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🌱 My Tech Setup

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I’ll make separate posts for my software and bass guitar setups, but here’s my current tech hardware setup.

My screen, screen light, microphone, numpad, keyboard, trackpad, wrist rests, Airpods and iPad. I have a monitor stand (but the screen is not on it).

The overview. Details incoming!

MacBook Pro

My Mac is the center of it all — and I’m living (and loving) the laptop-desktop lyfe.

Now, there are many things I like about living in Norway. And one of them, is that we’ve mandated by law that things like computers needs to have a 5-year warranty(ish). And this also applies to second-hand owners! So buying used Apple gear, is great here — and that’s how I bought my MacBook Pro when it was 10 months old.

It’s a 14-inch M1 Pro base model, with 512 GB of storage and 16 GB of RAM.

I would enjoy more storage and memory - but it still works tremendously. I’ve never been this happy with a computer before!

My Macbook closed on a table. It has a sticker that says «Boycott Jojamart» and one that says «Loading» where one of the thunderbolt ports are.

Did you notice the Macbook in the previous image?

Apple Studio Display

Yes, it’s too expensive — but no, it’s not the same as just having a 4k screen. **And look at everything that happens when I connect one Thunderbolt cable to my Mac! **👇🏻

I just love that I can unplug one cable, and just take my laptop home with me.

Behind the monitor. I have one 4x USB-C hub and one 4x USB-A hub.

When I had this at my home office, I also connected ethernet to the spare port, a mouse in the USB-A hub, and some more stuff.

See caption.

I've tilted the trackpad (and its wrist rest), to improve the ergonomics. I should probably get a split keyboard as well...

Closeup of the Universal Audio Volt 2 audio interface.

Makes it easier to connect both my headphones and speakers to the Mac, and I also use it for bass rehearsel and recording, and for testing pedal boards. Fastened with Dual Lock.

A closer look at the Røde mic and one of the PreSonus speakers.

The mic and monitors are fine - nothing more, nothing less. But very practical!

Closeup of the Grado SR125 open back headphones.

These sound great! Especially for the price, and especially with Crinacle's EQ preset set through SoundSource. Tons of leakage, though.

Desk accessories

The wool desk mat was custom ordered (to me previous, tiny, desk) from this Etsy store. The, equally custom, wrist rests are from this Etsy store.

A closer look at the airpods, Apple wallet, numpad, keyboard, trackpad and wrist rest. Also a Moleskin notebook.

I almost never need a wallet - so Apple's MagSafe wallet is perfect. The Moleskin notebook is just as under used.

The iPad and headphones stand is Ikea’s (very cheap) Havrehoj. I like it a lot!

The desk shelf is just an Ikea shelf plate and parts of a Kallax I modified bolted together. Even though my monitor isn’t on it (would make it too high), I like that it gives me back the area used by cables, monitor foot and MacBook, while also just decluttering.

The iPad stand has a cork surface behind where the iPad would be, and can be height adjusted and tilted. The headphones hangs behind.

iPad

I have the iPad Pro 11-inch from 2018 (the first with the flat sides), with LTE and 256 GB of storage. I also bought this used — in 2019, and it still works well (even though I’m starting to notice that it’s 5.5 years old, with the occasional slowdown). I’m one of those who loves having LTE — as it’s so nice to never having to worry about internet connection. I also used it as my «whiteboard» when I was a teacher — and could just switch to LTE if the school’s network was struggling. 1

I also have the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard, which I like, but use less than when I was a teacher. Being able to charge the iPad from both sides, is my favourite little bonus of the keyboard.

iPad Pro 11 inch, in a Magic Keyboard, open. It has a sticker from my pedalboard business. Closed iPad Pro 11 inch in Magic Keyboard. The cameras doesn't fill in the cutout. It has a heart sticker from Stardew Valley, and also a little bird, from the same game, near the camera.

iPhone

An iPhone 13 Mini charging on a magsafe charger. You can also see my numpad, keyboard and picture of my dog.

Not in the first image, as it took it.

I’m a noted Mini iPhone enjoyer, and my iPhone 13 Mini (in Midnight) has worked perfectly since the day I got it. It fixed all the issues of the 12 Mini, and is a top-tier iPhone IMO.

Here are some things I’ll say ’til the day I die (and will fight everyone who disagrees with 💪🏻):

  • The ordinary (potential) Mini buyer is on a long update cycle, and has also bought SE phones. So when the SE got updated half a year before the 12 Mini’s release, many of those had recently bought a phone — and this hurt the sales.
  • The 15 Plus phone also «flopped», but doesn’t get nearly the same amount of flak!
  • The lineup with the 13 Mini, 13, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max was the perfect lineup. Apple should be able to include a mini phone in their trillion dollar pipeline anyway. I don’t have particularly small hands (I just like to be able to use my phone one-handed), but many people do and should be well-served as well.

Here’s to hoping the next SE is a Mini. 🤞🏻 (But I doubt it. And, my next phone is probably a Pro for the cameras anyway…)

I also have the first gen AirPods Pro. I really like them, but I’ve had some troubles with them, and had to return them a couple of times. Luckily, there’s the whole government mandated warranty — so even though I bought them in 2019, I got brand-new ones (for free) as late as the fall of 2023. 🙌🏻

  1. No, it’s far from as nice to just share from your phone. ↩︎