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Post Your Mac Setup: Past & Present (Part 20)
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The standing desk can move far above the height of the speakers, but it does not get in the way. I usually only stand up doing writing work, and when I do not need to be at the direct height of the speakers.
The speaker stands: Innox IVA Mon-01 MKII.
The monitor arm: https://www.amazon.nl/HUANUO-Monitorarm-Laptoplade-Instelbaar-Montageopties/dp/B07DWM9WNM
I'm not sure if these items are available in the international (US) Amazon stores.
It was inevitable that I'd get a Studio Display for my setup eventually. I've gone from two 24" 4k LG Monitors. They were ok, but aside from the resolution they were very basic. Had to supply my own webcam / speakers, and because the included monitor stand was awful I had to order two custom VESA monitor stands. In the end it just looked all cobbled together.
Now it's so much more streamlined and the Studio Display speakers are enough for me to be able to move my old speakers out of the office altogether.
Before:
After:
Now it's so much more streamlined and the Studio Display speakers are enough for me to be able to move my old speakers out of the office altogether.
Before:
After:
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I finally made a long overdue upgrade from my 20" Apple Cinema Display to an Apple Studio Display, and what an upgrade it is! As a whole, the display has really cleaned up my desk space. Aside from the gorgeous LG Panel, the build quality is unmatched, and the speakers are easily the best in any monitor, or any all-in-one for that matter. I posted a couple of images of the before and after. Enjoy!
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Completely re-done my setup and wanted to share it here.
I have a Pro Display XDR on order and will do something different as soon as that comes in.
Also looking for other speakers that match my setup a little bit more so any suggestions are highly appreciated!
What you're looking at is a Ikea hacked desk containing 2 Alex drawers on each side + 2 Säljan countertops stacked on each other with aluminum raceways in the middle to hide my Govee RGB-IC M1 Ledstrip that sit between them and there's also a Govee RGB-IC Pro Ledstrip behind them that lights up my wall panels. All of this is giving the desk a "floating" like vibe which I really like and I haven't seen it anywhere else before.
Behind my desk are the very popular 3D "diamond" wall panels that are glued and painted with 3 Ikea Lack shelves on top completing the look I was going for.
The tech you see on my desk is the well known 2019 Mac Pro with the 28-core CPU, 1.5TB of ram and the dual W6800X's + Afterburner. (I was going to switch this out for a Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra chip but I decided to just wait a little longer for the Mac Pro with the Apple Silicon chip.)
My MacBook is the 16 inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chip and 64GB of ram and this thing is a powerhouse, no matter what I throw at it! I just love it and it is the main reason why I want a desktop with an Apple Silicon chip as well (hence why I got it hooked up to my main displays.)
The two displays are the Huawei MateView 28 inch and I don't really have much to say about these. Sure they're great, but not for colour grading as the colour accuracy is a total joke.
As a 3rd display I mainly use my 2021 iPad Pro 12.9 inch with the M1 chip and don't have to say anything about it, you guys know what it is and it's a champ (even after the M2 release.)
For peripherals I'm running the MX Keys keyboard from Logitech as well as the MX Master 3S mouse.
And for my speakers I am using the Edifier R1700Bt's that I painted in white because I couldn't stand it if it didn't match.
So that's basically all, but if you're wondering about anything in particular just ask me!
I'll post more pics when everything is done.
I have a Pro Display XDR on order and will do something different as soon as that comes in.
Also looking for other speakers that match my setup a little bit more so any suggestions are highly appreciated!
What you're looking at is a Ikea hacked desk containing 2 Alex drawers on each side + 2 Säljan countertops stacked on each other with aluminum raceways in the middle to hide my Govee RGB-IC M1 Ledstrip that sit between them and there's also a Govee RGB-IC Pro Ledstrip behind them that lights up my wall panels. All of this is giving the desk a "floating" like vibe which I really like and I haven't seen it anywhere else before.
Behind my desk are the very popular 3D "diamond" wall panels that are glued and painted with 3 Ikea Lack shelves on top completing the look I was going for.
The tech you see on my desk is the well known 2019 Mac Pro with the 28-core CPU, 1.5TB of ram and the dual W6800X's + Afterburner. (I was going to switch this out for a Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra chip but I decided to just wait a little longer for the Mac Pro with the Apple Silicon chip.)
