George, Probably Blogs

Apple Mac Studio

A picture of the Apple Mac Studio

My loose thoughts on the Mac Studio are that it does the exact job I got it for, and it's hard to complain about that. I wanted it to replace my custom-built Ryzen 5900X and RTX 2090 Gaming PC. Not because of a burning desire to drop Windows but because I have been travelling more recently. This travelling has meant I really don't have the bandwidth to worry about the tempered glass on the Lian-Li O11 Dynamic shattering if it wasn't packed properly, and like it or not, it was also SUPER HEAVY.

Apple, the company that knows what you want more than you do, did make this the very definition of "if you use it for what Apple wants you to use it for, it's second to none. " If you don't, it's worthless".

Though you can get some games via the App Store, the selection is very hit-and-miss. If you want to do some proper gaming, you could install Parallels to get Windows, but performance varies wildly by game. Also: the fact you can't so much as upgrade the storage is the most Apple thing I've ever seen

macOS is the most infuriating part of the device, though, and if it natively ran Windows, it'd probably be the perfect machine, but since it's not...

Software I need to make macOS usable (and why)

  • Maccy - Clipboard Management: I have cmd+shift+V set to load up my clipboard history, and it's priceless. Better still? It's free!

  • Magnet - Window Management: Stage manager feels like an iPad feature, and I've yet to see someone use it on macOS. The fact that window management is so far behind... well... Windows is crazy to me.

  • Shottr: Better Screenshots; it's like Cleanshot X, which everyone raves about, but has slightly fewer features and is free. I send screenshots often, but when I do, it's with the help of Shottr.

  • AltTab: Apple, seriously, what is your alt-tab experience? AltTab makes it 100x better, including previews and multiple windows of the same application.

  • AirMessage: You didn't see me talk about this one, but it lets you send iMessages with other devices (like Android and Windows) by using your Mac as an iMessage relay. I only talk to one person on iMessage, but it's still cool as a proof of concept.

  • Hidden Bar: How do so many icons gather in the status bar? This app lets you hide as many as you want behind a fold-out menu.

  • SoundSource: Probably the one that angers me the most. I am in awe that Apple gets away with making audio on macOS so hard to control. I use a Thunderbolt display, and by default, macOS refuses to let me change volume at an OS level. I use SoundSource for other things, like balancing apps and applying EQs, but I'd pay the $47 all over again just to get "Super Volume Keys".

Verdict: 8/10

Back to setup page

Looking for something?