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Post Your Mac Setup: Past & Present (Part 20)
- Thread starter stridemat
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Added a portable monitor to the setup. cant wait to finish the basement and put all me lego cars on top!
Bit of a clean up to start the year. Had a USB hub hanging off with ethernet adapter, Scarlett interface and mech keyboard to see going without Touch ID. Wasn't liking the clutter of open laptop + ext keyboard and wrist rest, and the laptop screen was too far away. External trackpad as it allows my hand in a better position and scrolling vs a mouse wheel is way better. Though still deciding if overall comfort is better than a mouse.
Changed the AC LR 5GHz wifi channel to 80MHz to give me ~440mbit up from ~225 (gigabit internet), enough to lose the ethernet. Heavy downloading happens on the media server anyway. Only plug in the Modi DAC (adapter/extension as cable run is a bit short) and power. Will plug the Scarlett when I rarely use the mic.
Backordered a monitor arm on the way. When I picked up the trackpad I took another look at the studio display, while it looks great, I can't bring myself to spend AU2499 for 60Hz and also wanting a PC again in the future for gaming. Been looking at 4K screens that can carry over later. But as with the above post, I'm liking the idea of a small portable secondary screen. So I'm now reconsidering the Dell U2723QE which would've turned into a secondary vertical display. Keen on the upcoming ASUS PG27UCDM OLED, but worried about burn in. Maybe hiding the dock and menu bar will be enough.
This is my traveling setup. I do wish the Mac mini could be powered via USB-C 
New setup for the year.(ManCave/Office) Main coding rig, MacBook Air M2 , MSI 27' Samsung 27' . MacMini 2008 maxed out(kids use for Printing and other stuff ). 20' ACD.
2 HomePod Minis . iPad . MacPro Tower Intel with upgraded cpu Runs the 4 Apple TVs as a media server. PS3/PS4
2 HomePod Minis . iPad . MacPro Tower Intel with upgraded cpu Runs the 4 Apple TVs as a media server. PS3/PS4
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Thanks !! My wife thinks it's overkill though lol. I disagree ..
Oh it’s completely overkill. And it’s awesome!!!
My wife would think the same, but overkill isnt bad its freaking awesome, i showed my wife and said i should try and do something like this and got the Eye roll
Thanks !! Well it is partly my wife's fault , she took over, or as I would say being a gentleman I let her take over my upstairs office during covid to work from home . She is permanent now, So I had the brilliant idea of moving into the mancave .. Out of sight out of mind for her lol ... I can get away with anything as long as it stays clean !
Current setup.
Monitor on the left is what I was provided by my job. I was thinking about getting a 34" ultrawide and going picture by picture, but Im not sure yet. I guess if I go picture by picture, I can use the one mouse for both my work PC and Mac Mini.
Work laptop is under the desk, and my Mac Mini is a M2 Pro. I just got back from NY, where I picked up some stuff. I was thinking about selling my M2 Pro here in Greece, before going to NY. I probably would have gotten almost enough for two Mac Mini M4s, one for me, and upgrade my wife's 2009 iMac, but I decided to keep the M2 Pro and just get her the Mac Mini over the summer.
As you can see, I HATE wires. My house is pretty much like my setup, try to hide as many wires as I can.
The desk top is a 3cm piece of MDF that I worked on myself.
Monitor on the left is what I was provided by my job. I was thinking about getting a 34" ultrawide and going picture by picture, but Im not sure yet. I guess if I go picture by picture, I can use the one mouse for both my work PC and Mac Mini.
Work laptop is under the desk, and my Mac Mini is a M2 Pro. I just got back from NY, where I picked up some stuff. I was thinking about selling my M2 Pro here in Greece, before going to NY. I probably would have gotten almost enough for two Mac Mini M4s, one for me, and upgrade my wife's 2009 iMac, but I decided to keep the M2 Pro and just get her the Mac Mini over the summer.
As you can see, I HATE wires. My house is pretty much like my setup, try to hide as many wires as I can.
