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27(ish)” usb-c monitors that work well with M1 MacBooks.

SuperMikey

SuperMikey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2020
18
15
Hi all,
I interested in getting a smallish, not too pricey monitor to go with the new mbp, ideally using usb-c to help with desk clutter and ports. However, every other thread on monitors seems to be reporting issues of washed out colours, dell not offering support etc.. making choosing quite a problem!

I though it could be useful to get an idea of what monitors people are using that work well and aren’t causing any issues. If you’ve got one you’re happy with I’d love to hear about it.
 
thejadedmonkey

thejadedmonkey

macrumors G3
May 28, 2005
9,240
3,499
Pennsylvania
I'll second Dell monitors. My M1 air is still "processing" so I have no hands on experience yet, but the only time I've ever had a problem with a Dell monitor was when I dropped a 40lb light fixture on one.

It was light fixture 1, monitor 0.
 
D

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,468
6,571
US
thejadedmonkey said:
I'll second Dell monitors. My M1 air is still "processing" so I have no hands on experience yet, but the only time I've ever had a problem with a Dell monitor was when I dropped a 40lb light fixture on one.

It was light fixture 1, monitor 0.
Click to expand...

Just be aware that if you have an issue getting a Dell monitor to work with an Apple computer, you may be SOL. Dell may not deign to do anything about it.

See https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...nitor-issue-please-help.2272308/post-29324972
 
D

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,468
6,571
US
I haven't selected a USBC monitor but a couple general thoughts...

Consider how "big" you want your desktop stuff to be. A 13.3" MBA or MBP will present an effective 1440x900 display at 13.3" diagonal giving ~127 pixels per inch.

With a 27" monitor, 1080p (such as the P2719H above) will appear as 81.6ppi - so everything will display about 50% larger. Fine if the monitor is far enough back.

Many folks find the sweet spot for 27" is a 1440p display which appears as about 109ppi - about 17% larger - which often give a similar apparent size since the display is usually a little further back but often not a lot.

There's also 4K 27" - the unscaled display at 163ppi appears about 1/3 smaller, or appears as 1080 with a 2:1 scaling. Many use it at sorta a middle scaling emulating 1440p. haven't tried that myself but read mixed reports on how well this works, some love it, some prefer 1440p.

Best would be (IMHO) 5K - but that's a big pricetag

Here's a handy site to play with ppi and dot pitch numbers: https://www.sven.de/dpi/
 
macnmac

macnmac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 18, 2017
778
609
Apple Park
hm, just stumbled upon the waking issue that people have been talking about... computer went sleep and when i turned it back the monitor wasnt detected
 
jazz1

jazz1

Contributor
Aug 19, 2002
4,676
19,794
Mid-West USA
jazz1 said:
Well in a few hours I’ll be hooking this up to a M1 MacMini via USB-C. I’ll come back an let you all know if it works well.

www.dell.com

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Click to expand...
I’ve only had a few hours with the MacMini and the Dell USB-C monitor listed above. So far so good! Wake from sleep after only sleeping for an hour or two work well. I would like to see what it does after an overnight sleep. I don’t know if there is any difference between a few hours an 8-10 hours of “sleep”.

I’m adding a second Dell monitor via HDMI tomorrow. I’ll see how that goes. I know the OP was talking a laptop M1 and as far as I know the laptops don’t support two monitors. Just a BTW statement on my part.
 
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azentropy

azentropy

macrumors 601
Jul 19, 2002
4,136
5,664
Surprise
I have a Dell U2720q hooked up to my M1 MBA (and also my 2020 Intel MBP 13). It is fantastic.
I also have a LG 27UK850-W I had hooked up to the M1 MBA for a while as well and it was pretty good too. However it is now hooked up to my work laptop (a PC).

I've had very good luck with Dell monitors over the years. In fact both monitors these two replaced still work fine and are 8 and 10 years old now. I just needed higher (or lower) and adjustable resolution for my older eyes.
 
J

jeaudecologne

macrumors newbie
Nov 24, 2020
1
0
I use an old Apple Thunderbolt 27" Display over the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter with my M1 Mac Mini - works fine - even the USB Ports work - did not try Thunderbolt chaining, Firewire and ethernet yet ...
 
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