Stephen Hackett
Technology writer · 512 Pixels and Relay
Has written 512 Pixels, a blog about Apple, computer history and technology, from his hometown of Memphis since 2008. In 2014 he co-founded the Relay podcast network with Myke Hurley, and he co-hosts Connected there with Hurley and Federico Viticci of MacStories. He is also Managing Director of Cross Forward, the company behind Widgetsmith, Pedometer++ and Sleep++. His gear page is public. It lists the desk, display, microphone, camera and apps he works from.
- Entries
- 25
- Does
- 23
- Recommends
- 2
- Discusses
- 0
The gear and products they use
All 23 products in this stack
- GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
MacBook Pro
The machine everything runs off is a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 Max, in space black. He keeps it open to the left of the display on a cheap stand, with the whole desk hanging off one Thunderbolt dock.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit apple.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 4 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Standing desk
His desk is a Jarvis bamboo model. He raises it for the first few hours of most days, and again whenever a pile of administrative work needs clearing.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearView item: Standing deskBacked by 4 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Paper notebook
Field Notes notebooks for close to fifteen years, one every four to six weeks. Shopping lists, conference call notes, sermon notes and doodles all go in the same book, on a principle he sums up as leaving nothing out. Every full notebook goes onto a flatbed scanner and into Dropbox and Apple Notes. He was on number 129 when he wrote this up.
Source: 512 Pixels: The Field Notes ThingView item: Paper notebookBacked by 3 of 62 stacks - AppDoes itFREE, no cost
Apple Notes
Apple's Notes app takes just about everything he writes down digitally, with Tot kept alongside it for quick scratch work.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearView item: Apple NotesBacked by 2 of 62 stacks - AppDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
DEVONthink
Files a lot of computer history material in DEVONthink, which his apps list puts under research tools rather than notes.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit devontechnologies.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 2 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Elgato Stream Deck
A Stream Deck XL sits under the display. Next to it are the powered Kanto speakers he thanks John Siracusa for suggesting.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit elgato.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 2 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
Neumann KMS 105 microphone
Records into a Neumann KMS 105 MT on an Elgato boom arm, with a shock mount underneath. Making podcasts is his job, which is the reason he gives for owning gear at this level.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearView item: Neumann KMS 105 microphoneBacked by 2 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
Pro Display XDR
One screen, a Pro Display XDR, fed through the same CalDigit dock as everything else on the desk. He works with the laptop open beside it rather than closed and stowed away.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearView item: Pro Display XDRBacked by 2 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Apple Watch
Wears an Apple Watch Ultra 3 in black almost every day and night. Two apps read what it records, one for steps and one for sleep.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit apple.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Aqua & Bondi
Wrote a book on the iMac G3 and Apple's move to Mac OS X, arguing the machine bought the company the time it needed to finish the new system. He sells it himself, bundled with his Apple history calendar.
Source: 512 Pixels: Hello ThereVisit 512pixels.gumroad.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - AppDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Audio Hijack
Two things get captured in Audio Hijack: his own microphone, and whatever he hears through Zoom on a call.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit rogueamoeba.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Bambu Lab 3D printer
Spent a week on design files and twenty hours of print time turning out a small Finder mascot on his Bambu P2S, working with Basic Apple Guy. He posted the file free and said plainly that he cannot help anyone tune their own print.
Source: 512 Pixels: 3D Print Your Own Lil FinderVisit bambulab.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
Custom in-ear monitors
Swapped a pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones, which he describes as boring but reliable, for custom Ultimate Ears 7 CSX in-ear monitors.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearView item: Custom in-ear monitorsBacked by 1 of 62 stacks - AppDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
iA Writer
Writes 512 Pixels in iA Writer, then publishes through GitHub to Cloudflare. The site itself runs on Hugo.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit ia.net (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Insta360 Link
Uses an Insta360 Link for Zoom calls and the occasional video podcast, calling it an amazing little 4K camera. It sits off to the side of the display on an arm he designed and 3D printed himself.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit insta360.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - AppDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Logic Pro
Editing happens in Logic Pro. Recording is a separate step before it, and MP3 creation a separate step after, handled by Forecast.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit apple.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - AppDoes itFREE, no cost
Overcast
Listens to podcasts in Overcast and rates it above every other player.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit overcast.fm (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - AppDoes itFREE, no cost
Pedometer++
Tracks his steps with Pedometer++. This is his own product: he is Managing Director of Cross Forward, the company that ships it.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit pedometer.app (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - AppDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
ReadKit
Moved to ReadKit in late 2025 after years on Reeder Classic, which he says had gone creaky, and a spell with NetNewsWire. It syncs with Feedbin, which he uses partly because it puts email newsletters in the reader instead of his inbox.
Source: 512 Pixels: A Little Update on My RSS SetupVisit readkit.app (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - AppDoes itFREE, no cost
Sleep++
Sleep gets tracked with Sleep++, read off the Apple Watch he wears overnight. Same disclosure as the step tracker, since he runs the company behind both apps.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearVisit sleepplusplus.app (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
Sound Devices USBPRE2
Signal goes from the microphone through a Rolls mute switch and into a Sound Devices USBPRE2. He calls the interface awesome and obscenely expensive in the same breath, and says he would not point most people at it.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearView item: Sound Devices USBPRE2Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - GearRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Tascam US-2x2
When people ask what to buy, he points them at the Tascam US-2x2 instead of the interface on his own desk. The reasoning is price: his own is obscenely expensive, and this one is good and affordable.
Source: 512 Pixels: My GearView item: Tascam US-2x2Backed by 1 of 62 stacks - AppDoes itFREE, no cost
Todoist
Pulled his own figures out of Todoist's annual report for 2020 and published them: 4,362 tasks closed that year, about eleven a day, with Tuesdays running far ahead of every other day. He had no idea why Tuesdays.
Source: 512 Pixels: My 2020 Tasks, by the NumbersVisit todoist.com (opens in a new tab)Backed by 1 of 62 stacks
Habits
2 entriesDaily practices held long enough to become default behavior.
A friend posting his own post count set him counting in June 2025. The tally: 11,337 posts on 512 Pixels across nearly seventeen years, adding up to roughly 1.66 million words.
Source: 512 Pixels: Some Random Blog NumbersBacked by 10 of 62 stacksTook a month off in October 2024, away from the shows and the blog, after Relay's tenth year and a demanding stretch at home. He left a lot of days blank between school drop-off and pickup, thanked the people covering for him, and says he is pretty bad at taking time off.
Source: 512 Pixels: SabbaticalBacked by 1 of 62 stacks
In their own words
Checked word for word against the linked source
“Just because I use something doesn’t mean I recommend it to everyone. I make stuff for a living and have been fortunate enough to upgrade equipment over time. If you are starting out, there are many great options that cost less.”
512 Pixels: My Gear (opens in a new tab) “I generally stand for the first few hours of the day or whenever I have a lot of administrative work to knock out.”
512 Pixels: My Gear (opens in a new tab) “Remember when I said I couldn’t recommend my gear to most people? The USBPRE2 is awesome, but it is obscenely expensive.”
512 Pixels: My Gear (opens in a new tab) “These notebooks are a trail of breadcrumbs dating back almost 15 years. If I flip through an old one, I get a glimpse of what was going on in my life at that time.”
512 Pixels: The Field Notes Thing (opens in a new tab) · 7 Feb 2025 “I am pretty bad at taking time off, but hopefully I get the hang of it after the first week or two.”
512 Pixels: Sabbatical (opens in a new tab) · 2 Oct 2024
Stack notes are paraphrased. Anything in quotation marks is a short excerpt copied from the transcript it links to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.