Thad K, a 63-year-old project lead and analyst for a U.S. Department of Energy contractor for the past 37 years, recently won an Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 Bluetooth speaker from Cult of Mac. The little speaker had no idea what a legion of tech equipment it was about to join — 69 pieces of gear in Stockton, California.
There’s a lot to like in Redditor Couchchimp’s computer setup, not the least of which is a bust of Albert Eistein that serves as a headphone stand. Not just “serves” — it’s actually a purpose-built headphone stand. That’ll smarten things up nicely.
Remember those heady days of WWDC 2021, when Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi performed a magical drag-and-drop demo of Universal Control that made the near-future world of macOS Monterey seem especially cool? Oh, yeah. It was just last month.
Anyway, Redditor kinky_unicorn certainly remembers it. They recreated Federighi’s workstation from the video, took a photo of it and posted it on Reddit, after all.
When a computer setup is as clean and spare as Redditor whatsyourname’s, the eye tends to go to the most unusual item. In this case, it’s probably the colorful keyboard cover on the MacBook Pro, making it look like some other model of laptop.
And, of course, what did commenters most want to talk about in the setup? That thing. Naturally, a little bit of a debate ensued. Should you use a keyboard cover on a MacBook at all?
When a Reddit post draws big interest, it typically gets dozens of comments in a few days. Such is the case with leroy_pylant’s post about 3D printing his own Magic Tray for Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad. It generated 76 comments over five days, with a lot of inquiries about how to get the thing.
Redditor N3oPuff drew some attention on the social media platform with a setup photo that flaunts mind-blowing gear not so much as it does natural beauty. It definitely brings to mind the old real estate maxim: “location, location, location.” But an M1 Mac mini always helps.
In fact, it could be the perfect Setup for a summer Friday.
Redditor madeitinthewild makes beautiful music up in Canada. Or he makes music, anyway. Jazz music. You can tell by the assortment of saxophones next to his M1 MacBook Air- and iPad Air 4-based mini music studio. That, and he said so.
“Remember to always practice safe Sax,” came the obligatory jazz-joke comment.
“No way I live on the edge,” replied madeitinthewild, kinda true to his Reddit handle.
Redditor mnsl0826 decided to save some space by standing up his M1 Mac mini vertically at the base of his monitor, rather than laying it flat. It worked for him, but posting about it on Reddit generated heaps of concern about whether you’re supposed to do that.
It sounds like the setup to a punchline: A strapping young Mac mini, a yoked gaming PC and an elderly Power Mac G4 walk into a podcasting primer. Then what happens?
Well, if we’re talking about Redditor omgaporksword’s recent setup post, you learn a few OS-switching tricks, share some old-school Mac nostalgia and see how to position your USB microphone using a boom arm.
There is no punchline and there are no laughs. But please, people. Not everything is about humor. Except maybe omgaporksword’s Reddit handle.
Redditor floridatastic, who probably dwells in The Sunshine State, said they spent a while as a “serial lurker” on the macsetups subreddit. But after rebuilding a home workstation centered on an M1 MacBook Air, the time came to to take the gear public.
Gorgeous, high-definition monitors hold a place of honor in many a computer setup. And sometimes it’s several displays, actually. But we rarely come across one of the most amazing monitors out there: the Apple Pro Display XDR. Why? Well, it costs $6,000, for one thing. Or, if you’re lucky, not quite that much.
So if you’re not a wealthy or financially irresponsible person, what’s a reasonable alternative to the Pro Display XDR?
Working student Chris Reed told Cult of Mac he put a year of work into his “slow build” home office and computer setup. In that year he strove to achieve a clean and balanced look, and, judging by his pics and comments, it seems he got there.
Reed said he wanted to go with dual monitors rather than a wide screen display to save some money. He’s pleased with his choice of 32-inch Samsung 1080p curved monitors, run along with his 2020 MacBook Pro and his iPad Pro.
Redditor DeviantSubrbanKid, based in the Philippines, knows how to impress a few computer setup mavens on social media. Make the workstation clean, tasteful and functional. And then add some weird or interesting touches.
Many people have a thing for clean, simple computer setups where distractions are minimized and productivity — of whatever type — is maximized. Redditor CosmicCrispApple seems to find a Zen-like state simply by emphasizing the color white with some black contrast on the desk.