My MacBook is the 16 inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chip and 64GB of ram and this thing is a powerhouse, no matter what I throw at it! I just love it and it is the main reason why I want a desktop with an Apple Silicon chip as well (hence why I got it hooked up to my main displays.)
The two displays are the Huawei MateView 28 inch and I don't really have much to say about these. Sure they're great, but not for colour grading as the colour accuracy is a total joke.
As a 3rd display I mainly use my 2021 iPad Pro 12.9 inch with the M1 chip and don't have to say anything about it, you guys know what it is and it's a champ (even after the M2 release.)
For peripherals I'm running the MX Keys keyboard from Logitech as well as the MX Master 3S mouse.
And for my speakers I am using the Edifier R1700Bt's that I painted in white because I couldn't stand it if it didn't match.
So that's basically all, but if you're wondering about anything in particular just ask me!
I'll post more pics when everything is done.
Attachments
Good question!
I'm a designer for multiple automotive brands that spacialize in custom bodykits for supercars.
I used to make game models for games back in 2013 but wanted to do something more with my love for cars.
I'm used to it
Also the Dock does have a Zoom you can increase to view the icons better during mouse roll-over
Yes, I know and I'm using zoom expansion. Thank youAlso the Dock does have a Zoom you can increase to view the icons better during mouse roll-over
My first setup around 2011. (Late 2006 17" iMac)
My current setup.(Late 2013 21.5 iMac with ssd and 16gb ram, early 2013 macbook pro, mid 2001 iMac G3.)
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New desk, new Mac, new Setup.
Desk is a Eureka Ergonomics EGD-L60 sit/stand desk in "Rustic brown". Not actual woodgrain, it's composite chipboard covered with a vinyl "wrap". But the surface is a much thicker/better wrap than my old desk which just had a woodgrain sticker that started wearing off quickly. The desk maker expects that you'll just set a monitor on the "raised shelf" on the long direction of the desk - but I like my three monitors, so I got a clamp-on three-monitor arm. The desk has some color-change LEDs on the underside of the "monitor shelf," but I leave those off other than when I'm in a meeting, I turn it on red.
Other "desk accessories" - a swivel-out storage tray / mouse pad from Autonomous.ai (the desk came with a cup holder you're supposed to mount there. Obviously I have a different spot for my up.) A clamp-on power strip (between the Mac Studio and iBook) that was some random one off Amazon. Has three power outlets plus two USB-A and two USB-C for charging.
The monitor mount is a "Mount-It!" brand "Triple Monitor Desk Mount w/ USB, USB-C & Audio Ports × 1" - on the part that clamps onto the top of the desk are USB-A, USB-C, headphone, and microphone ports. I have the two USBs plugged in, but not the headphone or microphone.
The monitors are two Samsung U28E590 27" 4K displays in landscape, plus one Samsung U24E590 24" 4K in portrait. Because of the VESA mount point on them being near the very top, the portrait one is very "lopsided" weight-wise, so I had to resort to using some black duck tape holding it to the center monitor so it doesn't try to swivel out of position. I think if the VESA mount point were closer to the center of the display, the monitor arm could hold it no problem.
Below the center monitor is an HP Thunderbolt 3 Dock G2 with audio module - basically a speakerphone module that snaps on top and has volume, microphone-mute, and "start call" and "end call" buttons. That thing has amazing audio quality, and I'm on conference calls/Zoom calls a lot, so it's been great. It has an attached Thunderbolt-to-computer cable coming out the front that I swap between my desktop (now the Mac Studio, previously a Mac mini,) my personal laptop (2019 16" MacBook Pro with max CPU, RAM, and GPU,) and my work laptop (an HP that is due for upgrade this year.) On the back, it has two DisplayPort, one Thunderbolt-out, one USB-C 10Gb/s that can drive a display, VGA, two USB-A 5Gb/s, and Gigabit Ethernet. On the front is a USB-C 10Gb/s, and on the right side is a USB-A 5Gb/s plus a 3.5mm headset jack. Because of macOS multi-display limitations, I have one landscape display plugged in to one DisplayPort jack, the other landscape display into the "Thunderbolt out" port, and the portrait display is plugged into a USB-to-DisplayLink adapter. (macOS can't run three displays over a single Thunderbolt cable using the DisplayPort/Thunderbolt/USB-C ports. Funnily, my Intel MacBook Pro can do it just fine booted into Windows via Boot Camp but not in macOS - to run even two displays in macOS, one has to be a "video port" (DisplayPort/VGA) and the other *HAS* to be the "Thunderbolt Out". Using a DisplayLink adapter that adds lag is the only way to get three in macOS at all over a single cable.) Strapped under the desk is a compact 8-port USB-A 5 Gb/s hub. All the "stationary" USB accessories are plugged in to it, and a single cable goes to one of the USB-A ports on the back of the dock. There is one device with a hardwired USB-C that is plugged into the USB-C on the back of the dock. The DisplayLink adapter is plugged into the other USB-A port on the back of the dock. The Ethernet port is unused, the side and front ports are for temporary-use devices.
