I got myself a Mac for learning SwiftUi because I want to make an iPhone game. I got myself a used 16/256 M1 Air model that has 2 USB-C ports and that’s it.
This made me create a workstation, where I have a high quality Thunderbolt 3 dock that works with DisplayLink, so I can have up to 4 external displays on windows and 3 on my MacBook Air. On this dock, I have connected 2 monitors, a mouse, a keyboard, a webcam, still have some USB A and C ports free to use. Best thing is that this dock has a micro SD and a regular SD slot!
All this through a single USB-C cable!
I want to connect my work HP Probook to this setup? Just plug the USB-C cable in and all comes to life!
I want to connect my gaming-PC? Just plug the USB-C cable in the Thunderbolt slot of the Graphics card and all comes to life!
Oh, I want to connect my USB-C emulator console, iPad, Tablet, etc. to the monitor, or the USB-stick? Or the Ethernet ? Just plug it in!
Basically I got my single cable workstation, and all that because of Apple removing useful at-home-things from a on-the-go device
I can do all that with my X1 Carbon which isn’t much thicker than an M1 Air. It’s got the same two USB-C / Thunderbolt ports but also has full-size HDMI, 2xUSB A, and wired headphones.
It seems like Apple’s main method of innovation is finding new ways to get people to buy $29.99 dongles over and over again.
They like to make things appear sleek until you actually have to use them. All that sleekness goes out the window as soon as someone hands you flash drive and you have to break out a dock.
That’s the thing that bugs me about Apple products anymore. Having a tower the size of a mid-size ATX, with ports you can plug peripherals into, inside the case? Oh, that’s so hard and unsightly. Here, hook up external peripherals to this hub instead.