The Mac Pro of recent vintage is famously compared to a cheese grater because of the holes in its casing’s design that look like a huge version of the kitchen tool. But did you know it’s not the only high-end product Apple makes that follows that design?
Today’s featured M1 Max MacBook Pro setup shows it. How often do you see the back of a Pro Display XDR in photographs? Plenty of people admiring the setup expressed surprise that the backside of Apple’s top display is full-on cheese grater.
As winter shambles coldly toward much of the U.S. and the world, feast your eyes on a beautiful, custom-built backyard shed housing a hot Mac mini computer setup (in the photo above). It doesn’t even need heating because it’s in California. Jealous yet?
Today’s featured setup pairs a Mac mini with dual HP displays, a Logitech webcam designed for the Pro Display XDR and some slick audio gear we haven’t seen before.
Once you shell out a couple thousand bucks or more for a marvelous Mac Studio desktop machine, how do you add an ultra-wide display without running up your already-tortured credit cards?
Today’s featured dual-monitor Mac Studio setup solved the problem by going back in time. Its owner added an ultra-wide display — and much of the other gear in the workstation — from a few years ago.
Maybe you can’t be bothered to fuss over cable management. But some tricks for a cleaner-looking computer setup are so easy anybody can pull them off with minimal effort. Take today’s featured MacBook Pro setup, for example.
Its owner is primarily concerned about replacing aging dual displays, and we’ll cover some advice on that. But he also gets a valuable lesson about how to present a cleaner workstation by making one simple change.
Once in a while a computer setup comes along that shows off its owner’s invention. Sometimes it’s something perfectly utilitarian and sometimes it’s something weird and wonderful (examples below).
In today’s featured MacBook Pro and Intel NUC PC setup, we find a nifty folding MagSafe charging stand just about to go on the market.
Sometimes the hero of a computer setup isn’t the computer itself. And it may not be a slick external display or other peripherals, either. In today’s featured MacBook Pro setup, a newly added LG UltraFine display gets some attention, but the real star is something a bit more pedestrian mounted on the wall behind it.
Pegboards may have no world-changing technology built into them, but they can radically change your setup for the better as an inventive storage and charging solution.
Who says Macs aren’t good for gaming? M1 Macs seem to be improving Apple’s reputation on that front, as shown in today’s featured M1 Max MacBook Pro computer setup.
With Apple’s most powerful laptop driving a stunning 5K Studio Display, this player is in gaming paradise. And he digs the display’s sound, too.
Graphic design is one of the best uses of a powerful computer like the Mac Studio, assuming it’s paired with a magnificent display. In today’s featured computer setup, the Mac Studio handles the job. But the LG UltraWide monitor falls a bit short, due to some recurring connectivity issues.
And the setup features some interesting bits that might give you ideas about how to organize your own workstation.
You, like many people, may build your computer setup around a MacBook Pro. But is yours the “standard setup” for MacBook Pro users?
If you answered “there’s no such thing,” you’re right. That’s why we were surprised to see a reference to such a standard in reaction to a setup with a MacBook Pro, a new Studio Display, an excellent CalDigit dock and a raft of excellent audio gear that not everyone has or even knows about. But maybe they should.
You can amass an array of the world’s most formidable tech gear and photograph it, but if you get a cute animal in the frame — living or inanimate — that’s where all eyes will go.
Today’s clean MacBook Pro setup boasts a 34-inch curved ultra-wide display, a custom mechanical keyboard and other cool stuff.
But it also has a duck that glows.
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.”
If you’re at all into audio equipment, you’ve probably heard of a digital-to-analog converter, or DAC. You might think it’s a fancy thing for rich audiophiles. But, actually, even you already have a few DACs if you have gadgets that make sound, like a computer, tablet and smartphone.
But not every DAC is created equal. Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup illustrates the point by going to the trouble of adding a standalone DAC in between a laptop and a pair of excellent powered speakers.
The term “money pit” usually refers to an old house that needs a lot of expensive work that never seems to end. But it could actually refer to a computer setup, too. After all, it’s never really finished and the next round of irresistible gear is always about to come out.
Today’s featured Mac Studio setup is a good example. After years of saving and planning, a setup centered on a struggling 2015 iMac metastasized, at great cost, into a Mac Studio powerhouse with dual Studio Displays.
Sometimes you just can’t help taking a wholistic approach to a computer setup, taking in the whole room. That’s what happens when the user makes their home office a veritable museum like that which surrounds today’s featured MacBook Pro setup.
