Display compatibility and Mac Studio

[Pressure]

It appears that the M1 Max chip still have some kinks with certain displays. Tell us your experiences.

I'll start with my own.

I have the base model Mac Studio (M1 Max) and the Dell UP3218K (7680x4320 / 8K / 4K HiDPI). The display uses two DP1.4 connections where each drive half the panel (3840x4320 pixels). That works in macOS 10.15.7 (Mojave) on my old Mac Pro 5,1 with a VEGA FE.

While the Mac Studio with the M1 Max does correctly recognise both halves for the screen at 3840x4320 pixels it appears to have timing issues and also mirror the entire main display on the extended display.

 

[dizmonk]

Wow that's terrible. What is run the resolution lower? Does it still happen? You said the two are connected via DP and USBC? What happens if you use HDMI?

 

[Pressure]

Wow that's terrible. What is run the resolution lower? Does it still happen? You said the two are connected via DP and USBC? What happens if you use HDMI?

I'm using USB-C to DisplayPort (certified 8K) cables. On the Mac Pro I use DP-to-DP cables.

HDMI 2.0b doesn't have enough bandwidth to run 3840x4320@60Hz.

 

[Abbas]

I have mine connected to the Samsung Ultrawide G9. While I get the full resolution, the max refresh rate I get is 120Hz. This monitor supports double of that. My display also gets very dim if I enable HDR in my display settings.

 

[F-Train]

The Mac Studio/M1 Max works fine with an Eizo 27" CS2740.

 

[Dutch60]

@F-Train Good to read! That's an interesting monitor for me. But first I' ll wait for the CG2700X later this year.

 

[QuickstartBridg]

I haven't seen questions about the Apple Thunderbolt Display's ability to interface with the Mac Studio. I assume it will connect to the thunderbolt port, perhaps with a dongle, without any other problem. Any comment appreciated.

 

[alexanderwolf]

Does anyone know how much performance is truly impacted on a Mac Studio (M1 Max, $2,000 model) when you are using display scaling? I keep trying to find this information out, but I can't find anything definitive... just that GPU performance may be impacted.

I am currently using a 23.7" LG UltraFine 4K display and bumping up the display scaling two steps up to 'More Space' - Looks Like 2560 x 1440.

The Mac OS interface looks HUGE when running at the 'default for display' setting.

 

[QuickstartBridg]

I haven't seen questions about the Apple Thunderbolt Display's ability to interface with the Mac Studio. I assume it will connect to the thunderbolt port, perhaps with a dongle, without any other problem. Any comment appreciated.

Follow-up: There is a dongle in the Apple store that will accomodate connection of the Thunderbolt Display to the Mac Studio.

"In addition, it can be used to connect Thunderbolt-enabled displays — such as the Apple Thunderbolt Display and LG Thunderbolt 2 displays — to any of the Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) / USB 4 ports on your Mac. However, using this adapter with an Apple Thunderbolt Display requires a power source, because the display does not provide power through the adapter.

Note: This adapter does not support DisplayPort displays like the Apple LED Cinema Display or third-party DisplayPort and Mini DisplayPort displays. For more information, visit the Apple Support page for the Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter.

What’s in the Box​

Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter"

 

[spgiva]

I am using my Mac Studio with and LG32UP83A-W (LG32UP83A-W). It comes with a USB-C cable and an HDMI cable. I am using the USB-C cable to connect. For my 2nd monitor I am using an acient LG27EA83R. I have had this second monitor for over 5 years (possibly 10). The connections seem to work fine. The wake speed of the LG monitors is a little slow (maybe 2 seconds from when I hit a key on my keyboard to the time my monitor kicks on). The 2nd monitor takes a few seconds longer. I have not tried the speakers on the LG monitor as I already have a set of desktop Logitech speakers that I like.

My biggest issue with the monitor is that my 48 year old eyes can not read the menu's at full 4k resolution. I tried using photoshop the other day and I thought I was going blind. I so wish apple would let you change the size of menus without adjusting your resolution.

 

[Pressure]

My biggest issue with the monitor is that my 48 year old eyes can not read the menu's at full 4k resolution. I tried using photoshop the other day and I thought I was going blind. I so wish apple would let you change the size of menus without adjusting your resolution.

Photoshop will show your content at 1:1 pixels so it doesn't really matter if you use a scaled resolution. That should at least solve the UI being hard to read.

 

[spgiva]

Photoshop will show your content at 1:1 pixels so it doesn't really matter if you use a scaled resolution. That should at least solve the UI being hard to read.

