A lot of computer setups we run across online look staged. They’re so perfectly, well, you know — set up. They boast impressive equipment. Some exhibit a spare beauty one would almost hate to disturb. Others scream hardcore productivity like the fate of all the companies in the Fortune 500 company rest solely upon them.
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But we don’t remember one so ideal-looking someone said “it’s so clean it looks like a render.” But someone said exactly that about Redditor marvin968’s workstation post, entitled “MBA M1 Setup.”
We might quibble a bit that the setup doesn’t necessarily look like someone artfully designed it in a 3D rendering program, like some graphic artists we know who try to predict what Apple’s next product will look like. But it’s awfully nice looking, isn’t it?
‘Looks like a render’
A custom-made desk and three square wooden panels “from an old bookshelf” mounted side-by-side on the wall behind the M1 MacBook Air-based setup go a long way toward creating its modern museum-quality look.
Marvin’s MBA sits in a vertical laptop stand to the right of a 24-inch LG HD monitor. As one Redditor pointed out, he’s got it so the Apple logo is upside down. If he thought typically OCD-ish Redditors were going to miss that, he had another thing coming. Of course someone pointed it out as something to correct.
Nice lighting, solid sound
Also contributing to the sophisticated look of the setup is the lighting. A roughly $40 Xiaomi monitor light bar bathes the desktop in front of the display in soft light and helps with eye strain. It also looks cool. And it has a remote control, too — it’s the hockey-puck-looking thing next to the mouse.
As far as the mouse itself goes, Marvin’s got a Logitech MX Master 3 for Mac. The “for Mac” part seems important here, as several Redditors talked about a lag using a Logi mouse unless they plugged it in via USB-C. Marvin, however, said he has never had that problem.
An unusual touch — at least as far as the many, many setups we see go — Marvin gets his in-the-room sound from a sound bar. We’re used to seeing those more with TVs than with computer monitors.
Marvin’s is a Razer Leviathan sound bar for gaming and movies. He said he’s had it since 2015. It sports Dolby 5.1 surround sound, Bluetooth with aptX tech for broad dynamic range and a subwoofer for immersive bass.
And of course, when it comes to a groovy-looking setup, whether it actually “looks like a render” or not, a lava lamp doesn’t hurt.
Shop these items now:
- M1 MacBook Air
- Vertical laptop stand
- 24-inch LG HD monitor
- Xiaomi monitor light bar
- Logitech MX Master 3 Advanced Wireless Mouse for Mac
- Magic Keyboard (with number pad, space gray)
- Razer Leviathan sound bar
- Lava lamp
- Sihoo Office Chair
If you would like to see your setup featured on Cult of Mac, send some high-res pictures to info+setups@cultofmac.com. Please provide a detailed list of your equipment. Tell us what you like or dislike about your setup, and fill us in on any special touches or challenges.
