Uses

Hardware

• MacBook Pro M3 Pro 14″
• iPhone 13 Pro (always in silent mode, with a minimum of allowed notifications)
• Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation)
• Sony WH-1000XM3 Headphones
• 24″ Samsung T45F | F24T450 (provided by the company I work for)
• 23″ Iiyama XU2390HS-B1 (purchased in 2014 and still satisfying)
• Basic Logitech keyboard and mouse (also provided by my employer)
• Sony CMT-SBT100 Hi-Fi system
• Various Western Digital external USB hard drives
• A Synology DS115j NAS (convenient for storage but running slowly and it can only use a single hard drive, which is bad)
• A Brother DCP-L2530DW (I still print and copy stuff from time to time, this is a very reliable monochrome laser printer)

I rarely connect my MacBook Pro to external displays because I primarily use those screens for remote work in my daily job, for which I rely on a too-small, too-slow but functional computer, a 12.5″ HP EliteBook 820 G1 HP EliteBook 640 G10 14″.

I wish I could find an effective way to benefit from my external displays with both my professional computer and my personal MacBook Pro seamlessly. I’m working on it.

Software

Here is a list of the apps I regularly use, from many times a day to a few times a month.

I plan to expand on that list to add explanations about what those apps do and why they are useful to me.

• Web Browsing: Safari (iOS and macOS), Chrome (macOS, Windows)
• Cloud Storage: iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, pCloud
• Productivity: Alfred
• To-Dos & Lists: Things
• Writing & Notes: iA Writer, Apple Notes, Apple TextEdit; currently trying Obsidian
• Mail Client: Gmail
• Calendar: Apple Calendar
• Coding: Sublime Text, sometimes Visual Studio Code
• Music: YouTube Premium, which includes YouTube Music (I switched from Spotify in 2023). I canceled all video and music streaming services in August 2024 (read more about it).
• Design Stuff: Adobe Photoshop, Figma
• Video and Music Consumption: IINA (the best media player for macOS), VLC
• Video and Sound Editing: Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Audition
• Utilities: ImageOptim, Rectangle (macOS Sequoia does the job well, now), Shottr, Amphetamine, iStat Menus, MediaHuman apps, AppCleaner, KeyboardCleanTool, Ooooo, Radiola, Keka, The Unarchiver, Tagr
• eBooks Management: calibre
• Podcasts: Apple Podcast
• Video Game Emulator: OpenEmu
• FTP Client: FileZilla, Cyberduck
• Torrent: Transmission
• Generative AI Services: ChatGPT, DALL·E 3, Microsoft Designer
• In addition, for my daily work: Jira, Confluence, Trello, Office 365, Slack, Notepad++

Other

• Video gaming:
  • NES and SNES Classic Mini
  • Nintendo Switch OLED
  • Miyoo Mini Plus
• eReading: Kindle Oasis
• Cameras:
  • iPhone 13 Pro
  • Camp Snap
• Coffee gear:
  • Hario V60
  • Aeropress
  • Bodum French Press
  • Kalita Wave 185
  • Baratza Encore grinder
  • Hario Buono Kettle
  • Hario Drip Scale
• Misc:
  • AUKEY 12W Dimmable LED lamp
  • A desktop chair I picked up at my office many years ago (they were going to trash it). I changed my chair in August 2024, for a much more recent and ergonomic one. I got it for free and I don’t know what brand/model it is, and I’m kinda lazy to look for it.

---

---

A /uses page lists setups, gear, software and configs. An idea by Wes Bos. More information on uses.tech