The desk top is a 3cm piece of MDF that I worked on myself.
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Your setup looks like an ikea inspiration room. Looks great.I've recently reworked my WFH setup; for the past few years I've used my MacBook plugged into an external display, but I always found it to be a little messy and cumbersome because my 1440p external display didn't connect via USB-C meaning separate cables for power, display and USB...
Quite some years ago I used to have an iMac G5 (iSight) and I absolutely adored the simplicity of that setup. All you needed was a power cord, and the one USB cable going into the computer since the mouse conveniently plugged into the keyboard. Later on I upgraded to the aluminium version, but eventually I needed a more portable solution for my studies and I switched to MacBooks.
Until now, that is; I realised 5K iMacs (and Intel Macs in general) are getting incredibly cheap, and I figured one of the more recent and powerful ones would be a nice replacement for my external display. Even though it's always going to be slower than my MacBook, my WFH tasks are not very demanding so as long as it's reasonably specced and able to run the latest macOS through OpenCore, I figured it would be worth a try. So far, so good.
Specs:
- MacBook Pro (2021, 14-inch, M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
- iMac (2017, 27-inch 5K, 3.8 GHz QC i5, Radeon Pro 580, 8GB VRAM, 64GB RAM, 2TB Fusion)
The cable management is brilliant. I’ve recently setup my desk in our new house and the cables are everywhere at the moment so I’d be really interested to find out more about how you managed to get yours looking this good.
Zip ties, LOTS of zip ties. And any other little gadget I can find off of Temu or Amazon, as far as cable management is concerned.
I bought a lot of things that I can cut out of the wood as well. Maybe they are called grommets?
Temu is awesome because you can get 10/20/50 packs of all different types of things to attach to your desk, either with screws or double sided tape, to secure wires and items to it. And super cheap.
I also run a hdmi male to female wire, where the female is on the side of my desk, underneath, so i can connect my PS5 to my monitor, when I dont want to use it on my TV.
Upgraded from a MacPro5,1 to a MacPro6,1 and it's so much quieter. Also it doesn't heat up the entire room. But I have to say somehow I miss this big cheese grater in the corner.
A couple weeks ago I received an additional three 30" Apple Cinema Displays from a user here on MacRumors. That has completed my long held desire to run five of these displays (I already had two) with my 55" HDTV.
So, here is the new setup…MacPro 5,1 (4,1 upgraded)…with a bunch of other Macs. Note, the MP on the far left is a new addition and is not plugged in.
My setups are never as clean or as pretty as those posted here, and my cable management is best left in the dark recesses behind the desks (which are dining room tables, BTW). But it works for me.
So, here is the new setup…MacPro 5,1 (4,1 upgraded)…with a bunch of other Macs. Note, the MP on the far left is a new addition and is not plugged in.
My setups are never as clean or as pretty as those posted here, and my cable management is best left in the dark recesses behind the desks (which are dining room tables, BTW). But it works for me.
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I have the same Ikea desk system with black ('T') legs and cable trough... although mine is currently in pieces in the basement. Bookcases, shelves, and assorted accessories. Absolutely loved using it!
Yesterday, I replaced the LED Cinema Display with a Studio Display. The 16" M2 MBP works well with the display but the dongles continue to work with the external drives. The new chair is quite comfortable also.
Love the look.of the G Drives. I still have my 2tb ones. 1 though is now corrupt and only there for show 😂
They are the only externals that I've owned and only one has died over the past twenty-five years. I hate how they changed the enclosures, I love how the older ones stack.
My M4 station featuring: iPad Pro 13-inch M4, and a brand new M4 Pro Mac mini.
The Mac mini has my first Pro Apple Silicon chip and so far the graphics performance has been fantastic. So much so I’m going to add a gaming controller dock to the setup in the near future.
The Mac mini has my first Pro Apple Silicon chip and so far the graphics performance has been fantastic. So much so I’m going to add a gaming controller dock to the setup in the near future.