USB devices plugged into the hub:
Computing devices:
Accessories that aren't permanently plugged in to the dock, sitting on the monitor shelf lined up at the right of it:
Mac mini M1 - 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD. Bought the day of the M1 launch, the only option it got was extra RAM so it wasn't painfully low on RAM. Plugged in are an old Apple SuperDrive (useful for burning CDs to reinstall OSes on my vintage computers,) plus a Seagate 5 GB hard drive and a Western Digital 4 GB hard drive. These were connected to my prior 2012 Mac mini server before it kicked the bucket. This mini has been doing double duty as server + desktop until the Studio arrived. It was also plugged into the far-left display via HDMI, since M1 can only run a single monitor over Thunderbolt/USB-C, if you wanted a second display, it had to be on HDMI. It also meant I could display the mini while another computer was plugged into the dock - which I have moved to be the portrait-mode monitor for the Studio.
Input devices:
I love Logitech's "Flow" - it allows for actual *switching* of inputs between devices on the fly, similar to Apple's Universal Control, except it actually switches computers at the device level, so you can mouse over from one computer to another, then shut off the first computer. With Universal Control if you shut off the "computer the keyboard and mouse are actually connected to", you lose use of them. My MacBook Pro is "Device 1," my desktop Mac (now the Studio) is "Device 2", and my work laptop is "Device 3".
Computers are connected via Ethernet to a switch hiding elsewhere in the office that has 1x SFP 10GbE port that runs via optical cable to my main router in another room, 1xRJ45 10GbE port that now runs to the Mac Studio, 2xRJ45 5GbE ports, one that runs to the USB 5GbE adapter, the other will now run to the 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter once I run another Ethernet cable, 2xRJ45 2.5GbE that are currently unused, and 4xRJ45 1GbE that are connected to other devices in the office. I suppose moving the Mac mini to server duties, I should use give one of the 5GbE ports and the 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter to it, since the mini will be going into the cabinet that switch is in. The prior Intel Mini Server just used its 1GbE port connected to one of the 1GbE ports.
Yes, my internet connection is >1Gb, so I get use out of having >1GbE.
Pictures taken with a Nikon 1 J5, first with an 18.5mm (49mm equivalent) f/1.8 lens from as far away from the desk as I could get in my office @ f/2, 1/60s, ISO 500; second with a 6.7mm (18mm equivalent) f/3.5 lens from "up close" @ f/3.5, 1/60s, ISO 1100 with flash.
Desk is a Eureka Ergonomics EGD-L60 sit/stand desk in "Rustic brown". Not actual woodgrain, it's composite chipboard covered with a vinyl "wrap". But the surface is a much thicker/better wrap than my old desk which just had a woodgrain sticker that started wearing off quickly. The desk maker expects that you'll just set a monitor on the "raised shelf" on the long direction of the desk - but I like my three monitors, so I got a clamp-on three-monitor arm. The desk has some color-change LEDs on the underside of the "monitor shelf," but I leave those off other than when I'm in a meeting, I turn it on red.
Other "desk accessories" - a swivel-out storage tray / mouse pad from Autonomous.ai (the desk came with a cup holder you're supposed to mount there. Obviously I have a different spot for my up.) A clamp-on power strip (between the Mac Studio and iBook) that was some random one off Amazon. Has three power outlets plus two USB-A and two USB-C for charging.
The monitor mount is a "Mount-It!" brand "Triple Monitor Desk Mount w/ USB, USB-C & Audio Ports × 1" - on the part that clamps onto the top of the desk are USB-A, USB-C, headphone, and microphone ports. I have the two USBs plugged in, but not the headphone or microphone.
The monitors are two Samsung U28E590 27" 4K displays in landscape, plus one Samsung U24E590 24" 4K in portrait. Because of the VESA mount point on them being near the very top, the portrait one is very "lopsided" weight-wise, so I had to resort to using some black duck tape holding it to the center monitor so it doesn't try to swivel out of position. I think if the VESA mount point were closer to the center of the display, the monitor arm could hold it no problem.
