Updated
This page was last updated on 2023-03-30
Hardware
| Laptop: | MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) - M1 Max Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| Phone: | iPhone 14 Pro Max Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| Watch: | Apple Watch Ultra Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| Tablet: | iPad Pro (12-inch, 2021) Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| In-ear Headphones: | AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| Over-ear Headphones: | AirPods Max Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| Speakers: | HomePod Mini | ||||||||||||
| Microphone: | Røde NTUSB Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| Webcam: | Opal C1 | ||||||||||||
| Keyboard: |
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| Mouse: | Apple Magic Mouse 2 Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| Trackpad: | Apple Magic Trackpad 2 Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| Monitors: | Dual LG UltraFine 32-inch Display (32UL960-W) | ||||||||||||
| TV: | LG G2 55" | ||||||||||||
| Monitor Arm: | Ergotron HX Dual Monitor Arm (Black) Buy on Amazon | ||||||||||||
| Desk: | Tide Design — Polly Desk (Customised) | ||||||||||||
| Chair: | Herman Miller Cosm | ||||||||||||
| Dock: | CalDigit TS4 Buy on Amazon |
Software
I have been using 1Password since version 3 and truly have never looked back. I use it to store a lot more than just my passwords too. With the availability of the 1Password CLI and the SSH integration, it has become more and more tied into my workflow ensuring I am secure at every step.
Apollo is a fairly recent addition to my arsenal but it is by far the best way to consume Reddit and the little Pixel Pets add extra amusement for your scrolling!
An excellent extension that removes those annoying banners to open the current website in their app.
Miscellaneous
How I track which bin needs to go out when, so I don't get into the unfortunate situation of chasing the rubbish track.
If you take screenshots a lot you need CleanShot, it makes taking screenshots and recordings extremely easy. The markup capabilities are incredible as well. Whilst I do miss the ability to start marking up on a Mac and finish on an iPad the features CleanShot has makes up for that shortcoming. It is always one of the first apps I install.
On the odd occasion that I journal I use DayOne, I have done so since about 2015 but I am pretty sporadic around when I write an entry. The quality of the product is fantastic, and the introduction of E2EE a few years ago gives me the warm and fuzzies!
The latest addition to my note-taking solution it serves as an inbox for all written information in my life. Information from here either goes into Notion, Things or a direct form of communication like Email or Slack.
The language I use for writing APIs and CLI's, extremely versatile and the fact it compiles down to a static binary is unbeatable.
I mean what more could I say, if you're on a Mac and you don't have iTerm installed...
Utility
A very useful tool for remapping keyboard keys to things that are much more useful such as the Hyper Key.
Productivity
Little Snitch helps me keep a keen eye on what connections apps/services are making on my Mac. I have accumulated years worth of rules across different profiles for different scenarios. It is something that I still spend time tweaking and tinkering with. If you're security conscious I would highly recommend it.
For Mail I use the default Apple app, I have switched through a few and even enjoyed some of them. Mimestream was my favorite however the native integration given with Mail is really really hard to give up, handoff is killer. The biggest thing missing for me with Mail is the lack tags.
iMessage is how I stay in contact with most of my personal life, as well as side hustle. I used to be a very heavy user of Telegram but am finding I am using it less and less these days.
Having the ability to quickly whip out a mind map or outline on any device makes MindNode a goto app for me. Whilst I am not the most prolific user of mind maps I do find MindNode makes creating them very pleasurable.
Utility
Easy way to control the brightness and contrast of your external monitors. Find this massively helpful as I tend to work with my MacBook in clamshell.
Notes... this is a contentious thing for me. I am not the biggest fan of non-native apps but Notion offers a lot of incredible features that make it a note-taking app I choose to use. I wouldLOVE to be back in camp Bear but their developers are just insanely slow which means their app is missing critical features in my mind.
OmniGraffle is a superb diagramming tool, I use it nearly daily to mock out architectures or explain concepts to my colleagues. Whilst I do have it installed on my iPhone and iPad I would say I almost exclusively use it on the Mac. It does come with a pretty hefty yearly price tag but overall I would say it is worth it! (It is also native!)
Incredibly good and simple delivery tracker. The app is very reliable albeit a little slow sometimes. I might consider changing when Apple delivers the wallet integration.
The most important app I use on my Mac. Raycast enables me to be insanely productive. Switching windows, resizing apps, checking my calendar joining meetings, looking at blog stats, kicking off a Google search... the list goes on for infinity. It is such a hugely powerful app if you haven't tried it then do yourself a favor and give it a go!
I am old, and thus, consume a lot of information via RSS. Every morning my day starts by opening Reeder and seeing what's going on in the world that I am interested in. Sleek minimalist design, and the right about of features... just perfect.
I have found that the majority of folks I talk to on Signal are android users, maybe the blue bubbles give me calm. It is a solid E2EE messaging service!
I am by NO means a designer, but I have started to create more graphics either for my blog or side projects. Sketch is just the perfect choice, it has the right feature set and is a native app. I find it **very** hard to shy away from the native choice.
The absolute best communication tool for a business. I need not say more.
Another recent addition, Soulver makes quick maths easy! Working out rate cards for your consultants and how much a project is going to cost is super easy in Soulver! Especially when you don't want to crack out Excel.
Utility
The easiest way to control the resolution of your monitors, especially if you want to take full advantage of all the pixels while you can!
Long gone are the days of a traditional point-to-point VPN, Tailscale allows me to connect to my own devices or those of friends extremely easily. It doesn't route all of your traffic unless you ask it to. Built on the powerful WireGuard protocol Tailscale makes the setup easy as pie.
One of the main things I write about on this blog and write for work. I find writing Terraform incredibly rewarding and enjoyable.
Thing king of task management software. I use this for tracking everything from my daily ToDo's to goals that I have for the year.
I use this app pretty regularly for managing my UniFi networking gear or keeping an eye on the speed of the network at home. It has heaps of useful statistics and metrics to explore the devices in your network.
The UniFi protect app lets me keep an eye on how things are going at home. Especially important for me to be able to see how the puppy is going out in the yard and when she is ready to come back in when I am on a call.
Development
VSCode is my daily driver when it comes to writing code that isn't Swift, am I happy about it? No! VSCode is a non-native app, it's super slow and doesn't always work the way you expect it to. The thing that makes it a killer app is the extension ecosystem.
The only place to make apps for the Apple ecosystem. And it does what it says on the box, I find Xcode is an enjoyable place to write code with the exception that I can't tab out of brackets!
