Big smart TVs crop up in computer setups online as external displays with increasing regularity. That includes today’s featured M2 Mac mini rig with a 55-inch Hisense smart TV as well as a 32-inch LG 4K monitor that looks tiny by comparison.
And the setup’s audio is no slouch. It features excellent Audioengine bookshelf speakers, a dedicated digital-to-audio converter (DAC) plus a wireless subwoofer for a big low end. Most setups stop at speakers on the desk.
Sometimes even a MacBook in a vertical laptop stand takes up too much space on the desk. Today’s dual MacBook Pro setup user asks the question of how to “get rid of” the laptops — as in how to mount MacBook out of the way but still in use. And they get plenty of excellent advice, below.
And in addition, the workstation grabs the attention for its “odd couple” of Apple monitors, old and new. The user said they love both displays (despite that rather significant differences between the two).
More than ever these days, computer setups flaunted on social media tend to show off compact keyboards with as low as 60% layouts. So it’s almost a surprise to come across today’s featured MacBook Pro setup, which relies on a tenkeyless keyboard. It’s almost, but not quite, full sized. And the excellent Keychron mechanical keeb is customizable, too.
Today’s featured computer setup pretty much has it all in terms of enviable gear, though it could use better lighting. Its M1 Max Mac Studio may not be the latest Apple M-series desktop, but it’s still formidable. And it drives a Pro Display XDR, perhaps the ultimate external monitor. And the setup even excels at the little things, including great audio gear and a pair of illuminated pegboard stands I’ve never seen before.
If you’re serious about high-quality audio, you should crank up the quality level of audio components in your computer setup just like you do in your living room. Today’s MacBook Pro user maxes out sound using Audioengine speakers mounted on stands along with a powerful Audioengine subwoofer on the floor under the desk. So they can get clear and detailed audio at low volume, but they can also shake the whole room with powerful sound when they want.
If you’re going to sound your best on podcasts, online videos or conference calls, it helps to invest in a USB microphone. Today’s MacBook Pro setup takes advantage of a USB mic from the excellent brand Shure. And the user throws in a nice pair of Audioengine speakers for loud-and-clear playback, too.
At Cult of Mac, we love great audio. So when a computer setup comes along on social media showing off a killer system, we love to feature it. Today’s M3 Pro MacBook Pro setup kicks out the jams — we also love obscure references to cult-favorite bands of yesteryear — with Audioengine A2 Plus speakers and a Kanto Sub6 subwoofer.
So, as nice as the MacBook Pro’s six speakers may be, they don’t have a chance against that sound system.
Some computer setups just seem to have it all. Today’s featured workstation sports a new M3 Pro MacBook Pro with hefty amounts of memory and storage, plus a speedy Thunderbolt 4 dock connected to a well-curated selection of peripherals. Even the gear stands and furniture are especially nice.
The other day we featured an M1 Ultra Mac Studio setup. We wanted to loop back to call out a couple of cool components in it — namely, a Loupedeck streaming media console and a Keychron Q1 Pro Mechanical Keyboard. It turns out Loupedeck Live is great for video editing (photos, too!).
The M1 Ultra Mac Studio set a new benchmark for computing power in a package smaller than Mac Pro when it came out in spring 2022. Today’s setup sparked discussion about the relative merits of the powerful desktop machine, with one user citing a surprising point of praise — the Mac Pro braided power cord!
Today’s featured setup packs two powerful MacBooks Pro — an M1 Max for work and an M3 Pro for play. To give them hassle-free equal time with peripherals, including a big, beautiful OLED smart TV serving as a display, the user employs a Thunderbolt 4 dock bristling with ports for maximum connectivity options.
Computer-setup gawkers on social media love their symmetry. It’s really just human nature to prefer those clean lines and even spacing — you know, stopping short of full-blown obsessive compulsive disorder and blowing a gasket if one little cable appears out of place.
Today’s M1 Ultra Mac Studio workstation brings not only powerhouse computing, but a few tricks of the trade when it comes to creating that pleasing symmetry. And it packs an interesting device we don’t see very often.
Getting a complex computer setup just-so can be a daunting experience for even seasoned users. Maybe somebody should create a diagram or something? Well, someone did, making a highly capable MacBook Pro-and-PC setup with external display, storage, audio and more look even more complicated than it really is.
The sleekly executed diagram delighted viewers on social media. Check it out below.
With all the computer setups showcased on social media, it takes something special to earn the description “dream setup.” Today’s featured Mac Studio Ultra and M2 Max MacBook Pro setup, which hails from Australia, could be a contender.
