Just when you thought you’d seen every arrangement of displays known to computer setups, something comes along to surprise you. Today’s featured M2 Pro Mac mini setup puts a portrait-mode display at center and two landscape-mode displays sticking out like wings on either side of it. It’s kind of odd how rarely seen it actually is.
Another rarity is the user’s amazing assortment of audio components, including an unusually big “Schiit stack.”
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M2 Pro Mac mini drives 3 displays in wild winged formation
Machine learning engineer and Redditor pldelisle (“Del”) showcased the setup and its unusual monitor configuration in a post entitled, “End game setup.” Surprisingly, no commenters schooled him on how there’s no such thing as a finished or final setup.
But they sure noticed the unusual three-display configuration, with the portrait-mode Dell 4K display standing tall at center and two landscape-mode Dell 4K displays on either side of it.
Really, your vertical monitor is in the middle?
In three-display setups, it’s more common to see a landscape-mode center display and a portrait-mode display on either side. Or, occasionally folks will stack two horizontal displays and put a vertical one to the side. More often than that you see one landscape and one vertical.
Well-reasoned dissent arose in the comments section:
What do you do that you need the primary display in portrait orientation? Primary display in landscape mode with two displays in portrait displays around has two benefits IMHO for a wide variety of use cases. Most primary apps are optimized for a landscape mode. Secondary apps like consoles and better suited for vertical displays. Overall lower viewing angles helping with lower neck/eye fatigue.
To which Del cheerfully replied:
My IDE [integrated development environment] is on the center display. I’d say 75% of my day is looking at the center display working in PyCharm. The right is my Citrix desktop for job for MS Teams, Outlook and another desktop for Apple Music. The left is mostly for anything else, from browsing to code documentation with Dash. But thanks a lot for your opinion! I may try rotating all displays 90 degrees one day!
M2 Pro Mac mini handles 3 displays
Several other commenters wanted to know about how Del got his Mac mini to support three displays. Most weren’t aware that the base M2 mini supports two displays (or one Pro Display XDR) but the M2 Pro mini supports three displays (or two Pro Display XDRs).
And as for the M2 Pro Mac mini’s overall performance, Del couldn’t be happier. With an up-to 12-core CPU, an up-to 19-core GPU, up to 32GB of unified memory and up to 200GB/s memory bandwidth, the M2 Pro starts robust and can be a total showstopper, with speed and power to burn for any computing task.
When asked how it handles his workloads, he said, “It can handle anything I throw to it. This thing is incredible. I’m still amazed every time I sit in front of it.”
Big pile of Schiit and other badass audio
Another interesting element in Del’s setup is its AV department, which includes a formidable “Schiit stack,” or array of Schiit audio components. They come complete with names from Norse mythology, like Gungnir and Asgard, in addition to mysterious audio powers.
He’s got the Schiit Wyrd USB Decrapifier (that’s a real name, no joke), the Schiit Gungnir Multibit processing board upgrade and a Schiit Asgard headphone amp and preamp to use with his formidable Audeze LCD-2 headphones.
In addition to those, he rocks the discontinued Onkyo TX-8255 stereo receiver/amp, KEF Q100 speakers for in-room sound and AirPods Pro (2nd generation).
And finally, for his videoconferencing, he uses an Elgato Facecam with the Blue Yeticaster bundle, featuring a USB microphone and a boom arm in addition to software and accessories.
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Computers and dock:
Displays and mounts:
- 27-inch Dell U2723QE (center)
- 27-inch Dell U2720Q (left, right)
- Humanscale Flex M2 dual monitor arm
- Humanscale M2 single monitor arm
Input devices:
- Logitech MX Master 3S wireless mouse
- Keychron Q6 mechanical keyboard with Gateron Pro Red switches
- Magic Trackpad 2
Audio and video:
- Schiit Wyrd USB Decrapifier
- Schiit Gungnir Multibit
- Schiit Asgard
- Onkyo TX-8255 stereo receiver
- KEF Q100 speakers
- Audeze LCD-2 headphones
- Elgato Facecam
- Blue Yeticaster bundle
- AirPods Pro (2nd generation)
Desk and mat:
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, challenges and plans for new additions.
