Why an iMac or Mac Mini when you can buy a MacBook Pro and dock it?

[kawa636r]

Ok, for those ones that don't know, I'm the author of the post.
I'm just writing an update to all the followers of this topic.

I have bought the following things:

1. A Mac Mini m1, 256, 8gb
2. An Huawei Mateview display
3. A MacBook Pro 13 m1, 256, 8gb (which I was already having got)

I have tried first the Mac mini with the monitor, everything ok except some trackpad lag/issues - interferences.
Then I have tried to connect the MacBook Pro, docking it.

So, the MacBook Pro experience is same or better than Mac mini.
I just prepared the Mac mini to return to apple, cause MacBook flexibility is better than mini.
Also, the performance is the same to the Mac mini, so, why buying an Mac mini? For 400 euros MacBook has got keyboard, trackpad, battery (good for energy backup), flexibility to move on, a fantastic display.....

About the cables and the "clean desktop", my MacBook Pro is vertically docked behind my monitor, so the desktop is still clean.

Now I will wait m1x to understand if take a 16gb MacBook Pro or wait to m1x versions.

 

[firelighter487]

i use my 2015 MBP on my setup with 2 external monitors plugged into it. works great, if a bit slow but that's expected from a 6 year old computer.

 

[Pezimak]

I follow one You Tube fellow who reviews the odd bit of tech, he’s pretty wealthy and is self made, and even he has an M1 MacBook Pro but uses the Pro XDR Apple display with it, and says it’s great and works fine for him, he does web pages I believe. It used to be laptops weren’t as powerful as desktops, but with Apple now making their own chips that line may vanish, it will be interesting to see what is launched on Monday.
One situation is like me, working from home so I currently have a works laptop with a 14” screen and a 24” monitor, and my eyes have to adjust between the two screens for text. Now I will be hybrid working in the future so my works monitor will go back I believe. I will buy a 32” flat monitor then so all my workload can be done in one screen, just plug the laptop in. But I also want a Mac for my own use, so an iMac is out, it’s either a Mac Pro, Mac Mini or MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Pro could end up the best solution as it’ll be more powerful then the Mini and now where the cost of the Mac Pro. I don’t have the space for a big monitor and an iMac.

 

[kawa636r]

I follow one You Tube fellow who reviews the odd bit of tech, he’s pretty wealthy and is self made, and even he has an M1 MacBook Pro but uses the Pro XDR Apple display with it, and says it’s great and works fine for him, he does web pages I believe. It used to be laptops weren’t as powerful as desktops, but with Apple now making their own chips that line may vanish, it will be interesting to see what is launched on Monday.
One situation is like me, working from home so I currently have a works laptop with a 14” screen and a 24” monitor, and my eyes have to adjust between the two screens for text. Now I will be hybrid working in the future so my works monitor will go back I believe. I will buy a 32” flat monitor then so all my workload can be done in one screen, just plug the laptop in. But I also want a Mac for my own use, so an iMac is out, it’s either a Mac Pro, Mac Mini or MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Pro could end up the best solution as it’ll be more powerful then the Mini and now where the cost of the Mac Pro. I don’t have the space for a big monitor and an iMac.

Believe me, my configuration with a MacBook Pro m1 and a single external display only in clamshell mode is AWESOME.
I saved a lot of money doing this, a better real estate space on my screen (the proportions of Huawei display mate are a lot better of iMac screen) and of course, I've been able to mount my M1 28'' configuration.

Actually I have got only 256ssd and 8gb of ram and I didn't noticed any flaw.
I will try the 16gb of ram, waiting for the next Monday apple event and I'll let you know.

 

[kawa636r]

I'm simply shocked how much faster is this m1 compared to my old late 2014 iMac i7 with 32gb ram.
Incredible.... let's wait for tomorrow to check what Apple will announce

 

[kingorry]

Through the years I've dabbled with the idea of using multiple computers (laptops, desktops). I find it to be extremely inconvenient to have data across different devices (despite Apples very good integration system amongst devices). I do a lot of media work specifically Audio & Photo work. Made the decision back in 2015 to ONLY have a laptop and create a home work set up with all of my chosen peripherals.

Having one device where you know all of your work is stored is nice. Aside from being able to choose your own peripherals.

