But the real estate of the 5K monitor kind of obviates the need for a second monitor.

I use my personal computer for things other than work. I don't need 27 inches to read my email or post on Hacker News.

Besides, my iPad has a cellular modem, is lighter, has better battery life and “unlimited” LTE data.

Off Topic: (sorry)

I think there's a much larger debate around what it means that a company owns "everything" you do on (not via?) their laptop (and worse, the whole concept of owning all thoughts, etc.).

But, what really IS a computer anymore?

I boot off external SSD (for my OSX use). I do this while at work, home, friends, etc. I carry around an SSD drive that's small and light -- no more hauling laptops.

This usage style seems to break a lot of assumptions of what a computer with things such as licensing (Apple, Microsoft, etc.). Although it can be painful at times (if something requires GUI and the network bandwidth is low or latency is inconsistent), using a machine as a client (ie: GUI or GUI-less) terminal to access a remote (dev) machine is possible -- such as any client (windows, linux, OSX on MacBook Air) and iMac (or whatever) on the LAN. Prior to iOS dev (which requires OSX), I was using (windows) PCs and full screen VMWare to run FreeBSD, etc.

If I use a machine and ssh to a remote server and change something, does the owner of the machine that I used to do the ssh now own the thing I changed on the remote server?

I currently share my desktop via iCloud sync (and I used rsync to do this as far back as '03 or so), and split data between local and cloud -- so for the most part I can access the data I need from anywhere.

Many SaaS (cloud or not) can be accessed and used from anywhere. It's extremely frustrating to have to maintain so many different accounts to separate work from personal.

For me, at least, the "computer" is getting abstracted away and devices are just ways to access tools for doing whatever it is that I want or need to do at the moment.

I want at least 32GB of RAM.

My ideal iMac setup - 5K, 32GB of RAM, 2TB fusion drive, 4.2Ghz i7 - is $3099

A similarly equipped MacBook Pro would be $3000 with 512GB of storage (that would be enough). But I would still want a 5K external display - adding another $1300.

The last time I used a MacBook Pro to run a Windows VM, the battery life was so bad, I stayed plugged in most of the time anyway.

But back to iPad development. Can you really get a good feel of the UI usability of an iPad with a scaled display? I haven’t done any iOS development before.

By the way, battery life on virtual machines has gotten better, I can get around 3-4 hours with a Windows VM running and seven or so with a lightweight Linux one. It seems like Windows has a penchant for preventing the VM from idling which really kills battery life.

(I've got 2 x 27" monitors plugged into my 13" Macbook Pro. They're 2560x1440, it's true, rather than 5K, but I'm old enough, and sit far away enough, that I don't mind. Hi-DPI is very worthwhile when I'm using my laptop as a laptop, but from a distance of 1m it's much less of a draw.)

Performance isn't as good, but I've always found this an OK tradeoff. I like the portability and the option of using my PC in the front room. As far as performance goes, any development I do for myself, for whatever reasons, tends to be less demanding than stuff I do for money; and for the non-development stuff, mainly (e.g., now) me staring at the internet via Firefox, it's just not an issue.

The only thing I use an actual computer for is development. Anything else, I either use my iPhone or iPad.

A laptop, on the other hand, you can use wherever you like - and you can still get a reasonable facsimile of a desktop PC by plugging it in to a full-size keyboard/mouse/external monitor(s).

I posted earlier. But while a suitable MacBook Pro and iMac are around the same price, a separate 5K monitor is $1300.

(I've got 2 x 27" monitors plugged into my 13" Macbook Pro. They're 2560x1440, it's true, rather than 5K, but I'm old enough, and sit far away enough, that I don't mind. Hi-DPI is very worthwhile when I'm using my laptop as a laptop, but from a distance of 1m it's much less of a draw.)

I’m not too concerned about the hiDPI. More about the usable real estate when you push it passed the pixel doubled resolution.

Performance isn't as good, but I've always found this an OK tradeoff. I like the portability and the option of using my PC in the front room.

My first job when I got married a few years ago was remote and since then I’ve had jobs with a liberal work from home policy. I’m very careful to separate my work life (including side projects) from my home life so my (step)kids know not to disturb me when I am working. I work in my office.

As far as performance goes, any development I do for myself, for whatever reasons, tends to be less demanding than stuff I do for money;

The most demanding thing I will be doing is running Android emulators and Windows VMs.

and for the non-development stuff, mainly (e.g., now) me staring at the internet via Firefox, it's just not an issue.

That’s what my iPad is for..

The reason? I want the feeling of a "workplace" again. With a laptop, I often felt like anywhere I was, I could work (sometimes even felt like I had to).

There wasn't a sense of /place/ attached with work, and I think this has made work a bit less enjoyable and a bit less distinct from non-work. I think of my dad woodworking in his shop when I was a kid. He didn't woodwork at the kitchen table, or the coffee shop. He had a distinct place where meaningful focus took place with intention.

I'm going to try applying that to /my/ work again (after all these years), and see how it feels.

When I’m out of the office, I’m available for my family. When I am in my office I am “at work”. It’s especuslly important during the summer when both my wife (she works on the school schedule) and son are home.