KVM 2024: One switch to rule them all
I live a multi-Mac lifestyle. It’s a luxury, but mighty close to a necessity if I want to keep my work life and personal life (which includes freelance projects) separate. But how do you organize your life and desk so that both Macs can do their best for you? My solution is a modern spin on an old option: a KVM switch.
The Problem
The radio station where I work issues me a MacBook Pro, on which I edit audio, write feature stories and do all the admin things you do when you have a job. I use the MBP in the office, but most often while working from home. It’s connected to a Dell P2242H monitor (also workplace-owned) that’s mounted on a VESA arm.
Also on my desk is a computer I own. Until recently, it was an Intel iMac, shoved unceremoniously to the back of the desk, behind the monitor arm. To manage my personal stuff, I have routinely fired up Screen Sharing on the MacBook Pro to control my iMac.
My plan when I started this job several years ago was to keep work and personal computer things entirely separate. But files and apps have always been a little bit mixed between the two machines. Lately, I’ve concentrated on making the separation of job and home more explicit. It’s a privacy thing, and a backup and archiving thing.
Unfortunately, Screen Sharing’s occasional glitches—and a vast difference between M2 and Intel performance—made that harder than I liked. So I recently bought a new M4 Pro Mac mini.
Sharing Isn’t Always Caring
Screen Sharing has mostly worked well when I needed to check on personal stuff during the work day. Everything financially or personally sensitive has lived on the iMac’s local drive, and my home email accounts don’t have a place on my MacBook Pro. But there have been issues, like when I need to edit a document or fill out a form over screen sharing. Characters sometimes get dropped. Occasionally, network glitches forced me to find a keyboard I can connect directly to the iMac. And the pointer I enlarge in accessibility settings so that I can actually find it onscreen turns tiny again when I use Screen Sharing.
These are small annoyances, but ones I’m tired of fighting.
Keyboard, Video, Mouse
There’s nothing new about a box that allows you to share a keyboard, monitor and mouse between multiple computers. The idea of a KVM switch goes back so far, that I hadn’t even considered it as an option I could try. Do they still exist? How do they handle multiple port types and video resolutions?
I quickly learned that they do exist, and in an era where I/O ports are often in short supply, a modern KVM can serve effectively as a dock, too. My MacBook Pro is one of those two-port M2 numbers that made its debut at the bottom of the range in 2022. So I bought the Mac mini for performance,and a KVM switch so I could share all the things.
I picked an the Anker Docking Station KVM Switch ($160). Options with more or fewer ports are available from Anker and elsewhere, including many that are far cheaper. Some KVM/dock devices, including mine, offer support for multiple 4k monitors, but since I use a single, mid-priced display, I was more interested in ports than pixels.
Ports of Call
The switch box is a small rectangle, with ports for connecting computer and monitors on one side, and three USB-A ports, plus a USB-C port on the other side. This arrangement makes it tough to completely banish unsightly cables from your desk, but I’ve compromised by leaving the KVM behind my monitor arm, and bundling cables where I can.
On one end of the KVM switch is a 1/8″ audio jack – theoretically useful for an audio producer and podcaster who wears wired headphones a lot, but I haven’t used it much. On the other end is a hard-wired cable, leading to a puck that’s just about the size of a second-gen iPod Shuffle. The lighted button on the puck switches between your connected computers. Its cable is two feet long, but the best thing about this switch is that the puck is magnetic. It’ll stick to the back of my VESA mount, keeping it out of the way, but easy to reach. That little puck brings me so much joy. It’s my favorite feature of the switch!
So Much to Share
Once two computers are connected to the switch, you can add peripherals via the USB-A or USB-C ports. I’m rocking an old Magic Keyboard, with a Logitech mouse plugged into it, so that covers the K and M aspects of the switch. I could start using the computers together now, but I have more devices to share. My Logitech webcam is also a USB-A device. And the most modern gadget I want to share between MacBook and Mac mini is the Zoom Podtrac P4 I’ve been using as an audio interface. With a microphone plugged into the Podtrac, I can record a podcast or jump on a Zoom call from either Mac.
Since I started using the KVM switch, I’ve learned that when everything’s connected, I can use both Macs at once by switching to the Mac mini with the switch and then opening the MacBook Pro’s lid. It’s not something I do often, but you might want to. I also realized I needed to differentiate the look of each Mac’s screen, so I’d remember which machine I was using at any given moment. I’ve given each Mac its own wallpaper, and the Mac mini’s login screen says “Welcome home,” which reminds me when the workday is over.
Caveat KVM
My switch needs are relatively simple, with no 4k displays or dual monitors. If you want to share high-resolution gear, or if you have multiple displays, be sure the switch you choose supports them. A good return policy on any switch you buy could also save you headaches, if your setup doesn’t work with the first switch you bring home.
[Shelly Brisbin is a radio producer and author of the book iOS Access for All. She's the host of Lions, Towers & Shields, a podcast about classic movies, on The Incomparable network.]
If you appreciate articles like this one, support us by becoming a Six Colors subscriber. Subscribers get access to an exclusive podcast, members-only stories, and a special community.