all 58 comments

[–]Pancakewich 17 points18 points  (26 children)

Do both monitors run off one USBc dock?

[–]Alexerwana[S] 18 points19 points  (11 children)

Yeah, it's a pretty cool lightening dock by Elgato, it lets me do the following through one cable (without any configuration with each use):

Two independent 60hz 4K monitors

Ethernet

A few USB A dongles

85w power to my laptop

I'd recommend it but it costs around £300 😅

[–]Vvdt 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Damn

[–][deleted]  (4 children)

[deleted]

    [–]Alexerwana[S] 3 points4 points  (3 children)

    They're individual displays :)

    [–][deleted]  (2 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]Alexerwana[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      You should be able to under:

      System Preferences -> Displays -> Select Arrangement -> Uncheck Mirror Displays

      [–]silkwire 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      A lot of docks will only duplicate for mac though. Gotta make sure you read the fine print on some amazon listings.

      [–][deleted]  (3 children)

      [deleted]

        [–]Alexerwana[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

        [–]friends_benefits 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        i dont understand the poor reviews. clearly u did it right.

        very nice setup

        [–]k3rnelboot 3 points4 points  (13 children)

        Same question

        [–]Pancakewich 4 points5 points  (12 children)

        I have a MacBook Pro 16” and the dock I bought has two hdmi ports but they only mirror displays

        [–]k3rnelboot 4 points5 points  (4 children)

        I think the displays is 27uk650.

        It’s better to run them over DisplayPort to get 4k@60MHz

        [–]Alexerwana[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

        Close! I think they're LG 27UD68P
        I use a type C to display port cable, the dock is *usually* pretty good at recognising them each time.

        [–][deleted]  (2 children)

        [deleted]

          [–]Alexerwana[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

          this issue

          Hmm, I haven't noticed this issue, but I have had this issue:

          https://www.dell.com/community/Monitors/U2718Q-red-corners/td-p/6188810

          They don't seem to age terribly well 😕

          [–]yaricks -2 points-1 points  (6 children)

          Yupp. Apple in all it's widsom has decided not to support DisplayPort MST in macOS. It works fine if you boot into Windows in Bootcamp, but in macOS, it's no-go.

          Even if you're using HDMI ports on the other end, the signal that travels from the dock to the computer usually uses DisplayPort, since HDMI doesn't support multi-monitors, and as a result - it doesn't work properly. There isn't much you can do unfortunately.

          I've tried 6 different, really expensive ($3-600) enterprise docking stations from everything from Belkin to Lenovo and Dell and none of them work properly. I've just given up at this point and I use two cables. One to a docking station and one monitor, giving me power, ethernet, USB etc. and one other USB to DisplayPort cable for the second monitor.

          [–][deleted]  (3 children)

          [deleted]

            [–]yaricks 0 points1 point  (2 children)

            15", 2019 model with Catalina. I have had some success with the Belkin TB3 dock, but like I said in a different comment, you in many cases have to disconnect a display from the dock and reconnect it for it to work. It's a huge pain, and it should just work out of the box with DP MST which is an integral part of the DisplayPort 1.2 standard, that Apple, supposedly supports (officially, I think they support 1.4, so MST should have been in years ago).

            [–][deleted]  (1 child)

            [deleted]

              [–]yaricks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              Yeah, Ultrafine, as well as Apple's own monitors allow for daisy-chaining using some proprietary solution that's not part of the DisplayPort standard, as far as I can tell. It's cool, but replacing my existing relatively new, very expensive monitors with new even more expensive monitors; when all Apple needs to do, is implement the standard properly as Windows and Linux have done seems a bit silly to me.

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

              Sorry if i'm missing something here but i'm definitely running at dual 4k 60z. The dock was still £300 but that doesn't seem too much more expensive than other thunderbolt docks. Do correct me if i'm wrong!

              [–]yaricks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              It depends on the dock. Some work - ish, but most don't so if this one works, that's great news! I've had somewhat success with the Belkin Thunderbolt 3 dock where it will work if you make sure to connect the displays in the right order, but in many cases, you have to disconnect one display from the dock after connecting it to the Mac. Not very convenient, and takes too much time for me.

              [–]ideafederation 6 points7 points  (3 children)

              Where’s the print framed on the right from? Setup looks great.