Below the center monitor is an HP Thunderbolt 3 Dock G2 with audio module - basically a speakerphone module that snaps on top and has volume, microphone-mute, and "start call" and "end call" buttons. That thing has amazing audio quality, and I'm on conference calls/Zoom calls a lot, so it's been great. It has an attached Thunderbolt-to-computer cable coming out the front that I swap between my desktop (now the Mac Studio, previously a Mac mini,) my personal laptop (2019 16" MacBook Pro with max CPU, RAM, and GPU,) and my work laptop (an HP that is due for upgrade this year.) On the back, it has two DisplayPort, one Thunderbolt-out, one USB-C 10Gb/s that can drive a display, VGA, two USB-A 5Gb/s, and Gigabit Ethernet. On the front is a USB-C 10Gb/s, and on the right side is a USB-A 5Gb/s plus a 3.5mm headset jack. Because of macOS multi-display limitations, I have one landscape display plugged in to one DisplayPort jack, the other landscape display into the "Thunderbolt out" port, and the portrait display is plugged into a USB-to-DisplayLink adapter. (macOS can't run three displays over a single Thunderbolt cable using the DisplayPort/Thunderbolt/USB-C ports. Funnily, my Intel MacBook Pro can do it just fine booted into Windows via Boot Camp but not in macOS - to run even two displays in macOS, one has to be a "video port" (DisplayPort/VGA) and the other *HAS* to be the "Thunderbolt Out". Using a DisplayLink adapter that adds lag is the only way to get three in macOS at all over a single cable.) Strapped under the desk is a compact 8-port USB-A 5 Gb/s hub. All the "stationary" USB accessories are plugged in to it, and a single cable goes to one of the USB-A ports on the back of the dock. There is one device with a hardwired USB-C that is plugged into the USB-C on the back of the dock. The DisplayLink adapter is plugged into the other USB-A port on the back of the dock. The Ethernet port is unused, the side and front ports are for temporary-use devices.
USB devices plugged into the hub:
- The USB-A port on the monitor arm
- The USB-C port on the monitor arm
- A Sabrent 5Gbps Ethernet adapter
- A Logitech "Litra Glow" lamp (seen perched on top of the center monitor)
- A Luxafor "USB LED flag" (seen atop the left of the left monitor, I use it to indicate if I'm in a meeting or not.)
Computing devices:
- The new Mac Studio - M1 Max base model, 32 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD - Has its 10Gb Ethernet connected, the Thunderbolt dock, and an HDMI cable to the portrait-mode display, so I can switch to it if needed when another computer is plugged into the Thunderbolt dock. Sitting under the portrait display - it *EXACTLY* fits without rubbing.
- The 2019 16" MacBook Pro - 2.4 GHz Core i9, 32 GB RAM, Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB GDDR6, 1 TB SSD. (The ability to spec 64 GB RAM and a Radeon Pro 5600M 8 GB HBM2 wasn't added until later.) Pictured under the "monitor shelf", it would normally be used in lid-closed mode right there, plugged into the Thunderbolt dock.)
- My work laptop (an HP, not listing specs.) Not on the desk at the moment, it would be where the MacBook Pro is when using it. It's actually the reason I have the 5 Gbps Ethernet adapter.
- Sony PlayStation 3 (original CECHA 60 GB model with the memory card slots, 4 USB, and hardware PlayStation 2 compatibility.) Plugged into one of the left monitor's HDMI ports. It sits under the monitor shelf at far left. You can see a "Media Remote" sitting upside-down to the left of it, and two controllers sitting on the monitor shelf directly above it (one white, one black, both DualShock3 SixAxis.)
- An iBook G3 DV-SE - G3 466 MHz, 576 MB RAM, stock 10 GB hard drive. Why? Just because.
Accessories that aren't permanently plugged in to the dock, sitting on the monitor shelf lined up at the right of it:
- LaCie slim "Porsche Design" 2 TB USB-C hard drive.
- Samsung T7 Touch 1 TB USB-C SSD
- Samsung T5 512 GB USB-C SSD
- Samsung 256 GB USB-C flash drive
- Some Apple Watch bands (multiple household members have Apple Watches that take the "big" size band, we store bands that anyone can use there.)
