDD, and I would also attach the data storage SSD to this hub. Is there an easy way to share that hub between windows PC and Mac?

Also, going from 5K to 4K, how does it feel to you? Any noticeable differences?

 

[drrich2]

SSD sounds nice though. So here is a little pickle I'm in, along with my air, I also have an old windows desktop which I tend to use whenever something very windowsy work comes in. I have keyboard and mouse connected to a cheap hub along with a Time Machine HDD, and I would also attach the data storage SSD to this hub. Is there an easy way to share that hub between windows PC and Mac?

If that old Windows PC doesn't have Thunderbolt, and you get a Thunderbolt dock/hub, check whether the latter can work as a USB-C dock; it's my understanding my CalDigit TS3+ cannot, so if I wanted to use it with my old 2017 12" MacBook with one USB-C port...nope.

I'm not one of MacRumor's more 'guru-class' members by far, so take this with a grain of salt. I don't know of any dock being simultaneously used by 2 computers, whether Mac/Mac, Mac/PC or PC/PC. Some monitors have KVM functionality so they can switch between computers/devices; I don't know what happens when an external USB-C SSD is connected to a port on the display for use by the computer when you switch, though.

Digging online, I can't find where your anticipated display has KVM capability, so I'm guessing it doesn't. If it does, what you'd do is connect devices you want to share, like a wireless receiver for mouse and keyboard, to the display, and connect both your Mac and PC to the display using separate ports, then use the KVM to switch between them - that way the same mouse and keyboard would work either either device, without having to move a wireless receiver.

I've not researched external KVM devices; looks like they can get pricy.

With external SSDs (or hard disk drives, for that matter), be aware with the Mac you have some options for disk formatting, and a number of those are not cross-compatible with a PC. I think Fat32 and exFat are cross-compatible, but not what most Mac users favor, far as I know.

If you really want to 'go down the rabbit hole' and have your computers share access to an external volume with files you work on, there's the NAS (network attached storage) option, but that's something I've only read and heard about, not owned and used. It would remain accessible to your MacBook Air when not docked, and you could enable online access to access your files remotely when away from home. Get one with more than one disk bay and you can have RAID provide backup. NAS is another whole area of computing. The brand that gets held out often is Synology. A NAS isn't just a 'cloud access' external storage drive; it's basically a 'headless' (no display) independent computer with one or more disks on which you can install app.s to enable varied functionality, like drive storage, backups, media server, etc...

Also, going from 5K to 4K, how does it feel to you? Any noticeable differences?

Got into that here - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/initial-thoughts-on-dell-ultrasharp-u2723qe.2443107/

Hasn't bothered me personally, but people vary. If you want a 5K 27", you're likely looking at a roughly $800 Asus or $850 Viewsonic.

 

[Fishrrman]

"Accessories" for a display?

Hmmm....
Just buy it... connect it... and USE it.