For a long time, I’ve just used the laptop that work gave me for both “job” stuff and “personal” stuff.
That changes today, though, when I take delivery of a Mac Mini which will be used as my personal/family machine.
My question is how can I interchange between a desktop and a laptop while I’m working at my desk?
I have a caldigit dock which has always been great for connecting the MBP to a widescreen monitor and a wired internet connection, but how should I best change that when a Mac Mini is going to be constantly on my desk and the MBP is going to be swapped in and out regularly?
What I would do: A stand to put the MBP open next to or below your monitor. Leave the monitor attached to the Mini. Then you can use universal control to move between the machines with a single keyboard and mouse/trackpad. When one machine isn’t on, or you aren’t using it, just use the setup with the machine you are using.
That means the MBP doesn’t use the external monitor directly. I don’t mind that; but some people do. I gather there exists hardware switches to let you toggle which machine uses a monitor, but the impression I’ve gotten is that they’re fiddly. I haven’t heard a lot about those on this forum recently. Not sure if they’re still a thing.
A fast Ethernet hub wired to the Mini and the dock, AutoMounter to auto-mount any necessary shares, and possibly a KVM to switch back and forth. That’s basically what I do.
Alternatively, depending on your needs, you can use Screen Sharing to access one computer from another if that fits your use case.
I have recently added a Mac mini to my long-time setup of a single laptop with an external monitor, so am in a similar situation. I have my laptop connected to my monitor (via the OWC Thunderbolt dock) with a single USB-C/Thunderbolt cable. This is my main workstation, so it kind of has priority in terms of paired Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. The Mac mini is connected to the monitor via HDMI, but I rarely need to use that connection. I’ve found that using Screen Sharing to control the mini is perfectly fine for most of my demands. If I’m going to be using it more directly for a longer stretch of time, I will pair my keyboard and mouse with it using a USB-A to Lightning cable for the quick autopairing, then do the same back to my laptop when I’m finished.