Setups - page 15

A humble light strip can have a huge impact on a computer setup and even the room it’s in, providing functional lighting as well as setting a mood with white or colored lights at different temperatures (cool, warm, etc.). Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup uses nothing but a Nanoleaf Essentials light strip behind the desk and a Xiaomi monitor lamp to light its way. And they do so to great effect.

Read more about the lighting below, plus the setup’s use of a Sonos Bluetooth speaker for audio and an iPhone with Continuity Camera for effective videoconferencing.

People love their “minimal” computer setups, but everyone has a different idea of what that means. Today’s featured M1 MacBook Pro setup is on the spare side — not to mention beautifully photographed — but it actually has a lot going on.

From the powerful laptop and 4K display to the big-time external storage, backup power and extensive smart lighting, the setup’s more than a match for its owner’s photo editing work.

New computer displays tend to get not just better over time, but bigger — within reason. Unlike TVs, they’re designed to be viewed from just a few feet away at most. But increasingly, we see people using smart TVs as external monitors to get that extra size into their desktop setups.

Today’s featured setup sports an M2 MacBook Pro driving a 42-inch LG OLED smart TV that the user describes as “perfect.”

Not every computer setup flaunted and much-admired on social media is an Apple silicon powerhouse with an ultra-fast M1 or M2 chip. Today’s featured setup leans on a 6-year-old iMac and a MacBook Air almost twice as old as that.

But with the help of an impressive-yet-affordable audio gear list and a trio of gaming systems, the rig gets the work and play done. And don’t miss the beefed up iPod classic in the mix.

We often see computer setups festooned with several big external monitors, Mission Control style. But some great setups get by with zero external displays, like today’s featured iMac setup.

The iMac provides the main screen, of course. And then “black magic” makes the iPad Pro levitate as a second screen. Or something like that. See below.

Are two Macs better than one in a computer setup? People’s opinions differ. What’s overkill to one person could be a perfectly sensible use of resources to another.

Until recently, today’s featured setup ran just an M1 MacBook Air. But then the user added an M2 Mac mini. To discover all the reasons why — especially if you need an excuse to add a desktop machine to your laptop setup or vice versa — read on. If you’re looking for ways to streamline your workflow, you might also want to explore how to control MacBook with iPhone, which can enhance productivity and device integration.

As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And if “it” refers to cool old Apple gear, you should reconsider replacing it, too — especially if it’s still going strong. Today’s featured setup boasts a “trash can” Mac Pro from 2013. It drives not one, not two but three Cinema Displays of yesteryear.

And that’s not all for the workstation’s retro wares. It also features Apple’s old iSight webcam, a Mighty Mouse and a Thunderbolt 2 hard drive for Time Machine backups. And how often do you see a solar-powered keyboard? It has one of those, too.

Attractive or fun decor can really give a computer setup an edge. Real plants. Vintage Apple gear. Epic Lego sets. Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup sports a detailed replica stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars.

It overlooks a Darth Vader-worthy 49-inch Samsung curved gaming display and an Elgato Stream Deck, which is associated with video streaming tasks but can also do a lot for productivity in general through shortcuts.

There’s much to be said for hiding stuff under your desk. And we don’t mean cramming it down there like you shove junk under your bed. We mean mounting it properly out of sight. It gets said stuff — computers, docks, cables — off the desktop for a cleaner look to your setup, not to mention a more-efficient workspace.

Today’s featured setup uses an inexpensive acrylic mount to stash an M1 Mac mini and connected cables under the desk. Below you can see images of the mount itself as well the “before” shot of the setup. The “after” shot appears above.

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.”

Today’s featured setup carries a strong vibe of minimalism — so much so it appeared to lack even a computer, at least at a glance at the photograph. But then we realized the laptop was stashed away in unusual (and questionable) fashion.

We recently featured a setup with the MacBook Pro and iPad hidden on a little shelf mounted under the desk. This time the laptop is stashed in a case sitting directly under the monitor stand’s base (not recommended).

This just in from the Things That Look Like Other Things Department: a Mac Studio desktop computer sitting on top of a Mac mini “looks like a small robot from Wall-E or one of the [other] Pixar films.”

Today’s featured setup sports the unintentional character in the form of an old Mac mini acting as a server and a stand for the much-newer Mac Studio. It’s pretty cute. You can imagine it rolling around, beeping and maybe firing off a laser blast.

