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.
Some computer setups are simply music to our ears — almost literally, in some cases. Today’s featured setup sees (and hears) an M1 MacBook Pro playing frontman to a band that includes a few pieces of key audio hardware and software as well as dual curved ultra-wide external displays.
And whether or not it’s “ultra-minimalist,” as stated by the user — it’s not, by almost any definition of computing minimalism — it appears relatively spare and effective.
There’s nothing like starting over in a brand new year. One of the best ways to do it is to freshen things up in the place where you spend so much of your waking life — your workspace. But rather than just rewarding yourself with a thrilling new mouse pad, why not roll out a whole new computer setup?
That’s the case with today’s featured M2 MacBook Pro setup. The brawny laptop drives a spacious “4K+” display with the help of some choice input devices. And it all basks in the glow of simple but highly effective lighting.
If you want a healthy computer setup, don’t just check off the “ergonomics” box and leave it at that. In addition to good posture, straight wrists and so on, you’re going to need good lighting to reduce eye strain. And to look good on video, too, of course.
Today’s featured M1 Mac mini setup throws the switch on a couple of lighting products we rarely see.
Back in our day — when we walked 5 miles uphill to school both ways — students were lucky to have plywood on cinderblocks for a desk and a laptop weighing, oh, let’s say 25 pounds (we’re too old to remember things).
Nowadays, these kids have pretty swanky computer setups with desktop machines you could toss in a knapsack. Today’s featured item boasts a Mac mini, a MacBook Pro, a 4K display, Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad 2 and a Lego building set to die for.
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.
At Cult of Mac we love retro Apple gear. Today’s featured setup pairs a powerful new M1 Max MacBook with a beautiful old Cinema Display plus the iconic Harman Kardon SoundSticks speaker system.
And if you love the old Cinema Displays but worry their resolution won’t cut it nowadays, read on.
To a lot of people, “home for the holidays” may mean even more massive amounts of gameplay than usual. That could be the case with the owner of today’s featured computer setup. In addition to two Mac minis, the workstation sports an Xbox Series S with a couple of special-edition controllers.
And two of the three displays in the setup are curved gaming monitors. The other’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro mounted on a stand.
“These go to 11,” says lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel about his specially modded guitar amplifiers in music mockumentary classic This Is Spinal Tap. And today’s featured computer setup probably rocks just about that hard, too.
The Mac Studio, dual Studio Displays and array of killer audio gear in the home-basement setup belong to a working New York City-area rocker. Check out details about his chest-thumping rig, below.
A computer setup run by a doctoral degree candidate had better be damned smart, and today’s featured setup doesn’t disappoint. It’s got a powerful M1 MacBook Pro, a recent (but not the latest) iPad Air, a very slick 4K display and a trio of whipsmart input devices boasting plenty of customization options.
And it’s got all that and pretty clever cable management, too. But does the future Ph.D.’s rig smoke a pipe and pretentiously hold forth on esoteric topics? No, it’s actually somewhat modest (down to the nice but not top-shelf headphones).
Ahoy there, would-be video streamers — today’s featured computer setup comes from an airtight and seaworthy pro streaming operation you might want to emulate.
The folks behind Sailing Illustrated streams shared their rig, based on a Mac Studio, an M1 Mac mini, an M1 MacBook Pro, a Rode RodeCaster Pro production studio and a slew of related gear and software.
Some setups are no-nonsense, just the facts, ma’am — strictly utilitarian. Others are fanciful and full of toys. Today’s featured setup leans toward the latter, with its burgeoning population of Transformer figures crowding the shelf above the display and even related wall art.
And there’s plenty of gaming going on there, too, via a custom gaming PC and Nintendo Switch OLED in addition to an M1 MacBook Air and 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Oh, and it has one of the coolest speaker systems ever made, too.
In today’s featured computer setup, owned by a web developer, a 2012 Mac mini shares the spotlight with a new 16-inch M1 MacBook Pro.
Before you think, “Wow, the Mac mini must be amazing, competing with that sleek new laptop,” nah, this is more like take-your-great-grandfather-to-work day for the elderly little desktop machine.
It’s around because it still works for light lifting. And it does indeed show impressive longevity.
