djames4242

Having switched a few weeks ago from Comcrap to DirecTV Now, we are effectively using a couple of Apple TVs as our set-top boxes. The X1 system was pretty good, but I don't really miss it (nor do I miss being screwed over by Comcast's horrible pricing).

The Apple TV still needs a better remote (preferably one that allows you to directly access channels), but we're otherwise quite happy with it! (To be fair, however, I've been using an Apple TV since the original pizza box)

brian green said:

BGeek said:

Any idea why Apple does not have a store in downtown Seattle? Seems like every other major city has a Apple store downtown.

No idea.  It's only the fastest growing city in the region.  Maybe they think the small stores in Alderwood Mall, and Bellevue Square are "good enough".  

University Village is much closer to downtown than either of those, and Apple is building a brand new, much larger store adjacent to its current location.

Frankly, however, I'm not sure how convenient downtown stores are. I'm picking up a brand new iMac this weekend in Portland and choose Bridgeport (15 miles south) over the downtown location because I don't want to have to pay to park in a lot two blocks away carrying a $3000 computer back to my car. The store at University Village has a parking garage about 100 feet away from it with ample, free parking. The lots at Alderwood and Bellevue Square are only slightly less convenient, yet still free, unlike nearly every other downtown.

docno42 said:

djames4242 said:

 Best I can do is unplug one of those monitors and plug it in to my DisplayPort with a DVI adapter. 

If they are recent Dell monitors, there's a good chance they have native Display Ports on them and a few even have two.  If so, you can chain monitors with Display Port.  

Also the recent generations of MacBook Pro's should be able to drive two monitors directly.  If you have two Thunderbolt ports you have two Display Ports too.  

Sadly these are fairly low-end monitors that have VGA and DVI inputs only. Also, I'm still rocking an early-2011 MBP, so I'm only able to drive a single monitor. Next year I'll finally upgrade my aging machine and then I'll be able to take advantage of multiple external displays, although I am hoping there will be a fix for this issue long before then.

This year is the year my mid-2011 Mac Mini is finally replaced (with an iMac) since it's my more heavily used machine.

I've been able to run Macs for work because of the ability to virtualize Windows. Not sure this bodes well for the future of Macs in certain business segments unless emulation performance under these new chips will be acceptable.

Unfortunately, as MacOS now supports eGPU, support for USB-based displays has been lost. My company invested heavily in Targus USB docks which use DisplayLink to drive two external monitors (on top of Ethernet, audio, and other USB devices). It's a reasonable way to allow all the crappy HP and Dell laptops they provide as well as those of us who use Macs. As of 12.13.4, the DisplayLink drivers ceased to function (everything else with the dock still works, however). My understanding is that Duet and Air Display also no longer work (at least over USB; I haven't read anything about Wi-Fi yet).

DisplayLink acknowledged the problem back when the first beta was released, but has not been able to provide a fix.