Help deciding between 27" QHD and UHD monitor for use with M2 Air. No gaming.

[sashadouglas]

I have ~$400 in Dell.com credits, and I want to use them to buy a new monitor to be used with my M2 MacBook Air. I will be using it for a solid amount of Zoom meetings, maybe some online learning videos, but no gaming. I *think* I want one with USB-C connection just to make my life easier and reduce desk clutter, though I know that adds a premium to the cost.

I've read that 4k is a pain to use with macs due to everything becoming tiny. That has me leaning toward QHD, but then I read review sites that say to always go for the highest resolution and increase sizing. 🤷‍♂️

I'm looking at:

• Dell 27 USB-C Monitor - S2722DC (QHD with USB-C) @ $309
• Dell 27 Monitor - S2721DS (QHD, no USB-C) @ $199
• Dell 27 QHD Monitor - SE2723DS (QHD, no USB-C) @ $259
• Dell 27 Monitor - S2722QC (4k with USB-C) @ $369
• Dell 27 4K UHD Monitor - S2721QS (4k, no USB-C) @329

Thank you for any help!

 

[FreakinEurekan]

There are a lot of opinions about resolution, and yeah - some people seem to take the side of "Lower resolution looks better than higher resolution because of reasons."

Personally, I don't buy it. There are options to change the "Apparent" resolution in System Settings > Displays if everything is too small. In my experience, at its WORST a 4k display will look "as good as" a QHD... and potentially much better. QHD will always, be QHD. Not that QHD is bad - often it looks perfectly fine - but 4k will be sharper.

 

[estabya]

I use a 27” QHD monitor at work and a 27” 4k one at home. The complaints of scaling issues with Macs on a 4k screen is overblown in my opinion and something few people really notice. To me the difference in pixel clarity from normal viewing distance is worth it every time. A 27” QHD has about 108 pixels per inch while a 4k model will be close to 165 pixels per inch.

I say go with the 4k USB C model as the single cable functionality is definitely worth the extra $40.

 

[SjoukeW]

I use 2 4K screens with my mbp at work (software development). To me the text is perfectly sharp. Qhd doesn’t come close for my usage.

 

[theorist9]

I'd strongly recommend a 27" 4k over QHD. If you run it at the default 2:1 scaling, you'll get max sharpness (because it's exact integer scaling), and the UI will actually be 218/163 = 34% larger than on a 27" Retina display (27" iMac, ASD, etc.). If your app's UI doesn't take up much of the screen, you won't lose much real estate.