Defining new desktop mac.

[jimmybcool]

Hello font of wisdom. I have an older iMac 27 with intel cpu. it is nearing end of life and sometimes runs very slow on start up. And opening some apps with large databases. OK I'm trying to justify spending money.

I do not want to go to a smaller screen. if they still made an iMac 27 with the new chips etc I'd probably just do that. SO that bumps the iMac off the table.

For the computer itself I think the mini does me fine. I believe the M2 Pro model for $1200 has enough on board memory and RAM to suit me for the next 10 years. Reason is I will offload my rather large music and video to an external SATA like the Raycue external mac mini stand enclosure which also gives me extra ports of various types. One TB in that and I should be set.

Where I waffle is the display. I am not a professional videographer or do photo work but hey who doesn't want crisp video. I believe 4K will suit my needs and I'd like going even larger like 32". In that arena I'm thinking the Samsung

SAMSUNG 32" M80C UHD HDR Smart Computer Monitor Screen with Streaming TV, Slimfit Camera Included, Wireless Remote PC Access, Alexa Built-in​

I guess my question is does anyone with a much better grasp of tech than I see anything that leaps of the screen this is a mistake?

Should I pony up for an Apple display? Or would it be safer to just add 2 TB of storeage to the mini and never worry about it again?

I'm a buy once cry once kinda guy. If spending more on all Apple I'm willing. I just can't see the benefit to the display from them. Yeah, it's better how much and at what cost?

Sorry if this is rambling. Had a hip replaced last week and the Oxy just kicked in. A bit stoned. I'll be back tomorrow to read replies but honestly I might be stoned then too. Oh well. Such is life. Thanks for reading.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Doesn't seem like the right choice unless you need all those extra features. You can get other 32" 4K monitors cheaper.

 

[wegster]

The problem you get into here is for the same resolution (i.e. 4K in this case), the larger the screen you move to, the pixels per inch(PPI) is reduced, looking increasingly 'not retina clarity.'

An inch or two is generally ok, but beyond that you start to visually notice. if you want a 27", the ideal starts to become a 5K like the Apple Studio or Samsung display.

 

[jimmybcool]

Thanks for that. OK, yes I want to retain the same quality picture I have in my iMac 27" but with larger size. Or if that requires a major cost upgrade stick with that. Which I think I can do using my old iMac as my display. If the Samsung 32" M8 is a bad ode or overpriced/configured I'm open to alternatives.

 

[gilby101]

The Samsung looks like a Smart TV which can also be a monitor. If Smart TV is important to you or your usage will be mostly watching movies, then fine. But as a monitor it looks rather second rate compared with Apple screens.

If you want something that looks as good as a Retina 27" iMac (you don't say what model you have) then you are looking for about 220 PPI (pixels per inch). That is 24" 4K, 27" 5K, 32" 6K or there abouts. Wander far from that and you are compromising the look in terms of a) clarity and/or b) screen elements being the right/intended size.

 

[meson]

Are you coming from a 27" 5k iMac or an older one with 2560x1440 resolution? If you want a glossy screen so the colors really pop and calibrated to look like an Apple display, the only place you will find that is with an Apple display. If you want the same pixel density, but larger, you are looking at Pro Display XDR.

If you are pragmatic and realize that consumer display panels have come a long way over the years, and even many lower end 4k panels look pretty good, then you may find something out there that works. I use an LG 32UL500 mounted on an HP rebranded Ergotron LX mount with my M1 mini. After spending years using monitors with 109 pixels per inch or lower alongside the retina displays on my MBPs, the 163 ppi panel is a very nice upgrade. Colors don't quite match those on my MBP, but the display looks very good after using the setup outlined at rtings.com.

My only quibble is that I wish the display had a bit higher max brightness. I run at or near max brightness full time and unfortunately have a window behind my desk that gives me some issues when the sun is just right.

