You see a lot of people busting on each other for “flexing,” or bragging, about their computer setups shown in social media posts. We came across a doozy today with a dual-display setup bathed in a cool wash of color. But it’s not really about the double luxe displays; lots of people have that. It’s about the two expensive Mac Pros tucked under the desk.
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Two Mac Pros
It turns out Redditor typealias didn’t actually buy two new Mac Pros — they start at $6 grand apiece and can cost a few times that — but one from work stopped functioning as needed so they received a replacement. They apparently both run, but are not used in tandem. One will be shipped back.
“I got a second Mac Pro from work as the first one is on the fritz. I don’t really use them as a cluster, although it is fun to look at and definitely tempting,” typealias said in reply to a comment. It’s noted in the post that they work for Oculus, and you can see a virtual reality headset next to the HomePod in the photo.
Their post is “Safari feels snappier with two Mac Pros,” which they said they “mostly intended this to be a joke post.” Note the title. Yeah, executing a mission to Mars would feel snappier with two Mac Pros. Using Apple’s browser would likely seem quite zippy, as well.
Video: Mac Pro and new M1 Pro Max MacBook go head to head
A Redditor dropped the video below into the post’s comments. It’s worth watching. It does a remarkable job of comparing a $3,500 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro with 32GB of integrated memory to a recent, rather tricked out, $15,000 Mac Pro with 192GB of RAM. The MacBook doesn’t win every head-to-head comparison, but it wins most of them — some by a mile. And it does it while running on battery power.
LG UltraGear displays
The two monitors typealias uses with their monster Macs are both 27-inch LG 27GP950 UltraGear 4K screens. They offers 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution and run at 144Hz refresh rate.
“ProMotion on the iPhone and new MacBook Pro spoiled me, and I can’t go back to 60Hz without seeing the scrolling stutter,” they said.
Cool wash of light
Typealias gets the look of the lighting in the photo from mainly from the monitors themselves. They feature an RGB light ring on the back.
“The UltraGear monitors have an RGB ring on the back with a few presets, which is where the lighting is coming from,” they said. “There’s more advanced options such as using it for bias lighting (based on the current onscreen content) if you’re running Windows or have the patience to hack together some Python scripts for macOS / Linux.”
Audio gear, mounts and more
Commenters were intrigued by typealias’ mounting techniques with both the dual monitor arm for the LG displays and the Elgato low profile arm for the Shure MB7 USB microphone, used together with trusty Sennheiser Momentum over-ear headphones. Typealias even provided a schematic as well as a photo, below.
Photo: typealias@Reddit.com
Shop these items now:
Computers:
Displays:
27-inch LG 27GP950 UltraGear 4K monitors
Monoprice Workstream dual monitor arm
Keyboard
Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad
Audio and video equipment:
Oculus Quest 2 Virtual Reality Headset
Sennheiser Momentum 3 headphones
Furniture and accessories:
Awair Element Indoor Air Quality Monitor and clock
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.