Occasionally a computer setup crops up that just makes you say, “WTF?” That’s what a colleague said about a DIY extravaganza he came across in which three 30-inch Cinema Displays were mounted under glass inside a desk.
The Cinema Display imagery shows up on a mammoth 85-inch screen above — all in a huge, homemade desk assembly. WTF, indeed.
We enjoy seeing computer setups grow and change. We last looked at today’s featured setup when its user described it as “temporary” back in June. Since then it has metastasized into a monstrous beast with a maxed-out Mac Pro, a 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro, a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, iPad mini and dual Pro Display XDRs.
And the custom-made desk with lights against a dramatic backdrop of 3D wall panels really enhances the setup, too.
Display towers — when monitors are stacked on top of each other — aren’t super common in computer setups. But they’re not terribly rare, either. From time to time we’ve even seen three stacked horizontally in the middle with two posted vertically on the sides. But today’s featured triple-display MacBook Pro setup sports an unusual choice at its base.
You can’t miss the 49-inch Samsung curved ultra-wide screen in the middle and the nice 34-inch LG 4K display on top. But at the bottom lurks a TidByt, which is a retro display for sports scores, stock prices and more. We don’t recall seeing one featured in a setup.
Getting great new gear for your computer setup has more than just the obvious benefit of awesomeness. Sometimes it’s the perfect reason to improve your setup in ways most people put off, like the dreaded cleaning up of cable clutter.
That’s what happened with today’s featured dual-display-and-M1 Max MacBook Pro setup. The user finally got his new Studio Display, and good things followed in the terms of taming the cable monster.
If you’ve got a tiny desk for a workspace, you’ve got to make the most of it. Today’s featured computer setup centers on an M1 MacBook Air driving a small 4K external display, clearly going away from the trend toward big-screen-TV-sized displays for a reason — namely, vanishingly small desk space.
A small external display is one way to save room. But the user has some other tricks up his sleeve, as well. Let’s take a look.
Modern computer setups lean more and more on smart lighting for practical uses and to set the mood. Some of it can even pulse and change in sync to music or action on your screen.
Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup leans heavily on colorful Nanoleaf smart-light patterns on the walls — so much so that people compared it to a strip club.
Some people like a lot screens in their computer setup, others like to be glued to one and one only. In today’s featured computer setup, the user wrestles with the question of whether to keep his iPad Pro front and center, right in front of the external display, or just leave it out. Meanwhile, a MacBook Pro sits off to the side in clamshell mode.
Because the user asked for opinions on social media, he got them. Lots of them. But it proved to be a tricky question to answer definitively.
A new external display for your computer setup is usually a joy to behold. It is, after all, what you look at most. And you probably just replaced your old one with a bigger, brighter and more beautiful new one. But sometimes buyer’s remorse creeps in. Is it actually the best screen for your needs that you can afford?
Today’s featured setup comes from a software coder who has started to have doubts about a substantial recent monitor purchase. Will he succumb to them? He’s keeping his eye on the return deadline and asking for advice.
Powerful MacBook Pro — check. Extremely capable USB dock — check. Dazzling displays properly mounted in different orientations — check. Two of the best input devices you can buy — check.
Today’s featured computer setup seems to have it all without going overboard, and it all rests easily on a solid standing desk from New Zealand.
And the user even recommends deals on truly stellar noise-canceling headphones. Read on for more and don’t miss the gear list at the bottom of the page.
It’s funny when you see a student’s computer setup on social media with gear that looks like it costs a bazillion bucks. Like, what, did Elon Musk go back to college for some reason? Maybe to escape the $44 billion dumpster fire that is Twitter?
Well, today’s clean and practical MacBook Pro setup is the real thing — a starving student’s workstation cobbled together on a budget.
Let’s look at how the user saved some money.
A great computer setup starts with a solid desk — preferably a standing desk, so you can sit or stand as your aching body requires. Today’s featured setup finds a MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, Studio Display and Dell 4K monitor resting easy on a stout maple standing desk and monitor riser.
Wherever you see wood in the photograph, know that it’s 3 inches thick. That’s one way to reduce monitor wobbling.
Las Vegas-based graphic designer, video editor and photographer Allen Williams recently made the move from an older iMac to a brand new Mac Studio and Studio Display combo.
He shared his updated computer setup — and a bit about what a difference it makes in his work — with Cult of Mac this week.
