Today’s featured Mac-and-gaming-PC computer setup pulls off a rare feat. It perfectly aligns three displays on one arm. The displays are a substantial external monitor, a MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro mounted vertically (yet running Sidecar).

Read on for tips on how to pull all that off, as well as tricks to using an iPhone as a mounted webcam and more.

Cybersecurity expert Santego shared his computer setup with Cult of Mac recently, unveiling major audio-visual upgrades in the Mac Studio and ultra-wide display rig. He wanted to improve the quality of his overall sound and his video calls.

And those additions came on top of a beautifully put together setup with great connectivity, power management and backup, as well as specialized lighting and terrific input devices.

A follower of our Setups coverage, he said “You encouraged me to upgrade the space I spend 10 hours a day in working from home.”

Some people dislike using a mouse. Others can’t fathom a trackpad. And believe it or not, some folks hate both. So what do they do to get their brilliant thoughts onto the computer screen?

Knowing it’s hard to get by in life on just a keyboard, what input device can they use in addition to it? As today’s featured computer setup illustrates, they might try using a certain tablet like it’s a cross between a trackpad and a mouse.

We can count the number of times we’ve come across a three-Pro Display XDR workstation in our Setups travels on less than one hand — maybe two or three times. And if you throw in a late-model Mac Pro and a pile of great audio-visual gear for professional-level videoconferencing, well, that’s even more rare.

Liam Hudson, CEO of a qualitative electronic trading company, sent his “ultimate computer setup” for at-home work to Cult of Mac. And it’s really something.

Everybody knows Macs don’t set the gaming world on fire, though Apple silicon has made some inroads. So while plenty of Mac users enjoy Apple Arcade and use Apple hardware to play games, many turn to other means. We’ve seen plenty a hybrid Mac – PC computer setups out there.

But today’s featured setup takes another course to gaming satisfaction. It’s owner, who describes himself as an “old gamer,” divides his time between work via an M1 MacBook Pro and gaming on a Valve Steam Deck.

You look at enough computer setups online and you realize people are never really done with them. There’s always something to add. It could be some gear got held up by shipping delays, or the setup’s owner got a sudden urge to try another type of input device or some other gadget. And people often take ages to tame the cable clutter.

So you rarely see people claiming a setup’s done for good. Or it’s the best it can be. Or it’s the proverbial “dream setup.”

But sometimes they say that. Today’s setup got called a “dream setup” by its proud owner. Would you agree?

We usually prefer to feature sunny or exotic or just-plain-fun computer setups on Fridays, but today a dark and brooding one caught our eye. A 13-inch M1-powered MacBook Pro and a 34-inch LG curved ultra-wide display are at its center.

But the “cozy productivity corner” also features excellent input devices, formidable audio and a rather nice standing desk.

CalDigit said Tuesday its newly released Thunderbolt Station 4 dock for MacBook Pro sports 18 ports — the most ever on a Thunderbolt 4 dock. The company said it’s also the only TB4 dock with 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet as well as 98W of charging power.

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.

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.”