Cult of Mac has showcased users’ cool computer setups for years. Why? People love seeing what other people do. It could be a workstation that sports the latest, most powerful Mac — or beloved vintage Apple gear. Sometimes the decor strikes a chord. Or maybe someone shows off an intriguing display configuration, or offers great advice on connectivity or cable management.
And when it comes right down to it, some setups are just works of art that should be seen. Cult of Mac‘s coverage, below, is like a museum of setups.
If you would like to see your setup featured on Cult of Mac, send some high-res pictures to [email protected] (iPhone pics usually work fine). Please provide a detailed list of your equipment. Tell us what you like or dislike about your setup, and fill us in on any special touches, challenges and plans for new additions.
Apple’s MacBook Air continues to prove itself as the ultimate portable powerhouse for creative professionals, students and everyday users alike. Whether you’re team M2 or M3 — or you upgraded to the latest M4 chip — these sleek laptops punch well above their weight class when it comes to driving impressive workstation setups. Our collection of the top 10 MacBook Air setups proves that point.
For Apple enthusiasts, one Mac is great — but two or more? That’s when things get seriously interesting. Years of Cult of Mac Setups coverage has showcased hundreds of impressive workstations. But these top 10 multi-Mac setups stand out as particularly fascinating examples of how power users leverage Apple’s ecosystem to its fullest potential.
From new M4-powered machines paired with vintage “trash can” Mac Pros to dual MacBook configurations seamlessly integrated with desktop Macs, these workstations demonstrate that having multiple Macs isn’t just about redundancy. It’s about optimizing workflow, separating concerns and yes, indulging in a bit of Apple-fandom excess.
Desk lighting plays a surprisingly transformative role in creating memorable workspaces. Here are seven Mac setups where lighting — whether RGB gaming effects, professional video illumination or ambient mood enhancement — elevates the entire experience.
Another year, another incredible collection of Apple workstations in Cult of Mac‘s Setups section that make us rethink our own desk situations. From devices powered by the powerful M4 chip family to innovative display solutions and clever space-saving tricks, the top 10 Apple setups of 2025 brought us some truly remarkable gear and uses for it.
We combed through hundreds of featured workstations on Cult of Mac to bring you the cream of the crop — setups that excel in raw computing power, aesthetic beauty, functional innovation or that perfect combination of all three.
Some people accept that many computers and external displays have pretty good speakers in them and leave their computer setup audio at that, plus maybe a pair of headphones or earbuds. Others accept no such thing and insist on cranking up the volume and ripping the knob off with killer audio gear. My roundup of cool setups below focuses on stellar workstation audio and those who, like me, take it as seriously as living room audio.
For years I’ve showcased cool Apple-centric computer setups for Cult of Mac. I never seem to get tired of drooling over the sweetest of the bunch. Sometimes that’s about the most awesome possible computers and monitors — Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR, anyone? — and sometimes it’s about a whole package, including fabulous audio gear and more. I selected a bunch of drool-worthy setups with stratospheric price tags for you below.
Looking to level up your Apple ecosystem? The Mac mini packs serious punch in a pint-sized package that’ll make you wonder how you ever lived without it. Apple users love the little desktop machine — as our roundup of best Mac mini setups below shows.
Ready to convert to Mac? I came across one user who scored a nice student deal on a MacBook Air, and soon found themself upgrading their whole outdated PC setup as a complete, highly functional and reasonably affordable Apple-ecosystem rig.
“I’m so so cooked … the Apple ecosystem is a huge trap!” they joked. “Don’t let one device get into your house.”
What’s the biggest upgrade a computer setup can undergo other than a new computer, external display(s) or a massive audio boost? It’s the very platform the setup sits on — usually a desk. In my case, it’s an Uplift Standing Desk V3, which I reviewed recently (five stars, btw).
It’s a huge upgrade aesthetically and functionally. And it changes how I mount and use my gear, too.
Few items in computer setups flaunted online induce more envy than Apple displays, particularly the one many people find almost financially within reach — the 27-inch 5K resolution Studio Display. (And let’s just stop frightening our wallets with any talk at all of the vaunted Pro Display XDR, starting at $5,000). So what’s even better than one amazingly vibrant, color-accurate Studio Display? Well, two of them, of course. We found 12 setups that might make you green with envy — the best dual Studio Display setups.
Some people take an orthodox view of external computer displays and opt for just one with proper windows management. For the rest of us, the best dual-monitor setup we can afford is the best way to go for plenty of screen real estate without going overboard. Check out some of the greatest two-display rigs from setups coverage over the past few years below.
A big trend in recent years in Cult of Mac‘s setups coverage has been ever-increasing displays — either bigger ones, more of them or both. Sometimes it seems like an arms race to create the most NASA-Mission-Control wall of screens ever. But sometimes it’s not about size, but variety and convenience, including portable monitors and device screens. Take a look at our best-multi-monitor-setup workstations below, along with top displays and other gear that makes them tick.