Why? Well, when you combine two of Apple’s newest and most powerful computers with a Studio Display and put them in a beautifully laid out workstation with great cable management and premium audio, you’ve got a real ripsnorter (to put it like an Aussie might).
People who show off their computer setups often go for a clean, spare look without much, if any, clutter — from cables or anything else. But few have as clean and spacious a look as today’s featured MacBook Pro setup with two Studio Displays. To learn more about this setup, check out the details here.
There are many ways of making a setup minimalistic without simply leaving out the crucial gear. In this case, it has a lot to do with a very cool desk with some interesting features.
Some of the best computer setups look a little boring at a glance. But that’s just because they include only essential gear and they keep it well lit and free of cable (and other) clutter.
Today’s featured M1 MacBook Air setup is a good example. And that’s not to say it’s plain or overly simple. You can see that in the well-thought-out gear list below, which features 19 items.
Leave it to a digital product designer to work their magic in a tastefully pristine workstation with an absolute minimum of cable clutter. “Cable management gets a 10 out of 10,” one person said of today’s featured computer setup. And all that walnut wood doesn’t hurt, either.
But how did they manage to tame the cable monster?
Some computer setups are remarkably cool for their awesome computing power. Others wow you with incredible displays, with several high-def monitors. And still others blow you away with premium sound. Or, in the case of today’s featured setup, premium audio-visual gear many people would be psyched to get their hands on.
Andrew, a customer service experience manager for an internet service provider in Minneapolis, shared his computer setup with Cult of Mac after a big revamp. He replaced a 27-inch 2017 iMac with a 14-inch 2021 M1 Pro MacBook, which he runs alongside his work laptop, a Lenovo ThinkPad T480S. He uses his Apple gear mostly for photo editing and music production.
“With work from home, I needed the ability to use the screen with both my personal computer and my work device,” Andrew told Cult of Mac (he requested we use only his first name). “I had been running Windows on the iMac via Boot Camp and using Miracast to wirelessly extend to the iMac screen from my ThinkPad. When it worked it was great, but it became unreliable over time, and I decided that a monitor with multiple inputs are the way to go.”
Andrew said the Miracast connection with the iMac became unreliable when he got a mesh network. It would sometimes work great, but often fail to connect, despite rigorous troubleshooting. So it was time to do a little shopping.
When you see people online showing off their computer setups with dual displays, you often see side-by-side horizontal monitors (landscape mode). Sometimes you see a horizontal screen and a vertical one (portrait mode). And sometimes you see stacked displays, with one landscape-oriented monitor mounted on top of another.
Sometimes you see the stack because of space issues, where there’s simply no room to either side of the setup. Other times you see a stack when someone wants to run four or five displays. And there are cases where the user couldn’t get one monitor to work in portrait mode, so they had to have both screens in landscape mode.
Marc Drucker serves as an associate director and technical lead for a pharmaceutical company in Menlo Park, California. Having shifted fully to working from home, he found his computer setup — his WFH rig — running so well and looking so clean, he decided to send it in to Cult of Mac.
Among the words he used to describe his WFH rig were ideal and perfect. We talked to him about what works so well for him in his workstation and included his answers, below.
Redditor MacSources, aka Nicholas Calderone, is a photographer, writer, editor and co-founder of MacSources.com. He runs a Mac mini at the center of his formidable dual-monitor computer setup. The workstation’s audio and storage components seem particularly epic.
Basking Ridge, New Jersey-based Edward Wang, Ph.D., is an executive director with Quest Diagnostics. He took some serious time and effort making his setup a clean and powerful tool for health care work and audiovisual play. Once he diagnosed and treated a cable-management malady stemming from several separate pieces of computer and audio equipment, his setup delighted him.
Jake Weisler is a professional wedding photographer and a content creator for Full Time Filmmaker, which produces crash courses about filmmaking. So having lots of storage — a whopping 56 terabytes — is key to his success.
At the center of this setup is the incredible 27-inch iMac Pro. Weisler uses a Magic Trackpad and Magic Keyboard with the additional Numeric Keypad. He also sports an Azio Retro Classic Mouse, which actually has a leather topping for some genuine comfort. As an editor, he needs both a trackpad and a mouse because he uses them simultaneously to scroll, click and swipe.
Good cable management is harder than it looks. I should know: Both my home office and my work office are a mess of wires, despite trying to sort things out numerous times.
Unlike my failed attempts, this week’s three iSetups submissions get it down to a fine art. iSetups is our new show that highlights the best Apple-centric setups submitted by our viewers. (You’ll also get plenty of tips and tricks for how you can improve your own setup.)