Thanks for this. My biggest concern about adjusting the monitor resolution in preferences was whether it affected images in photoshop.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I know a lot of macOS folks insist you have to have "true retina" 5k/6k

But don't rule out the Gigabyte M28U/M32U options

IPS/4k/144hz/Reasonably good color coverage

Great values for the money and with the panel sharpen settings, I'm blown away how close it comes to looking like true retina. (looking at one right now)

Also - high refresh rate is so so nice.
The Mac desktop world who's only used Apple displays will be gushing about ProMotion on the desktop when it comes.

(no need to wait!)

 

[wonderbread57]

I know they say you could wait forever for the next next tech, but I think it's a particularly iffy time right now to buy top end display tech since QD-OLED is real (AW3423DW is by far the best gaming display). As described in this video, it's not perfect for everything. Some things might be particular to the technology, like the triangular RGB array not being optimized for text (yet). Other things will be solved by other models, like support for 4k @ 120hz.

But we all want something NOW. So what about the LG 27GN950-B? It seems to be the best of the new batch of 27" 4K @ 144hz IPS panels with its 98% DCI-P3 coverage and 600 nits.

 

[Pressure]

I know they say you could wait forever for the next next tech, but I think it's a particularly iffy time right now to buy top end display tech since QD-OLED is real (AW3423DW is by far the best gaming display). As described in this video, it's not perfect for everything. Some things might be particular to the technology, like the triangular RGB array not being optimized for text (yet). Other things will be solved by other models, like support for 4k @ 120hz.

But we all want something NOW. So what about the LG 27GN950-B? It seems to be the best of the new batch of 27" 4K @ 144hz IPS panels with its 98% DCI-P3 coverage and 600 nits.

The problem with the Samsung QD-OLED panel is that it’s only 3440x1440 pixels and it’s not easy to calibrate and the subpixel arrangement isn’t very good at text. It’s also curved.

 

[EmpireUnknown]

But we all want something NOW. So what about the LG 27GN950-B? It seems to be the best of the new batch of 27" 4K @ 144hz IPS panels with its 98% DCI-P3 coverage and 600 nits.

I have an EVE Spectrum which uses the exact same panel as this monitor, and it's been pretty good to me thus far.
It gets bright and I get the full 144Hz at 4K (including variable refresh rate) via a Thunderbolt connection, so from my experience I'd recommend it (or the LG variant, given the panel is the same).

 

[wonderbread57]

I have an EVE Spectrum which uses the exact same panel as this monitor, and it's been pretty good to me thus far.
It gets bright and I get the full 144Hz at 4K (including variable refresh rate) via a Thunderbolt connection, so from my experience I'd recommend it (or the LG variant, given the panel is the same).

How's its handling of reflections? That looked like the only downside.

 

[EmpireUnknown]

Reflections are decent. You can see a bit, but it's not jarring in any case. If you turn up the brightness it becomes nigh-unnoticeable. Obviously this depends on your location as well, but at least for me it's perfectly acceptable.
Bright spots are diffused quite well, so I don't have any complaints on that front.

 

[somanyscreens]

It appears that the M1 Max chip still have some kinks with certain displays. Tell us your experiences.

I'll start with my own.

I have the base model Mac Studio (M1 Max) and the Dell UP3218K (7680x4320 / 8K / 4K HiDPI). The display uses two DP1.4 connections where each drive half the panel (3840x4320 pixels). That works in macOS 10.15.7 (Mojave) on my old Mac Pro 5,1 with a VEGA FE.

While the Mac Studio with the M1 Max does correctly recognise both halves for the screen at 3840x4320 pixels it appears to have timing issues and also mirror the entire main display on the extended display.

Any updates / workarounds to supporting 8K?

 

[Pressure]

Any updates / workarounds to supporting 8K?

Well, so far Monterey can display both sides of the display at 3840x4320 pixels correctly if I reconnect one cable multiple times, so it treats the display as two 3840x4320 monitors side-by-side.

Which is fine by me but I have to reconnect on cable multiple times at boot or if I put the computer or monitor to sleep ...

 

[Psychicbob]

Can’t afford a 4K monitor yet but currently using base Mac Studio with a Benq EX2780Q. HDMI running at 1440p and 144Hz refresh rate. It has decent built in speakers as well.

Not exactly a power user but this seems to be a monitor that works perfectly with the Mac Studio.

 

[Walt Stearns]

Currently running two (2012) 27-inch Apple Cinema Displays of my Apple M1 Max Studio with no issues, including me being able recalibrate the color for photoshop and graphic applications.

 

[Shamgar]

Getting apps to recognize the HDR capabilities of my Asus PG27UQ is hit or miss. The system recognizes the HDR capability and the display reports an HDR signal when toggled on, but getting Final Cut or Photos to display HDR content as HDR is unreliable. I don't know if that's a Mac Studio problem, or a general macOS problem.