As I’ve overhauled my setup in the previous couple months in conjunction with the new Mac Studio, I have employed this as an opportunity to add some new components as perfectly. This incorporates a new OWC Thunderbolt Dock, a nifty Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad accessory from Twelve South, and more. Head underneath for the information.
OWC Thunderbolt 4 Dock
One particular of the extra integral additions to my setup is the OWC Thunderbolt Dock, a model of which my colleague Jeff Benjamin went hands-on with previously this 12 months.
The OWC Thunderbolt Dock I’m using in my setup presents four Thunderbolt 4 ports with help for up to 40Gb/s transfer speeds, four USB-A ports, an SD card slot, a 3.5mm audio jack, and gigabit ethernet. I have the dock mounted on the underside of my desk so it’s concealed and out of the way, but its ports are nevertheless obtainable.
The OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock is admittedly not very as useful with the new Mac Studio as it was when I was working with my 14-inch MacBook Pro in clamshell method. This is for the reason that the Mac Studio provides its very own multipurpose range of ports.
If you are hunting for a way to free up the ports on the Mac Studio by itself, nonetheless, this OWC dock is a great choice. It’s also good for cleaning up your desk and getting as handful of cables as feasible snaking from the back of the Mac Studio. If you’re placing an get from OWC, I can also remarkably propose the company’s Thunderbolt 4 cable, which is appreciably more affordable than Apple’s.
Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
If you’re working with an Apple Silicon-driven Mac and you have not extra a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID to your set up, you are seriously lacking out. Lastly staying ready to use Contact ID with a desktop Mac is a match changer. This incorporates Apple Spend authentication, accessing password administrators, and earning App Retail store buys.
Of class, this usually means that you have to be glad with the form factor and layout of Apple’s Magic Keyboard, which is not the case for anyone. I’m nonetheless keeping out hope that Apple releases a standalone “Magic Button” with Contact ID at some stage, but for now, this will have to do.
MagicBridge
Talking of the Magic Keyboard, if you use the Magic Keyboard alongside a Magic Trackpad, the common accessory maker Twelve South delivers a really nifty MagicBridge accessory. The MagicBridge turns the standalone Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad into a “one piece handle surface, tidying up your workspace.”
You do shed some of the flexibility of getting about to move your trackpad all over on your desk, but in my setup, I a lot choose the one piece structure. I use a Logitech MX Grasp together with my Magic Trackpad, so I can shift the MX Learn all-around as needed, and have a clean up setup that combines my Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad thanks to the Magic Bridge.
Stream Deck
I’ll have yet another tale likely a lot more in-depth on this later on, but I’ve also recently added a Stream Deck to my Mac’s set up. I’m still finding out my way about the globe of the Stream Deck, but proper now I’m working with it for Mac automation and smart home manage purposes.
Right here are some of the guides I’ve been pursuing as I find out additional about Stream Deck:
Satechi Leather Desk Mat
Past but not minimum, and maybe the accent I get requested about most generally when I characteristic it in product imagery, is the Satechi Eco-Leather-based Deskmate. This is a purely visual addition to my set up, bringing a leather desk mat to property my keyboard and trackpad. It is made out of significant-good quality eco-leather-based and is designed to secure your desk although also serving as a gentle resting position for your wrists and palms.
What are some of your favored Mac extras right now? Let us know down in the remarks!
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