Vivo's latest foldable packs impressive Apple integration. Photo: Vivo China
Apple’s walled garden approach means you can’t use the Apple Watch with a smartphone other than the iPhone. But with its latest Android foldable, Vivo claims full support for the Apple Watch.
The Vivo X Fold 5 even promises deep iPhone and Mac integration, apparently mirroring your calls, messages, and notifications.
There's a reason this desk and setup look so clean and tidy. And that reason is hidden under the desk. Photo: [email protected]
The best desk cable management seems like magic because it makes things disappear. Today’s M4 Mac mini setup with dual 4K displays shows that off beautifully, hiding most of the workstation’s gear underneath an elegant desk.
“That cable management is art,” said one appreciative commenter.
In this case, the user made the cable-management parts using a 3D printer. But you can achieve the same effect using a few inexpensive products that aren’t difficult to install.
In this setup, one arm mounted on the desk handles the laptop and two external displays. Photo: [email protected]
Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup belongs to a coder in Panama who uses two excellent stands to lift almost all of his gear off his desk. One’s a microphone arm doubling as a headphone stand. The other, more-substantial rig is a Vivo Dual Monitor Desk Mount that holds aloft two external displays and a MacBook Pro on a tray. That really tidies up the desk.
Stacking Studio Displays might seem odd to many folks, but this user loves it. Photo: [email protected]
We’ve seen quite a few instances of stacked external displays in setups, but today’s M2 MacBook Pro rig might be the first time we’ve seen Studio Displays mounted that way. With all the questions commenters asked about the workstation, the user ended up laying out quite a few points about why it works great.
Cleaned, reorganized and beautifully underlit, this MacBook Pro and Studio Display rig is ready for work in the new year. Photo: [email protected]
People often compare LG’s UltraFine 5K display to Apple’s Studio Display because they’re directly comparable, with the same size and resolution. But rarely do you find the two in the same setup. That makes today’s dual MacBook Pro and dual 5K display setup something of a rarity.
That, along with the rarely seen Wacom drawing tablet and the truly massive DIY desk, fashioned from a kitchen countertop and mechanized legs.
Two cheap LED lights strips create that whole effect, and with many light strips the colors can change endlessly. Photo: [email protected]
Deliberate lighting choices, especially those featuring vibrant colors, can do a lot for a computer setup. They can improve mood and vision, and they can even give humdrum gear in a boring room a dazzling look and feel.
Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup belongs to a coder in Panama who used some basic, cheap LED strip lights to transform his workstation into a light show — to the delight of viewers on social media.
A lot of people want to know what that delightful wallpaper is. See below. Photo: [email protected]
A well-lit and well-equipped computer setup can evoke peace and productivity at the same time. Today’s Mac Studio rig exudes a zen-like calm despite being a total powerhouse.
It features a well-mounted Studio Display, a slick mechanical keyboard with wrist rest, a sleek external drive as well as tidy pegboard storage for AirPods Max.
See any cables here? We didn't think so. Photo: Basic Apple Guy
Today’s featured computer setup comes from Mac maven and designer Basic Apple Guy. We know him from the free wallpapers he offers for download. Who knew he was such a cable-management Jedi?
We came across his powerful setup with nary an unsightly cable while writing about his new “Flow” wallpaper — which was actually inspired by his fight with cable clutter.
It took months to put together this well-put-together setup. Photo: [email protected]
There’s nothing like stained wood to make a computer setup look like a class act. Today’s featured M1 Max MacBook Pro and custom PC workstation places those powerful machines on shelves off to the side that more-or-less match the desk.
Relocating the computers makes more room on the beautiful wooden desktop, which ups the quality even further with a handsome wooden desk shelf for the external display and other items.
A dual monitor mount is used for the external display and the MacBook Pro. Photo: [email protected]
Monitor mounts and the like may not be terribly glamorous or exciting, but they can do an awful lot for a computer setup.
Today’s featured MacBook Pro workstation uses them to make the laptop and two other crucial pieces of hardware easy to move around. And they keep the hardware off the desk, creating space for other items.
An M2 Max MacBook Pro and a 42-inch OLED display? Yes, please. Photo: [email protected]
Oh, what a joy to go computer-setup shopping — when your employer readily agrees to pay for everything. Today’s featured M2 Max MacBook Pro setup, which features a gorgeous 42-inch OLED smart TV as a display, came into being that very way.
