Jonathan ReedNo. 551 · Graphic Designer and App Developer
Apple
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How five designers actually use FigmaWhat creators actually use.
We read 551 real desk setups and broke down the data three ways — by creator type, head-to-head by category, and the one setup the “median” creator runs.
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Download the PDFBuilt from 551 real interviews · not sponsored · every ranking backed by setup data
551 setups read 3,849 products tracked 3 creator segments
Free gear report · Updated November 2026
A few findings
of setups run a MacBook Pro — the most common piece of gear, period.
chair is the Herman Miller Aeron — but developers barely touch it.
creator types, three different setups. Designers, developers, and founders diverge more than you'd think.
Build the single most-used setup and it runs ~$6,318 at retail — though the same data points to a capable budget version closer to ~$2,349. Full breakdown below.
The 10 most-used pieces of gear
Across all 551 setups. The full top 40 (with buy links) is in the PDF.
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The software creators actually run
The apps that show up most across the 259 setups that listed their stack.
- 1 Figma 131 setups
- 2 Notion 99 setups
- 3 Slack 89 setups
- 4 Spotify 54 setups
- 5 VS Code 32 setups
- 6 Linear 22 setups
- 7 Zoom 21 setups
- 8 Raycast 19 setups
- 9 Apple Music 18 setups
- 10 Loom 18 setups
What each kind of creator uses
Designers
212 setups- 1MacBook Pro160
- 2Apple Magic Keyboard66
- 3Apple Studio Display55
- 4Apple Magic Trackpad51
- 5iPad Pro47
- 6Apple AirPods Pro33
Display-first — the Studio Display over-indexes here.
Developers
84 setups- 1MacBook Pro60
- 2Apple Magic Keyboard26
- 3Apple AirPods Pro23
- 4Apple Magic Trackpad22
- 5Apple Studio Display18
- 6Apple Magic Mouse16
Audio-first — AirPods Pro rank #2, and the Aeron drops out entirely.
Founders
149 setups- 1MacBook Pro94
- 2Apple Magic Keyboard38
- 3Apple Magic Mouse24
- 4Apple Magic Trackpad24
- 5Apple Studio Display21
- 6Apple AirPods Pro20
The standing-desk crowd — the Fully Jarvis cracks their top six.
Category showdowns
Leads by 176%
Leads by 781%
Leads by 46%
Leads by 27%
Leads by 33%
Leads by 74%
The consensus setup — and what it costs
If you copied the single most-used item in every category, here's the desk you'd build — with approximate retail prices for scale.
- Computer MacBook Pro $1,999 63%
- Monitor Apple Studio Display $1,599 17%
- Keyboard Apple Magic Keyboard $99 26%
- Mouse Apple Magic Trackpad $129 18%
- Chair Herman Miller Aeron $1,395 11%
- Desk Fully Jarvis Standing Desk $599 9%
- Headphones Apple AirPods Pro $249 15%
- Microphone Shure MV7 $249 5%
- Total — approx. retail ~$6,318
Prices are approximate retail, for scale. Building the same categories from the data's more affordable popular picks — Mac Mini, Herman Miller Sayl, AirPods, Blue Yeti — lands around ~$2,349.
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