- Best Buy store-brand mobile device 3-in-1 charging station - MagSafe stand, flat Qi charger underneath, and spot for Apple Watch charging puck. On at the time of picture are my iPhone 13 Pro, AirPods Pro, and Apple Watch Ultra.
- CalDigit 10Gbps Ethernet Thunderbolt 3 adapter. Previously used for my MacBook Pro and/or Mac mini as needed, now that Ethernet cord is plugged into the Mac Studio. Will probably use it for the MacBook Pro. (Work laptop only has one Thunderbolt port, and I'm using the "Thunderbolt out" port on the dock for a display, hence the USB-C 5GbE adapter for that computer.)
Mac mini M1 - 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD. Bought the day of the M1 launch, the only option it got was extra RAM so it wasn't painfully low on RAM. Plugged in are an old Apple SuperDrive (useful for burning CDs to reinstall OSes on my vintage computers,) plus a Seagate 5 GB hard drive and a Western Digital 4 GB hard drive. These were connected to my prior 2012 Mac mini server before it kicked the bucket. This mini has been doing double duty as server + desktop until the Studio arrived. It was also plugged into the far-left display via HDMI, since M1 can only run a single monitor over Thunderbolt/USB-C, if you wanted a second display, it had to be on HDMI. It also meant I could display the mini while another computer was plugged into the dock - which I have moved to be the portrait-mode monitor for the Studio.
Input devices:
- Logitech Ergo K860 ergonomic keyboard compatible with Logitech's "Flow" device-switching system.
- Logitech MX Anywhere 2S mouse also compatible with Logitech's Flow system.
I love Logitech's "Flow" - it allows for actual *switching* of inputs between devices on the fly, similar to Apple's Universal Control, except it actually switches computers at the device level, so you can mouse over from one computer to another, then shut off the first computer. With Universal Control if you shut off the "computer the keyboard and mouse are actually connected to", you lose use of them. My MacBook Pro is "Device 1," my desktop Mac (now the Studio) is "Device 2", and my work laptop is "Device 3".
Computers are connected via Ethernet to a switch hiding elsewhere in the office that has 1x SFP 10GbE port that runs via optical cable to my main router in another room, 1xRJ45 10GbE port that now runs to the Mac Studio, 2xRJ45 5GbE ports, one that runs to the USB 5GbE adapter, the other will now run to the 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter once I run another Ethernet cable, 2xRJ45 2.5GbE that are currently unused, and 4xRJ45 1GbE that are connected to other devices in the office. I suppose moving the Mac mini to server duties, I should use give one of the 5GbE ports and the 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter to it, since the mini will be going into the cabinet that switch is in. The prior Intel Mini Server just used its 1GbE port connected to one of the 1GbE ports.
Yes, my internet connection is >1Gb, so I get use out of having >1GbE.
Pictures taken with a Nikon 1 J5, first with an 18.5mm (49mm equivalent) f/1.8 lens from as far away from the desk as I could get in my office @ f/2, 1/60s, ISO 500; second with a 6.7mm (18mm equivalent) f/3.5 lens from "up close" @ f/3.5, 1/60s, ISO 1100 with flash.
7 external displays connected to an M2 Max MBP 96Gb: 2x ASD 27" (TB), 1x XDR 32" (TB), 2x ViewSonic 19" (DisplayLink via DVI), Dell 38" Ultrawide (HDMI), & 10" iPad (Sidecar). I still can't believe this all worked perfectly out of the box. Runs like a champ. The Mx MBPs are incredible machines.
(Plus a little i5 MBP just hanging out.)
Just the effort alone is impressive. Awesome that this runs at all. Really like that screenshot of the arrangement in Preferences. What do you use each screen for besides creating symmetry?
My new 43" LG Monitor hooked up to my M1 MacBook Air. It's taking some getting used to the large size monitor.
Very nice... but not sure I could handle a monitor that large that close to my face... (not to mention the radiation burns!
)Top left & top right, security cameras (4 on each display).
Top center: System monitors (remote Grafana boards & Jenkins radiators), house/property sensors, solar/temp/light controls; or Moonlight (resolution matched to my Windows box); occasionally coding & multi browser testing.
3 lower monitors: Design/coding/browsing/Office apps.
Laptop display: Mail, Slack, Messages.
iPad display: Terminal windows.
The only bug I've found so far is that the iPad will sometimes mirror another display after waking from sleep, even when set to Extend, (requires a WindowServer restart to fix).
