Macbook + external display. Where does the Macbook go?

[MitchWagner]

For 10+ years my daily driver has been a MacBook with an external display, keyboard, and trackball.

I use the external display as my main desktop, front and center in front of me, with the keyboard and trackball between us.

The MacBook’s built-in display is a secondary display … in theory. In reality, there’s too much neck-swivel for me to switch from one to the other, so I end up hardly using the MBP display at all.

Seems like a wicked waste of screen real estate. How do you solve the problem?

Here’s the setup.

Note iPad running Sidecar below the main display. I’m just trying that out for the past two days. I hardly use Sidecar—but for the few minutes a day I have used it, it has proven very handy.

Use Cases for Sidecar?

Here’s my use case: I’ve got a MacBook Pro hooked up to a 27-inch Cinema Display. I have the external display set up front-and-center on my desk, with the MBP off to one side. The location of the MBP makes it inconvenient to use as a second display. I’ve tried moving the displays to different locations and no matter what I do—too much head-swiveling. So this week I decided to hook up my 10" 6th Gen iPad as a sidecar display, park it below the big Cinema display, and I kinda like it. I can just…

Also of note:

• Yes, that’s a 2010 27" Apple Cinema Display. Still going strong!
• Regular ol’ table lamps behind the big Cinema display, for lighting on Zoom meetings. I have a meeting starting in a few minutes.
• So much clutter!
• Backyard pond visible out the back window, to the left. Sometimes we get ducks and even herons, which is lovely.

[KevinC]

@thealbs

in my case, Omnifocus and today’s calendar / schedule

I’m also an OF and calendar on my reference monitor.

My third monitor (the MacBook) has music and chrome (for focusmate in a different browser so it doesn’t interrupt me when I use safari for work).

For the non main monitors I like things that I interact with but don’t need to be working with for any extended time.

[GraemeS]

I have settled with my Air below the main screen and use it only as a reference monitor. After years of experimenting, I’ve decided I’m definitely a one-monitor kind of person for my task at hand, but a reference monitor is handy at times (basically, whatever I want to be able to glance at).

I never found Luna very stable for me. If my Air didn’t sit nicely under the main screen, I’d probably go with clamshell mode and use an iPad with SideCar.

[MitchWagner]

I have found that if I put the MacBook below the big screen, the big screen is too high up. I guess that’s not a problem for you?

Maybe I should give it another try.

[ybbond]

I have almost the same setup as this. Keeping my Air below the main screen with half closed lid. I open and reposition the lid only if I need to make a video call. All the cable goes to the 24" 2k monitor.

I have Keyboard Maestro macros to:

• easily Toggle Mirrored Display (and one to check whether current status is mirrored or not)
• turn the second (MacBook’s built-in) monitor brightness all the way down
• with this script compiled, I can control the external display’s brightness and contrast.
  • the scripts achieve some of what Lunar.app can do.

Lunar.app - a way for M1 Macs to control 3rd Party Monitor's Brightness and Contrast

This is both hardware and software, but I put it in the hardware category because it strikes me that’s where the biggest pieces are. Background (aka “The Problem”) One of the current limitations of M1 Macs is that when they are connected to 3rd party monitors (other than a few exceptions like the UltraFine), you cannot use the control the brightness and contrast from within macOS. You have to make any adjustments in the monitor’s built-in controls… which we can all agree are terrible. The prob…

[GraemeS]

It works for me with my Air screen tilted way back. Not an ideal angle, but it’s only for reference and works well for me. It also lets me tuck the Air behind the monitor, giving me space for my keyboard.

School starts again soon, so I’ll have to see if this survives full-on work.

@ybbond

• easily Toggle Mirrored Display (and one to check whether current status is mirrored or not)
• turn the second (MacBook’s built-in) monitor brightness all the way down

Nice, I’m pinching these ideas.