> But the screen estate isn't even close between three monitors and a laptop Absolutely, which is a large part of the reason I'm not sure its practical for me,

> But the screen estate isn't even close between three monitors and a laptop Absolutely, which is a large part of the reason I'm not sure its practical for me, but its certainly true that one monitor is simpler than three. I suppose I could eventually get used to just having one monitor, it might even have some advantages, but I'm not sure I'd want to. > A nice middle ground is a laptop with a dock with monitors This is what I've currently got (laptop is a razer blade). In my case at least it just ended up being more messy and difficult than a desktop. Most docks for example are designed for business use and therefore don't provide "clean" USB power, which I found causes issues with audio interfaces and DACs. I just ended up having a small, poorly cooled, difficult to upgrade desktop. After that, I decided no more half measures. I either embrace the minimalism of a laptop alone, or return to a desktop. I know a dock works well for some people, sadly not for me. > Gaming is nonexistent on macOS... i can't imagine doing game dev somewhere you can't even test This is exactly it (plus game dev for apple sillicon is still somewhat lagging behind), it doesnt seem to be a practical option, yet as I still, here I am. Of course theres also non-apple laptops as well which would provide similar simplicity. I love my thinkpads, but I'm just not sure they're powerful enough for me to replace a desktop with, and as for the more powerful of the non-apple laptops, the blade has given me a mistrust of them (only had the thing for a year and the battery has bulged beyond being able to fit it in the chassis)