Connecting a MacBook Air to a monitor

I’ve been using this laptop for work for about six months now. On the other hand, at my office, I have an OptiPlex—one of those tiny little units that mounts right onto the back of the monitor.

It just occurred to me that having two separate machines isn't exactly standard procedure, so management has decided they want to take my Latitude away from me. Their "solution" is to give me a docking station and a brand-new laptop, which I would then lug back and forth between my house and the office every single day just to maintain some semblance of continuity.

In theory, that sounds fine, but here is the rub:
- This Latitude is fantastic, and it was absolutely pristine when they handed it to me (and it still is)
- The HP they want to swap it for is almost certainly some old, refurbished relic salvaged from someone who just retired

Naturally, I pushed back and told them this arrangement doesn't work for me, but their whole justification is that they can't have employees carrying around two different company computers—which is exactly what I'm doing right now—and they claim I was just a special case that they finally need to "fix."

I went ahead and asked why they couldn't just hook my Latitude up to the monitor at the office, and they had the audacity to tell me that, unfortunately, that specific model isn't capable of it.

I am quite certain that is nonsense, so I’m turning to you all: how exactly can a Latitude be connected to a monitor? I realize it might not have a proprietary docking port, but surely I can just use a cable?

An HDMI cable?
You can try it yourself

Just probably won't work with two external monitors

One colleague of mine is using a nearly identical Apple model, and she just plugs everything directly into that single port used for charging. It looks just like a USB-C port, though the monitor labels it with an "SS" designation. The issue is, my OptiPlex monitor doesn't even feature that kind of input unless you're looking at the back of the tower itself—the connection is built right into the chassis. And, of course, management is digging their heels in about me having two separate computers; personally, I wouldn't mind keeping both setups running simultaneously without any fuss whatsoever.

I mean, just give them a standard, basic monitor 🤷 They can take that OptiPlex and do whatever they want with it, but you should just have a monitor set up in the office with an HDMI cable ready for you to plug your laptop into every single day.

What kind of crazy logic is that... lugging a dock back and forth from home to work every single day 😬

No, the docking station stays at the office, obviously! But that would mean I’d have to lug my laptop back and forth to work every single day. Right now, my schedule is split—two days in the office and three days working from home—but my laptop is perpetually stuck at home while my workstation stays glued to my desk at the office.

I need to compose a rather heated email right this second, so I just want to be absolutely certain that the Latitude can connect to the monitor; I really need that confirmation before I hit send.

You didn't specify which exact Latitude model we're talking about. You might want to check (visually) if there's an actual HDMI port or if you're stuck using the USB-C DisplayPort.

And honestly, I don't see what the big deal is with carrying a laptop back and forth between home and the office. Seems like a standard part of the job to me, but hey, I guess everyone sees things differently.

That isn't even the core issue—I can certainly lug the thing around. The real problem, which I find quite frankly insulting, is that I refuse to trade a pristine, brand-new Apple for an HP that’s already three years old.

I can't tell you offhand whether it features an HDMI port or not, as the machine is sitting at my house right now.
In any case, we are discussing a new model equipped with an i7 processor. Is there more than one configuration for this specific model, or is that enough information for you to provide an answer?

Edit:
It ought to possess all of the following specifications:
One USB 2.0 port

One USB 3.2 Gen 1 (3.1 Gen 1) Type-A port

One USB 3.2 Gen 1 (3.1 Gen 1) Type-C port

One HDMI port

One Ethernet port (RJ-45)

HDMI 1.4 version

Combined microphone/headphone jack: Yes

Is that USB-C actually the same port I use to plug in the charger? I am under the impression that it is.

Plugged into HDMI, only gets one monitor max