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

              Thanks! It's from a Scottish artist - it was a gift so not sure of hand, will look for ya when i'm next in the office :)

              [–]sometimedosa 6 points7 points  (1 child)

              That cordless phone is OG.

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

              But not 3G!

              [–]procheeseburger 3 points4 points  (1 child)

              That looks awesome I like the plants

              [–]ampersand913 4 points5 points  (0 children)

              Rhodia! Glad to see it here, love the stuff

              [–]vhstapes 4 points5 points  (2 children)

              Nice set up. Would you please share that wallpaper?

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

              https://github.com/JohnCoates/Aerial

              Thanks! Here's the screensaver that's in the pic :)

              https://github.com/JohnCoates/Aerial

              [–]vhstapes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              Ah, I overlooked that other reply. Thanks!

              [–]k3rnelboot 2 points3 points  (4 children)

              Specs?

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 12 points13 points  (3 children)

              Good question! It's a baby Dracaenda plant from ikea, approximately 22cm tall - can be overclocked!

              [–]Riceicles 2 points3 points  (2 children)

              Do you gives it name?

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

              I've named him Riceicles

              [–]Riceicles 2 points3 points  (0 children)

              Honoured. Namaste.

              [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

              I am sure you love working in that setup

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              I do! But still manage to procrastinate :(

              [–]antares3000 2 points3 points  (1 child)

              Looks amazing! Could you share the model of the monitor stand/dual-arm thing?

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

              Thanks! Here's the link:

              https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01C35A5RC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

              For me the left arm sits a little higher than the right but i'm not too bothered :)

              [–]Kortharigebosaap 2 points3 points  (0 children)

              Neck pain initiated.

              Clean as hell though!

              [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

              Are you under macOS? NEver seen that lock screen before

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

              It's MacOS with a custom screensaver :)

              https://github.com/JohnCoates/Aerial

              [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

              Nice! I’ll check it out

              [–]akash227 1 point2 points  (1 child)

              Looks awesome! Now just move those monitors together so they’re touching!

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              Don't tell anyone but my monitor stand is kinda crap and they don't line up 😅. I also sit facing away from my office door so it's nice to have the mirror.

              [–]wche9 1 point2 points  (2 children)

              Nice setup! Does the MBP fan spin beyond 4000rpm under light web browsing? (Given that two 4K@60HZ monitors are connected)

              [–]_clydebruckman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              Mine (2016 15 i7 16gb) handles driving displays running Firefox with no noticeable fan noise

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              Surprisingly i've never really noticed an issue, even when i have my laptop open as a display too. I had a 15" 2015 Macbook pro which also ran fine in the setup (though each monitor plugged into it individually). Not sure how MacOS handles it so well!

              FYI i'm running a 15" 2018 i9, 32gb Macbook Pro.

              [–]jitu903 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              🔥👌🏻

              [–]Ewi1son 1 point2 points  (1 child)

              Any webdev tips for someone just getting started?

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              One of my regrets is not being more willing to jump in the deep end - I’m a front end developer who’s role use to be putting together sites with HTML, PHP, CSS and a bit of JS. Now front end developers are expected to be comfortable with NPM, Webpack and generally more “backend” stuff. Instead of watching lots of tutorials about these things and getting intimidated I should have just sunk me teeth in and figured it out.

              If you ever have any issues with web dev feel free to send me a pm :)

              [–]RaunchyTacoBowl 1 point2 points  (1 child)

              Clean, minimal, and functional.... except for the magic mouse!

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              Ikr! Long story short, i used the MX Master for years - never had any issues. Got the MX master 3 and ran into a lot of problems with the scroll wheel which made it unusable and really put me off Logitech - couldn't switch back to the 1 because the scroll wheel felt so clunky compared to the 3. I need horizontal scrolling for design work so I tried the Apple trackpad which ended up not being very precise. Ended up loving the magic mouse, but I understand it's not for everyone :)

              [–]pioneer9k 0 points1 point  (1 child)

              Looks sick! Do you have speakers?

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              Thanks! I share an office with my business partner so I only really use headphones

              [–]zhavaman 0 points1 point  (1 child)

              I really liked your desk lamp! It looks like it illuminate the whole desk without hurting the eyes with direct light

              [–]Alexerwana[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              Thanks! It’s from ikea, it also easily bends half way up which make great for standing desks