I currently have iMac 2020 and working with it all day. I also have Macbook Air M1 for portable needs outside. I want to upgrade my mac setup now but considering some options. Since my budget is limited, I don't want to make mistake.

1) Studio Display + new Mac Mini m2 pro. (Sell iMac and keep Macbook Air)
2) Studio Display + Macbook Pro 14 M2 Pro. (Sell iMac and Macbook Air.)

The question is, will I get same performance with Macbook Pro 14 if I use it with Studio Display all day long? I will use it 6 days of week as desktop. I mainly coding and editing, rendering Final Cut Pro videos.

Should I go with Mac Mini to replace my iMac or buy Macbook Pro for all my needs together? As far as I know, when I connect my Macbook Pro to display and shut screen off, I can use it like mac mini? Right?

Does any of you using a setup like this?

chonkvandelay said:

I currently have iMac 2020 and working with it all day. I also have Macbook Air for portable needs outside. I want to upgrade my mac setup now but considering some options. Since my budget is limited, I don't want to make mistake.

1) Studio Display + new Mac Mini m2 pro. (Sell iMac and keep Macbook Air)
2) Studio Display + Macbook Pro 14 M2 Pro. (Sell iMac and Macbook Air.)

The question is, will I get same performance with Macbook Pro 14 if I use it with Studio Display all day long? I will use it 6 days of week as desktop. I mainly coding and editing, rendering Final Cut Pro videos.

Should I go with Mac Mini to replace my iMac or buy Macbook Pro for all my needs together? As far as I know, when I connect my Macbook Pro to display and shut screen off, I can use it like mac mini? Right?

Does any of you using a setup like this?

Click to expand...

If your Air is an M1 I'd keep that and get a mini for the desktop.

My 2 cents: Yes, clamshell mode is great. I have two MBP (m1 max and m2 13") that i use in that mode. All the power of my earlier PCs but with the flexibility of portability. I have several sites with monitors and keyboards. Plug and play. Just great.

rjboris said:

My 2 cents: Yes, clamshell mode is great. I have two MBP (m1 max and m2 13") that i use in that mode. All the power of my earlier PCs but with the flexibility of portability. I have several sites with monitors and keyboards. Plug and play. Just great.

Oh, "Clamshell Mode" was the name I was thinking. Thank you.

So if I use it like this, will it hurt battery or psu of Macbook since it will be on all day long? My iMac is on all day and never had issues since. Will Macbook's with clamshell mode capable of running like this everyday? Thanks for reply.

I never turn mine off when on site. Only when I travel. Never heard a fan because of overheating. Nor have I had any problem with battery life when using the machines as strictly laptops.

"Is it wise to buy Macbook Pro M2 Pro and use it as desktop mac?"

One can do so, but I wouldn't consider it to be "wise" (particularly if you already have another laptop).

For desktop use, get a "desktop" Mac, either a Studio or an m2pro Mini.
Either of these will do fine for FCP videos.

For the fastest SSD speeds, get an m2pro Mini with a 1tb SSD (or larger).

If I were in your position… I’ll go with option #2.

You can always take the MBP on the go, which would eliminate the need for the MBA And there’s nothing wrong with using the MBP as desktop Mac.

Plenty of users go with the MBP as a desktop solution… me, included.

people all over the world use a laptop as a desktop, so if you want to have that power in a laptop you can take with you, then do that.

i custom built a desktop pc, only to sell it and get the flagship 16 inch mbp 38 core 96gb/8tb variant. i use davinci resolve studio and have a ts4 dock. im an android and PC fanboy but the kind of power, efficiency, and convenience apple silicon gives you is tough to beat right now. since i travel and work outside of my home in a studio, i want that power to go with me. if i worked from home, id just get a desktop computer.

but to answer directly, you wont hurt the laptop in clamshell mode and running it daily. ive had this laptop since it first launched and other than a couple of firmware updates where the machine had to reboot, the machine has not been off.

You definitely can and it won't hurt.

I thought about doing the same thing. However, I don't want to use my MBP14 2023 in a desktop situation and have to keep docking / undocking it. I'd rather have a dedicated device permanently on my desk, that's why I got the Mini M2 Pro.

