| Cult of Mac

MacBook Pro drives ‘minimal’ and moody space-gray rig [Setups]

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There's plenty going on this
There's plenty going on this "minimal" computer setup.
Photo: JVillaPhoto@Reddit.com

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.

‘Mac setup in a box’ is a dual-Mac Studio powerhouse [Setups]

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The cabinet on the right holds the computers and more.
The cabinet on the right holds the computers and more.
Photo: XTJ7@Reddit.com

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.

Pharma tech lead runs a fit and oh-so-clean WFH rig [Setups]

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Marc Drucker's WFH setup saves some cable clutter by using the monitor as a USB hub.
Marc Drucker's WFH setup saves some cable clutter by using the monitor as a USB hub.
Photo: Marc Drucker

Marc Drucker serves as an associate director and technical lead for a pharmaceutical company in Menlo Park, California. Having shifted fully to working from home, he found his computer setup — his WFH rig — running so well and looking so clean, he decided to send it in to Cult of Mac.

Among the words he used to describe his WFH rig were ideal and perfect. We talked to him about what works so well for him in his workstation and included his answers, below.

Designer dazzles with MacBook Pro MX1 concept [Setups]

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Designer Antonio De Rosa uses his setup to render Apple products and more.
Designer Antonio De Rosa uses his setup to render Apple products and more.
Photo: Antonio De Rosa

Designer and concept artist Antonio De Rosa came out with a drop-dead gorgeous rendering of a 16-inch MacBook Pro with an MX1 chip earlier this week that Cult of Mac reported on as a look at something possibly close to the real thing, based on recent leaks and rumors.

A substantially modified 16-inch MBP could be announced as soon as the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on June 7.

As for the designer of the speculative Apple concept, we decided to chat him up, much like we did recently with another render-master we know.

Two ‘trash can’ Macs form core of nerdy workstation built to last [Setups]

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Those two
Those two "trash cans" at upper left prove core to this setup.
Photo: XTJ7@Reddit

Redditor XTJ7, a programmer and photographer based in Germany, knows how to make a setup last and do just what he needs it to do. As his recent post declared, his setup’s core is two “trash can” Mac Pro towers from 2013 plus a racy gaming PC.

Yeah, you heard right: That’s two computers running from 2013 to now. Eight years might as well be a few decades as far as computer performance goes. But he has his reasons to wait on the upgrade.

Mac mini and PC setup: Best of both worlds? [Setups]

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Browsing, remote tech support work, gaming, videoconferencing, podcasting -- this setup does it all.
Browsing, remote tech support work, gaming, videoconferencing, podcasting -- this setup does it all.
Photo: LincHayes@Reddit

Web developer LincHayes recently showed off the M1 Mac mini-and-PC-based setup he put together to restart a live tech support business and do some podcasting. It did not fail to impress lots of folks on Reddit.

After all, this is LincHayes’ first time as a Mac owner. And a lot of people relate to running both Macs and PCs in a complex, multifunctional setup with a lot of moving parts.