If there’s one thing computer-setup fans on social media value above all else, it’s a “clean” workstation. The best ones — neither messy nor cluttered with cables — place everything just so. Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup does a nice job with that.

And it even hides the laptop as well as an iPad. See how fast you can spot them. One commenter noted it took longer than it should have.

We enjoy a lot of variety in our computer setups coverage, from the ultra-minimalist to the mega-maximalist. Today’s featured rig sports two pumped-up Mac Studios, two old Mac Pro “trash cans,” a gaming PC, dual displays and a tremendous array of audio gear.

It falls in the latter category, obviously (“mega”). The lengthy gear list below doesn’t even cover everything in the powerhouse workstation, but it covers all the key elements.

In our never-ending search for interesting computer setups, we love stumbling upon good do-it-yourself (“DIY”) hacks. Today’s featured setup mounts an M1 MacBook Air on the wall in a most-unusual way. It involves a pegboard, a strap and a tablet stand designed for use in the kitchen.

In addition, the setup features a rarely seen mechanical keyboard worth checking out.

We recently talked about what a boon to computer setups stands and mounts usually are — but not when they cause problems. Today’s featured M1 MacBook Pro setup is an interesting example. The bass player who runs it said the gas-powered arm of the mount where the laptop sits is so hair-trigger it can “randomly launch it into the air.”

That’s not ideal when you have $2,000 laptop not designed for flight. The user also has a PC laptop for work, a massive 4K display and a compact mechanical keyboard and badass speakers we haven’t seen elsewhere.

Do you dream of ditching your mouse? Maybe you have the wrong one. Or maybe you’re onto something, like the software developer who works sans rodent with today’s featured M2 MacBook Pro setup featuring dual external displays in different orientations.

Instead of a mouse for input, she relies on a radically split keyboard with a trackball, plus a macropad. See those and all of the other gear in the cool setup below.

The sometimes-overlooked heroes of computer setups are stands and mounts. They make a big difference. They free-up space on the desk. They bring screens to eye level for better ergonomics. And they can even help turn a one-display setup into a three-display workstation, as they do in today’s featured MacBook Pro and iPad mini rig.

The user relies on one main external monitor — a Studio Display — but raising the MacBook and the iPad up to eye level and using Universal Control gives him three prominent screens. And that’s without having to buy and make room for multiple external monitors.

Even a small desk can’t keep you from having a powerful computer setup — if you get the right gear and not too much of it. All it takes is a great laptop — like a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air — a vertical laptop stand, a not-gargantuan display and a minimal amount of other gear, as shown in today’s featured setup.

Oh, and consider a monitor arm rather than a stand. That helps keep the external screen out of the way.

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).

In Monday’s featured computer setup we showcased four tall displays and mentioned we sometimes see six-display setups. But how about eight displays in one setup? That’s today’s outfit.

Hoa Mai, who works in post production on documentary films in Los Angeles, sent Cult of Mac his massive setup. It features three iMacs, a PC and five Dell 4K monitors. Talk about Mission Control.

At Cult of Mac, we’re no strangers to looking at computer setups loaded with displays — even as many as six. But we’re less used to seeing certain orientations, like in today’s featured M1 MacBook Pro and custom PC setup.

The workstation seems to reach for the ceiling with four 5K displays. Two stack horizontally in landscape mode and two stand tall, shoulder-to-shoulder in portrait mode.

How refreshing it must be to make over your computer setup and, while you’re at it, gut and refresh your whole home office. That’s what Michael De Jong did recently. And he shared his transition with Cult of Mac.

First, he tinkered with the setup, going with dual displays and adding a soundbar and a slick gaming chair. Later he gutted the whole office and added a whole raft of upgrades. Take a look at his photos and gear, new and old, below.

The main gear in a computer setup might be perfectly impressive, like the Mac Studio desktop machine in today’s featured setup. But that’s not what everyone looking at the workstation notices and talks about on social media.

Instead, the coveted items in this particular setup are a Bose speaker system folks are having a hard time finding, plus a Belkin Continuity Camera mount that helps you use an iPhone as a webcam.

We come across setups with printers from time to time, though they’re usually off to the side and perhaps only occasionally used. But today’s featured setup with a MacBook Air, a 2016 12-inch MacBook and a 20-inch Cinema Display keeps the printer right in the main mix.

This took some commenters by surprise. They noted why they never print anymore and grilled the user about his age, which turned out to be a lot lower number than expected.