I chose 32"@4k because the pixels are large enough that I can run at full 4k resolution rather than using a scaled resolution. Menu items are still large enough that I can read them from normal viewing distances. In apps where I spend a lot of time interacting with text, I've bumped up the font sizing a point or two to make it easier to read when leaning back in my chair. Using the Rectangle app, I have the screen set to allow snapping to 6 zones that are 1280x1080 giving me all of the screen real estate I need without needing to use a second monitor. A 27" 5k might have more pixels, but it doesn't have the same working real estate.

The screen is a VA panel (same tech as the M8). When leaning in, you will see some color distortion in the periphery of your vision because the viewing angles aren't as good as IPS panels. Leaning back in the chair, everything looks uniform enough to me. To be honest, after using the screen for a while, I hardly notice anymore.

On a good note, it looks like the M8 is a bit brighter than my display. The display tech is similar to mine, and I wouldn't expect it to be earth-shatteringly different when viewing. The M8 does include a webcam if you need one. I currently use my iPhone in continuity camera mode with my screen using a little s-shaped bracket that I 3-D printed to mount the phone to the top of the display. The M8 offers more adjustability than my LG's stock tilt only mount, but the monitor arm allows far more adjustment. If you want your screen to serve duty as a standalone TV occasionally, the M8 has you covered although an Apple TV, Roku, etc. could be plugged into a USB input on a 'dumb' monitor. I spent about $300 on the monitor and about $75 on my monitor arm which was unopened old stock.

I knowingly made some compromises with my monitor to keep it within budget and still meet my needs for my work. I now have a monitor that will be my daily driver for a number of years to come.

 

[jimmybcool]

Thanks guys, I believe my 2015 iMac 27 is the retina display. Yeah it is crisp and I like it. Which has me thinking maybe I'm attacking this wrong. I am typing this on a 2021 Macbook 14" with 512m. If that storage capacity was 1 TB I could use this as the primary computer and use the old iMac as a display. Sadly I think upgrading the HD is undo-able. But simple answer that solves my issue AND moves me into the new M2 Pro and a 2023 laptop is to trade in my 2021. And use the iMac as display only. As I am on drugs for pain I'm not pulling the trigger today but I think that is where I'm headed. And I won't have to worry about keeping different computers databases in sync.

So after trade about $1250 puts me into a brand new laptop AND desktop with a retina display. I think win/win.

 

[killhippie]

I went with the Dell Ultrafine 27" to start and wanted to love it, but having a external webcam (Logitech Streamcam) annoyed me as it did not grip well and wobbled as did the monitor, I missed the volume controls on the screen, and getting to the ports was hard as they point down and having the joy stick menu stick by the power button was a bad move, I'm disabled and coordination meant would keep turning it off accidentally. Also its plastic but not good plastic.

The colours never looked quite right right but were not bad, I missed truetone and ambient light settings, I have my own 400Watt speaker set up so nothing going on there to miss. In the end I bit the bullet on the tilt only studio display, have to say the built in cam seems good to me, warmer colours than the streamcam voice quality is good. Also I like centre stage. yes silly money I know but I love that panel and its brightness. it goes well with my Mac mini Pro 1tb and its the closes I can get to my old 27" iMac.

 

[Fishrrman]

M2pro Mini.
Comes with 16gb of RAM in the base model.

I would advise you to "bump up" (via special order) the SSD size from 512gb to 1tb. That space may come in handy in the future, but the more important reason to do this is because the 1tb is fully TWICE AS FAST as the 512gb.

The 512gb isn't "slow", but again, the 1tb is faster.

Re Monitor...
Get a 27" 4k display.
The default setting will be "looks like 1080p", for a VERY sharp and clear display.

A 32" display will also default to "looks like 1080p", BUT... due to the extra size, everything (although clear) will look "blown up".

You could choose to run the 32" at "looks like 1440p", but then it will be a scaled image, not quite as clear.

