MacBook Pro - page 24

Anyone with a curious cat knows the desktop can be one of their favorite spots. Sometimes it’s like they’re trying to ensure you can’t work, as they sit or stretch out right on top of the keyboard or in front of the screen. And that’s just when you’re sitting there. Who knows what they do when you’re away. Other than dreaming up other ways to hasten your unemployment.

Lucky for you, today’s featured computer setup shows a simple method for protecting peripherals like input devices — keyboard, mouse, perhaps a trackpad — from pushy pets. And if you’ve got canines, take heart. It also works for dog slobber.

Who doesn’t love good optical illusions? And they’re especially cool when they result from an unexpected action that works as well as the expected action. Today’s featured computer setup surprised us with a floating display.

Thing is, though, the screen is not mounted on the wall. And it’s not levitating, either.

If you want to run more than one display with your M1 MacBook Air or M1 MacBook Pro, Sonnet Technologies just made things easier. The company rolled out new dual-display adapters that let you hook up two 4K displays to your laptop using just one of its precious few ports.

Some computer setups knock your socks off with lighting. It can be tasteful, warm, welcoming and conducive to work without eye strain. It can be bright, inventive and dazzling, like fantastic decorations. Or, as in today’s MacBook Pro-based featured setup, it can be either one of those, depending on both choice of settings and time of day.

The light show in today’s workstation derives from two sources, or schemes. One involves two very different table lamps. The other involves LED light strips.

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?

Apple is preparing to launch the “widest array” of new products in its history, according to a new report. This fall is expected to bring new iPhone models, a more affordable MacBook Pro, and big refreshes for iMac and Mac Pro.

That’s in addition to a “revamped” MacBook Air, new AirPods Pro, and lots more. Apple is also said to be preparing an iPhone SE refresh for this spring.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Leaks, rumors and government filings give us an even clearer look at what Apple’s product pipeline looks like for 2022. We’re expecting big changes to the pro Mac lineups this year — including a hybrid Apple “Frankenchip” based on the M1 series.

Also on The CultCast:

• Bye-bye, 13-inch MacBook Pro!
• See you soon, new iPhone SE and iPad!
• We’ll miss you, Apple discount “loophole” for teachers and students! (Post-show update: It’s back.)

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below.

If your computer setup had three screens, including a MacBook Pro, an iPad and a 32-inch external monitor, would you make the iPad the center screen? Would you put your screened devices on stands, or leave them at or near table level? Today’s setup saw a transition that might actually save its owner from years of physical therapy.

“This is what neck pain would look like if it were a setup,” someone said about the “before” photo, above.

Apple will scrap the 13-inch MacBook Pro this year after introducing a new 14-inch model with a next-generation “M2” chip, one tipster claims.

The company is also said to be planning a new entry-level iPad with a 10.2-inch display — the last iteration before a big redesign is rolled out in 2023 — that will offer super-speedy 5G connectivity for the first time.

Reader and technologist Andrew (last name redacted, so to speak) runs a “boutique AV, IT [and] cyber systems integration company from a home office” in London — though he supports sites worldwide. Clearly, he has a lot to do.

And he does it using a late-2013 Mac Pro he fondly said should be on the Death Star from Star Wars, plus a 2017 MacBook Pro he described to Cult of Mac as “perhaps the worst-constructed laptop I have ever owned.”

If Apple takes something away, people tend to want it more. We see this in the persistent coveting of space gray peripherals — Magic Trackpad, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 — that the Cupertino tech giant stopped selling separately last year after the iMac Pro’s discontinuation.

Following the space gray iMac Pro’s launch in 2018 with matching peripherals exclusive to it, owners found they could sell the dark-hued input devices for mad money. So Apple jumped on that market, charging a slight premium over the silver versions, though not forever. But space gray gear still carries a certain cache.

In a festive New Year’s promotion, Elago is offering every accessory in the Cult of Mac Store — hundreds of items, all in one place — at 15% off through January 7. No matter what Apple products you may have received as gifts over the holidays, there’s something for your in the sale. We cover some highlights below.

The new M1 Macs are impressive — especially the newest of the new, the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBooks. They’re so impressive, we see them replacing even late-model desktop Macs that have years of useful and even impressive life left in them. Such is the case with today’s year-end setup.

In a twist on the old phrase uttered at this time of year, “Out with the (not very) old, in with the (insanely great) new.”