That was what I decided a six years ago. On my second MacBook since then but still have the same 28" 4k monitor. Next upgrade will be both the monitor and the MacBook Pro which I recon will be about $600 more than a new iMac.

 

[tpfang56]

Ironically, I found the 27" iMac too small, so I was using dual 27" iMacs for the longest time, a 2017 as the main driver and a 2010 simply as an external monitor.

However, I do understand what you mean about the ultrawide. It wasn't really that the 27" was too small, but that it was too narrow. I prefer larger width, which your ultrawide would solve. In fact, I find the 27" too tall for my tastes, partially because it has that big chin. The 27" iMac's visible screen is actually 6 inches above the table. To compensate for this I actually bought a VESA mount and lowered the iMac, but that caused other issues and looked crappy, so I went back to the regular stand.

For my secondary computer I'm now using a 30" Apple Cinema HD Display. Despite being non-Retina, that is ergonomically a bit better for me since it's "only" 4.5" above the table, and it's wider too (25 1/4 inches vs 23 1/2 inches). It's still much too tall, but my solution to that often is just to have application windows that don't extend to the top of the screen.

I think my ideal screen would be something like a hypothetical 34" ultra-wide Retina screen, but with Apple's aesthetics but without XDR type pricing. I don't know if such a thing currently exists. Even if it did exist, I don't know if a Mac mini could drive it. It'd have to be something like a 6.5K monitor.

Yep, I’m not a fan of the bezel situation in having two monitors side by side. I’d rather the monitor be smaller and have it be seamless.

I know some programmers need more vertical space, but I always need multiple tabs for html/css/js simultaneously and another window for previewing the website and another window for researching (eg. stackoverflow, documentation, etc.) I could use the macbook’s screen for one of those things, but I still need at least two screen’s worth. I know super ultrawides exist, but they’re ugly to me and would have too much empty space.

Your ideal is my ideal. An ultrawide monitor by apple… even if they finally make a cheaper display again, I can’t imagine them making one with ultrawide dimensions.

However, I’d still love if they did make a standard display and might use it as a secondary monitor to the ultrawide because, frankly, no one can match the premium look and aesthetics of the iMacs. It’s just too bad you can’t use iMacs as secondary displays anymore, though Universal Control should help with that somewhat.

Hmm. I wonder how expensive that would be? I guess for a non-ultrawide 27”, it’d be $1K like the old thunderbolt display, and a 34” ultrawide… well, the LG 4k ultrawide is $1500, so perhaps they price match. If both have ProMotion, I think they’d sell very well for apple enthusiasts.

 

[firelighter487]

I'm simply shocked how much faster is this m1 compared to my old late 2014 iMac i7 with 32gb ram.
Incredible.... let's wait for tomorrow to check what Apple will announce

i have a pc with dual Xeon X5650's (12 core) and 32gb of ram. a friend of mine has a base model M1 MBP. we ran cinebench on both for giggles, the MBP won.

 

[kawa636r]

i have a pc with dual Xeon X5650's (12 core) and 32gb of ram. a friend of mine has a base model M1 MBP. we ran cinebench on both for giggles, the MBP won.

Just incredible.
M1 it’s awesome, i don’t know what will be m1x, that will be shown this night itself.

 

[jjd]

That was what I decided a six years ago. On my second MacBook since then but still have the same 28" 4k monitor. Next upgrade will be both the monitor and the MacBook Pro which I recon will be about $600 more than a new iMac.

Yeah. But the screen will be vastly inferior to the iMac. That’s the conundrum.

 

[kawa636r]

Yeah. But the screen will be vastly inferior to the iMac. That’s the conundrum.

Nope, the Huawei MATEVIEW 4,5k is a lot better (in size, colours and reflexion) than iMac 5k one. I can assure to you.

 

[BluAffiliate]

Nope, the Huawei MATEVIEW 4,5k is a lot better (in size, colours and reflexion) than iMac 5k one. I can assure to you.

Hey man.
Do you like the Mateview? I am considering it myself.

 

[butch10x]

Hi,

So anyone gonna use the new released m1 pro or max macbook pro as their main desktop solution? I was hoping for the mini to be refreshed with these new chips, but am now thinking of using the notebook variant of the new chips as a one all solution.

