Whereas Oliver works from his dwelling workplace most days, having the setup powered by a 16-inch MacBook Pro means he can work from nearly wherever.
I have been a full-time author of phrases for coming as much as seven years now, and I’ve had just a few dwelling workplaces in that point. Proper now, my workplace is what would in any other case be a small bed room which suggests it is also a small workplace — however one I prefer to assume has all the pieces I have to get the job carried out.
As somebody who writes quite than podcasts or creates movies, my wants are comparatively easy. I prefer to have an enormous monitor so I can have a number of home windows open at anyone time, and I like a great mechanical keyboard in order that I can annoy everybody else in the home as I sort.
Past that, I do not want a lot else, however that does not imply that there aren’t just a few points of my setup that make me extra productive or simply provide me the prospect to do issues my method. The primary of these is my MacBook Professional.
Crafting sentences and placing them into an online browser is not precisely essentially the most taxing of workflows, and I used to be doing it on a 2018 i7 Mac mini till it was changed by this 16-inch M1 Professional MacBook Professional. It is available in House Grey with the usual 16GB of RAM however extra GPU cores than the usual mannequin, in addition to an upgraded 1TB of storage.
Realistically, I would like neither however they’re undoubtedly nice to have.
I went with a pocket book quite than a brand new Mac mini and even an iMac as a result of I needed to leverage the truth that I can really work nearly wherever through the use of a Mac, that makes that attainable. The 16-inch MacBook Professional is as huge a conveyable Mac as Apple makes, and that additionally comes with sufficient battery life that I actually by no means give it some thought — and that is magical in its personal proper.
At my desk, the MacBook Professional is linked to a Ugreen Thunderbolt 4 dock that permits me to attach my monitor, exterior SSD (nothing thrilling, it is my Time Machine drive), and an Ethernet cable. It additionally handles 98W of energy so it will possibly fortunately preserve my laptop computer charged with out the necessity for any additional cables, too.
As a lot because the MacBook Pro is the center of my setup, and it is nice when away from my desk, it is solely a part of the story. I even have a handful of equipment that make working from my desk higher than working from wherever else.
My monitor, mouse, and keyboard
The very first thing you possible discover within the hero photograph on the high of this web page is the monitor. It is huge, weighing in at 28 inches and it has a 4K show that gives simply sufficient pixels to get the job carried out with out venturing into the world of 5K choices just like the Apple Studio Display.
Do not ask me what mannequin it’s, as a result of I can not keep in mind and at this level, it is coming as much as eight years outdated. I am greater than certain it has been discontinued, and it wasn’t massively costly even when it was new, but it surely will get the job carried out.
The keyboard that I exploit can change occasionally, and I am a sucker for a brand new one, however the keyboard I gravitate to is all the time my Keychron K6.
I swapped the keycaps out for some that I discovered on Amazo. I additionally put in some Gateron yellow switches which really feel nice, sound good, and greater than get the job carried out.
Whereas the keyboard may change, the mouse by no means does. I exploit the Logitech MX Anywhere 3 which is, for all intents and functions, an MX Grasp constructed to be sufficiently small to be used with laptops.
I attempted the Logitech MX Master 3 and I can not abide it. Controversial, I do know, however there’s one easy motive that I favor the smaller mouse of the behemoth — I’ve the arms of a median 10-year-old.
For that motive, the MX Anywhere lineup is ideal for me due to its mixture of Logitech’s customizability, additional buttons, and magnetic scroll wheel. I like this factor, and when it breaks, I will purchase one other with out hesitation.
That is the vast majority of my go-to {hardware}, but it surely is not all the pieces. As you may count on, I exploit just a few different issues as properly.
You will discover a pair of OG AirPods Max on my desk, though I admit I do not use all of them that a lot. I even have a pair of authentic AirPods Pro that till lately had been my most well-liked audio choice, too.
As of late although, I am an enormous fan of the ANC AirPods 4 and I have been utilizing them for a few months at this level. They sound nice with out the downsides that lots of people don’t love in regards to the Execs, together with the claustrophobic really feel in-ear earbuds could cause.
Subsequent, there is a 2018 11-inch iPad Pro, a pill that I do not use all that usually however does turn out to be useful after I’m working but additionally wish to preserve tabs on the soccer. And I am within the UK, in order that’s correct soccer!
Different equipment that I exploit, however not essentially for work, embody a BackBone One controller, a GameSir G8 controller, and a GameSir Cyclone 2 controller. I exploit all of these with my iPhone 15 Pro Max, a cellphone that I’ve thus far seen little motive to ditch for this yr’s refreshed mannequin.
What comes subsequent
So now that you recognize what I exploit, you could be questioning if I’ve any plans for an improve or two. And that is an advanced query.
Should you’d requested me after I began penning this piece I would have mentioned that I used to be very proud of how issues are and I’ve no have to, or curiosity in, changing any of it. However since then, issues have gone somewhat awry.
My MacBook Professional lately took an unlucky dive off a desk, adopted by a jug stuffed with water and, as you possibly can in all probability think about, it did not go properly. Whereas preliminary inspections prompt I had gotten away with it, the autumn did depart its mark.
That MacBook Professional that was as soon as my ticket out of the workplace and to simply about wherever is now very a lot a desktop machine. The show does not work and the ports are finicky, to say the least.
As you possibly can think about, that is lower than excellent in a variety of methods, however as soon as it is linked to my hub, all the pieces typically works OK. More often than not.
That is all to say that I would like a brand new laptop computer, so the MacBook Professional might be going in the end. I do not know what it will likely be changed by simply but, but it surely’ll both be one other 16-inch MacBook Professional of some description or a 15-inch MacBook Air. Time will inform.
For now although, I will must make do. And I completed penning this at my desk, utilizing that waterlogged and battle-scarred MacBook Professional.
I simply must mop the water off my desk each every now and then, that is all.