It’s Christmas Eve, and all we want for the holiday is a Porsche 911. It could be a gleaming new one, with a base price of a mere $99,200. It could be super-cool vintage one. Or it could even be a Lego one like the one featured in today’s MacBook Pro and iPad Pro-driven setup.

OK, given our paltry income, who are we kidding — we’d even take a die-cast 911, like the Matchbox cars of our youth.

This GaN2 charger post is presented by Journey, a brand of Alogic.

These days, you really don’t have to live with slow chargers for your iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro and other devices. That’s because gallium nitride (GaN) technology makes it possible to pack components into small spaces, resulting in tiny but powerful charging gadgets like the Journey 30W USB-C Mini Charger.

It’s fast. It’ll charge almost anything. And because it’s one of the smallest chargers you can get, you can take it anywhere. Even better, Journey’s current promotion offers the little powerhouse for 30% off with the code BLACK30.

OK, so no 2021 award for Most Fastidious Cable Management, mentioned in this article’s headline, exists — at least not around here. But if it did, we might hand it to the person behind today’s setup.

It centers on a 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro and a 32-inch LG 4K display. And it keeps cable clutter to an extreme minimum.

Sonnet Technologies rolled out its new Echo 5 Thunderbolt 4 Hub on Tuesday to enable Mac and iPad Pro users — or anyone with a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 port on their machine — to expand their connectivity to peripherals like displays, input devices and storage. And it offers a robust 85W of charging power.

When you get a computer or tablet and it has fewer ports than you’d like, hubs like this one can come in handy.

One of the questions you see most in the comments sections of posts about computer setups on social media is: Where did you get that wallpaper? To many folks, the setup may be fine and dandy, but what they really care about is not so much the fancy hardware, but the imagery on the display that they might easily get for themselves.

Today’s setup is a prime example. It made us look back at 10 great wallpaper sources we’ve come across, below. That’s 11, actually, including today’s subject.

With the new M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models selling like hotcakes, a lot of people are wondering how to incorporate their new laptops into their computer setups. Is it enough just to use the laptop, or should it be used with an external keyboard, mouse or trackpad, as well as an external monitor? If you’re setting up your Mac and find that Bluetooth is off, you may need to know how to turn Bluetooth on Mac without mouse or keyboard.

Premium computer setups for gaming are known for their eye-popping visuals, of course — but they need great sound, too. Today’s featured setup gets there with a killer display but also a raft of audio gear by companies like Aiyima, Burson, Kanto and Hifiman. The headphones, in particular, may make you green with envy.

Redditor IsTowel is a front-end developer and designer as well as a gamer. Their post about their “Working and listening station” outlines some pretty high-level gaming specs in a Mac and PC, dual-display setup — especially for stellar sound quality.

This post on home office setups is brought to you by HumanCentric.

Itching to upgrade your work-from-home experience? HumanCentric, a desk accessories and workspace design brand based in Chicago, is giving away a bundle of three new products every Friday that will transform any home office. Each winner gets the company’s desk shelf system, laptop riser and headphone stand — three matching accessories that work together to level up both the look and productivity of any workspace.

Apple reportedly plans ambitious upgrades for a number of its hottest products in 2022, including major revamps for iPad Pro and MacBook Air — as well as an Apple silicon boost for the Mac Pro. Mac mini is also expected to see a refresh.

What’s more, the next-generation Apple Watch will come in a “ruggedized version aimed at extreme sports athletes.”

Not long ago we wrote about a person who fashioned an ergonomically healthy computer setup with little more than an M1 Pro MacBook. At the time, their fancy new display was still to-be-delivered, so they made-do without it. Now all the screens are in place and they make a magnificent workstation, with the MacBook running with one landscape-mode display and two portrait-mode monitors. It took some special connectivity tricks to make it happen.

Some 2021 16-inch MacBook Pro owners are being plagued by mysterious MagSafe charging problems.

A number of users say their machines fail to charge when they are powered off, with the LED light on the MagSafe charger flashing amber, indicating there is a charging problem. At least one has had their MacBook replaced.

Small businesses can now purchase new MacBooks for as little as $30 a month through Apple’s new Mac Notebook Upgrade Program.

The scheme, facilitated by Apple financing partner CIT, allows businesses partners to return or swap their machines after just three months if a new model is released. It’s a little like the iPhone Upgrade Program, but more flexible.