But it’s really not that simple. You also have to keep things, well, simple. And if you do it right, your setup can look and feel as light as air.
A lot of folks eagerly await new MacBook Pro models, preferably with updated M1 chips. You know, the ones not introduced at WWDC as predicted? In the meantime, plenty of people are snapping up the affordable and reportedly fabulous M1 Mac mini. We’ve seen it over and over again in our far-flung travels among Setups online.
Some computer setups are a little like Manhattan. When you have nowhere else to build horizontally, the only way to go is vertical. Hence the monitor tower seen in Redditor xelferz’s MacBook Pro-and iPad Air-based workstation.
Pressed into the corner of a narrow room with a vaulted ceiling, xelferz’s setup stacks a 34-inch LG ultrawide display on top of a 49-inch, curved ultrawide LG display. A webcam sits on top of the lower screen. The whole thing looks a bit like a tree.
Sure, it may be overstating things to call Redditor gnophy a former “Mac hater.” After all, he only said he used to be “anti-Mac” and he “couldn’t get along with the OS.”
Well, good news for Apple. He’s finally been assimilated. And it only took many, many years to subdue the software engineer and musician.
One of the downsides you hear about the M1 MacBook Air and the M1 MacBook Pro is that they officially (natively) support just one external display in addition to the laptop’s screen, not dual external monitors.
Well, that may be true in the user manual. But Redditor ImajiiMac is among those discovering that “official” ain’t everything.
Quasim Zafar’s neatly laid out computer setup serves as his filming area for YouTube product reviews, his general workstation using a 2020 M1 Mac mini and his Xbox Series S gaming station where he plays Call of Duty.
But that’s only incidental to what you’ll probably love about it and want for your own setup.
These days, the M1-processor Macs are calling to a lot of people, and Redditor KhanathanJr is no exception. He’s a first-time MacBook fan wielding a formidable 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro packing an 8-core Intel i9 processor, 16 GB of RAM and a reasonably good graphics card, but … you know.
It may not retain its commanding position in the setup for much longer.
Redditor carrotcakeblack wins more than a few style points for his “mostly monochrome! Also some keyboards” setup, as he calls it in his post’s title.
But he leaves out one of the factors visitors like most about his well-photographed MacBook Pro-based outfit. Namely, the way he hangs so much of his gear on a pegboard off to one side in such a visually appealing way.
The classic writer’s garret, a small room where a tortured scribe toils over lonely hours to put words on the page — using a quill or a fountain pen or maybe a Smith Corona typewriter — has been tastefully updated.
Now it’s all about a 12.9-inch iPad Pro locked hard into the Ulysses text editor to prevent any distractions. There’s also a highly customized mechanical keyboard and really nice noise-canceling headphones. At least that’s how Scottish novelist Matt Gemmell limits his gear in a minimalistic setup, he told Cult of Mac.
It helps him focus on writing. That, and sitting his ass down in the chair for hours a day. The chair is a Herman Miller Aeron, by the way. The spartan surroundings need not lack comfort, after all. It’s about limiting distractions.
To be fair, when Redditor No-Top-5065 posted pics of their MacBook Air-based computer setup, they asked for suggestions on how to improve it.
“Any recommendation on how can I improve my desk setup? Not into gaming, work and study most of the time,” said the post’s headline.
If you look at enough computer setups, you get used to seeing the amazing technology that impresses people on social media sites. But then, sometimes the cool innovation, or let’s say killer retro-innovation, is just an unfamiliar form of whiteboard with dry-erase notes scribbled on it.
Redditor TheCrunks has an admirably capable but compact setup with plenty of tech to like.
Redditor StevenJ95 recently moved from an apartment to a house, allowing him to have a new home office. For the first time. He’s got room enough in there for his MacBook Pro, his Samsung curved ultrawide monitor and even his Tesla Model S, Cybertruck and Supercharger.
OK, those last three are two diecast model cars and a cute little desktop Tesla charger for phones and such. But he does have a real Tesla Model 3 — which he sensibly parks elsewhere — as well as a lot of enthusiasm for the brand, judging by how he decorates his setup.