Thread

1. aaronbrethorst · 1791128866 · focus · HN ↗

   The solution I settled on was swapping between my personal and work laptops with a thunderbolt cable that connects to a dock. The dock is connected to my keyboard, trackpad, webcam, and monitor. It’s been working like a champ for the past 3+ years.

   1. jmyeet · 1791129875 · focus · HN ↗

      I was a long time user of CalDigit docks. Over a period of 3 years I think I had 3 fail. It's been a couple of years since I've used one in anger. We're onto TS5/TS5+. I think the last I used was the TS3+. But what I can say is... the technology just isn't there yet, for several reasons:

      1. I liked to use a Bluetooth headset. What I really want is to pair the headset (or microphone or whatever device) with the dock, not the computer. As a result, switching just didn't work. And Bluetooth is finnicky at the best of times. This was a pain point;

      2. The cables have a really high failure rate. I now buy at least 2 of any cable I buy because I expect one to be bad from the start or fail, particularly the cable between the Macbook and the dock. It has to carry power and a full TB load. 3 feet was best. 6 feet at the time was the longest it could go. I expect there have been teething problems with TB4/5 since. I'm actually curious about the Chinese GPMI standard/cable, as an aside;

      3. Thunderbolt itself was generally good because it's well-supported by OSX, including DRMA support. But passthrough for HDMI/DP still felt like it had problems. It should be bulletproof. There's nothing worse than a monitor that might go black occasionally and you don't know why;

      4. Generally speaking, handling this much bandwidth requires a lot of computing power. A dock is basically a 100G+ switch.

      1. sirn · 1791132454 · focus · HN ↗

         > I liked to use a Bluetooth headset. What I really want is to pair the headset (or microphone or whatever device) with the dock, not the computer. As a result, switching just didn't work. And Bluetooth is finnicky at the best of times. This was a pain point;

         You can resolve this one with those dongle that did the pairing on the dongle itself, e.g. Sennheiser BTD-600/700. The device will appear on the host machine as a non-Bluetooth audio device.

   2. dcow · 1791132336 · focus · HN ↗

      Came to share this setup too, though I’ve managed to keep the doc in the monitor.

      Very neat and fun project though, and good to know there’s a nice solution if the need every arises.

   3. ashley95 · 1791132673 · focus · HN ↗

      I too very recently ran into the problem in the article, and like you, my solutionw as a thunderbolt dock.

      I would love however, to have the cordless magic accessoriers, as it keeps the desktop cleaner.

      Will give this tool a try if I can get away with installing it on my corp laptop (which forbids any kind of remote access/Synergy-style stuff).

      1. a1o · 1791133622 · focus · HN ↗

         Apple keyboards and mouse are horrible, don’t bother with those, plenty of others exists that also have multiple cordless solutions (dongle, Bluetooth, WiFi). The only of the magic devices from apple that is worth is the touchpad, that one is really good, and yes it is usable with a mouse too, as some things are useful through gestures.

         1. LoganDark · 1791134030 · focus · HN ↗

            Apple is one of the only ways to get a good chiclet keyboard as a peripheral. Wish there were one with the full laptop layout though, half-height arrows and all.

            1. fragmede · 1791135304 · focus · HN ↗

               And touchID.
         2. thenthenthen · 1791156417 · focus · HN ↗

            Yes!! The trackpad is amazing, sadly smashed mine (its glass on the top…). The keyboards are atrocious (why are the laptop keyboards better?) and the mice are just … design disasters from every perspective.
   4. asadjb · 1791136227 · focus · HN ↗

      I had a similar solution but got tired of swapping the cable b&#x2F;w the two laptops. I found <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sabrent.com&#x2F;products&#x2F;sb-tb4k" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sabrent.com&#x2F;products&#x2F;sb-tb4k which keeps both machines connected and can switch b&#x2F;w the two with a &quot;switch button&quot; which is connected to the KVM switch.

      This was the only KVM I found which connects to 2 Thunderbolt devices at once, everything else was relying on HDMI+USB3 for the host connection.

   5. cosmic_cheese · 1791137865 · focus · HN ↗

      Been doing this for almost 6 years now, since the pandemic. It was the best solution that I could find at the time and though Thunderbolt switches have appeared since then, reviews have painted them as extremely flaky almost universally and their port selection is limited despite their exorbitant prices, so for the time being I&#x27;m going to keep cable-swapping.

      I&#x27;ve not had trouble with docks (all CalDigit) or cables failing, though the port on the dock has grown loose. It still works perfectly but can glitch out if I bump the dock (thankfully not common with how it&#x27;s positioned at my desk).

      As nice as the USB-C connector is, for this use case I&#x27;d really like a connector that&#x27;s USB-C electrically but bigger, bulkier, more robust… something like the old FireWire 400 connectors with their satisfying click would be great.

      1. aaronbrethorst · 1791143544 · focus · HN ↗

         I’m on a Caldigit as well. TS3, I think?
   6. radley · 1791145870 · focus · HN ↗

      I&#x27;ve been using TB5-compatible magnetic USB adapters to switch between TB5 Macs. The keyboard, mouse, &amp; hub all plug into my monitor.

      I used the Sabrent TB4 KVM for a while. I had to give it up and use the magnetic USB hack when my new gear outpaced the KVP switch (i.e. TB5 == 5K HDR @ 120Hz).

      If anyone here does try magnetic adapters, I highly recommend the 90° flat connectors, since they&#x27;re far less prone to disconnect when you move the monitor.

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