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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.