I’ve used my trusty iMac 5k 27inch (2015) for many years and loved it. I have a separate, even older MacBook Air for mobile use and just used shared online drives.
Now I’m looking at a new MacBook Pro M3-Pro 16-inch coming into the environment. Great machine - but I would really want to run it on a monitor, rather than as a laptop. This would allow me to have a single computer.
I’ve never connected a laptop to a monitor, and am inexperienced on what I need to know…
What do I need to know to find a monitor at least as good and at least as big as my iMac?
Now I’m looking at a new MacBook Pro M3-Pro 16-inch coming into the environment. Great machine - but I would really want to run it on a monitor, rather than as a laptop. This would allow me to have a single computer.
I’ve never connected a laptop to a monitor, and am inexperienced on what I need to know…
What do I need to know to find a monitor at least as good and at least as big as my iMac?
- The iMac specs apparently are: 5120‑by‑2880 resolution with support for millions of colors, Retina 5K display with IPS technology. Some of the recommended monitors I’m seeing come it as a lower resolution than that, ie 3840 x 2160 (4K, right?). Isn’t that going to look noticeably worse? Anything more than that seems to come in at a hefty price. I’m not a video or photo pro, but I wouldn’t want to step backwards. Is it the case that, actually, the monitor on my 9-year-old iMac is still amazing by modern standards, or… ?
- What if I also would want to display a MacBook Air M2 15-inch, maybe swap between the two with a button press for ease? Am I looking at different capabilities between the two, and how would I swap between? (I think it has previously come down to: the Pro can support dual monitors and the Air can’t, is that right?).
- Any ways to use the iMac as a display? I have looked into this (Target Display Mode) and my understanding is that the iMac and the laptop would each need to be running some specific older versions of macOS. But I also see this gadget called Luna Display - some reviewers seem to be in a place like me: familiar with the nice iMac 5k display, but moving to a laptop. Any thoughts?
- Would a TV be a good option? If so, what kind of features should I be looking at buying and avoiding?