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Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

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Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#121

Post by OJFord »

ThePhysicist wrote: post #55
nshern wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could give Asahi Linux a spin? https://asahilinux.org/

Yeah thanks, I know that, is it usable enough as a daily driver already?

See the table of supported hardware. Software/firmware wise I think no reason to think it's unstable in mainline Linux. Just as long as they have actually implemented everything you need.

(Mine's an M3, so complete non-starter for now. Others have missing support for various things like HDMI or fingerprint reader, etc., so just a case of whether there's enough there for you to consider it 'usable' for your own use.)

Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#122

Post by da768 »

aden1ne wrote: post #112

My main issue with multiple displays on Mac is that the dock sometimes suddenly switches display. Sometimes this doesn't happen for weeks, other times it happens multiple times a day. When this happens, it tends to move the dock from the internal display to the external display, and the existing window on the external display suddenly gets smaller. The only resolution I've found when this occurs is unplugging and re-…

The dock moves whenever your cursor spends too much time hitting the bottom of the screen

Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#123

Post by resource_waste »

tuyiown wrote: post #27
bitcharmer wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm on Linux and I don't have any of these issues

Well I have them all the time

Debian-family?

Don't use outdated/old Linux Distros. I almost always find out someone is using a variant of Conical's Ubuntu CD marketing and it explains why they have some terrible experience.

Updated distros usually have everything working with modern hardware working together with software. Look into Fedora.

Ubuntu/Debian/Mint need to be avoided and we need to warn people.

Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#124

Post by wasteduniverse »

nottorp wrote: post #67
philjohn wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes - I noticed that the OP mentions they reboot a lot. If you just reboot for OS updates, and use sleep the rest of the time, most (all?) of these problems go away. Same for closing apps - with modern OS's keeping an app open is likely not an issue as it'll not consume resources when not in focus, unless it's running a heap of background tasks.

OP has PTSD from wintel computers i guess. People move to macs and don't expect sleep to work, expect to need a mouse for their laptops etc. I could contradict the entire article with my personal experiences if I took the time. Been using multiple monitor Macs (and Linux before them) for ages. > When the Dock is on the side, it only appears on the display that is farthest to that side. Having to move the mouse across…

[dead]

Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#125

Post by ffsm8 »

cjk2 wrote: post #77
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #29

> The Mac operating system still Just. Fucking. Sucks. at remembering where windows were, when relaunching apps. I agree and it's confounding. For me it's even worse: when plugging back into my home office after some work on the road, it doesn't remember the window positions associated with that setup, and I have to reorganize my dozens of windows away from the laptop screen again. I've solved this through a 3rd-part…

Works fine for me. I sit down, plug my MBP 14" into the studio display, close the lid and carry on where I was. It does a reasonable job of window placement.

[flagged]

Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#126

Post by resource_waste »

ThePhysicist wrote: post #39

I'd love to use a Linux distribution and window manager on my MacBook, in particular KDE. Would be totally awesome, great hardware and a power-user friendly operating system. I resort to using a ThinkPad for my Linux needs and it's ok but the new Macs are just leagues ahead in terms of hardware.

How does this happen? You accidentally get sold a Mac when you are 19 years old and going to college?

Like, you can get better EVERYTHING outside their hardware. I can't imagine ever being like:

You know what I really want 0 GPU and only 64GB ram for $2700!

I understand if you need to compile for Apple users, but if you are going to install Linux on it, get a GPU or some seriously significant amount of RAM.

Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#127

Post by tomduncalf »

otikik wrote: post #47

This person needs rectangle at least. https://rectangleapp.com/ It will not solve all the problems, but at least it will allow for fast key-based window movement instead of slow drag-and dropping with the mouse.

Yeah this is essential. Personally I use:

- Ctrl + Opt + Cmd + Left/Right Arrow to snap window to left/right half of the screen

- Ctrl + Opt + Cmd + Up Arrow to resize window to fill the screen

- Ctrl + Opt + Cmd + C to move window between monitors (centered on the next monitor)

I don't need any other shortcuts, this is enough to be able to effectively work with two displays for me.

Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#128

Post by resource_waste »

ashildr wrote: post #63

I seriously have none of these problems which makes me wonder what‘s wrong with me / my perception. (Intel and Apple Silicon MBPs, two external Dell Displays.) As a Mac user of decades I rarely use the dock though, but mostly shortcuts and spotlight.

When I first got an iPhone I was sooo excited to give Apple all my personal information. That is weird, because, that is a negative as a consumer.

When I first got Fedora, I was pretty accepting of flaws in the system because I was so excited. Weird because, this is a negative.

But vocally, we love our brands we associate ourselves with. You are such a vocal proponent of Apple products, when Apple fails, you think it reflects on you and your decisions. You don't want to be a dolt that spent $3000 on a computer that can't do what Fedora can do better for free.

We give the companies we irrationally love, passes.

Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#129

Post by jsheard »

allthebestforus wrote: post #12

I don’t understand why Apple doesn’t support daisy chaining multiple monitors using DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport (MST). That would be an elegant solution that also would fit Apple’s style.

Probably because their benchmark for displays (>220dpi, plus 10bit HDR in some cases) chews through so much bandwidth that it's not really feasible to squeeze two of them onto a single DP1.4 connection. DP2.1 could do it but Apple doesn't support that yet, and even if they did the monitors would also need DP2.1 passthrough, which also none of them do yet.

MST over DP1.4 only really makes sense for traditional low DPI displays.

Re: Multiple Displays on a Mac Sucks

#130

Post by happymellon »

JR1427 wrote: post #49
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #29

> The Mac operating system still Just. Fucking. Sucks. at remembering where windows were, when relaunching apps. I agree and it's confounding. For me it's even worse: when plugging back into my home office after some work on the road, it doesn't remember the window positions associated with that setup, and I have to reorganize my dozens of windows away from the laptop screen again. I've solved this through a 3rd-part…

My company has enforced frequent updates of browsers and other software set up, so we are relaunching apps very often, and this drives me crazy. It feels like someone is walking over to your desk and moving everything around, just to annoy you.

Oh god, and needing to make sure that I disable workspace reordering based upon how it feels I should work is right up as a priority when I deal with a new Mac.
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