{"id":1646,"date":"2024-03-30T01:14:13","date_gmt":"2024-03-30T01:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/?p=1646"},"modified":"2024-03-30T01:18:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T01:18:57","slug":"switching-to-apple-silicon-part-iv-consolidation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/switching-to-apple-silicon-part-iv-consolidation\/","title":{"rendered":"Switching to Apple Silicon Part IV: Consolidation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I think it’s time to consolidate from having both a laptop and a desktop to a laptop only. Prior to Apple Silicon Macs,Intel Macs alway performed much differently. And until the 15″ MacBook Air, I couldn’t afford the size of laptop that I like. I have always had 13″ MacBooks because that’s all I could afford. 15″+ MacBook Pros were always 2500 or higher and never performed the same as their desktop counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mac mini (M2) and the MacBook Air (M2) are based on the same SOC (system on a chip) therefore perform almost identically. The MacBook Air is slightly slower when under heavy load because it doesn’t have a fan whereas the Mac mini has a robust cooling system. For the types of tasks that I do: General computing, photo editing, and light video editing for my YouTube channel, the MacBook Air performs just as I want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is also, all I have to replace is one machine so maybe a nice M2 Pro MacBook Pro in the future or M3\/M3 Pro and I gain all the performance in both a desktop scenario and mobile. So, here we go removing the Mac mini from my desktop setup and docking my MacBook Air into the same setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mac mini (M2)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
MacBook Air (M2)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Close-up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t buy a traditional dock for this setup. I am using four products…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An array of products<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From left to right –

Selore USB-C Hub<\/a>: It has 3 USB-C 10GB speed ports, 1 USB-A 3.2 5GB port, and an HDMI port (which I am not using) and USB-C PA power input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UGreen USB-C to Display Port Cable<\/a>: This one supports DP 1.4 Spec. I needed this for my new monitor (I will post about that later.) for high refresh rate and HDR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anker 100W USB-C Charger<\/a>: Needed for the above USB-C Hub. MacBooks will not work on an external monitor in clamshell mode unless the laptop is connected to power. I bought this so I can keep the included charger elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UGreen USB-C Hub:<\/a> It has 2 USB-C and 2 USB-A ports. Those are mounted on the front of the monitor riser for easy access. [Not pictured]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I double-stick taped the components to the bottom of the monitor riser. When “docking” my MacBook Air, I have to connect 2 USB-C connectors: Selore USB-C Hub and the UGreen USB-C to Display Port Cable. Now, I am free to sell my Mac mini. I haven’t used it in a week and I don’t miss it. So, if you want the best of both worlds, it is now possible with Apple Silicon. I wasn’t a real champion of it at first, but this is a realization of what it can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next blog post will review the new monitor I purchased. This purchase was done prior to exploring this consolation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think it’s time to consolidate from having both a laptop and a desktop to a laptop only. Prior to Apple Silicon Macs,Intel Macs alway performed much differently. And until the 15″ MacBook Air, I couldn’t afford the size of laptop that I like. I have always had 13″ MacBooks because that’s all I could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,46,24,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apple","category-apple-silicon","category-macos","category-switching-to-apple-silicon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1646"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1653,"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646\/revisions\/1653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmolenda.com\/techparadise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}