Malcolm Owen's Home Workspace
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Malcolm's home workspace has been a place he's used for work, play, and photography for years. This is how he spends his workdays and most of his free time.
After ten years of working from home and spending much more time on the computer, you would expect a person in this situation to have perfected their computer setup. In my case, it's not perfect, but it's more than capable of handling everything I want to do.
This is a setup primarily for working from home, not for portability. It was also built with budget as a primary factor, so changes have been very gradual over the years.
You'll probably recognize a lot of things from the last time the AppleInsider editorial team pulled back the curtain. The location has changed a few times within the same home, but the setup is mostly static.
The entire setup sits on a Flexispot standing desk frame purchased a few years ago, with a leftover kitchen countertop resting on top. This was both a good and a bad idea, because it's sturdy, but difficult to lug up.
Because it's a standing desk, there's a lot of cable management involved, and a lot of the setup is also attached to the bottom. In the past, this included a Raspberry Pi and a network switch, but now it's mostly power strips and other wiring.
The basic setup itself is almost identical to the version in this article from two years ago, with an M1 Mac mini at the core and a 1TB SanDisk Extreme SSD for extra storage capacity. However, while that won’t be the case for most, given what I’m doing here, the Mac is starting to show its age, and upgrading to a newer Mac mini is becoming increasingly attractive. Perhaps a 2025 project.
The software I regularly use on the Mac includes Pixelmator Pro for image editing, Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, Chrome with too many tabs, and LibreOffice. The latter doesn’t seem out of the ordinary, but because I’m in the UK, it’s set up as the only writing tool on my Mac that runs in US English for that role.
Other notable software I use includes Notion for idea and task management, and Microsoft Remote Desktop for connecting to other machines in the house.
Malcolm's workspace keyboard and mouse
The displays still consist of a 31.5-inch BenQ 4K screen, as well as an AOC 1080p version that’s positioned vertically and has an optional desk lamp attached to it. The latter serves multiple purposes, including displaying communication apps like Slack or Discord, or for reading documents without having to scroll.
The keyboard is a Keychron Q8, a mechanical keyboard with an Alice layout that helps me save my wrists. It’s a significant step up from the ancient Logitech chicklet-style keyboard, but much needed given that my work and play time are based around typing.
The mouse is a Logitech G402, which has been taken apart for cleaning so many times that the stickers on the base have a hard time sticking and staying in place. I should really consider upgrading the mouse at some point.
A recent addition to the setup was the Epomaker EK21 numeric keypad, as it’s really useful for things like using Blender. I’m thinking of turning it into a macro keyboard, as Streamdecks are still really expensive.
iPads and Other Desk Dwellers
The desk also has an iPad Pro on either side. The left 9.7-inch iPad Pro is used to control the time and music playback, and as a timer for writing articles.
The other, an 11-inch iPad Pro with M2, comes with an Apple Pencil Gen 2 and Magic Keyboard. While I primarily work at my desk, this keyboard gets used on the rare occasions when I need to be elsewhere.
Behind the keyboard is a well-hidden rat's nest of cables, including a cheap switching USB hub that acts as a partial KVM. There's a metal phone cradle for my iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a Belkin MagSafe charger held in place with duct tape for easy charging.
I also still have my iPhone XR, which sits in a Smallrig smartphone mount on a tripod. This is useful because it allows me to occasionally check for differences in Apple's developer betas between the versions of Apple Intelligence and those who don't have them.
Malcolm's 9.7-inch iPad Pro is still in use.
On the shelf by the monitor are a SanDisk memory card reader, an Anker USB hub, a wallet, Beats Solo Buds, a half-dead iPod touch, and two decks of playing cards.
To the left of the desk is a Canon EOS RP on a tall desk mount, which can be used when I need to look smarter on camera than a webcam. Since I use the Continuity Camera for similar purposes, I may change this setup at some point to use the camera as a camera again.
There are a bunch of books on either side, and the right side also houses a HomePod mini for audio, networking gear, and a lamp to illuminate the wall behind the displays. This helps prevent eye strain, an issue that many desk workers will eventually deal with.
In addition to the Mac mini speaker and HomePod mini, I also use a few personal audio accessories. The Beats Solo Buds are for audio recordings outside the home, while I have a set of OneOdio noise-cancelling headphones, Beats Solo 4, and Razer BlackShark V2 for gaming.
Audio recording is handled by the Rode Wireless Go II, a pair of wireless microphones that work very well, although they are overkill for my needs.
The Extended Desk and Outside of Work
There is a lot more stuff around the main workspace, mostly consisting of items used outside of my writing.
Above the monitors is a row of whiteboards used for writing to-do lists and generally working through ideas in my head. This is mainly used for non-work tasks, including trying to learn how to use Blender and the Unreal engine, including ideas for game features.
Being able to draw out how game mechanics work with markers and a whiteboard makes it easy to fine-tune an idea before fiddling with Unreal's blueprint system.
Another iPad Pro. Just below that is a Meta Quest 2 and a gaming PC.
Below the desk is a gaming PC, which, unsurprisingly, is mainly used for gaming. My Steam library is now over 1,337 games thanks to the Humble Bundle subscription, which I should really start exploring and streaming on Twitch at some point.
Since photography is also a passion of mine, the PC and Mac mini are used for photo editing in Lightroom, although that sometimes spills over to the iPad Pro.
There’s also a Meta Quest 2, which works with the Mac via a remote desktop tool and as a VR headset for the PC when connected via a very long USB-C cable.
To my right is a second desk that acts as a backup to the main one. It currently holds a lot of gear for charging, as well as a heat press for transferring prints to clothing that should be in storage by now.
The last and really most important purchase for this office is the Noblechairs Hero, a very sturdy gaming chair for my bulky bulk. It may be expensive for a gaming chair, but it has held up well to years of being moved around the floor.
If you spend all day sitting at a desk, you need to invest in a decent chair. Your back and butt will thank you for it.
Future Additions
While the setup is already pretty good, there are always places that can be improved. As mentioned above, the Mac mini is upgradable to the M4 version, but there are other ways forward.
For example, why buy another Mac mini when I can use a MacBook Pro instead and have a truly portable Mac workstation. With the right Thunderbolt Dock, it could become a one-cable setup to switch from a desktop to a portable setup.
The mouse is also likely in line for an upgrade. I've been pretty partial to Razer mice in the past, but I think bank balance will play a big role in what I buy next.
Streamdeck or something similar might also be a good expansion point, if only to allow for more macro-based automation. The Logitech MX Creative Console or Loupedeck also seem like reasonable additions.
My old Blue Snowball microphone broke last year, but while I can record with my wireless video mics, I want to have a desktop mic again. A better webcam wouldn't hurt either.
Finally, upgrading my network infrastructure would be nice. I pay for a 2Gbps internet connection, but my entire home network is gigabit, although I've set it up so that the office gets its own gigabit segment and the rest of the house gets the other half.
Moving to 2.5Gbps Ethernet would at least allow us to use all the available bandwidth on one device, but it would mean upgrading the switches, cables, and ports on the hardware.
At this point, having a NAS wouldn't be a bad idea either.
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