Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

You are reading a single comment by @kboy and its replies. Click here to read the full conversation.

•

salad
Will also post this in the WFH thread but as it's kinda mac-specific I'll try here first -

work has changed in a way that I now don't move around with the laptop (2019 16" MBP) a lot any more but sit on a desk for many hours a week.

tldr: my back hurts, I need a proper ergonomic setup.

I like the screen of my macbook (got a Moshi iVisor anti-glare thing on it, which is great), and I don't really need more screen estate - but do I get an external display (that I can adjust to a proper height / distance from eyes etc.) or do I just get a laptop stand that moves the whole macbook about 20cm up and further away from me?
How do you do it?

Of course the second / external screen sounds nice even though I don't really need it, plus the sight of having the 16" on some apparatus on my desk is quite annoying, aestetically. What sort of external screen would be a good fit?
My main concerns are:
- I do not want to spend a fortune on a screen - but quality should be somewhat on par with the MBP display (it does not need to have 100% colour accuracy or anything though it would be cool if the external display would be in sync with the built-in screen regarding the "true tone" functionality - is this even possible, or do you just have to deal with one screen being warm and the other cold?)
- I would really love the mac to be able to run this screen for hours without getting so hot that I hear the fucking fans running constantly (I don't really push the mac a lot, it's just browsing, pages, light photoshop.. but I heard external displays tend to heat up those 16" macs quite a bit so would love to keep things silent or near-silent at least
Either way I would need a mouse or (second) trackpad, I guess this means the apple magic 2 thing. Can't deal with their mice and also want the gestures to be the same, so that's settled basically.

Also need a keyboard if I go this route - and actually am looking forward to using a nice mechanical one again - yet I was thinking:
- does it get annoying switching from a mechanical- to a shallow-travel "magic" keyboard all the time, or is this a non-issue? Do you mac laptop users opt for a external magic keyboard or just use anything?
  Those of you that use a nice mechanical one - which does work well with apple regarding cmd / option / fn key etc. ?
Thanks for your feedback!

•

kboy in reply to @salad

I’d give a laptop stand + external keyboard + mouse a go before investing in a monitor. Cheap way to increase ergonomics.

If you decide to get a monitor, this is a good read: https://bjango.com/articles/macexternaldisplays/

•

salad in reply to @kboy

Thanks for that link - actually remember reading this two years back or so.
Also remember that consensus in this thread was (is?) that the LG UltraFine are the way to go for most people..
..is there somebody on here with a 2019 16" and a 4K UltraFine - does it make the fans go loud (with basic tasks I mean, not watching 4K vids or doing anything particularly cpu intensive)?

But yea, still a lot of money - will likely try out the laptop stand solution first.

Thanks for your feedback!

Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

About

LFGSS