 

[wegster]

I chose 32"@4k because the pixels are large enough that I can run at full 4k resolution rather than using a scaled resolution. Menu items are still large enough that I can read them from normal viewing distances. In apps where I spend a lot of time interacting with text, I've bumped up the font sizing a point or two to make it easier to read when leaning back in my chair. Using the Rectangle app, I have the screen set to allow snapping to 6 zones that are 1280x1080 giving me all of the screen real estate I need without needing to use a second monitor. A 27" 5k might have more pixels, but it doesn't have the same working real estate.
...
On a good note, it looks like the M8 is a bit brighter than my display. The display tech is similar to mine, and I wouldn't expect it to be earth-shatteringly different when viewing. The M8 does include a webcam if you need one. I currently use my iPhone in continuity camera mode with my screen using a little s-shaped bracket that I 3-D printed to mount the phone to the top of the display. The M8 offers more adjustability than my LG's stock tilt only mount, but the monitor arm allows far more adjustment. If you want your screen to serve duty as a standalone TV occasionally, the M8 has you covered although an Apple TV, Roku, etc. could be plugged into a USB input on a 'dumb' monitor. I spent about $300 on the monitor and about $75 on my monitor arm which was unopened old stock.

I knowingly made some compromises with my monitor to keep it within budget and still meet my needs for my work. I now have a monitor that will be my daily driver for a number of years to come.

Similar here. Over time I've shifted from dual/triple displays to an ultrawide with the laptop screen aligned to one side, and occasionally add the iPad 'in front.' The first batch non 5k2k 34" was miserable (running native res, 3440x1440 or something close to that horizontally) due to lack of vertical space. Have since shifted to a 38" UW 3840x1600 in native resolution which works pretty well for me for productivity work, but it's certainly not retina/HiDPI. It was already 'not cheap' when I bought it, and I keep getting moderately excited when I see a new 'big' ultrawide, but they're still mostly in useless HD/gaming resolutions like 1080 vertical), which is a sad joke for productivity work.

I'd 'like' to have HiDPI/retina mode displays, but not at the sacrifice of usable real estate.

Having said that, someone doing a lot of video or photo editing, CAD, may go the opposite direction and it 'must' be retina/HiDPI mode.

In your case, I can see the 32" native res 4K working, but compared to e.g. a retina iMac screen - obviously a difference. Surprisingly my wife (not great eyes) immediately noticed the difference between her now-old/replaced MBP and a fairly decent 'QHD+' 27" Viewsonic I gave her when I went to ultrawides... to the OP - YMMV. Figure out if you need the 'retina mode' or you're like meson, I and others where we want max usable space at non-retina resolutions, but the size vs 'effective resolution' is still a concern, not just 'give me a big 4K screen and it's all great etc.

I've been considering adding a 27" 5K alongside my UW in vertical orientation, although for less 'swiveling neck' it may have to take the place of my MBP screen. A lot of these bigger setups are great for gaming or specialized work, and not gonna like, I thought about adding a second 38" UW on top of the existing one, but it does hit a case of a lot more head/neck movement which isn't great doing long hours at the comp IMO.

 

[gilby101]

And use the iMac as display only.

I hope you realise that is not easy.

 

[meson]

I hope you realise that is not easy.

It’s quite easy as part of Universal Control. Open Displays Settings on one machine and you’ll see displays for all running machines nearby where you are logged into iCloud. Select one tap the plus sign and choose extended display.

The caveat is that you cannot use the target display in high dpi scaled resolutions, but they do work 2:1 retina resolutions. For example from my MBP, I can my 4k panel connected to my mini defaults to 1920x1080, but I can use it in full 3840x2160. It also offers low dpi 2560x1440 and a couple other resolutions.

It’s a way better experience with two M series machines than it was when I tried with my M1 MBP and a 2013 iMac with OCLP to enable the feature.

 

[jimmybcool]

I might be back tracking. Looks like maybe a tuneup of the iMac will give me a few more years. I'm gonna check with the local Apple store about free seminars/classes on database management and better understand what is going on with this.

 

[meson]

What kind of storage is in your iMac? SSD or a Fusion Drive where most of the storage is a spinning hard drive?

