I traded in my MacBook and now I’m a desktop convert

When nan M3 MacBook Airs came retired past month, I did a bully ol’ double facepalm that Captain Picard would beryllium proud of. The wedge style was nary more (kinda). My M2 MacBook Air 15 was somewhat excessively big, excessively heavy, and nary matter what definite group say, 8GB of RAM was not cutting it. Analyzing nan various MacBook Air and MacBook Pro configurations and prices made my caput hurt. Thinking astir lugging astir a heavier laptop made my backmost hurt.

So I said, “Screw it. I’m going backmost to nan desktop life.” I traded successful my M2 Air and sewage myself a Mac Mini.

It made sense. I person a work-issued M1 MacBook Air — a delightfully lightweight wedge that’s much than capable for occasional trips to nan office. At home, I usage my telephone for everything isolated from penning and tasks amended suited to large screens (e.g., spreadsheets, research, etc.). I already had an outer keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Really, I was utilizing my laptop arsenic a desktop anyway.

But nan past clip I had a desktop was successful 2001. Twenty-three years is simply a agelong time, and successful that time, I forgot a batch astir desktop life — for illustration really peripherals aren’t a bully action to have; they’re a must. And pinch Macs, setup tin beryllium reliable if you’re not utilizing Apple’s Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse.

I missed nan trackpad arsenic soon arsenic I realized my Keychron K2 wireless keyboard and Logitech MX Vertical rodent would request to beryllium plugged successful to get started. After that first hump, nan Keychron wasn’t difficult to pair. The rodent was different story. Bluetooth pairing wouldn’t activity while nan rodent was plugged in. However, I couldn’t click to brace nan rodent successful nan Bluetooth paper unless it was plugged in. I sat location lookin’ for illustration a amazed Pikachu for a bully 3 minutes arsenic I wracked my encephalon for each imaginable avenue that didn’t impact digging up a 2nd mouse. I past spent 3 hours looking for my spouse’s dormant Magic Mouse. It took different hr for it to get capable charge. This is a well-known issue, and yet, for illustration me, plentifulness of group get caught off guard — truthful if you’re reasoning of making nan switch, make judge you’ve sewage a wired rodent and keyboard connected hand.

In my 23 desktop-less years, I besides forgot that desktops don’t person awesome built-in speakers. My M2 Air had awesome speakers. The Mac Mini speaker is tinny garbage. I tried wearing headphones each time but recovered it excessively uncomfortable. After a week of denial, I bought immoderate tiny $19 table speakers. While I already had a webcam, I wasn’t prepared for really often I request to unplug and past replug it for it to work. And past I had to transportation photos from an SD card. The Mac Mini does not person an SD paper slot. I stared retired nan window, sighed, and bought Satechi’s 2-in-1 Mac Mini hub and stand.

But erstwhile nan puzzle of ports and peripherals was mostly sorted out, I appreciated really intentional desktop life is. Laptops are great, but their portability made it difficult for maine to abstracted activity from home. It’s easier for maine to get started successful nan greeting if I cognize I can’t rotation over, drawback my laptop, and commencement activity from bed. (Getting retired of bed, it turns out, does wonders for my mood.) I person to get dressed, brushwood my teeth, and make my measurement to my office. And since I only beryllium astatine my table to diary aliases work, it’s for illustration flipping a move successful my encephalon that says, “Time to write.” Everywhere other successful my location is now a spot wherever I tin just... live.

It’s a spot different from childhood. Back then, nan desktop was a family computer. There wasn’t immoderate existent privacy. My parents had privilege — which meant I had to hide each my very important mediate schoolhouse AIM conversations and forbidden LimeWire downloads arsenic soon arsenic they had to nonstop an email. That’s what made a laptop truthful appealing backmost then. I could return my business elsewhere, distant from their prying eyes. But now that I don’t person to share, I find desktop life helps create a regular building that allows maine much state — not less.

At slightest astir of nan time. There’s still 1 problem I person pinch nan Mac Mini that I haven’t rather solved. Alas, nan Mac Mini is square-shaped. Cats are notoriously fond of sitting connected squares. In nan past month, 1 cat, successful particular, has taken to perching connected it while imperiously staring down astatine maine — blocking my view, stealing my lunch, and aggressively demanding pets. It’s very tiny but unsustainable, arsenic I would for illustration to support my job. It is unclear whether getting a 2nd outer show will thief aliases plunge maine into different port-related puzzle. I will return immoderate and each suggestions.