Need help with home office setup: M1 MacBook Air, 144Hz 1440p monitor, switch for keyboard and mouse

[Aggedor]

Hi everyone,

Having used MacBooks in various forms over the years, I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to connecting them to other devices, so I'd really appreciate some help getting my home office set up correctly.

I have an M1 MacBook Air. I also have a desktop PC which has a 144Hz 1440p gaming monitor (which connects to the PC via DisplayPort), a wired keyboard (USB-A), and a wireless mouse (Logitech, via a USB-A dongle).

What I would like to do is use my MBA with the external display, keyboard, and mouse, but I don't want to keep unplugging everything.

So... what kind of switch box type thing do I need? Like I said, I have never used one before. I guess a KVM switch that has USB-C and DisplayPort? And I'll also need a USB-C to DP adaptor cable, like the one from Moshi.

Thanks very much in advance!

 

[theluggage]

What I would like to do is use my MBA with the external display, keyboard, and mouse, but I don't want to keep unplugging everything.

KVM switch with either DisplayPort or HDMI (depending on which your PC & monitor use), plus USB-C to DP or HDMI for the Mac should work - but maybe wait until someone here confirms it.

Alternative 1:
If your display has multiple inputs (most higher-end ones do) it can probably handle switching between them. If that is the case, you might want to investigate Synergy:

Synergy - Share one mouse & keyboard across computers

Synergy is an app that shares one mouse and one keyboard across multiple computers and monitors. Instant download, easy to setup in minutes.

symless.com

...which can share the keyboard and mouse via the network, purely in software (just move the pointer off one computer’s screen and it switches to the other). It is really meant for using two computers with their own screens side-by-side, but if your screen is easily switchable, it will suffice (and if you are ever doing something that involves both computers it is really useful...)

If you’re gaming on the computer connected via network, that might not be ideal, but the one directly connected shouldn’t be affected.

Alternative 2: Some Logitech wireless mice and keyboards can be paired with up to three computers via a mixture of Bluetooth and USB dongles. E.g. the MX Master mouse (dont get the Mac version). You’d still have three switches rather than one, but that’s better than cable juggling.

(NB: depending where you live, the differences between Mac and PC keyboards can be a greater or lesser problem: the UK PC and Mac keyboards have a lot of differences involving the more obscure punctuation symbols which can be a royal pain when coding. Some of the Logitech keyboards can help deal with this).

 

[Aggedor]

Thanks very much! My display is an Asus something - it has one DP input and one HDMI input. I'm guessing the HDMI won't support the high refresh rates, but I won't be gaming via the MBA, so that won't matter.

I will investigate those other options, thanks!