HACKER Q&A
📣 WorldDev

Working with 2 Laptops


I need to work with 2 macBook Pro.

There is usually one primary task on one, but it is highly beneficial to have access to the other (e.g. writing some documentation related to the primary task).

I have been trying to think of ways to improve the experience.

The only reasonable solution that I can think of is to use a KVM to be able to use one magic keyboard and one magic trackpad, to drive both macBook pro.

However, I really love the built-in trackpad, and I've read that the external trackpad is less good. In addition, it is wireless, so I'm not entirely sure if that would even work with a KVM, and even if it does, I would expect way more issues that if it were wired.

In an ideal world, I guess there would be a way to buy the built-in keyboard/trackpad combination, wired.

Any random thoughts or experience sharing much appreciated, thanks!

  👤 bradknowles Accepted Answer ✓
You could work with one laptop and one Mac Mini.

I've used many KVMs over the years, and they generally work fine to let you switch from one device to another, but they do assume you won't be working on multiple devices simultaneously.

I can confirm that the external Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad do both work very well, as good as or better than anything integrated into a laptop. And since they charge via USB, you could easily just keep them plugged into the USB ports on the KVM device -- if you were to go that direction. If you want them to feel like a unified single keyboard, then 12 South has you covered with the MagicBridge [2].

I think what you really want is a software KVM solution that lets you share the same keyboard and mouse across multiple machines, each of which is being simultaneously displayed on your screens. Just drag your mouse from one screen to the next and you're suddenly working on the other computer.

This is what Universal Control [0] is for. There are alternatives [1] like Barrier or Synapse, but I think UC will probably be the best Mac-native solution in this space.

[0]: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212757 [1]: https://alternativeto.net/software/apple-universal-control/ [2]: https://www.twelvesouth.com/products/magicbridge

👤 smoldesu
If you're looking for a better stationary setup, why not just add more monitors? It shouldn't be much different from using a KVM switch to access two different desktops.

> I've read that the external trackpad is less good.

That's news to me. I daily drive the Magic Trackpad 2 and it feels as-good-as, if not better, than my 2018 Macbook Pro.

👤 jonahbenton
I've worked within various flavors of virtual desktops and VMs for decades, on Macs but mostly on Linux. Have also had to split work across multiple machines, which is considerably less ergonomic. Would suggest looking into Spaces and Mission Control on the Mac.
👤 Jcowell
sounds like what you want is Universal Control [1]. only catch is that they must both be on the same Apple ID.

1. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212757