I primarily use my computer for heavy photo editing in Lightroom and video editing in Premiere Pro.
Current PC:
Intel 6700k oc'd to 4.2ghz (4 core)
GTX 1080
32gb Ram
m.2 500gb HD

These new notebooks will tear apart my current system as it stands.

Any others in the same boat?

www.bpatelphotography.com

 

[kawa636r]

Hey man.
Do you like the Mateview? I am considering it myself.

I love it!

 

[kawa636r]

Hi,

So anyone gonna use the new released m1 pro or max macbook pro as their main desktop solution? I was hoping for the mini to be refreshed with these new chips, but am now thinking of using the notebook variant of the new chips as a one all solution.

I primarily use my computer for heavy photo editing in Lightroom and video editing in Premiere Pro.
Current PC:
Intel 6700k oc'd to 4.2ghz (4 core)
GTX 1080
32gb Ram
m.2 500gb HD

These new notebooks will tear apart my current system as it stands.

Any others in the same boat?

www.bpatelphotography.com

I'm changing my 13'' MacBook Pro 8gb with base 14'' MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip, there is no need to spend so much for the max version, really.

 

[Roadster Lewis]

Hi,

So anyone gonna use the new released m1 pro or max macbook pro as their main desktop solution? I was hoping for the mini to be refreshed with these new chips, but am now thinking of using the notebook variant of the new chips as a one all solution.

I primarily use my computer for heavy photo editing in Lightroom and video editing in Premiere Pro.
Current PC:
Intel 6700k oc'd to 4.2ghz (4 core)
GTX 1080
32gb Ram
m.2 500gb HD

These new notebooks will tear apart my current system as it stands.

Any others in the same boat?

www.bpatelphotography.com

Yes. Although I'm yet to choose a monitor.

 

[kawa636r]

Yes. Although I'm yet to choose a monitor.

Which one you may want?

 

[Roadster Lewis]

I am yet to choose, I was hoping that Apple may have released something mid range today. I expect I'll go for something 27" 4K and with USB-C power.

 

[kawa636r]

I am yet to choose, I was hoping that Apple may have released something mid range today. I expect I'll go for something 27" 4K and with USB-C power.

Why not Huawei MateView?

Is it an awesome monitor.

 

[JLOAKS]

I use a iPad Pro when mobile. I would rather have a big iMac on my desk or a Mac mini connected to a 30 inch screen than a expensive laptop that needs a dock and that would encourage me to take away from the desk. I like having an area where I have to sit at the machine.

I'm sure this is Apple's ideal use case for their products. They want every part of your workflow to have a specific product for it. Working @ a desktop? Use an iMac/desktop machine. Working on PC applications remotely? Use a MacBook. Browsing on the couch/reading? Use an iPad.

Explains why they're so hesitant to release a consumer-grade external monitor. They also haven't created something like a Thinkpad dock which would make the docking process far easier for their products.

 

[kawa636r]

I'm sure this is Apple's ideal use case for their products. They want every part of your workflow to have a specific product for it. Working @ a desktop? Use an iMac/desktop machine. Working on PC applications remotely? Use a MacBook. Browsing on the couch/reading? Use an iPad.

Explains why they're so hesitant to release a consumer-grade external monitor. They also haven't created something like a Thinkpad dock which would make the docking process far easier for their products.

I think exactly like you.
Marketing, trying to avoid consumers and professionals to buy a single laptop for everything.
Instead they want you to buy as much as possible, iMac and Macbook, even if inside tonight presentation they totally forgot about desktops (iMacs and Mac minis)

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Why not Huawei MateView?

Is it an awesome monitor.

I'm considering this (using my 14" MBP as my only CPU, with an external monitor). For the monitor, I'm thinking of the LG UltraFine 5K Display, mostly because I will have a $1,000 credit at the Apple store after I trade in my iMac. If I didn't have that credit, I'd consider the 32" BenQ 4k or the Huawei.

 

[kawa636r]

here in europe apple doesn’t sell it anymore and also it have been costed twice

 

[profcutter]

I’d love to say I’m going for a M1 Max to replace my 2015 15 inch, but damn, that’s some serious scratch. I may go used again, pick up a fire sale iMac depending on my employment at that time. The Huawei monitor isn’t available in the US as far as I know.

 

[Roadster Lewis]

Why not Huawei MateView?

Is it an awesome monitor.

That wasn't on my radar - but firmly is now, especially with £200 cashback!