Consolidate a Mac Studio M1 Max and MBA M1 into an MBP M4 Max?

[darkpaw]

Hi all. I currently have a Mac Studio M1 Max (64GB, 4TB, 10c/24c) and a MacBook Air M1 (16GB, 1TB), and I'm looking at consolidating these two machines into one MacBook Pro M4 Max (4TB, not sure on RAM or cores yet).

The Mac Studio connects to:
- A Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 Superdock
- An LG 5K UltraFine running 2880x1620 @ 60.00Hz over TB4
- An LG 4K running 2560x1440 @ 60.00Hz over HDMI

I quite like having a computer that stays in the house as it runs Homebridge, but that's not really so important. I rarely need to turn on the lights in the garden when I'm out and about, for example. I'd plug the MBP into a vertical dock when it's at home.

I travel quite a lot and take my MBA with me, and I wouldn't mind having a Mac with me that has all my stuff (which has become less important with iCloud), but then it's my only computer and could be stolen or just break.

Should I reduce to just one Mac, or is it more reasonable to leave the Mac Studio as it is and just replace the MBA with a more powerful M4 MBP/MBA?

 

[Bigwaff]

Should I reduce to just one Mac, or is it more reasonable to leave the Mac Studio as it is and just replace the MBA with a more powerful M4 MBP/MBA?

Perhaps a hint or two about what type of workloads or computing activities you do with each will help others provide opinions. Without this info, I say stick with what you got.

 

[Fishrrman]

Keep the Mac Studio.

DO get the new MacBook Pro.
Once you have it, migrate from the MacBook Air to the new MBP.

And after that...
Continue to let each of your Macs (Studio and MBP) be "its own Mac".

There is NOTHING as good as having a good desktop for "desktop things", AND having a good laptop for "laptop things" ...

 

[darkpaw]

Perhaps a hint or two about what type of workloads or computing activities you do with each will help others provide opinions. Without this info, I say stick with what you got.

I purposely didn't include this info as I'd already decided on the spec of the machine I would get. The issue is whether I switch to one machine that I take with me everywhere, or do I stick with the two machine situation.

 

[ChrisA]

Hi all. I currently have a Mac Studio M1 Max (64GB, 4TB, 10c/24c) and a MacBook Air M1 (16GB, 1TB), and I'm looking at consolidating these two machines into one MacBook Pro M4 Max (4TB, not sure on RAM or cores yet).

The Mac Studio connects to:
- A Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 Superdock
- An LG 5K UltraFine running 2880x1620 @ 60.00Hz over TB4
- An LG 4K running 2560x1440 @ 60.00Hz over HDMI

I quite like having a computer that stays in the house as it runs Homebridge, but that's not really so important. I rarely need to turn on the lights in the garden when I'm out and about, for example. I'd plug the MBP into a vertical dock when it's at home.

I travel quite a lot and take my MBA with me, and I wouldn't mind having a Mac with me that has all my stuff (which has become less important with iCloud), but then it's my only computer and could be stolen or just break.

Should I reduce to just one Mac, or is it more reasonable to leave the Mac Studio as it is and just replace the MBA with a more powerful M4 MBP/MBA?

Some ideas...

First off, you can run Homebridge on a $40 Raspberry Pi. Even the Pi4 with 2GB RAM is more than enough. If you don't like that then buy a $100 2011 vintage Intel Mac Mini from OWC. Run it headless in a closet someplace and forget about it.

The only good reason to keep a Mac Studio at home is if you do work that needs a Mac Studio. Perhaps the Studio has large external disks and two 27" monitors. You can not replace that setup with a notebook.

But you could get a kind of dock that allows you to quickly connect the external drive and monitors.

Lastly, backup is important. It is kind of hard to remember to run Time Machine on a notebook unless TM is set up wirelessly. There are a dozen ways to do that. Some routers have a USB port where you can plug in a large disk. Backup needs to be automated and hands-off or you will not do it. I would think about how you wil back up the notebook before you buy it. No, iCloud is not a backup. If files are corrupted on the Mac, iCloud will mirror the corruption.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Stick with 2 Macs. The mobile Mac is in danger of perhaps fatal damage/loss every time you take it somewhere. One good drop or theft and it may be lost. The desktop back at home would retain everything.

Perhaps you need simpler synching vs. leaning purely on iCloud? I have the same combo and use Choronsync to keep files that should be on both up to date. One click to sync anything new on either to the other. It works great. It's not the only such option but I like it just fine for keeping a desktop and laptop synched up. I barely mess with iCloud or Dropbox at all (not paying for space on either).

 

[ChrisA]

Stick with 2 Macs. The mobile Mac is in danger of perhaps fatal damage/loss every time you take it somewhere. One good drop or theft and it may be lost. The desktop back at home would retain everything.

You should NEVER have to worry about losing data if the computer is lost or stolen. There are many ways to set up a redundant backup system that retains a versioned history of your work. Apple's Time machine is already installed on every Mac and is a simple first-line backup. You need more and there are options

But never worry about losing data as there are good ways to make that nearly impossible.

 

[leifp]

I have been wrestling with this question myself. I hate laptops but presently they make my life easier. I’m now in a position where I could keep my laptop as backup yet have a desktop that either remains at my main location or moves with me to my secondary workplace. But I have never had a good time with two devices: what I need never seems to be found, easily or otherwise, on the machine I’m on… doesn’t help that I’m a scatterbrain…

So for myself I’ve decided to remain consolidated and on a laptop for now: M5Max is the target to then upgrade displays as next gen monitors start to proliferate. M4 (Pro/Max) already fits the bill with TB5 but my M1Max still exceeds my needs and no proper next gen displays have been announced. At present I have a pair of 4K displays hooked up through a TB3 dock for DP and direct to the MBPro with HDMI. I’d love a 40” 8K with ProMotion or similar…

A lot of talk about myself for someone else’s situation! Long story short: I support the pros of consolidating your tech into a single laptop @darkpaw and agree with @ChrisA that a good backup is all you need (unless you need mission critical tech RIGHT NOW rather than having the time to order and set up a new machine from backups)

 

[darkpaw]

Thanks for your help, everyone.

Decision made. I'm sticking with two Macs. I'm going to get a refurbished M4 MacBook Pro 14" to replace the M1 MacBook Air, and see how it goes. If, after a few months, I find the MBP is better than the Mac Studio for what I need to do, I'll sell the Studio and stick with the MBP alone. I an always buy a new M5 Studio if they ever release one.

 

[Nemic]

I had considered purchasing a Mac Studio (to replace an iMac) and also upgrading my old 15 inch MacBook Pro - which was getting very slow.

I finally decided to just purchase a 14 inch MacBook Pro and use it as my desktop and also my portable when away from home.

At home it is connected to a Thunderbolt dock and 2 LG 32 inch 4K monitors (Ultrafine 32UN880 3840 x 2160).

I am extremely satisfied with this setup and it's very convenient having everything on my MacBook when I travel.

I keep the MacBook's power brick in my rucksack as I get the home desktop setup power from one of the the LG monitor's USB-C. So when I need to travel I just unplug the thunderbolt cables and go.

It works really well and cost a lot less than buying a new MacBook as well as a Mac Studio.