Best dock set up for apple studio
Discussion
so have a new office i need to kit out that is mac based. ideally they want mac studio monitors as they look the coolest. But i need them to use ethernet. seems the studio doesnt have an rj45. dell have cool hub monitors that have them built in. whats the coolest money no issue way of having studio monitors and macs but with ethernet connection? was trying to avoid a dock as its messy - want it as clean as possible.
amazed apple dont have a solution as macs are used for big files so would think they need ethernet yet people who want macs want aesthetics?
thanks
amazed apple dont have a solution as macs are used for big files so would think they need ethernet yet people who want macs want aesthetics?
thanks
The neatest solution I've seen is the Belkin USB-C to 2.5Gb Ethernet Adapter that Apple sell. Would be interested to hear of any better solutions as I have a few of these monitors.
Edited in case it's not obvious: the adapter + ethernet just stays plugged into one of the USB-C ports on the back of the monitor.
Edited in case it's not obvious: the adapter + ethernet just stays plugged into one of the USB-C ports on the back of the monitor.
Edited by NoTreadLeft on Wednesday 21st January 17:36
Ok, so assuming they all have Macs with a max 96W max power requirement then I would connect the ethernet to the display using the Anker PowerExpand USB C to 2.5 Gbps Ethernet Adapter, most other adapters will not give gb ethernet and could be limited to as little as 100mb/s. Then the user just needs to connect the MacBook via the thunderbolt cable to the rear of the display (data, display and power), so have a cable connected on the desk ready for them to plug into. This will be the most minimalist solution.
This setup should work for nearly all Macs, you may have an odd user with say a 2021 16inch MacBook Pro (140W) and they'll need to use their MagSafe charger to charge the Mac.
This setup should work for nearly all Macs, you may have an odd user with say a 2021 16inch MacBook Pro (140W) and they'll need to use their MagSafe charger to charge the Mac.
Captain_Morgan said:
Mac Studio have a built in 10Gbe port, did you mean an other device?
If you mean a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro how fast a interface do you need and what device are you planning to use?
The Mac Studio Monitor doesn't, it has One upstream Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port for host (with 96W host charging) and three downstream USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s) for connecting peripherals, storage, and networkingIf you mean a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro how fast a interface do you need and what device are you planning to use?
Edited by Captain_Morgan on Wednesday 21st January 18:00
NoTreadLeft said:
The neatest solution I've seen is the Belkin USB-C to 2.5Gb Ethernet Adapter that Apple sell. Would be interested to hear of any better solutions as I have a few of these monitors.
Edited in case it's not obvious: the adapter + ethernet just stays plugged into one of the USB-C ports on the back of the monitor.
Whaaaat the woman in their business centre who rang me yesterday said this would not work? Edited in case it's not obvious: the adapter + ethernet just stays plugged into one of the USB-C ports on the back of the monitor.
Edited by NoTreadLeft on Wednesday 21st January 17:36
petemurphy said:
Whaaaat the woman in their business centre who rang me yesterday said this would not work?
Of course it works: the USB-C sockets on the back of the Studio Monitor are just a USB hub as far as the MacBook is concerned. You can plug any USB device into them and the MacBook will see them when you plug it in. If you were talking to her about “Macs” and “Apple Studio” (Studio is also a kind of Mac, not just a monitor) then maybe she was misunderstanding you?The Studio Display basically acts as a very slick docking station with a single cable that you plug in to the MacBook which then charges, handles the display and gives access to all of the USB ports. It’s very neat. I’ve got one in front of me working exactly like this (it also has a hard disk plugged into the display to do time machine backups).
Before spending thousands on this I strongly recommend dropping in to an Apple Store to talk to someone who knows what they are talking about and can show you this all works in practice.
NoTreadLeft said:
Of course it works: the USB-C sockets on the back of the Studio Monitor are just a USB hub as far as the MacBook is concerned. You can plug any USB device into them and the MacBook will see them when you plug it in. If you were talking to her about Macs and Apple Studio (Studio is also a kind of Mac, not just a monitor) then maybe she was misunderstanding you?
The Studio Display basically acts as a very slick docking station with a single cable that you plug in to the MacBook which then charges, handles the display and gives access to all of the USB ports. It s very neat. I ve got one in front of me working exactly like this (it also has a hard disk plugged into the display to do time machine backups).
Before spending thousands on this I strongly recommend dropping in to an Apple Store to talk to someone who knows what they are talking about and can show you this all works in practice.
i went into the covent garden one tues and they took my details and hence business centre rang me - she 100% knew i meant monitors..The Studio Display basically acts as a very slick docking station with a single cable that you plug in to the MacBook which then charges, handles the display and gives access to all of the USB ports. It s very neat. I ve got one in front of me working exactly like this (it also has a hard disk plugged into the display to do time machine backups).
Before spending thousands on this I strongly recommend dropping in to an Apple Store to talk to someone who knows what they are talking about and can show you this all works in practice.
still thats good news as will just get a usb rj45 adapter and hide it in the desk. will just buy 1 of everything first though to 100% check!
assume a usb to rj45 adapter is just that and theres no special mac ones i need to buy.
thanks
petemurphy said:
assume a usb to rj45 adapter is just that and theres no special mac ones i need to buy.
Unfortunately no, you need to get the right kind. Specifically you need a 2.5Gb one as the Studio Displays don't drive the 1.0Gb adapters at full speed e.g. the one in front of me (used by my wife when she connects her MacBook) is rated 1.0Gb but only gets to about 0.6Gb in practice. It cost < £10 so I'm not complaining.I'd strongly recommend going for the Belkin adapter that I referred to above or the Anker one mentioned by AndyTR as they are both verified to get to full speed.
Also note that there's no way the little pigtail USB-C cables that come out of these adapters will reach into a desk so you'll need some kind of USB-C extension cable to do that. Can't help you there I'm afraid but it's another variable which could impact performance.
NoTreadLeft said:
Unfortunately no, you need to get the right kind. Specifically you need a 2.5Gb one as the Studio Displays don't drive the 1.0Gb adapters at full speed e.g. the one in front of me (used by my wife when she connects her MacBook) is rated 1.0Gb but only gets to about 0.6Gb in practice. It cost < £10 so I'm not complaining.
I'd strongly recommend going for the Belkin adapter that I referred to above or the Anker one mentioned by AndyTR as they are both verified to get to full speed.
Also note that there's no way the little pigtail USB-C cables that come out of these adapters will reach into a desk so you'll need some kind of USB-C extension cable to do that. Can't help you there I'm afraid but it's another variable which could impact performance.
Cool thanks appreciate it I'd strongly recommend going for the Belkin adapter that I referred to above or the Anker one mentioned by AndyTR as they are both verified to get to full speed.
Also note that there's no way the little pigtail USB-C cables that come out of these adapters will reach into a desk so you'll need some kind of USB-C extension cable to do that. Can't help you there I'm afraid but it's another variable which could impact performance.
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