Many a near-pristine computer setup is marred by one pretty ugly thing: a power cable. People pride themselves on having “one-cable” setups, where gear plugs into other gear or works wirelessly, and the whole shebang depends on one cable going into the wall outlet from a hub or a power strip. Others get as close as they can to that Zen-like state of near cableless-ness.
Today’s featured setup has that one, nagging cable. And we’re here to help make it go away.
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‘If only I could hide that power cable’
Not everyone cares deeply about fastidious cable management, but a lot of people do. Redditor Diadact_117 (Dia) pretty much said it all in the title of a post about their setup: “WFH Setup. If only I could hide that power cable.”
Only one cable is visible in the photograph. But that’s one cable too many.
Dia uses a 13-inch MacBook Pro for work and a 14-inch M1 Pro MacBook for personal pursuits.
They run the laptops with three 24-inch HP 1080p monitors hooked up to a Totu Universal USB-C 4K Triple Display Docking Station.
Two of the screens are on a Vivo dual monitor mount and the other is on a Huanuo single mount with an articulating arm. Whichever laptop is in use sits on a Huanuo tray designed for use with a monitor mount.
All of the input devices are wireless, running via Bluetooth. So no cables there, except for occasional charging. And they’re all popular Logitech devices — the MX Master 3 mouse, the MX Vertical mouse and the MX Master Keys keyboard.
Start with a good USB-C hub as well as wireless devices
You can go a long way toward cableless-ness with a combination of a capable USB-C hub — the Totu device mentioned above — and wireless devices like Dia’s Logi gear.
Given the wireless functionality of the input devices and the USB-C docking station’s ability to connect and power the laptops and the displays, Dia pretty easily ends up with just the one power cable coming out of the setup.
So how do you make that thing go away, or at least seem to go away?
Cable-management kits
“If you really hate that power cable, you could get something like this outlet cover extension cord and just attach it under your desk or something,” said a helpful commenter. “I have one to hide cables to my mounted TV.”
The commenter refers to a Sleek Socket cord-management kits with an outlet cover, a thin extension cord and a 3-outlet power strip. It can minimize and neaten the look of a cable going to an outlet, especially if you fasten the cord to the wall in a straight line at the baseboard.
“My friend, you just made my day,” Dia replied. “This is a temporary enough fix that it will work for me!” They refer to “temporary” because they intend to move the setup to a bigger space soon.
Cable raceways
“Run that extension cord through a cable raceway for extra cleanliness,” offered another commenter. “I used this set for a few small projects. Cheap but fairly effective.”
A cable raceway is a plastic tube colored to match a wall. You can run multiple cables through it. The recommended set, in a cord-management kit, takes four cables and makes them look like almost nothing traveling along the wall.
And sometimes you can just hide stuff, a la this piece of advice:
“Have the cord go straight down, then tuck the cord under the molding and the carpet edge.”
And a handful of folks lobbied for a Dia to get a bigger desk, under which cables can be fastened or hide in a tray.
Speaking of trays, that thing in front of the lower monitor in landscape (horizontal) mode, to the right of the Totu hub, is a tray with marbles representing all the planets in the solar system. Pretty cool, eh? Looks like it still has Pluto, though, even though it lost its full planetary status in 2006, when the International Astronomical Union reclassified it as a dwarf planet.
More Setups posts with cable-management tips:
- Pristine design workstation’s keys to clean cable management
- And the 2021 award for Most Fastidious Cable Management goes to …
- Tame hairy cables gone wild — or don’t
- Dual-display home office relies on built-in cable management
- Paired-HomePod-mini fan gets earful about cable management
Shop these items now:
Computers:
Displays:
- 24-inch HP VH240A Full HD 1080p IPS LED Monitors
- Totu Universal USB-C 4K Triple Display Docking Station
- Vivo Dual Monitor Articulating Desk Mount Stand
- Huanuo Single Monitor Mount
Input devices:
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.
