For years, Mac users contentedly typed away on Apple’s sleek but simple keyboards. Then the mechanical keyboard revolution really took off, transforming computer setups everywhere.
These days, more and more Mac enthusiasts trade their Magic Keyboards for an astonishing variety of mechanical alternatives — some practical, some quirky, and some downright bizarre. I collected 16 fascinating examples below.
Who doesn’t love new gear in their computer setup — either brand new or just new to them? Today’s Mac mini and Studio Display setup comes complete with two shiny new items recently added to the market — the NuPhy Air75 v3 low-profile wireless mechanical keyboard and the updated BenQ ScreenBar Halo 2 monitor light. And he’s got some over-ear headphones I find enviable, too.
Love it or hate it, the LG DualUp and its odd 16:18 aspect ratio — nearly square — has found a lot of fans among Mac users, including the owner of today’s M4 Mac mini setup with dual Studio Displays.
Today’s M4 Mac mini setup jumped out at me not because of the powerful little desktop or the gorgeous-but-distracting display wallpaper, but because of all you can see riding on top of the monitor. It features a typical monitor light bar with a pronounced webcam riding on top. But look to the corners and notice something I’ve never seen: two separate LED light panels — Ulanzi lights — mounted there to make the user look better on video calls.
Run by a software developer, today’s M1 Pro MacBook Pro setup doesn’t just rock two external displays. It also features a very cool input-device duo — the mouse we see more than any other in setups, which is the Logitech MX Master 3S wireless mouse, and the super-cool NuPhy Air96 V2 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard.
While the dual display setup has become so commonplace it seems standard, debate still rages over exactly what works best. In today’s MacBook Pro setup, a developer experiments with single- and dual-display configurations before coming to the conclusion, on the way to their one true configuration, that size really does matter more than most other considerations.
Mechanical keyboards are all the rage for folks who love their nuanced typing feel, customizability and all that clickety-clackety noise.
Today’s featured Mac Studio and dual-Studio Display setup boasts a great mechanical gaming keyboard, the NuPhy Halo75, with custom keycaps.
Dual Studio Displays are a popular-if-pricey choice among Mac users. In addition to making a case for going with the configuration in the first place, today’s Mac Studio setup offers some helpful tips for creating synced dual Studio Displays.
It suggests third-party tools to help sync audio and brightness levels across the two monitors.
With all the computer setups out there with two, three and even five displays, sometimes you’ll see them stacked. But a dual-Studio Display setup that stacks one on top of the other is a rarity.
Today’s Mac Studio user, who is also an avid PlayStation 5 and Ninendo Switch gamer, said the stacked displays work well and don’t cause any neck pain from looking up all the time.
If you have a powerful custom desktop PC, why would you switch to a MacBook Pro? We’ve seen plenty of setups that opt to include both, but today’s setup made the swap and its user feels zero regrets.
The Mac laptop is just that powerful, and the option for mobile use proved irresistible.
Some computer setups look “clean” and “minimal” because they’re, well, empty. Under-equipped. Not all there. But today’s featured M2 MacBook Air setup with Studio Display actually brings enough gear, it just does so in a beautifully clean way that has the rest of us slobs drooling with envy.
Hell, our setup is practically a waste dump half the time, compared to this thing.
A well-lit and well-equipped computer setup can evoke peace and productivity at the same time. Today’s Mac Studio rig exudes a zen-like calm despite being a total powerhouse.
It features a well-mounted Studio Display, a slick mechanical keyboard with wrist rest, a sleek external drive as well as tidy pegboard storage for AirPods Max.
Some computer setups blow you away with the sheer number of components they include. Today’s featured M1 Mac mini rig not only has five computing devices — not counting a whole wall full of gaming systems — its gear list at the bottom of this post includes 33 items.
And that doesn’t even count the 3D printer, smartphones and a bunch of other items the user showcased.
Oh, what a joy to go computer-setup shopping — when your employer readily agrees to pay for everything. Today’s featured M2 Max MacBook Pro setup, which features a gorgeous 42-inch OLED smart TV as a display, came into being that very way.
Check out the setup’s gear, below, and see if that’s what you’d buy if your boss handed you a blank check.
Many computer setups check all the functionality boxes at a cost of thousands of dollars. But who doesn’t love a complete setup that comes in at bargain-basement cost? Today’s featured MacBook Air workstation seems to cover all the bases without breaking the bank for the user, a nursing student.
How is the setup so affordable? In large part, because it relies on lesser-known brands and, in some cases, older equipment.
A computer setup sporting a Mac Studio desktop computer and two Studio Displays is a marvel to be envied. And yet, the two gorgeous displays in today’s featured workstation present some problems, believe it or not.
They make the user wish Apple would just make a widescreen monitor.
We often see big upgrades to setups we’ve covered here in the past. But they’re not usually comprehensive, where everything from the daily-driver Mac to the input devices to the audio gear gets made over (and in some cases greatly expanded).
Let’s just say today’s featured MacBook Pro setup looked a lot different 2 years ago. It’s more evidence that a setup is never, ever “done.”
Aspects of Apple silicon chips replacing Intel processors in Macs that you don’t always hear about are how quiet and cool the M1 and M2 machines are by comparison. In today’s featured computer setup, an IT engineer sings his M1 Pro MacBook Pro’s praises in that regard, not to mention its habit of sipping battery power rather than gulping it.
And he’s also got a popular dual-display configuration going. In this case it’s a Studio Display in landscape mode and a Dell 4K display in portrait mode.
In the world of computer setups flaunted on social media, we run across lots of folks who have their cake and eat it, too — in that they’re avid PC gamers who love their Macs, as well. Macs are rarely, if ever, the darlings of hardcore gamers.
Today’s featured setup plays hardball with a PC and Sony PlayStation, but it also covers the Apple bases. In addition to a powerful Mac Studio sharing time on the ultra-wide 4K display with the PC, the workstation boasts a MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro.
It’s always nice to hear from professionals relying on Apple gear and finding it meets or even exceeds their expectations. That’s a good indicator that Cupertino is going in the right direction.
Today’s featured computer setup shows that enthusiasm. A mobile app developer offers high praise for his M1 MacBook Pro. And his stacked displays and raft of AV gear aren’t bad, either. Let’s take a look.