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I was just listening to some downloaded podcast backlog, and one of the episodes was Accidental Tech Podcast where they spent a while discussing the merits of a

I was just listening to some downloaded podcast backlog, and one of the episodes was Accidental Tech Podcast where they spent a while discussing the merits of a desktop versus a docked laptop. And the main thing they complained about wasn’t performance, it was how much MacBooks like to crash in this arrangement. Get an iMac and an old laptop instead for when you need to be mobile, at least those will work. It’s been what, four years now since thunderbolt only MBP, and still not fixed. I don’t have any thunderbolt accessories (just a DisplayPort screen) and I used to get “sleep wake failures” at least once a week when it was new. That one at least has improved.

jasonlotito 6y ago
> Get an iMac The problem is you end up paying for a crappy monitor. So you are stuck either looking at a Mac Mini, or going all the way up to a Mac Pro. There is no middle ground.
- josteink 6y ago
  There’s the whole X86 arena of middle ground. Most people don’t need a Mac.
  - wlesieutre 6y ago
    Well yeah, but for context the ATP podcast is hosted by Mac/iOS developers, so he was looking at his Mac options specifically
- sroussey 6y ago
  I love the iMac 27 monitor. Curious what is not to like? I prefer it over the LG Ultrafine.
- coldtea 6y ago
  >The problem is you end up paying for a crappy monitor Huh? It's one of the best monitors out there...
  - plorkyeran 6y ago
    If anything the main problem with the imac is that you're forced to pay for a very good monitor even if that's not what you'd like to spend your money on.
- whatever1 6y ago
  In Windows/Linux world we have been craving for a 5k/27" monitor for years so that we don't have to deal with non-integer scaling.
Eric_WVGG 6y ago
This is a situation that I expect to get much better under the Apple silicon Macs. Under the current situation, Apple is writing drivers for hardware they did not design, and switching between discrete and integrated GPUs has been a flaky issue going all the way back to G4 PowerBooks. A lot of this complexity is going to just evaporate. Incidentally, I was also using a Thunderbolt Display with a 2016 usb-c MacBook for about three years, it was similarly flakey. Switched to an LG 5k (found an inexpensive refurb) a while back and 95% of the problems went away.
whatever1 6y ago
In Windows a restart makes everything work properly. But it is a pain, specially in work setups where you return to your desk from a meeting and you want to plug-in your laptop to the Thunderbolt dock and then immediately start working. Now I have come to terms. After a meeting I save everything and shutdown my machine. I connect to the dock and then boot.
908B64B197 6y ago
Something I don't understand: Surfaces have a magnetic charging port that doubles as a dock and it... just works?
- wlesieutre 6y ago
  USB-C hubs work better on Apple’s devices than Thunderbolt if you want an apples to apples comparison, but they can’t do as much. Surface just doesn’t offer Thunderbolt.

jasonlotito 6y ago

> Get an iMac The problem is you end up paying for a crappy monitor. So you are stuck either looking at a Mac Mini, or going all the way up to a Mac Pro. There is no middle ground.

josteink 6y ago
There’s the whole X86 arena of middle ground. Most people don’t need a Mac.
- wlesieutre 6y ago
  Well yeah, but for context the ATP podcast is hosted by Mac/iOS developers, so he was looking at his Mac options specifically
sroussey 6y ago
I love the iMac 27 monitor. Curious what is not to like? I prefer it over the LG Ultrafine.
coldtea 6y ago
>The problem is you end up paying for a crappy monitor Huh? It's one of the best monitors out there...
- plorkyeran 6y ago
  If anything the main problem with the imac is that you're forced to pay for a very good monitor even if that's not what you'd like to spend your money on.
whatever1 6y ago
In Windows/Linux world we have been craving for a 5k/27" monitor for years so that we don't have to deal with non-integer scaling.

Eric_WVGG 6y ago

This is a situation that I expect to get much better under the Apple silicon Macs. Under the current situation, Apple is writing drivers for hardware they did not design, and switching between discrete and integrated GPUs has been a flaky issue going all the way back to G4 PowerBooks. A lot of this complexity is going to just evaporate. Incidentally, I was also using a Thunderbolt Display with a 2016 usb-c MacBook for about three years, it was similarly flakey. Switched to an LG 5k (found an inexpensive refurb) a while back and 95% of the problems went away.

whatever1 6y ago

In Windows a restart makes everything work properly. But it is a pain, specially in work setups where you return to your desk from a meeting and you want to plug-in your laptop to the Thunderbolt dock and then immediately start working. Now I have come to terms. After a meeting I save everything and shutdown my machine. I connect to the dock and then boot.

908B64B197 6y ago

Something I don't understand: Surfaces have a magnetic charging port that doubles as a dock and it... just works?

wlesieutre 6y ago
USB-C hubs work better on Apple’s devices than Thunderbolt if you want an apples to apples comparison, but they can’t do as much. Surface just doesn’t offer Thunderbolt.