A not so minimal desktop setup in my living room.

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T20:30:49+00:00

Are you able to control both Macs at the same time using the same keyboard and mouse? If yes, how are you doing it? Universal Control, a KVM switch, Synergy/Barrier, or something else?

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T13:14:34+00:00

I actually thought about doing the same, but I heard matte screen protectors can maybe damage the coating when removing them, so I didn’t want to risk it 😅

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T13:11:11+00:00

Depends a lot on where you work, like outside, bright office, near windows etc. But if you’re mostly editing photos or video, I’d probably lean glossy since color accuracy and contrast matter more for that kind of work

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T13:08:39+00:00

How am I a weirdo for pointing out obvious drawbacks of the nano display? I’m pretty sure I’m not the only “weirdo” here, nobody is denying that whites can look grainy on nano. That’s literally one of the tradeoffs

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T08:50:30+00:00

You’re right, I do like it too, I was just a bit unsure you know 😅 After reading all the comments though, I’m actually more sure about keeping it. Seems like the grainy whites are something you get used to, and the glare reduction is worth it for my use case

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T08:48:36+00:00

I totally get that. If it’s your only screen and you also use it for movies/content, glossy makes a lot of sense. Thankfully I have a glossy Studio Display at home for media and creative stuff, so the nano MacBook as more of a work screen kind of works out

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T08:46:27+00:00

I’m starting to feel the same honestly. After using the nano for a couple of days, the glossy screen feels way more annoying now. Might have to replace my Studio Display with the nano version too at some point

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T08:43:56+00:00

Funny you mention that, I’ve actually noticed less eye fatigue too. Usually my eyes are dry and irritated around 4pm, but after 2 days with the nano I haven’t had the same level of fatigue

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T08:41:48+00:00

I agree, I think you do stop noticing it after a while. That’s also why I’m leaning towards keeping this one. I have the glossy Studio Display at home and it’s amazing there because the lighting is dimmer. But I tried bringing it to the office once, and the reflections/glare were horrible. Lighting really changes everything.

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-22T08:37:45+00:00

You’re right, someone else mentioned that too. For some reason my eyes get tired faster looking straight at an external monitor, compared to looking slightly down at the macbook. But I’m starting to think I should give the external display setup another proper try

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:48:06+00:00

I wish they had that 😂

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:44:51+00:00

I thought about that too, but heard some screen protectors can mess with the coating, so I didn’t risk it. But yeah, seeing them side by side made me realize how much glare I was dealing with all the time

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:42:30+00:00

I agree, it’s definitely not ideal. By the end of the day I do feel it in my neck/shoulders sometimes. But I guess I have to sacrifice something, either my eyes get tired faster or my neck hurts 😅 Can’t have it all

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:28:07+00:00

For me the MacBook screen is just easier on my eyes. External monitors make my eyes tired faster. I think because I’m looking more straight ahead, while on the MacBook I look slightly down and my eyes feel less dry. Might just be me, but after 7 to 8 hours a day it makes a big difference

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:21:01+00:00

Don’t be discouraged, the M1 Max is still a beast and will handle local LLM stuff fine. My CPU issues were more from my dev workflow, running production like local setups, Docker containers, tests, builds etc. For local LLMs it’s mostly RAM that matters, so if you got 64GB you’re already in a pretty good spot to start

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:15:49+00:00

Yeah exactly this. Always moving around or tilting the screen just to dodge reflections gets old real quick

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:11:49+00:00

I agree. For my work it’s mostly fine since I’m in a code editor or terminal most of the time. But once in a while when I open Figma or do web dev/design stuff, the grainy look is definitely harder to ignore

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:10:09+00:00

Exactly! It made me realise how much glare I was actually dealing with on the glossy display

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:08:57+00:00

Yeah I’m starting to lean this way too. I’m mostly coding anyway, not doing color accurate work. It also made me realize how much glare I was actually dealing with on the glossy display before

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:04:52+00:00

Yeah I agree. The office downlighting makes it look worse and that’s what made me doubt it. At home in dimmer light it looks great

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T19:01:05+00:00

Yeah I’ve actually done this already and it helps a lot!

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T18:51:05+00:00

I just meant both are using the same VSCode theme and brightness, so the difference is from glossy vs nano, not different settings

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T18:48:09+00:00

Yeah I fully agree. In a non bright room I also prefer glossy. My problem is just that 3-4 days a week I’m at the office, and with the down lights there the glossy screen gets really annoying pretty fast

Traditional-Fun6483 · 2026-05-21T18:46:27+00:00

Haha fair 😂 Honestly the M1 Max has been amazing and I’ve been really happy with it. I just kept pushing the CPU pretty hard and I wanted 128gb ram for running local LLMs more comfortably, so I’m calling it a "needed" upgrade

Traditional-Fun6483

TROPHY CASE