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What MBA/MBP/iMac/Mac Studio/Mac Mini combination do you use?

  • Single MBA/MBP exclusively

    Votes: 72 51.1%
  • Two or more MBA/MBP for mixed work

    Votes: 14 9.9%
  • MBA/MBP for portability, desktop Mac for "heavy lifting"

    Votes: 38 27.0%
  • Something else

    Votes: 17 12.1%

  • Total voters
    141

richard13

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 1, 2008
942
545
Odessa, FL
A lot of the advice I've seen recently seems to be centered around the idea that the MBA or MBP is your only computer. I'm just wondering what everyone is really doing in their normal daily routine.
 
I've got my M1 MBA as my "main computer." I want to get a desktop (iMac maybe) to use in addition because I'm tired of disconnecting and reconnecting cables when I leave/get back home.

(see below for details)
 
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I have a big, beautiful 27" iMac for home usage - photography, cinematography, gaming, general web browsing. A pair of 15" MBP work-owned laptops, and a M2 MBA for personal use while traveling (same uses as the iMac, just on a smaller, less-beautiful screen hah!).
 
Yeah I really want a 27-inch Quad HD monitor, so that's the main reason. The computer doesn't really need to be powerful - I don't do a ton of intensive tasks...

I've used many 21.5" and 27" iMacs at school and I really like the experience. Was just using a 27" 2012 today, and it was perfectly fine for Premiere in 4K.

But to answer the OP's question, yep, the MBA is my only main computer. I do have a 5,1 and a 2010 Mac mini, but those are too slow to use as a daily driver.
 
It really doesn't make sense to own a desktop with the current MBPs right now, power-wise, unless you really need an M1 Ultra for some reason.
 
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I badly want to upgrade to a desktop. I’m so tired of having a laptop only. I just don’t need a mobile computer enough to justify it (anymore) and it’s killing my neck and back.
 
I badly want to upgrade to a desktop. I’m so tired of having a laptop only. I just don’t need a mobile computer enough to justify it (anymore) and it’s killing my neck and back.

Ever heard of external monitors?
 
I use my desktop PC for games and work which a Mac simply cannot do. M2 MacBook Air is for Netflix in bed, web browsing and travel. Mac for me is exclusively for entertainment and not doing work.
 
I have a 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro for heavy lifting and a 2012 Mac mini for casual use, a bit backwards maybe.
 
Its my only Mac because its the only Mac ive ever owned lol. I dont see myself getting any type of desktop computer unless I go back to a gaming pc which I haven't touched for years. I got by with an iPad and an iPhone for about 8 years now. Its definitely nice to have an actual computer again though and should have gotten one a long time ago.
 
My 14" M1 Max MBP is my main Mac and computer. I use it at home and the office for work. I also have a 2015 11" MacBook Air that I use for traveling when I don't need the power of my MBP. At home, I have everything set up through a thunderbolt dock (including power) so I just need to plug/unplug one cable when I move my MBP.
 
This poll confirms what I have been seeing. I have seen the 16GB/512Gb and 16GB/1TB having longer delivery times sometimes than the base model, so people are actually buying the expensive versions in masses. So for many people it is their only computer.

Would be weird to have a 16" M1 MBP and then also going for a super expensive high-spec MBA too, while you already got a "main" machine.
 
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I have an M1 Air for mobile and a base M1 Mini for desktop.

I hate hitting the desktop keyboard and wondering why the monitor won’t light up (“oh the Air is somewhere else”).
 
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Currently just on a MacBook Air which is provided by my employer, but I'm thinking of getting a Mac mini whenever they announce to run as my "personal" computer.
 
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Ever heard of external monitors?
I’m always stunned that there are people who think they’re smart by suggesting something obvious as if it’s not something the person they’re essentially trying to shame, hasn’t already thought of and dismissed due to their personal circumstances, of which the poster has zero knowledge, nor seeming capability to even imagine or consider as an unknowable variable that, had they the context of, would possibly cause them to refrain from comment on.

Ever heard of not hitting the reply button?
 
I keep saying I'm going to get rid of some of my laptops, go down to just one, and get a Mac Studio...but I've yet to make a move. Right now most of my heavy lifting is done on my 16-inch 2019 MBP, because I've been too lazy to transition over to my 2021 M1 Pro. I'm hesitating because I'm contemplating getting a Mac Studio and keeping just my 2020 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro as my secondary device.
 
I’m always stunned that there are people who think they’re smart by suggesting something obvious as if it’s not something the person they’re essentially trying to shame, hasn’t already thought of and dismissed due to their personal circumstances, of which the poster has zero knowledge, nor seeming capability to even imagine or consider as an unknowable variable that, had they the context of, would possibly cause them to refrain from comment on.

Ever heard of not hitting the reply button?

Ever heard of explaining your motives for not considering that solution, after hitting the reply button?
You would even have wasted less keypresses.
 
I am using a MacBook Pro 14 base model and I love it!
The beauty and the beast in one package😍
But for my neck I'm also connect the MBP to an external Samsung 27" monitor with 1440p resolution when I am sitting more than a couple of hours with work.
However the monitor is quite cheap and it shows on the image quality, so next year I am gonna upgrade the monitor to a 4K from LG or something similar.
 
I use a 2014 Mac mini and a gaming PC on the desktop but my primary computer is my M1 MacBook Air. I would like to upgrade my current Mac mini when a new update is available.
 
Single M1 MBA here. Used as both portable and as a desktop machine connected to a 4K monitor, bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
 
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I use my M2 MacBook Air almost exclusively but I do still have my 2013 Mac Pro on my desk. I use the Mac Pro as a VM workstation and NAS mostly. I'm sharing a 4K display with my M2 MBA's dock but it only gets 30 Hz with the Mac Pro so not ideal for regular use. But remoting in to the Pro while the M2 is docked works pretty well and I will probably keep using the Mac Pro until it dies or becomes ridiculously obsolete.
 
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I have a M1 MBA as my primary computer while I use a PC desktop for games, the occasional times I want a lot of cores, and to scratch some of my nerdier itches with Linux/BSD, CUDA programming, etc. I generally use (and enjoy) the MBA a bunch more than my desktop, but the having the higher horsepower PC at home makes it so I don't have any desire for a desktop Mac - which saves me a lot of money! :D
 
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