I forgot to add that I have a SSD attached to my iMac that is a CCC clone (non-bootable). It’s my first line backup as I can rebuild a system faster than the other backups.
I have fully embraced the paperless lifestyle so good backups and recovery planning is a necessary part of that.
If you’re a creative, I highly recommend this display:
It was one of the top contenders when I researched last year. No complaints so far. And a very solid and heavy stand… you’d have to try really hard to make it wobble!
Also comes in 32 inch if you prefer larger.
I bought the 27 inch ultrafine when it was launched. I have not experienced any of the issues you have. My ultrafine is on a monitor mount. I did not use the stand. The stand is probably still in the garage. USB C ports work very reliably for me. Having said that, I only have an hard drive and a Logitech Bluetooth adapter connected. In relation to having an audio jack, I don’t think any displays apple sells has that port. Having said that, your MacBook Pro will so that should be sufficient.
It does seem like you got a dud. I will say that LG has had quality assurance issues with these displays and you seem to have one of those. The internet is a place where people who have issues tend to complain about it and people who don’t, they don’t necessarily sing it’s praises… atleast in the case of a monitor.
If you must get one today, I would recommend the ultrafine. If you can wait, there are enough rumours going around of a somewhat reasonably priced apple display is right around the corner.
I have heard good things but about this, but would much prefer a higher PPI. Thanks for reminding me this exists, though.
This is quite possible. But I also kept having bad keyboards. I bought three laptops, each of which had at least one major keyboard issue that forced me to give away my computer for a week to Apple so they could fix it. That was just a bad time for me with Apple products; I got very unlucky repeatedly. I’m a little loathe to go back to the Ultrafine just because it was part of that timeline for me. But it would certainly be cheaper than the XDR.
I have questions about this. Does this mean the machine must be on, with the shared drive attached via USB? Because if so, that sounds like something better suited to a Mac mini than a portable.
@snelly, I think you are on the right track with that Synology plan. I use one like this as well.
Synology on LAN with two volumes
You can then have the Synology backup to Backblaze B2 directly by itself – have a look here: The Best Synology NAS Cloud Backup
For extra peace of mind you can of course also run Backblaze on your Mac(s) but that then only has to back up the Mac itself and not worry about your archive volume on the Synology.
Alternatively you can use something like Arq to back up the Mac to the Synology archive/general storage volume which the Synology will send to B2.
Lastly, for another level you can connect a USB drive to the Synology and have it back up to there as well, but this is getting into Siracusa levels of overkill. Fine if it makes you sleep better at night, but not strictly necessary.
As for monitors I am also a satisfied Ultrafine 5K user (with my MBP 16"). Sure, the stand could be better but the display is just fine (hi Marco) otherwise. I don’t think there is anything on the market currently that is worth an upgrade from the 5K. The XDR is too expensive if you don’t need all those features and there will surely be better displays coming in the next year or so. Stick with that 5K until then I’d say.
Yes it does. The person I was responding to was using a Mini, just as I am for this purpose. You could do it with a laptop but the number of ports might be limited. I’m using a 2012 Mini I picked up for about $200.
Gotcha, that makes sense. Thanks!
Your lifestyle sounds remarkably close to what I’m considering. I would love the XDR for the HDR and screen size but I’d rather wait for Gen2 at this point. I’m glad you can also confirm your Ultrafine isn’t garbage; I’m relieved by the anecdotal evidence. Thank you! The clarity with the Synology setup is very helpful.
What Synology models would you recommend? I’m not sure where to start or how much $$ to set aside.
Well, for the storage-only use as described the most basic Synology models would suffice. I’d look at DS420j. The one I have is older and discontinued but similar to that.
Awesome, thank you again!