It’s nearly the end of year, so it’s time we’ll look back at the tech (software and hardware) I used this year. Spoiler: it’s probably less exciting than you’d think.
Hardware
My main machine is a MacBook Pro M1 Max with 64GB of memory. Completely overkill? Yes. Regrets? None. Not once did I feel like this machine is struggling to run through any tasks I throw at it. I plan to work even more with video next year, so we’ll see how long I can keep using this.
On the mobile side, I’ve got an iPhone 15 Pro. USB-C pulled me into upgrading from a 14 Pro. The blueish titanium is nice, but I keep it in a case because I’m not brave enough.
For reading, it’s all about the Boox Palma (my go-everywhere companion) and the Go Color 7 (perfect for longer reading at home). My iPad Pro 11" is still around, but it’s been gathering dust since the Boox devices came into the picture.
I also have a Gaming PC with a RTX 4090, a CPU I need to upgrade, 32 GB of memory and not enough storage. Modded Skyrim taking over 1TB is killing me.
My Mode Envoy keyboard has ruined me for anything else. If you’ve ever tried a custom mechanical keyboard, you get it. Typing on this thing is pure joy. I paired it with GMK Firefly, and lubed Obscura Linear Switches. (I also use this for gaming right now, but I plan to pick up a Razer Huntsman one of these days.)
For a mouse, it’s the MX Master 3S. Not original, but there’s a reason it’s everyone’s go-to.
On the gaming side, I use the Razer DeathAdder.
Software
Breaking this into a bullet list because it’s a lot:
- iA Writer: Minimal, clean, and distraction-free. Perfect for writing.
- Obsidian: Where all my notes live (it syncs highlights with Readwise automatically), and while I occasionally flirt with Notion or Craft, Obsidian always wins. I pay for sync.
- Raycast: Spotlight, but better.
- 1Password: My go-to password manager, but it’s slowly turning into bloatware.
- CleanShot X: Apple should just buy this and integrate it.
- Paste: A clipboard manager that’s saved me from losing countless snippets.
- I use a mix of Dropbox for work files and sharing, and iCloud for system backups.
- Arc Browser: I love this browser, but fuck The Browser Company and their stupid AI-fetish.
- Kagi Search: I’m currently testing this as an alternative to Duckduckgo (and Google). More soon.
- Fastmail: I’ve been using this for years, mostly in the browser. I sometimes wonder if I should switch to Gmail to use Mimestream.
- Things 3: The best balance between simplicity and features. I wish they’d make a notes app.
- Kirby CMS: Runs my site. Flexible without being overly complex. Buttondown for the occasional email.
- I don’t rely on them, but I dabble with ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity.
The funny thing about tech stacks is that they're never really finished. I'm always keeping an eye out for tools that could improve my workflow, but I'm trying to be more intentional about adding new things. The question isn't just "Is this cool?" anymore, but "Will this actually make my work better?"
I might do a deeper dive into some of these tools in future posts. Let me know if there's anything specific you'd like me to expand on.