Check out the setup’s gear, below, and see if that’s what you’d buy if your boss handed you a blank check.
The user learned how to convert the 5K iMac display from a video. Photo: [email protected]
It’s great that Apple put out a high-quality display that costs a lot less than the $5,000 Pro Display XDR. But the Studio Display, at $1,600, is still too pricey for many folks. If you’d rather have a 5K display for way less than a grand, today’s featured M2 Pro Mac mini setup is for you if you’re willing to do some work.
Following an instructional video included below, the user converted a 5K iMac to a 5K standard USB display for about $700.
Mounted devices make for a space-saving triple-display setup. Photo: [email protected]
The sometimes-overlooked heroes of computer setups are stands and mounts. They make a big difference. They free-up space on the desk. They bring screens to eye level for better ergonomics. And they can even help turn a one-display setup into a three-display workstation, as they do in today’s featured MacBook Pro and iPad mini rig.
The user relies on one main external monitor — a Studio Display — but raising the MacBook and the iPad up to eye level and using Universal Control gives him three prominent screens. And that’s without having to buy and make room for multiple external monitors.
A powerful M1 Max MacBook and Studio Display have no trouble with World of Warcraft. Photo: [email protected]
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.
This is how you take a picture of a setup if you want people to think it's an ad. Photo: [email protected]
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.
The iPhone 13 sold well in Q2 2022. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
iPhone shipments grew 3.3% year over year during the second quarter of 2022, according to a market-research firm. That’s in contrast to the global smartphone market, which declined 7%.
Apple made up 16% of the total market, its highest second-quarter performance in more than a decade.
Apple takes in far more revenue from iPhone sales than any Android-maker. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Everyone knows that Android outsells iPhone, but that’s not the whole picture. Apple takes in a lot more revenue than any rival smartphone-maker. It’s more than double Samsung’s, and no other company gets even that close.
And in the quarter before that, iPhone pulled in more revenue than all its rivals combined.
What would you do with that cable on the left? Photo: [email protected]
Many a near-pristine computer setup is marred by one pretty ugly thing: a power cable. People pride themselves on having “one-cable” setups, where gear plugs into other gear or works wirelessly, and the whole shebang depends on one cable going into the wall outlet from a hub or a power strip. Others get as close as they can to that Zen-like state of near cableless-ness.
Today’s featured setup has that one, nagging cable. And we’re here to help make it go away.
Apple continues to beat Samsung in 5G handset sales. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
iPhone is the biggest, most profitable 5G smartphone in the world, according to the latest data from one research firm. As 5G adoption skyrockets, Apple continues to hold a lead over Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and other vendors.
That’s despite an increase in demand for foldable devices and more affordable 5G handsets from brands like Honor.
Fine setup, but where did you get that wallpaper? Photo: [email protected]
One of the questions you see most in the comments sections of posts about computer setups on social media is: Where did you get that wallpaper? To many folks, the setup may be fine and dandy, but what they really care about is not so much the fancy hardware, but the imagery on the display that they might easily get for themselves.
Today’s setup is a prime example. It made us look back at 10 great wallpaper sources we’ve come across, below. That’s 11, actually, including today’s subject.
This clean, M1 Mac mini-based setup packs a lot of audio-visual firepower. Photo: [email protected]
Some computer setups are remarkably cool for their awesome computing power. Others wow you with incredible displays, with several high-def monitors. And still others blow you away with premium sound. Or, in the case of today’s featured setup, premium audio-visual gear many people would be psyched to get their hands on.
The 3D-printed tray for Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad has generated a lot of interest. Photo: [email protected]
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.
A desk with a metal frame and a bunch of clips and magnets help make a great setup. Photo: QasimZafaraYouTube@Reddit
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.
It's amazing what you can do with a pegboard (left) and some inexpensive but effective lighting. Photo: carrotcakeblack@Reddit
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.
Can you ever really have too many monitors? Photo: KipKang@Reddit
A Mission Control-looking setup featuring an ultrawide monitor with a spacious screen above it and a portrait-oriented screen on either side of it was bound to get some attention — especially with ring lights sticking up from it like antennae. And it did.
“That just seems so excessive that it isn’t even funny,” one Redditor commented on KipKang’s post promoting his MacBook Pro setup and its relative orgy of displays. “I love it and I am jealous of it. Long winded way of saying NICE!”
“Thanks! ‘Nothing exceeds like excess,’” KipKang replied.