Three themes set it apart: The Beatles, the variety of RGB lighting and the concrete blocks holding up the Ikea countertop and the retro Thunderbolt Displays sitting on it.
Some well-developed computer setups go for quantity in their displays, with three or more, but others stick with a solo screen and go for quality.
And no, with today’s featured setup we’re not talking about a $5,000 Pro Display XDR. We’re talking about a massive, $1,500 OLED display.
We’ve covered many a computer setup with multiple displays, even as many as six. But we don’t come across many purpose-built portable displays, perhaps because iPads often serve that purpose.
But today’s featured gaming setup uses an M1 Mac mini to drive two LG UltraWide monitors and a 15.6-inch Full HD portable screen, claiming no lag or latency.
The secret? Well, as is often the case, it’s in the hub.
Displays aren’t just going up from 4K to 5K and beyond, they’re also taking new forms. Today’s featured setup is the first we’ve seen with the recently released LG DualUp monitor in real-world use. It features an unusual 16:18 aspect ratio. Here it’s paired with an older LG display and a Mac Studio.
And this setup also includes Steve Jobs. Play some “Where’s Steve?” (not Waldo) and see if you can spot him.
Today’s featured computer setup displays an innovation we’ve seen from time to time, but not as often as we’d expect. It’s a custom keyboard wrist rest built to fit a Magic Trackpad or other trackpad in its middle section.
This one’s on the tall side, suitable for a mechanical keyboard. The developer who had it made to his specifications finds it — and the Magic Trackpad 2 — more than adequate for his needs.
Some computer setups go for splashy color while others like to be monochromatic — often black and white, or one or the other. In today’s featured setup, an iOS and macOS software developer sets a Studio Display in a black-and-white scheme that hides an M1 MacBook Pro.
And they go for quality sound in the mix, too, with one of the world’s most popular USB microphones and an exceptional pair of open-back headphones.
When you look at a lot of computer setups showcased on social media, it’s not difficult to see that many of them are staged. They’re so well put together and photographed, you just can’t see normal slobs owning them.
But sometimes the internet tricks you with a surprisingly slick photograph of a real person’s setup. That seems to be the case in today’s featured dual-display MacBook Pro setup, photographs in a cool-gray wash.
“This looks like a render advertising the mouse or something,” one commenter said. “Tron vibes,” added another, referring to the 1982 sci-fi film known for its then-cutting-edge computer animation.
Apple has said many times it won’t produce a touch-screen Mac because that’s what iPads are for. But Sidecar functionality can make an iPad a touch-screen extension of a Mac, where you can drag and drop elements and work with them using Apple Pencil or your fingertips.
Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup mounts a big 5K display and an iPad Pro right next to each other. In the photograph, you can see the desktop wallpaper running right onto the tablet’s display through Sidecar (more on that below).
And who doesn’t love an all-Apple audio arsenal? This setup rocks paired OG HomePods, AirPods Max on a cool charging stand and AirPods, too.
Occasionally a computer setup displayed on social media makes you swoon. Usually it’s a combination of amazing gear, artful arrangement and exceptional photography, like something staged by a pro. But sometimes it’s just a sick amount of awesome Apple computers and displays.
Today’s featured setup, run by a consultant who “works for several companies,” relies on four high-spec Macs, five very-nice-but-not-exceptional Macs and three Apple Displays, including a Pro Display XDR — which goes for $5,000 or more by itself.
Does your wallet hurt yet? We just took ours to the ER.
Who says you need an external display in your computer setup? Some people get by just fine without some big, expensive monitor and whatever hub and cables it might require. Instead, they rely on their devices’ built-in screens.
And doing that, the owner of today’s featured setup takes advantage of Universal Control. That helps him work seamlessly across an M2 MacBook Air and an M1 iPad Air mounted on stands.
Some people care deeply about cable management, with nary a cord to be seen in their computer setups. Others couldn’t care less about it, leaving wire-spaghetti all over the place. And folks in the middle want to do it right, but meh, maybe next week, and maybe only somewhat.
Today’s featured MacBook Pro and iPad Pro setup stakes out much of the ground described above. Cable management is in play, but it’s done in a way that drove some neatniks crazy while others applauded the controlled mayhem.
Sometimes you see one thing that seems quietly radical about a computer setup, only to find out it’s full of even weirder tweaks.
Today’s featured setup is a good example. It hides a Mac mini behind a display. But in front of the display, a wildly split mechanical keyboard surrounds a Magic Trackpad turned backward — on purpose!
