Mac mini rig enjoys maximum display space plus The Max Stand [Setups]

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That's a massive amount of screen real estate.
That's a massive amount of screen real estate.
Photo: lta205@Reddit.com

When a computer setup sports massive curved and stacked displays, it can be easy to miss other details. Today’s featured Mac mini setup features a 32-inch curved monitor sitting on top of a super-ultra-wide screen spanning a jaw-dropping 49 inches.

But a tiny object sitting off to the right in the photograph quietly steals the limelight. Look at what the AirPods Max headphones are sitting on.

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Mac mini setup loving max monitor space and The Max Stand, too

Redditor lta205 (“Lta”) showed off the display-intensive workstation in a post entitled, “M1 Mini Home office, can’t work from anywhere else now.”

The setup centers on an M1 Mac mini (not pictured) along with a 2018 11-inch iPad Pro that Lta finds plenty of uses for.

“I use it mostly for note taking / controlling speakers / lights etc.,” they said. “If I have to go into the office for any reason, then I take it with me and use it as an additional display. I used to have it as an extra display here as well where I’d just have all my work based chats (Teams etc) feels a bit overkill to use it like that currently.”

And with epic displays like this setup has, of course an 11-inch iPad display would seem like overkill, or simply superfluous.

49-inch and 32-inch curved displays

A commenter asked about the displays and how Lta got them running. The commenter suspected one runs via HDMI and one via USB-C DisplayPort.

“You’re absolutely correct, top one is an Acer ED323QURwidpx that is connected via HDMI,” replied Lta. “The bottom one is a Samsung LC49RG90SSUXEN which is using a USB-C to Display port cable.”

The super-ultra-wide display on the bottom is a 49-inch Samsung dual QHD curved gaming monitor, roughly the equivalent of two 27-inch QHD displays side-by-side. It has 5120 x 1440 pixel resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, AMD Free Sync 2 technology for crisp HDR content and a peak brightness rating of 1,000 nits. It’s mounted on an Ergotron desk monitor arm.

The top screen is a 32-inch Acer WQHD monitor with 1080p resolution and a refresh rate of 75Hz. It’s fixed to a Vivo Single Monitor Desk Mount.

For input devices, Lta uses a full-sized Magic Keyboard and a Logitech MX Master 3 wireless mouse.

And for audio, the setup sports the same Creative Pebble Powered Desktop Speakers the last featured setup sought to replace, coincidentally. But it also features Apple’s flagship headphones on a special charging stand.

The Max Stand

One of the cooler aspects of the setup, besides those big screens, is the charging stand Lta uses with their AirPods Max. It’s called The Max Stand.

The headphones perch magnetically on the small matching stand, taking a charge while handsomely displayed.

Lta backed the project funding The Max Stand on a crowdfunding website about 18 months ago and received the product just a couple of weeks ago. A commenter asked if the investment seems worthwhile. You can get the stand for $84, according to the Indiegogo page.

“So far, so good, does exactly what it says it will,” Lta replied. “Because of the magnetic connector you can hide the cable for the base nicely, gives it a very pleasing aesthetic, as there isn’t a cable dangling around for a more traditional headphones hook. It’s also small and doesn’t take up any vertical space when using the head phones, which I like.”

And if you like the Star Wars desktop wallpaper showing on the screens, you can find it here.

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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.

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