Some computer setups on social media are like highly functional art, beautifully curated and seemingly permanent, like museum pieces. Others are just weird, wonderful and fleeting. Today’s example is more the latter case, featuring a “spec’d out” M4 Mac mini used with an iPad Air and a tiny touch screen as external displays, plus a Magic Trackpad and a crazy split keyboard.
People questioned the lack of a MacBook, but other commenters rose up in defense of the oddball setup.
When AirPods Max came out in late 2020, everyone seemed to hate the Smart Case that Apple created for the high-end headphones. And it seems they still do to this day, as we await a third iteration of the cans.
Third-party solutions flooded in, including the type of thing used in today’s featured MacBook Pro setup as multipurpose storage — a nifty charging stand. The headphones rest vertically in the stand, taking on power and looking good doing it — and they remain ready to grab at any time.
So many of us sit at a computer all day peering at a screen, it’s no wonder eye strain is a common problem. But only some of us — like today’s featured MacBook Pro and Studio Display user — really attack the problem beyond taking more breaks. They offer tips to reduce eye strain below.
Who doesn’t love new gear in their computer setup — either brand new or just new to them? Today’s Mac mini and Studio Display setup comes complete with two shiny new items recently added to the market — the NuPhy Air75 v3 low-profile wireless mechanical keyboard and the updated BenQ ScreenBar Halo 2 monitor light. And he’s got some over-ear headphones I find enviable, too.
Today’s featured Mac Studio setup may win the external display arms race — for bigger monitors and for more of them. A 4-display setup displayed on social media is not super rare, but one sporting such large screens is. This one pushes the limit of too much screen space with two stacked 57-inch curved ultra-wide Samsung displays bookended by two 32-inch Samsungs in portrait (vertical) orientation. Yikes, that’s a lot of screen.
Big smart TVs crop up in computer setups online as external displays with increasing regularity. That includes today’s featured M2 Mac mini rig with a 55-inch Hisense smart TV as well as a 32-inch LG 4K monitor that looks tiny by comparison.
And the setup’s audio is no slouch. It features excellent Audioengine bookshelf speakers, a dedicated digital-to-audio converter (DAC) plus a wireless subwoofer for a big low end. Most setups stop at speakers on the desk.
Though relatively high costs is a perennial complaint about Apple’s popular Studio Display, the 5K resolution monitor with a fair number of bells and whistles continues to gain fans willing to pay. Today’s setup belongs to a gamer with a MacBook Pro and a gaming PC, plus a Studio Display and a 240Hz OLED monitor.
He said if the house caught fire and he could only choose one display to save, it’d be Apple’s.
Today’s featured setup user seeks out and gets good advice on his upgrade questions. He runs an aging MacBook Pro and a more recent iMac, but wonders about replacing them both with a newer MacBook Pro, perhaps an M4 Pro model. Commenters on his post offered useful thoughts, below, on future-proofing choices of Mac models as well as external display options.
Sometimes even a MacBook in a vertical laptop stand takes up too much space on the desk. Today’s dual MacBook Pro setup user asks the question of how to “get rid of” the laptops — as in how to mount MacBook out of the way but still in use. And they get plenty of excellent advice, below.
And in addition, the workstation grabs the attention for its “odd couple” of Apple monitors, old and new. The user said they love both displays (despite that rather significant differences between the two).
Guess what, it’s time for another installment of Dave’s Setup Upgrades. Only about six weeks after I last wrote about my own computer setup instead of everybody else’s, here I go again. An M4 Pro MacBook Pro driving a pair of 5K touchscreen displays remains the core of my rig. But I’ve gone a little nuts lately with computer input devices as I strive for a more ergonomic workstation. I’m up to four, with backups for most, and that’s got to be some kind of record.
And I added a webcam because my current external displays don’t pack one. And my laptop, with its only-pretty-good webcam, sits hidden away on a vertical stand. I don’t want to have to pull it out for video calls.
I love the “before” and “after” setups posts with photos on social media. Today’s is on the basic side, but it’s always fun to see clear visuals of what people do. In this one, an iMac toiling away for eight years gets judged into well-deserved retirement by Apple’s hot little M4 desktop machine on a Satechi Mac mini hub that greatly expands connectivity and storage. With the iMac’s lovely screen gone, the new rig is a Dell-4K-display-Mac-mini combo.
Apple’s beautiful, high-resolution Studio Display is notoriously expensive, starting at about $1,600 — so dual Studio Display computer setups are pretty rare. I also see Studios Displays paired with other options for external displays, as in today’s great-looking Mac Studio setup. And it turns out there are reasons beyond identical resolution to choose the LG 5K UltraFine display the users selected and loves.
And another cool item in the setup hides behind the displays. Bower & Wilkins’ aged-yet-still-awesome MM1 computer speakers make a rare appearance.
Today’s featured setup sports an M1 Max MacBook Pro still going strong, but the user posted the workstation on social media to show off a newly added Mchose mechanical keyboard — an unfamiliar but solid-looking brand. And I couldn’t help notice the stellar audio gear in the mix, including excellent Yamaha studio monitors for focused sound in the room, plus a surprising array of great headphones and audio interfaces.