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Post Your Mac Setup: Past & Present (Part 20)
- Thread starter stridemat
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Oh my, that Microsoft mouse is a classic. I used to love that mouse!This is my current Mac Mini M1 setup.
Using an IKEA standing desk alongside an Aeris Swopper chair.
Love seeing all of the Studio Display pics! They finally fixed the most glaring hole in the lineup. I'll add to the fun. First picture is this morning, second/third are after a nice UPS man came to visit. I am most surprised by how short the Thunderbolt cable provided with the monitor is. Does anyone know if an Apple Thunderbolt 3 cable would be a sufficient swap? I have a longer one of those, but not TB4.
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Looks really clean!
I wouldn't swap a TB4 cable for a TB3 to be honest.
Reason being is that TB4 is alot more faster and has many benefits over TB3.
However, as it's only to power your display from your Mac to your display, I wouldn't even mind the difference.
So yeah, you can use your TB3 cable and won't even notice a difference.
Lovely setup, not just the desk but the paintings pictures, plants - REAL plants!!
This boys & girls is a home, not just a setup.
PS: what’s happening to the iMac on the floor in pic 2 above (on the right)? Also, how are you getting power to the desk (is that a 3rd desk leg above the blue ottoman at the edge of the carpet with a UPS or backup NAS)??
Cheers & thanks for sharing.
Pretty sure that's his old Thunderbolt Display as shown in the first picture before he switched it out.
The Apple Studio Display is a Thunderbolt 3 port. Apple website doesn't clarify if the cable included is a TB4 or TB3, but TB3 cord is fine since the port on the display is a TB3.
Thanks for mentioning that, I had no idea.
I really thought the Studio Display had a TB4 port as an upgrade over my XDRs.
Cheers for the kind words! That is indeed the TB display sitting on the floor in the second pic. Will be taking it to my office to pair with another old TB display. Old reliable just keeps on kicking.
As far as power, the UPS near the wall is routing an extension cable up the 3rd leg closest to the wall (it’s an L shaped desk, which is difficult to tell from the photos) and then I painted and installed the server rack cable management channels on both parts of the desk. There’s a surge protector mounted near the corner of the L (right side of the photo facing the back of the setup) where all items on the desk are routed to. Need to tidy a little bit but so far so good!
I figured it was TB4 as well but after reviewing the tech specs for my TB3 cable and seeing it was compatible with XDR I figured it’d be suitable for the Studio Display as well. Will test today so hopefully it works because the included cable truly is damn close to insufficient for non Mac-Studio-under-the-monitor-on-the-desk setups.
Where is your lab? Your picture with the setup + the golden lab is my absolute favourite, never fails to bring a smile to my face when I look at it from times to times.
Aw thanks! She does the same for me. She was too bothered by all of my shuffling about and went to find a quieter spot to take her snooze ? she did give the Studio Display shipping box a good once over to make sure it passed her security checkpoint
The Mac Studio arrived yesterday. So far, so good. Much faster and more efficient when running Ableton Live, which is its primary function here. Plus, it’s so nice to directly plug in peripherals (no hubs required). Love it!
Here's mine. Not much has changed since the last time I posted it but I got an MX Keys and MX Master 3, and a stand for my AirPods Max.
I'm open to any setup suggestions as I'm conscious that there's probably a lot of room for improvement here.
It must accommodate my MacMini and my work laptop (a Dell Latitude). Currently the larger 27-in display on the left is hooked up via HDMI to both the Mac and the work laptop (it has two inputs) so I can simply switch between them. The one on the right is 24-in and is used exclusively on the Mac, typically playing music or white noise while I work. Both are 4k. The MX Master and MX Keys are set up with unifying receivers in each computer and switch between them seamlessly.
I was thinking about the Studio Display and replacing the smaller monitor with that, whilst keeping the other 27-inch 4k. Or just going for one Studio Display and ditching the multi-display set up. Only concern there is I'd have to manually plug it in between my Mac and work laptop each time, which leads me back to keeping the existing 27-in monitor for the work laptop, and maintaining the dual monitor setup. Then the concern would be the difference in quality between this cheap 4k monitor and the higher spec studio display being jarring when put together.
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Starting to transition my basement in to a more "official" workspace, so thought I'd get a before pic before my new desk arrives. On the right is an iMac Pro, sitting behind the LG monitor is a 2019 16-inch MBP in my sig, and its sitting on top of a Dell Precision 7530 (it has a cracked screen so its always in clamshell). The MX Keys are connected via Bluetooth to the iMac Pro and the MBP. Whats not seen in the image is the Dell Precision 7740 and 16-inch MBP that are my work devices. I am definitely going to spend time on my cable management finally as well!
Ok, all. I was anxiously awaiting some of my replacement products from Grovemade. I got rid of that ridiculously ugly metal stand my my MacBook Pro, and got a replacement stand from Grovemade, which is beautiful. I chose the Maple option because my new desk will be made out of Maple (at least that is the plan). I also added a leather desk-as from Grovemade, which I also love. Got rid of the Asus ProArt display, as it was not going to be permanent, but I wanted to see what things would look like once my Studio Display arrives.
I love the new look, and will love it even more once we are in the camper and I will have a 75" desk to keep things looking a little more minimalist like now, as opposed to when I had everything clumped together with the Asus. I will not repeat that cluster once I have the Studio Display. Pictures of that to come in the summer once it arrives.
Any feedback? What do you all think? Improvement? (Please ignore the cord going up the wall for my BenQ ScreenBar Plus...best I could do for now, haha!
Ah man … that Cube needs a space on its own, not a lamp stand 
That cube if feeling really sad. Otherwise a very clean setup.
That cube if feeling really sad. Otherwise a very clean setup.
Love your setup! what's the stand you have your laptop on?
It’s the laptop riser from Grovemade! I tried to find a link for you but I’m not currently seeing it available on their website
Nice & clean setup!
Curious, which brand is the stand between the AirPods Max and the MBP?