It's been a very expensive month.

chonkvandelay said:

Oh, "Clamshell Mode" was the name I was thinking. Thank you.

So if I use it like this, will it hurt battery or psu of Macbook since it will be on all day long? My iMac is on all day and never had issues since. Will Macbook's with clamshell mode capable of running like this everyday? Thanks for reply.

This is what I do. A Mac mini with an M1 Pro didn't exist when I bought my machine, so I created my own...

14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro connected to two Apple Studio Displays and other typical desktop hardware (keyboard, mouse, external SSD, dock with ethernet, USB-A and USB-C ports, etc).

I will say though - I strongly advise using a piece of software called AlDente Pro to restrict the battery charge limit to 80% or so since it'll be plugged in for long periods of time. You can top it off on demand if you need to take the MacBook with you some place. But otherwise it'll keep the MacBook from keeping the battery at 100%. It'll significantly extend the life of the battery and reduce the chances of battery swelling and causing hardware damage. Best $10 you'll spend (or something like that; can't remember the cost of the full version).

The 14" MBP will be absolutely fine as a desktop. It runs so cool and so quiet you won't get the normal drawbacks of using a laptop as a desktop - the laptop being noticeably less powerful, and making a bunch of noise. Even when gaming on my 14" MBP in clamshell mode connected to a monitor, I can't hear the fans. It's crazy.

The real question is, how important is portability to you? Would you feel totally happy getting rid of your 2.8lbs Air and using a device that's 3.5lbs and a bit bigger? If so, you can easily get the 14" MBP and never look back.

If the relatively light weight and size of the M1 Air is important to you, it's a more difficult choice.

The only bad thing about using the laptop as a desktop is that it can be a bit annoying to rearrange the window sizes etc every time you dock and undock it to the monitor. I personally hate this enough that I find it worth it to have a desktop device. But it's expensive, at least up front, to think this way.

xraydoc said:

This is what I do. A Mac mini with an M1 Pro didn't exist when I bought my machine, so I created my own...

14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro connected to two Apple Studio Displays and other typical desktop hardware (keyboard, mouse, external SSD, dock with ethernet, USB-A and USB-C ports, etc).

I will say though - I strongly advise using a piece of software called AlDente Pro to restrict the battery charge limit to 80% or so since it'll be plugged in for long periods of time. You can top it off on demand if you need to take the MacBook with you some place. But otherwise it'll keep the MacBook from keeping the battery at 100%. It'll significantly extend the life of the battery and reduce the chances of battery swelling and causing hardware damage. Best $10 you'll spend (or something like that; can't remember the cost of the full version).

Click to expand...

Am I correct, it’s a monthly sub? I googled aldente pro and it took me to sub page with that as the only option from Setapp

xraydoc said:

I will say though - I strongly advise using a piece of software called AlDente Pro to restrict the battery charge limit to 80% or so since it'll be plugged in for long periods of time. You can top it off on demand if you need to take the MacBook with you some place. But otherwise it'll keep the MacBook from keeping the battery at 100%. It'll significantly extend the life of the battery and reduce the chances of battery swelling and causing hardware damage. Best $10 you'll spend (or something like that; can't remember the cost of the full version).

This is built into macOS now.

zapmymac said:

Am I correct, it’s a monthly sub? I googled aldente pro and it took me to sub page with that as the only option from Setapp

$21 lifetime license. There's a $10 annual license, which makes little sense unless you think you'll only use the app for a year or less. There's also a free version with fewer features.

FreakinEurekan said:

This is built into macOS now.

Yes, but it's not quite the same. macOS attempts to learn how you use the machine and will charge it to 100% before it thinks you'll take it with you. While ok for some people, AlDente gives you full manual control over pausing, discharging and topping off the battery. IMHO it's worth the price.

xraydoc said:

Yes, but it's not quite the same. macOS attempts to learn how you use the machine and will charge it to 100% before it thinks you'll take it with you. While ok for some people, AlDente gives you full manual control over pausing, discharging and topping off the battery. IMHO it's worth the price.

I totally respect YHO - but IMHO the cost doesn’t really play into it; it’s just adding complications that aren’t really useful. If you want to top of the battery, that’s simple with the built-in solution and that’s really the only “Exception” case that I’d ever need.