Database access will be much faster if the info is stored on an SSD. You might consider moving your data to an external SSD and possibly even booting the machine from an external SSD.

 

[gilby101]

It’s quite easy as part of Universal Control. Open Displays Settings on one machine and you’ll see displays for all running machines nearby where you are logged into iCloud. Select one tap the plus sign and choose extended display.

As I understood @jimmybcool, he was talking about using the iMac as THE display for a Mini. That is not straight forward. I stand by my original comment.

 

[jimmybcool]

I'm gonna go with it is a spinning drive since the display HDD shows a rotation rate of 7200 and i'ts model is Apple HDD ST1000 etc.

I know I'm being wishy washy and I do appreciate all the replies here. but this is just getting more and more complicated. I'm old and don't have the attention span I used to have. I think when my hip is good enough to let me drive I'm going to the apple store and buying something. Really wish they still made an iMac 27. I really don't want to have to overpay for the Apple display and it feels like an over pay. But I guess I'll be using that display for the rest of my life.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I own a LOT of Apple stuff but believe ASD is overpriced too. It's basically priced like it's a base iMac 27" but Apple failed to include the computer guts + keyboard + mouse. And the add-ons which are commonplace on just about anyone else's monitor are priced at robbery levels IMO. So here's my suggestions...

Samsung Viewfinity S9, which is a 5K monitor, basically spun as a "clone" of ASD. It can somewhat double as an app-based television too, which can be a nice, added-value feature. It has a much better camera than ASD which can be fully removed if you feel any concern about privacy (no tape required- just remove it and put it back in place when you want to have video calls).

Time this purchase for probably Black Friday and you'll likely get the best buy of 2023 on that monitor. My guess is probably about $1199 or so. It's only been available for a short while, so it's still priced close to base Apple Studio Display (though Samsung ships with the ASD add-on like adjustable height, etc). Samsung has a long history of special pricing not long after formal launches... you just need more patience than the short time it has been available.

Else consider the LG 27" 5K monitor for about $1000 on various websites. I see some refurbs of this monitor well south of $1K.

Else, consider ASD refurb, which are down as low as about $1359 as I write this.

Or if you might like more screen, pay about full ASD price and get yourself a 5K2K Dell 40" ultra-wide, which is what I did. Height wise, it looks just like the old iMac 27" it replaced. But width-wise, it delivers substantially more screen space. This monitor is offered as "Used-Like New" from Amazon at pretty close to ASD refurb price right now.

I thoroughly enjoy the added screen R.E. and the built-in hub with many ports (not just 3 ports of one type). It has a total of 4 video input ports, so you can easily plug other things into it and use it as monitor for more than only the Mac. For example, I needed a PC for "old fashioned bootcamp", so have a dedicated PC plugged into one of the ports. It can split screen to offer both computers side by side if desired and the hub makes it possible to share the same keyboard and mouse with both too.

There are many good choices out there vs. only ONE choice from Apple. Apple fans will push only Apple options to death- and ridicule anything NOT Apple- but Macs work just fine with MANY monitors.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I'm gonna go with it is a spinning drive since the display HDD shows a rotation rate of 7200 and i'ts model is Apple HDD ST1000 etc."

Fearless prediction:
You'll be sorry you did this.

 

[jimmybcool]

OK update for everyone who I am certain were just dying to know what I decided. OK, probably not but out of politeness since I got so much good info here I feel obligated to put an end to the saga.

I decided I am better off with a single computer and database rather than external drives and stand along monitor etc. I purchased a Macbook Pro 16" with enough SSD storage to contain my entire database. Eventually I will convert the old iMac 27" into a monitor only.

Of course I am struggling to get my new Macbook to want to connect to my Time Machine which use to connect to the iMac over an ethernet cable. Feel like i've done everything right but..... Nevermind. I get free tech support initially and I'll chat online with a Apple tech Monday and sort that out.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I took the right step even if it did cost me $2000 plus my 2021 Macbook Pro.